Mayor’s Update – Nov. 6, 2020

Dear Friends,

City Council last night approved the first reading of a bond ordinance that would pay for the design of a new public safety building at the site of our existing Ocean City Fire Department station at 550 Asbury Avenue. This is one of the first steps in a process that would lead to a combined facility for our firefighters and EMTs, police, emergency dispatchers, municipal court, and emergency management operations. Anybody interested in learning more about this project can watch our town hall meeting presentation here.

I have instructed our city team to eliminate the use of chemical pesticides on all city property for 2021. We will experiment with organic products out of an abundance of caution in protecting the environment and the health of our residents.

I’m sad to report on the passing of James “JR” Robinson, a friend of mine and active member of Ocean City’s VFW Post 6650. Many of you may know JR from his regular attendance at the boardwalk flag-raising ceremony in Ocean City. Some may not know that JR received two Purple Hearts and Presidential Unit Citation for his heroism in the Vietnam War. I hope you all will join Michele and me in extending deepest condolences to JR’s family, friends and fellow post members.

I also want to invite you all to join me in paying tribute to all of our veterans at our annual Veterans Day ceremony on Wednesday. The event will take place at 11 a.m. Nov. 11 at the Ocean City Tabernacle. All attendees will be asked to wear masks and to maintain social distancing. The Tabernacle auditorium will be sanitized in advance, and windows and doors will remain open to increase air circulation. The event will also be streamed live, so people can watch from home. Click here for more detail on how to access the live video.

Finally, I want to encourage you all to continue to take personal responsibility in following all recommendations to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Please continue to wear face coverings and maintain social distancing in public, wash hands, avoid large crowds, and stay home if you are sick. It’s important for all of us to respect these precautions in order to protect the health of the community.