Meeting colors

OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Ocean City Mayor and City Council Work Session – September 1, 2026

Mayor and City Council & Boards — Tuesday, September 1, 2026

BodyOcean City, Maryland

SessionMayor and City Council & Boards

DateTuesday, September 1, 2026

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 21:50

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

0:15

All right, good afternoon, everyone.

0:17

Welcome to this work session of the Mayor and City Council.

0:20

Today is Tuesday, September 1st, 2026, and we are running a full hour behind schedule today.

0:25

So I'd like to apologize for that.

0:27

First on the agenda, I have our notice and report on our closed session.

0:32

Part of the Mayor and City Council's open session being held at 1 p.m., which is now 2 p.m.

0:37

on September 1st, 2026.

0:39

The closed session was held today beginning at 11 30 a.m.

0:42

here at City Hall.

0:43

Topics of discussion were legal real estate personnel and public security matters.

0:48

Persons present were Mayor Rick Mehan.

0:50

City Manager Terry McGean, Deputy City Manager Jarr Harmon, Council President Matt James, Council Secretary Will Savage, Councilmembers John Garrick, Jake McTresick, Carol Proctor, Peter Bruce, and Jeff Heiser.

1:02

City Clerk Diana Chavis, City Solicitor Heather Stansbury, Police Chief Ray Austin, Police Captain Dennis Eed, and a Board of Elections candidate Bobby DeCosta.

1:13

The Mayor and Council consulted with counsel to on pending and potential litigation, discuss the acquisition of real property, interviewed a board candidate and discussed police deployment strategies.

1:25

I had a motion from Secretary Savage, seconded by Councilmember Proctor to close the closed session.

1:29

That passed with seven in favor at 1 56 p.m.

1:34

Next, I'm going to add uh to our acknowledgments and recognitions.

1:38

Uh turn it over to Mr.

1:39

Mayor.

1:40

We have a Board of Elections candidate, Bobby DeCosta.

1:46

Bobby, if you'd like to come up.

1:50

For the public, we do have an opening on the Board of Elections.

1:54

And come on up, Bobby.

1:56

And that's due to the retirement resignation of Mary Adelin Bradford, who has been on the Board of Elections, I believe, for about 40 years and served as the chairman for the last 20 plus years.

2:10

And Mary Adelin uh did a terrific job.

2:13

She was a very valuable member of the Board of Elections.

2:16

And the board has gone through a lot of changes and a lot of updates over the years, and she's been there to kind of guide everybody through that.

2:24

And she's been the person there that was uh accountable at all all of the elections in the town of Ocean City and really took that job very seriously.

2:33

And you've seen her many times when she's come before the board to for the council to deliver the results of the election.

2:39

So I want to thank Mary Adlin for her years of service to the town of Ocean City, invaluable service, and wish her all the best.

2:48

But that created a position and an opening on the board.

2:51

And as you know, we're going to have an election in just a couple of months, and we like to have a full board.

2:57

So Bobby LaCosta had put in her name to be there and contacted us about serving on the board.

3:19

But it's a very, very important uh committee uh and board in the town of Ocean City monitoring our elections and providing those elections results, being there to carry out the elections and to work with the public.

3:32

So Bobby, I want to thank you for stepping up and for volunteering.

3:35

And if I could have that.

3:38

I'm gonna go ahead and I'm gonna ask her, swear her in.

3:41

But first, I'm gonna ask the council president to uh call for a vote.

3:45

Secretary Savage.

3:46

Okay, I make a motion.

3:47

We appoint Bobby DeCosta to the Board of Elections.

3:50

Second.

4:00

Any discussion?

4:01

All those in favor?

4:02

Aye.

4:02

Motion carries on seven in favor.

4:04

Thank you all very much.

4:05

Bobby, if you would raise your right hand and repeat after me.

4:08

Aye, Bobby Linda Costa.

4:10

I Bobby Linda Costa.

4:12

Do swear.

4:12

Do swear.

4:13

That I will be faithful.

4:15

That I will be faithful and bear to allegiance.

4:18

And bear true allegiance.

4:20

State of Maryland.

4:21

To the state of Maryland.

4:22

Support the Constitution.

4:24

And support the Constitution.

4:25

And laws thereof.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Convention Center Management█████████████████████████████████33%

Procedural█████████████████17%

Engineering And Infrastructure█████████████13%

Public Safety██████████10%

Pending Litigation████████8%

Fire Safety███████7%

Parks and Recreation██████6%

Public Engagement██████6%

Summary of Proceedings

Ocean City Mayor and City Council Work Session – September 1, 2026

The work session was originally scheduled for 1:00 PM but began approximately one hour late at 2:00 PM. The meeting opened with a report on the closed session held from 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM, followed by the appointment of a Board of Elections member, the retirement recognition of the Convention Center Director, approval of minutes, committee reports, a beach code enforcement update, and the announcement of a newly contracted lobbying firm.

Closed Session Report

The Mayor and City Council held a closed session from 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM to discuss legal, personnel, real estate, and public security matters. A motion to close the session passed 7-0 at 1:56 PM. Attendees included Mayor Rick Mehan, City Manager Terry McGean, Deputy City Manager Jarr Harmon, Council President Matt James, Council Secretary Will Savage, Councilmembers John Garrick, Jake McTresick, Carol Proctor, Peter Bruce, and Jeff Heiser, City Clerk Diana Chavis, City Solicitor Heather Stansbury, Police Chief Ray Austin, Police Captain Dennis Eed, and Board of Elections candidate Bobby DeCosta.

