Ocean City Mayor and City Council Work Session - July 28, 2026
Ocean City Mayor and City Council Work Session - July 28, 2026
On July 28, 2026, the Ocean City Mayor and City Council held a work session at 1:00 PM in City Hall. The meeting included public comments, approval of minutes, committee reports, a bid opening, reports on beach code enforcement and a budget amendment, and discussions on Art League expansion, AI policy, and property acquisition.
Consent Calendar
- Approved minutes of the July 14, 2026 work session (7-0).
- Acknowledged standing committee reports: Police Commission (July 13), Tourism Commission (July 13), Green Team (July 8), Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (July 15); Transportation Committee (July 14) canceled.
- Acknowledged draft agendas for upcoming committee meetings.
- Opened bids for 14th Street Water Treatment Plant window/door replacements. Bids received: J&J Two Thousand – $843,627; Michael Ronka and Sons – $1,241,000; Delmarva Veteran Builders – $639,900; BRS Consulting – $736,990; Mersco – $595,762.50; Infinity Construction – $747,133; Way – $792,000. Motion to remand to staff for further review (7-0).
- Approved transfer of Taxi Medallion #152 (independent to independent, $100 fee) (6-0).
Public Comments & Testimony
- Crystal Collins (814 Ocean Parkway, Berlin, MD; President of Art League Board) spoke in support of Art League expansion. She reported 300 summer campers and an additional 300 children turned away this year, emphasizing the Art League's role in tourism, economic development, and community.
- John Sisson (1073rd Street, Ocean City; past President of Art League) described space constraints: the league converted a storage closet to office space and sold library books to create room for staff. He stated the existing building is at capacity and the proposed expansion is the most reasonable solution.
- Mary Knight (Berlin, MD) spoke in favor of the expansion, noting that families schedule vacations around art camp, the economic and tourism impact, and free programs such as gallery tours, kids' crafts, film Friday, and the art library. She asked the council to continue its partnership.
Discussion Items
- Beach Code Enforcement Report (Item E): Emergency Services Director Joe Theobald reported for the period July 6–19. The program contacted approximately 5,200 people face-to-face, placed about 2,200 tags on unattended property, and issued four citations (three for repeat tent violations, one for a dog). Compliance after follow-up is close to 70%. Councilmember noted positive feedback from beachgoers and residents, and that the beach patrol reports the best conditions on Condo Row in 20 years. The mayor called the pilot program a success.
- FY26 Budget Amendment #2 (Item F): Budget Manager Jennie Knapp presented. Key changes: general fund increased by $5.1 million; the amount taken from fund balance reduced from $3.5 million to $3 million. Room tax estimate remains at $25 million (collections through April were $19.6 million; May and June estimated at $7.4 million at 6% rate). Deferred ticket revenue balance as of June 30, 2026, is $771,000. Motion to move the ordinance to first reading on August 17 (7-0).
- Art League Expansion Funding (Item G): Executive Director Rina Thaler requested the city fund 50% of a 1,400-square-foot expansion (total estimated cost $617,550; city share $308,775). The state has already provided $83,000 for a pergola, which will be redirected. The expansion will add flexible classroom and exhibit space. Motion to approve matching funds not to exceed $308,775 from the capital maintenance fund, with the Art League raising the other half. Carried 7-0. Construction is targeted for completion by March 2027.
- Artificial Intelligence Use Policy (Item H): Deputy City Manager JR Harmon presented a policy for responsible, transparent, and secure use of AI by employees, contractors, and volunteers. The policy includes definitions, acceptable and prohibited uses, data protection, incident response, and an appendix of approved tools. Discussion focused on need for enterprise subscriptions, content disclosure, network security, and consequences for misuse. Motion to adopt the policy (7-0), with understanding it will evolve as technology changes.
- Real Property Acquisition at 205-211 Philadelphia Avenue (Item I): City Solicitor Heather Stansbury reported that after the mayor's letter, negotiations restarted but then went silent. The property is now under contract to another buyer at a price higher than the town's authorized offer. The town will not pursue further acquisition. Motion to continue pursuing traditional condemnation for safety (6-0, Councilmember Buis absent). The town will continue to enforce safety status on the uninhabitable structures.
Key Outcomes
- Approved minutes, committee reports, and draft agendas.
- Remanded the bid for water treatment plant window/door replacements to staff.
- Moved FY26 Budget Amendment #2 to first reading on August 17.
- Approved city funding of $308,775 for the Art League expansion.
- Adopted the Artificial Intelligence Use Policy as a working document.
- Directed staff to continue condemnation proceedings for unsafe properties at 205-211 Philadelphia Avenue and to monitor safety.
- Approved the transfer of Taxi Medallion #152.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to this work session. Today is Tuesday, July 28th, 2026, and it's 1 p.m. First on the agenda, we have our notice and report on our closed session. Prior to the mayor and city council open session being held at 1 p.m. on July 28th, 2026. A closed session was held today, beginning at 11 a.m. here at City Hall. Topics of discussion were legal and real estate matters. Persons present were Mayor Rick Mehan. City Manager Terry McGean. Deputy City Manager J.R. Harmon. Council President Matt James. Council Secretary Will Savage. Council members John Garrick, Jake Metressic, Carol Proctor, Peter Boos, and Jeff Heiser, City Clerk Diana Chavis, City Solicitor Heather Stansbury, and our Tourism and Business Development Director Tom Perlazzo. Had a motion from Secretary Savage, seconded by Councilmember Heiser to close the closed session. That passed with six in favor with Councilmember Boost out of the room at the time of the vote. And the closed session closed at 12 51 p.m. Next 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, their address, and the agenda item on which he or she wishes to speak. Would anyone like to speak today? Ma'am. If you could come up, you can either sit here or stand here, uh name and address and the agenda item which you'd like to speak on. Hello, City Council and everyone who's here today to help support the city. My name is Crystal Collins. I live at 814 Ocean Parkway, Berlin, Maryland. I am the president of the Board of Directors for the Art League of Ocean City. And I know you'll be hearing shortly from Rena Thaler, who is our executive director, and maybe a few other voices here today. But I'm asking for your support in um helping to help the art league. Um we had uh a full camp this year, 300 campers, an additional 300 kids who signed up for camp this year who had to be told maybe next year. So we've been looking at ways to help expand our programs and expand our building. Um it's more than just a building, it's a place for people to come together with all different interests. Um it helps tourism, economic development. People like to come to the art league and check out the galleries and support local artists and support their family members there who have um uh you know put art on display. Um I know personally how good it feels to sell a painting. That's how I kind of got involved in the art league initially, selling my artwork paid for my Christmas for my kids, and um, I don't really sell my artwork very much anymore, but uh have found a lot of joy in supporting the people that do. Thank you. Anyone else today? Sir I'm John Sisson, uh 1073rd Street of Ocean City, um, past president of the Art Lake of Ocean City. Um we're uh very uh happy to have the partnership that we do with the city and uh our beautiful uh Ocean City Center for the Arts. Um as our mission has expanded and our value to the town has increased. We've uh done our best to make do with what we have. Um thanks to uh our uh donors and friends and supporters would have been able to do that. Um we installed uh cabinetry and uh um storage unit outside so that we could take some of that storage space, storage closet and turn it into office space as staff increased. For the same reason, we uh sold or donated all the books in our library. Um that was very sad uh necessary uh thing we had to do to create space for our employees to work in private and not impinge on gallery space. At the same time, we increased our gallery space by turning our uh stairwells into galleries, one for uh a changing exhibit, and one to house uh part of our uh permanent collection. Um we've done about all we can with the space we have.
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