OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Ocean City Mayor and Council Regular Meeting - December 15, 2025

Mayor and City Council & Boards — Monday, December 15, 2025
BodyOcean City, Maryland
SessionMayor and City Council & Boards
DateMonday, December 15, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:03:11

Transcript — Verbatim
0:08

Good.

0:09

All right, good evening, everyone.

0:10

Welcome to this mayor and city council meeting scheduled for Monday, December 15th, 2025 at 6 p.m.

0:16

First on the agenda we have the prayer and the pledge.

0:19

Secretary DeLuca will be leading us in both this evening.

0:29

Help us to make decisions that will be pleasing to you.

0:33

Help us to be able to discuss the matter at hand in a reasonable way and be willing to give up having our own way.

0:40

Let this meeting be productive, and as it should be the case in all areas of our lives.

0:46

Help us to keep you in the forefront of our minds as we do the work set before us.

0:51

Amen.

1:00

It's one nomination under God and is visible with the justice.

1:13

Thank you, Tony.

1:14

Next on the agenda, we have the consent agenda items A through C.

1:17

Item A is a private, I'm sorry, item A is a request to approve the minutes from work session dated the December 9th, 2025.

1:25

Item B is a private event approval request for the walk MS, April 18th, 2026.

1:31

And finally, item C is a private event approval request for the beach five Sandsocker June 20th and August 1st, 2026.

1:40

Secretary DeLuca.

1:42

Motion to approve the consent agenda.

1:44

Items A, B, and C.

1:48

Councilmember Yates.

1:49

I'll second.

1:51

I've got a motion from Secretary DeLuca, second by Councilmember Yates to uh approve the consent agenda items A through C.

1:58

All those in favor?

1:59

Aye.

2:00

Motion carries with seven in favor.

2:03

Next on the agenda, we have miscellaneous reports and presentations.

2:06

Uh reconsideration of a private event uh request for the Ocean City Jeep Week, May 27 through the 31st, 2026.

2:15

Um I'll go ahead and start off with this.

2:18

We were approached by this group uh month or two ago, and um the event did not get a favorable recommendation, it did not pass.

2:28

Uh a few weeks later I received a message from somebody on the council that voted against this event and said that they reconsidered their position and that they would support it if it came back on an agenda.

2:38

So here we are today.

2:40

The applicant is in the crowd.

2:41

If anybody has any questions, they can uh reach out to Mr.

2:45

Cropper and we can have him come up here.

2:47

I've got two lights on uh councilmember savage.

2:49

Yeah, make a motion to approve the event as originally presented.

2:53

Thank you.

2:53

Do I have a second?

2:54

I'll say I've got a motion from Councilmember Savage, seconded by Councilmember Yates to approve the event as presented.

3:01

Tony, your lights on.

3:02

Yeah, I have a few questions.

3:04

First, I'll ask a question of uh Lisa.

3:08

Can you tell can you tell tell us for the record who was the producer on record from 2024 through 2023?

3:20

So two years, 2024.

3:24

I'm sorry, 2014 to 2023.

3:29

So the person who completed the application, the producer.

3:34

The person who completed the application and I had contact with in coordinating the event was Brad Hoffman.

3:43

Thank you.

3:44

Thank you.

3:45

I have a couple of questions for the applicants.

3:48

Mr.

3:49

Cropper, if you'd like to come up.

3:52

Mrs.

3:52

Cropper, whichever, both.

3:58

I have a couple of questions that are confusing to me as I went through this thing.

4:02

Um and most of them are or number, number kind of driven questions.

4:07

The first question I have is your forecasting on page um sixty-two, no, sixty-one.

4:15

I'm sorry.

4:16

On page sixty-one, you have four twenty-five hundred participants.

4:22

And then in another place, um, on page sixty-eight, you have four thousand participants.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Special Event Permitting██████████████████████████████████████38%
Procedural███████████████15%
Public Safety██████████████14%
Special Event Coordination█████████9%
Real Estate Acquisition██████6%
Capital Improvement Projects█████5%
Budget Equity Analysis████4%
Pending Litigation███3%
Parking Management███3%
Summary of Proceedings

Ocean City Mayor and City Council Regular Meeting - December 15, 2025

The Ocean City Mayor and City Council held a regular meeting on Monday, December 15, 2025, at 6:00 PM. The meeting included approvals of routine consent items, a key reconsideration of a private event for Ocean City Jeep Week, several lease approvals, ordinance readings, and a public comment session.

Consent Calendar

  • Minutes: Approved the work session minutes from December 9, 2025.
  • Private Event – Walk MS: Approved a private event request for April 18, 2026.
  • Private Event – Beach 5 Sand Soccer: Approved requests for June 20 and August 1, 2026.
  • All consent items passed unanimously with 7 in favor.

