The Mayor and City Council of Ocean City held a regular meeting on Monday, July 21, 2025, at 6:00 PM. The meeting included the ratification of a collective bargaining agreement with the Fraternal Order of Police, approval of several consent agenda items, adoption of sign-on bonuses for out-of-state lateral police officers, changes to boardwalk bicycle hours, a public hearing on a charter amendment regarding candidate qualifications, and votes on multiple ordinances and resolutions. The meeting also featured extensive public comments on the charter amendment and a special election scheduled for July 22, 2025.
Charter Amendment Resolution C-401: Proposed changes to qualifications for election as Mayor or City Council member. Key provisions:
Public Testimony:
The public hearing was opened and closed.
All right, good evening, everyone. Welcome to this regular mayor and council meeting scheduled for Monday, July twenty first, twenty twenty-five at six PM. First on the agenda, we have the prayer and the pledge, and Councilmember Metresic will be leading us in both. Please stand. Lord, we come to you today thankful for another uh opportunity to serve our great community. We ask that you would guide us and let our words be truthful, respectful, and mindful, and let everything that we do glorify your people. Amen. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. And to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Next on the agenda, we have items presented by the mayor and council. We have a resolution twenty twenty-five dash seventeen. Ratifying the collective bargaining agreement with the Ocean City Lodge number ten fraternal order of police. It includes uh take home vehicles for all members of the police department. Uh sworn members of the police department. Uh pay adjustments including increases to starting salary, uh, cost of living adjustments and step increases and some additional adjustments to uh uh canine pay, clothing allowances, and specialty pay. Um process, but it was done very professionally, I think for both sides. Um council's approval. Um, assuming that the council appro uh approves it, uh, then we'll uh the signature pages are in front of you on the table. Secretary Luca. Motion to adopt resolution twenty twenty-five dash seventeen. Got a motion from Secretary De Luca, seconded by Councilmember Proctor. Uh motion to adopt resolution twenty twenty-five dash seventeen. Any discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Motion carries with seven in favor. You in favor? Yes. Motion carries with seven in favor. All right. We can have uh the bargaining group from Colonel Order of Police and uh Council President James, Mayor Meehan, uh, Councilman Savage, uh, Captain Colbert, I believe Katie Callan, and uh Ms. Stansbury for signing. Sounds good. Thank you. We all signed, it's official. Now I can say what I want. Okay. And that's going to be easy. Um, what I want to say is thank you first to the to the bargaining team and also to uh lodge 10 of the fraternal order of police for ratifying this contract. Um as Terry said, it was a long process. I also agree it was very professional. There was a lot of give and take. And for those of you that have ever been involved in collective bargaining, it's sometimes not the most comfortable process because you're sitting across the table from people you really respect, and uh you're both trying to come to an agreement that will satisfy the needs of the of the organization and also meet the test for our for our for our taxpayers as well. But we've always said, and I think everybody up here will echo the fact that public safety is our number one priority and what the men and women do of the Ocean City Police Department out there on front lines every single day. Um I think it's very apparent just for this season alone how important your presence is out there to protect the public, and I can't think of another organization that does a better job than you do. And I think it's important to us that you're comfortable that you're satisfied that you're happy in your positions because we're hoping you make these the Ocean City uh police department a career, and you're here working with us and for the public for our residents for many years to come. So Justin, uh, thank you very much for your leadership. Thank you all very much. Thank you for the way you interacted with the entire uh lodge in order to gain approval for this. Uh now you know what we face sometimes, so we're looking for approval.