Ocean City Mayor and Council Work Session - June 30, 2026
Ocean City Mayor and Council Work Session - June 30, 2026
The Ocean City Mayor and City Council held a work session on Tuesday, June 30, 2026, beginning at 1:40 PM (following a closed session from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM). Mayor Rick Mann, City Manager Terry McGean, Council President Matt James, Council Secretary Will Savage, and Council Members John Garrick, Jake Metressic, Peter Buis, and Jeff Heiser were present. Councilmember Proctor was absent. The meeting covered public comments, bid openings, a beach code enforcement update, a real property acquisition discussion, an employee relationship policy, and tuition assistance increase.
Consent Calendar
- Minutes Approval: Approved the work session minutes from June 9, 2026 (motion by Councilmember Bruce, second by Secretary Savage; 6-0).
- Standing Committee Reports: Acknowledged reports from Police Commission (June 8), Transportation Committee (June 9), Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (June 17), and Ethics Commission (June 8).
- Bid Opening – Eagles Landing Plant Mitigation: Five bids received, ranging from $114,241 (Ecological Restoration and Management) to $132,000 (Shortcut). Motion to acknowledge and remand to staff for review (motion by Councilmember Garrick, second by Councilmember Metressic; 6-0).
- Bid Opening – Taxiway A Relocation/Hold Pad: Two bids received: $10,337,347 (David A. Bramble) and $10,531,434 (Alan Myers). Motion to acknowledge and remand to staff (motion by Councilmember Garrick, second by an unnamed member; 6-0).
Public Comments & Testimony
- William Apostolou (2804 Galway, Ocean City): Expressed strong support for the proposed 100% tuition reimbursement of the first $2,000 and suggested adding a 50% match on the next $2,000 to create a $3,000 cap, stating it would make employee benefits unique and encourage upskilling.
- Mr. Medlin (60th Street): Addressed a closed-session discussion (agenda item 2A) regarding a sports complex, warning against holding companies entering youth sports (citing Perfect Game Inc.) and urged caution based on experiences in his hometown.
- George Stoll (500 South Philadelphia Avenue): Expressed strong opposition to the Chima construction project’s request to close the sidewalk for two years, arguing it was unnecessary for 24-hour closure when only needed 8 hours a day for work vehicles. He stated the closure would disrupt thousands of pedestrians and questioned the fairness of the process.
Discussion Items
- Chima Sidewalk Closure (Police Commission Report): City Manager McGean explained the construction staging policy normally prohibits sidewalk closures during summer without council and police commission approval. Contractor GGA (represented by Justin) stated the closure was needed for safety during crane and truck operations, but could potentially be limited to working hours. Council members expressed concerns about pedestrian safety, the impracticality of the detour (people would walk in the street), and potential damage to the stamped concrete sidewalk. They directed the contractor to return within a week with a revised plan that allows the sidewalk to remain open when inactive and minimizes pedestrian detours, possibly using jersey barriers to protect pedestrian lanes.
- Beach Code Enforcement Report: Emergency Services Director Joe Theobald reported that the five-week-old pilot program (started Memorial Day) has been successful. No citations have been issued; officers educate the public about tent stakes, dogs, alcohol, smoking, and other violations. Compliance has been high, and the program is well-received. He stated current staffing is sufficient for the pilot but may need evaluation for future years.
- Real Property Acquisition (205-211 Philadelphia Avenue): City Manager McGean and City Solicitor Stansbury updated that negotiations with the property owner had stalled after a verbal agreement. A letter from the mayor prompted a text from the owner’s attorney with a much higher price than the appraised value plus demolition costs. Council directed staff to continue negotiations while simultaneously preparing eminent domain proceedings (motion by Councilmember Metressic, second by Councilmember Garrick; passed 5-0, with Councilmember Buis absent). A report back is expected for the July 20 regular meeting.
- Employee Relationship Disclosure and Reporting Policy: Human Resource Director Katie Callan presented a policy requiring employees to disclose family or intimate relationships within the same department to avoid conflicts of interest. Council approved the policy as presented (motion by Secretary Savage, second by Councilmember Buis; voice vote, all in favor).
