Letter From Mayor: Plans for City Hall Reconstruction

August 9, 2013

Dear Friends:

Last evening, City Council approved a contract for the reconstruction of the ground floor of City Hall.  As most of you know, this area was severely damaged during Hurricane Sandy. The offices of the Tax Collector, Tax Assessor and City Clerk have been relocated since the storm.

The design provides for these offices to return to the ground floor of City Hall in a slightly different configuration. There will also be a new customer service area to provide “one-stop shopping” for city business.  In this area you will be able to pay taxes, buy beach tags and concert tickets, register for recreation programs and receive information.

Enlarged public restrooms will also be constructed. The design provides the ability to have the customer service area and restrooms open during non-business hours when the remainder of the building will be secured. This will fill a need that our wonderful Downtown Ocean City shopping district has needed for many years.

A number of hazard mitigation measures are included in the project to reduce the likelihood of such damage ever occurring again. These items include: backflow preventers on the sewer laterals; waterproofing; upgraded floodgates; and the relocation of all electrical panels and other equipment for the building.

The total cost of the project is $1,174,000. This amount will be offset by approximately $500,000 in insurance coverage, FEMA reimbursements and hazard mitigation funding.  While this is a significant amount of money, the cost per square foot is $136. This is a competitive price for public work, and was actually significantly under the engineer’s cost estimate.

I did not advance this project without serious thought to the future needs of the City and the public.  I believe the project is a sound investment and the public will be well served by the improvements.

Have a great weekend!

Warm regards,

Jay A. Gillian
Mayor