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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Mayor and City Council Regular Meeting – November 17, 2025

Mayor and City Council & Boards — Monday, November 17, 2025

BodyOcean City, Maryland

SessionMayor and City Council & Boards

DateMonday, November 17, 2025

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 36:52

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

0:14

Good evening, everyone.

0:15

Welcome to this mayor and uh city council regular meeting scheduled for Monday, November 17th, 2025 at 6 p.m.

0:21

First on the agenda we have our prayer and our pledge, and Councilmember Yates will be leading us in both.

0:30

Let us pray, please.

0:32

Lord, thank you for another day of life.

0:35

Uh we are grateful and humbled to come together to do the business of the city.

0:39

We thank you for the opportunity to live, work, and orchestrate our lives and quality of life here in Ocean City, Maryland.

0:46

Give us the wisdom to make the decisions that are best for the safety, welfare, and for our beautiful city.

0:53

Amen.

0:54

Amen.

0:56

I pledge allegiance to the United States of America.

1:17

Thank you, Larry.

1:18

Thank you, sir.

1:21

Next on the agenda, we have our closed session notice and report.

1:25

Prior to the mayor and city council open session being held this evening at 6 p.m.

1:29

There was a closed session this evening at 5 p.m.

1:32

here at City Hall.

1:33

Topics of discussion were legal, real estate, and investigative matters.

1:37

Persons present were Mayor Rick Mehan.

1:39

City City Manager Terry McGean, Deputy City Manager Jarrell Harmon, Council President Matt James, Council Secretary Tony DeLuca, Council Members Will Savage, Larry Yates, John Gehrig, and Carol Proctor, City Clerk Diana Chavis, City Solicitor Heather Stansbury, Police Chief Ray Austin, Police Captain Sean Jones, and Detective First Class Amy Ketowski.

2:03

There was a motion by Secretary DeLuca, seconded by Councilmember Savage to close the closed session.

2:08

That passed with six in favor at 606 p.m.

2:13

Next on the agenda we have the consent agenda items A through D.

2:17

Item A is a request, a request to approve minutes from regular meeting number 19, dated November 3rd, 2025.

2:25

Item B is an acknowledgement of our standing committee reports.

2:31

And the Coastal Resources Legislative Committee was held November 12th.

2:36

Item C is an acknowledgement of our standing committee draft agenda.

2:40

The pension committee is scheduled for November 19th.

2:43

And item D is a bid award recommendation for Eagles Landing Golf Course, Title Flood Remediation.

2:49

Secretary DeLuca.

2:51

Motion to approve the consent agenda.

2:53

Items A through D.

2:57

Second.

3:05

Any discussion.

3:07

Seeing none.

3:08

All those in favor?

3:09

Aye.

3:10

The motion carries with six in favor.

3:12

And for the record, Councilmember Metresic will be absent for the entire meeting this evening.

3:18

Next we have miscellaneous reports and presentations.

3:21

We have the police commission report with a recommendation.

3:26

We need a motion before we uh approve the resolution.

3:29

Uh no, if you could just announce to the public generally what occurred at the police commission, the recommendation of the police commission, then we'll just wait for the resolution.

3:36

So we had a police commission last Monday.

3:40

And we reviewed this matter, and uh it was a decision.

3:44

The police commission supported supported the five thousand dollar reward for tips leading to the conviction.

3:52

So there's a resolution tonight to uh entertain that.

3:58

That's a vision.

3:59

Unless the council has any questions, um, I know that uh the detective and the command staff are here, um, but otherwise, the resolution speaks for itself.

4:08

If you review the whereas of the public who are watching, review the whereas you'll see the nature of for what the reward is being offered.

4:16

That's later addressed in section 9D of this agenda.

4:19

Thank you.

4:21

We'll move on.

4:22

Item B is a Crown Castle request to activate dark fiber for the city network.

4:29

Chris, thank you.

4:37

All right.

4:38

We're here this evening to discuss moving forward with Crown Council sales order to provide dark fiber connections to several locations within the town as well as provide internet access to both the town and convention center vendors at a cost of 120,000 a year.

4:52

Uh this agreement represents a saving of roughly six thousand dollars a year over our additional over our current provider.