- Tuition Assistance Increase: Current program reimburses 50% of tuition up to $2,000 annually. A proposal to increase to 100% of the first $2,000 was amended to 100% of the first $3,000 per year (motion by Councilmember Metressic, second by Councilmember Heiser; passed unanimously 6-0). The change aims to encourage more employee participation (only 11 employees used the program in five years).
Key Outcomes
- Chima Sidewalk Closure: Contractor to submit a revised traffic plan within one week for council consideration.
- Real Property Acquisition: Staff authorized to negotiate and prepare for eminent domain; update expected by July 20.
- Employee Relationship Policy: Approved and will be communicated to all staff.
- Tuition Assistance: Increased to 100% reimbursement of first $3,000 per year per employee, effective immediately.
- Meeting Adjourned: 2:46 PM.
Meeting Transcript
All right, good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to this work session. Today is Tuesday, June 30th, 2026, and it is 140 p.m. First on the agenda I have our notice and report on our closed session. Part of the mayor and city council's open session being held at one a little after 1 p.m. on June 30th. There was a closed session held today beginning at 11 a.m. here at City Hall. Topics of discussion were legal real estate and person or public security matters. Persons present were Mayor Rick Mann, City Manager Terry McGean, Deputy City Manager J.R. Harmon, Council President Matt James, Council Secretary Will Savage, Council Members John Garrick, Jake Metressic, Peter Buis, Jeff and Jeff Heiser, City Clerk Diana Chavis, City Solicitor Heather Sansbury, Tourism and Business Development Director Tom Perlazzo, and Ocean City Police Chief Ray Austin, along with Captain Eed. There's a motion to close the closed session by Councilmember Garrick, second by Secretary Savage with five in favor. And let the record reflect Councilmember Proctor will be absent for the entire meeting today. Next on the agenda, we have comments from the public. Any person who may wish to speak on a matter scheduled for discussion on the work session agenda may be heard during comments from the public for a period of three minutes or such time as may be deemed appropriate by the council president. Anyone wishing to be heard shall state their name, address, and the agenda item on which he or she wishes to speak. Sir afternoon. William Apostolou 2804 Galway, Ocean City 2842. On the tuition, I um actually commend the council, the mayor, Mr. McGean. I think this is fantastic. I just wanted to put on a record as someone who lives here full time and is a voter that the 100% match of the first 2,000 seems very, very smart. Um I'd go even a step further into a 50% match on the next 2,000 to make a $3,000 cap. Um we we are a unique town as we all have been talking about lately and all kinds of things. I'd love to see our uh employee benefits be unique as well. I think uh pouring into education and making sure that we have hires that continue to move up the ladder are a lot better than a a bad hire, and that's very, very expensive. So I commend you guys for that, and I hope that comes through. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else today? Sir Medlin, I'm on 60th Street. Um I want to talk about 2A and 5A4. For 2A, uh you were talking about the um sports complex in closed session, and I wanted to bring to your attention that there was a congressional hearing held in January that was talking about holding companies going into the kids' sports business. And that the holding companies would get together and form the whole, they took the whole deal. They had the coaches, they handled uniforms, they handled facilities, they built facilities, they built lodging and food. They're doing the whole thing. And I saw the SYA softball commissioner of about a week after that hearing was held, and and said, have you ever heard of perfect sport perfect game ink? And she rolled her eyes and said, yeah, they're terrible. And um, she said, but they're really into lacrosse, not into softball yet. SYA is an organization in Fairfax County that has a hundred and twenty-acre sports complex that's devoted to um rectangular games, rectangular fields, and they also are involved in um triangular fields also, but they don't own those. Um if you want to know more about them, you can go to SYA Sports.org, and it describes what they're doing. Anyway, they say it's a bad idea. The other thing is my hometown decided to get into uh Diamond Sports also. And they started out with a thing that uh they said we have 5,000 rooms with five within five miles, and that was their big thing, and I I thought, you know, that's that's a pretty dumb, although it's required it's it's not a good uh thing to to get you to come. And I talked to some people about it, and they decided that they were going to hire a retired batting coach, professional baseball batting coach, and that was going to be their big draw ticket that you know. Hey, if you've got a kid playing baseball, what would you give to have a professional batting coach help them out? Sound like a good idea to me. The uh the other thing that I wanted to talk about. We have a new fancy timer system here. I'm not sure if you noticed, but you're well beyond your three minutes.
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