Discussion Items

  • Reconsideration of Private Event for Ocean City Jeep Week (May 27-31, 2026): Event promoter Chris Cropper presented the request. Councilmembers questioned inconsistencies in attendance numbers and organization. Councilmember DeLuca expressed confusion over conflicting figures. Councilmember Proctor cited concerns about lack of organization and negative public perception. Councilmembers Garrick and Savage argued that the event met application requirements and that the market should decide success. A motion by Councilmember Savage, seconded by Councilmember Yates, to approve the event as presented passed 4-2-1 (in favor: Savage, Garrick, James, Yates; opposed: DeLuca, Proctor; abstain: Metresic).
  • Lease Extensions:
    • Ocean City Lions Club: Approved a 20-year lease extension (Jan 1, 2026 – Dec 31, 2045) for the facility on airport property. Unanimous.
    • OCDC Commercial Lease Extension – Tarry-A-While: Approved a 5-year extension (Jan 1, 2026 – Dec 31, 2030) for the Dorchester Street property. Unanimous.
    • OCDC Commercial Lease – Somerset Street Substation Third Floor: Approved a lease for the third floor of the new building, with amendments to allow OCDC reimbursement for furnishings and clarifying utility proration. Unanimous.
  • Ordinances and Resolutions:
    • Ordinance 2025-32: Second reading, increasing maximum reward for information from $5,000 to $10,000. Adopted unanimously.
    • Ordinance 2025-33: First reading, adopting FY26 Budget Amendment #1. Passed unanimously.
    • Resolution 2025-33: Authorizing disposition of surplus personal property. Adopted unanimously.
    • Resolution 2025-34: Declaring intent to reimburse expenditures up to $1.5 million for the Baltimore Avenue Utilities Undergrounding Project, contingent on grant confirmation from MDOT. Adopted unanimously after discussion.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Brad Hoffman: Spoke during public comment. He denied being fired by the Jeep Week organizers, asserting that he left a business relationship. He criticized the event organizers for providing inaccurate numbers, violating a contract regarding promotional products, and lacking integrity. He urged the council to hold applicants to higher standards of honesty and ability.

Key Outcomes

  • Jeep Week Event Approved: The reconsideration passed 4-2-1, allowing the event to proceed on the proposed dates.
  • Lease Approvals: Three leases were approved unanimously, ensuring continuity for the Lions Club, Tarry-A-While, and the new Somerset Street substation.
  • Reward Increase: Ordinance 2025-32 passed, raising the maximum reward for information from $5,000 to $10,000. Additionally, a motion was passed to increase the reward for an active 2024 bank robbery investigation to $10,000, pending a resolution to be brought on January 5, 2026.
  • Budget Amendment: First reading of FY26 Budget Amendment #1 passed.
  • Baltimore Avenue Project: Resolution 2025-34 passed to allow reimbursements for design costs with a $1.5 million cap, contingent on MDOT approval.
  • Meeting Adjourned: The meeting adjourned at 7:02 PM.

Meeting Transcript

Good. All right, good evening, everyone. Welcome to this mayor and city council meeting scheduled for Monday, December 15th, 2025 at 6 p.m. First on the agenda we have the prayer and the pledge. Secretary DeLuca will be leading us in both this evening. Help us to make decisions that will be pleasing to you. Help us to be able to discuss the matter at hand in a reasonable way and be willing to give up having our own way. Let this meeting be productive, and as it should be the case in all areas of our lives. Help us to keep you in the forefront of our minds as we do the work set before us. Amen. It's one nomination under God and is visible with the justice. Thank you, Tony. Next on the agenda, we have the consent agenda items A through C. Item A is a private, I'm sorry, item A is a request to approve the minutes from work session dated the December 9th, 2025. Item B is a private event approval request for the walk MS, April 18th, 2026. And finally, item C is a private event approval request for the beach five Sandsocker June 20th and August 1st, 2026. Secretary DeLuca. Motion to approve the consent agenda. Items A, B, and C. Councilmember Yates. I'll second. I've got a motion from Secretary DeLuca, second by Councilmember Yates to uh approve the consent agenda items A through C. All those in favor? Aye. Motion carries with seven in favor. Next on the agenda, we have miscellaneous reports and presentations. Uh reconsideration of a private event uh request for the Ocean City Jeep Week, May 27 through the 31st, 2026. Um I'll go ahead and start off with this. We were approached by this group uh month or two ago, and um the event did not get a favorable recommendation, it did not pass. Uh a few weeks later I received a message from somebody on the council that voted against this event and said that they reconsidered their position and that they would support it if it came back on an agenda. So here we are today. The applicant is in the crowd. If anybody has any questions, they can uh reach out to Mr. Cropper and we can have him come up here. I've got two lights on uh councilmember savage. Yeah, make a motion to approve the event as originally presented. Thank you. Do I have a second? I'll say I've got a motion from Councilmember Savage, seconded by Councilmember Yates to approve the event as presented. Tony, your lights on. Yeah, I have a few questions. First, I'll ask a question of uh Lisa. Can you tell can you tell tell us for the record who was the producer on record from 2024 through 2023? So two years, 2024. I'm sorry, 2014 to 2023. So the person who completed the application, the producer. The person who completed the application and I had contact with in coordinating the event was Brad Hoffman. Thank you. Thank you. I have a couple of questions for the applicants.

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