5:00

It also adds five additional sites, increases our bandwidth for the internet, and removes limitations between our satellite offices.

5:10

This let this agreement also leverages the right-of-way agreement with Crown Castle for a pair of fiber, both north and south of our data center.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Public Safety████████████████████████████28%

Procedural███████████████████████████27%

Water And Wastewater Management████████████████████20%

Capital Improvement Projects█████████████13%

Technology and Innovation███████7%

Public Transportation█████5%

Summary of Proceedings

Mayor and City Council Regular Meeting – November 17, 2025

The Ocean City Mayor and City Council held a regular meeting on Monday, November 17, 2025, at 6:00 PM. The meeting covered consent agenda items, reports, presentations, and public hearings. Key actions included approval of a dark fiber agreement with Crown Castle, a bid award for comfort station renovations, allocation of fund balance for police vehicles, adoption of a property tax credit for volunteer firefighters, and passage of a sewer agreement amendment on first reading.

Consent Calendar

Minutes: Approved Regular Meeting #19 (November 3, 2025).
Standing Committee Reports: Acknowledged Tourism Commission (November 3) and Coastal Resources Legislative Committee (November 12) reports.
Draft Agenda: Acknowledged Pension Committee meeting scheduled for November 19.
Bid Award: Approved bid award for Eagle's Landing Golf Course Tidal Flood Remediation. (All items passed unanimously with six in favor; Councilmember Metresic absent.)

Public Comments & Testimony

James L. Jester (12923 Pine Street, West Ocean City, Volunteer Deputy Chief) thanked the council for passing Ordinance 2025-30 (property tax credit for volunteer firefighters), calling it a strong retention and recruitment tool. He noted he would also approach Worcester County for a similar credit.
Eric Fiore (Worcester County Commissioner, 8808 Hunting County Road, Berlin) thanked the city and first responders for their response to a recent fire at his business. He expressed deep gratitude for the coordinated effort that prevented a larger disaster, emphasizing the importance of supporting first responders.

Discussion Items

Crown Castle Dark Fiber Agreement: Information Technology Director Chris Burkey, along with Crown Castle representatives, presented a proposal to activate dark fiber for the city network. The agreement costs $120,000 per year, saving approximately $6,000 annually over the current Comcast contract, and provides up to 10 Gbps bandwidth to multiple sites. The council approved the motion unanimously.
Worcester and Caroline Street Comfort Station Renovations: Procurement Manager Matt Perry and Public Works Director Hal Adkins presented a bid award recommendation for renovating both comfort stations. The low bidder was Infinity Construction and Development, with a total award of $774,049. Supplemental funding of $157,000 was assembled from interest, closed police substation savings, and the Capital Reserve Fund to cover a 10% contingency and HVAC work. The scope includes gutting interiors, new fixtures, HVAC modifications, and converting the second floor of Worcester Street into a command center for special events. Construction starts December 2, 2025, and must be completed by April 17, 2026 (before Springfest). The council approved the motion unanimously.
Police Vehicle Purchase: Budget and Management Director Jenny Knapp requested allocation of $975,000 from unassigned fund balance (currently $7.2 million) to purchase 12 police vehicles (11 new Ford Explorer interceptors and one replacement pickup truck for vehicle 804, which was totaled). The purchase is needed to meet the take-home vehicle requirement under the new FOP contract. The council approved the motion unanimously.
Ordinance 2025-30 (Second Reading) – Property Tax Credit for Volunteer Firefighters: Adopted 5-1 (Councilmember Savage abstained).
Ordinance 2025-31 (First Reading) – Sewerage Treatment Facilities Transfer Agreement Amendment: The ordinance increases allocated flow capacity for West Ocean City. City Solicitor Heather Stansbury presented. Discussion included a late addition to allow emergency flow from the Mr. Carver plant to the Ocean City wastewater plant during maintenance. Council President James opposed, voicing concerns that the county’s bill tying this to the room tax vote felt like a hostage situation, and requested clearer language to prevent future changes to service areas. The county’s Chief County Administrator Weston Young and Commissioner Fiore noted the two issues were always connected. Councilmember Savage clarified that the county will pay for infrastructure upgrades and treatment costs. The motion passed 5-1 (President James opposed). A red-lined agreement will be presented at second reading.
Resolution 2025-29 – Disposition of Surplus Personal Property: Adopted unanimously.
Resolution 2025-30 – Reward for Information Leading to Conviction: Authorized a $5,000 reward for tips leading to the apprehension, arrest, and conviction of any person committing a criminal act, as recommended by the Police Commission. Adopted unanimously.

Key Outcomes

Consent Agenda: Approved unanimously.
Crown Castle Dark Fiber Agreement: Approved unanimously.
Comfort Station Renovation Award: Awarded to Infinity Construction and Development for $774,049, with supplemental funding approved. Unanimous.
Police Vehicle Purchase: $975,000 allocated from unassigned fund balance for 12 vehicles. Unanimous.
Ordinance 2025-30 (Property Tax Credit): Adopted 5-1 (Savage abstained).
Ordinance 2025-31 (Sewer Agreement Amendment): Passed first reading 5-1 (President James opposed); second reading and red-lined agreement to follow.
Resolution 2025-29: Adopted unanimously.
Resolution 2025-30: Adopted unanimously.
Public Comments: Heard and acknowledged.
City Manager Comments: Upcoming work session on November 25 includes closed session, minutes approval, committee reports, water taxi renewal, and discussion of short-term rental length-of-stay restrictions.
Meeting Adjourned: At 6:49 PM.

Meeting Transcript

Good evening, everyone. Welcome to this mayor and uh city council regular meeting scheduled for Monday, November 17th, 2025 at 6 p.m. First on the agenda we have our prayer and our pledge, and Councilmember Yates will be leading us in both. Let us pray, please. Lord, thank you for another day of life. Uh we are grateful and humbled to come together to do the business of the city. We thank you for the opportunity to live, work, and orchestrate our lives and quality of life here in Ocean City, Maryland. Give us the wisdom to make the decisions that are best for the safety, welfare, and for our beautiful city. Amen. Amen. I pledge allegiance to the United States of America. Thank you, Larry. Thank you, sir. Next on the agenda, we have our closed session notice and report. Prior to the mayor and city council open session being held this evening at 6 p.m. There was a closed session this evening at 5 p.m. here at City Hall. Topics of discussion were legal, real estate, and investigative matters. Persons present were Mayor Rick Mehan. City City Manager Terry McGean, Deputy City Manager Jarrell Harmon, Council President Matt James, Council Secretary Tony DeLuca, Council Members Will Savage, Larry Yates, John Gehrig, and Carol Proctor, City Clerk Diana Chavis, City Solicitor Heather Stansbury, Police Chief Ray Austin, Police Captain Sean Jones, and Detective First Class Amy Ketowski. There was a motion by Secretary DeLuca, seconded by Councilmember Savage to close the closed session. That passed with six in favor at 606 p.m. Next on the agenda we have the consent agenda items A through D. Item A is a request, a request to approve minutes from regular meeting number 19, dated November 3rd, 2025. Item B is an acknowledgement of our standing committee reports. And the Coastal Resources Legislative Committee was held November 12th. Item C is an acknowledgement of our standing committee draft agenda. The pension committee is scheduled for November 19th. And item D is a bid award recommendation for Eagles Landing Golf Course, Title Flood Remediation. Secretary DeLuca. Motion to approve the consent agenda. Items A through D. Second. Any discussion. Seeing none. All those in favor? Aye. The motion carries with six in favor. And for the record, Councilmember Metresic will be absent for the entire meeting this evening. Next we have miscellaneous reports and presentations. We have the police commission report with a recommendation. We need a motion before we uh approve the resolution. Uh no, if you could just announce to the public generally what occurred at the police commission, the recommendation of the police commission, then we'll just wait for the resolution. So we had a police commission last Monday. And we reviewed this matter, and uh it was a decision. The police commission supported supported the five thousand dollar reward for tips leading to the conviction. So there's a resolution tonight to uh entertain that. That's a vision. Unless the council has any questions, um, I know that uh the detective and the command staff are here, um, but otherwise, the resolution speaks for itself. If you review the whereas of the public who are watching, review the whereas you'll see the nature of for what the reward is being offered.

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