Appointments and Recognitions

Appointment of Bobby DeCosta to the Board of Elections: The council appointed Bobby DeCosta to fill a vacancy created by the retirement/resignation of Mary Adelin Bradford, who had served on the board for about 40 years (including over 20 as chair). The motion passed 7-0. DeCosta was sworn in by the mayor.
Retirement Recognition of Convention Center Director Larry Noccolino: The council recognized Larry Noccolino for 14 years of service as Director of the Roland E. Powell Convention Center. Mayor Mehan read a proclamation listing major expansions achieved during his tenure, including the Bayfront Ballroom, Dockside Exhibit Hall, Ocean City Performing Arts Center, approximately 30,000 additional square feet of exhibit space, and the 15,000-square-foot Bayfront Gallery. Noccolino thanked his staff, town departments, the Maryland Stadium Authority, City Manager Terry McGean, and his family. He was presented with a Key to the City.

Public Comments

No members of the public spoke.

New Business and Committee Reports

Approval of Minutes: The council unanimously approved minutes from the Closed Session of August 6, 2026, the Work Session of August 11, 2026, and Regular Session #12 of August 17, 2026 (7-0).
Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee: The August 19 report was noted (no further details in the transcript).
Pension Committee Report: The August 19 committee meeting produced two recommendations that were approved unanimously within the committee: (1) replace JP Morgan Mid-Value with Columbia Select Mid Cap Value; (2) fund the unbudgeted portion of the FY27 actuarial determined contribution using approximately $250,000 from the assigned fund balance set aside for pension contributions (requested by Jenny Knapp). The council voted 7-0 to approve the committee’s recommendations.
Recreation and Parks Committee Report – Bayside Park Concrete Repair: Public Works Director Hal Atkins presented a request to transfer approximately $123,000 from completed capital projects that came in under budget to address failing concrete at Bayside Park. The concrete was described as delaminating, cracked, and heaved, posing a liability. The council voted 7-0 to approve the transfer.
Fire Prevention Commission: A draft agenda for the commission’s September 1 meeting was noted.

Beach Code Enforcement Report

Emergency Services Director Joe Theobald provided an update covering August 3 through August 23. Enforcement personnel have contacted about 70% of previously tagged violators. As of the meeting date, only 16 stands remained due to the late Labor Day and school returns. Theobald proposed keeping enforcement through September 27 to maintain Automated External Defibrillator (AED) coverage. No formal action was taken.

Government Relations Services

The council reported that it had interviewed four firms on August 6 and August 17 for government relations services and has contracted with Manus Canning & Associates to assist with budget, legislative, policy, and regulatory matters at state and federal levels.

Key Outcomes

Appointed Bobby DeCosta to the Board of Elections (7-0).
Approved minutes from three meetings (7-0).
Approved Pension Committee recommendations (7-0).
Approved $123,000 transfer for Bayside Park concrete repair (7-0).
Adjourned the meeting (7-0).

Meeting Transcript

All right, good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to this work session of the Mayor and City Council. Today is Tuesday, September 1st, 2026, and we are running a full hour behind schedule today. So I'd like to apologize for that. 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 1 p.m., which is now 2 p.m. on September 1st, 2026. The closed session was held today beginning at 11 30 a.m. here at City Hall. Topics of discussion were legal real estate personnel and public security matters. Persons present were Mayor Rick Mehan. City Manager Terry McGean, Deputy City Manager Jarr Harmon, Council President Matt James, Council Secretary Will Savage, Councilmembers John Garrick, Jake McTresick, Carol Proctor, Peter Bruce, and Jeff Heiser. City Clerk Diana Chavis, City Solicitor Heather Stansbury, Police Chief Ray Austin, Police Captain Dennis Eed, and a Board of Elections candidate Bobby DeCosta. The Mayor and Council consulted with counsel to on pending and potential litigation, discuss the acquisition of real property, interviewed a board candidate and discussed police deployment strategies. I had a motion from Secretary Savage, seconded by Councilmember Proctor to close the closed session. That passed with seven in favor at 1 56 p.m. Next, I'm going to add uh to our acknowledgments and recognitions. Uh turn it over to Mr. Mayor. We have a Board of Elections candidate, Bobby DeCosta. Bobby, if you'd like to come up. For the public, we do have an opening on the Board of Elections. And come on up, Bobby. And that's due to the retirement resignation of Mary Adelin Bradford, who has been on the Board of Elections, I believe, for about 40 years and served as the chairman for the last 20 plus years. And Mary Adelin uh did a terrific job. She was a very valuable member of the Board of Elections. And the board has gone through a lot of changes and a lot of updates over the years, and she's been there to kind of guide everybody through that. And she's been the person there that was uh accountable at all all of the elections in the town of Ocean City and really took that job very seriously. And you've seen her many times when she's come before the board to for the council to deliver the results of the election. So I want to thank Mary Adlin for her years of service to the town of Ocean City, invaluable service, and wish her all the best. But that created a position and an opening on the board. And as you know, we're going to have an election in just a couple of months, and we like to have a full board. So Bobby LaCosta had put in her name to be there and contacted us about serving on the board. But it's a very, very important uh committee uh and board in the town of Ocean City monitoring our elections and providing those elections results, being there to carry out the elections and to work with the public. So Bobby, I want to thank you for stepping up and for volunteering. And if I could have that. I'm gonna go ahead and I'm gonna ask her, swear her in. But first, I'm gonna ask the council president to uh call for a vote. Secretary Savage. Okay, I make a motion. We appoint Bobby DeCosta to the Board of Elections. Second. Any discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Motion carries on seven in favor. Thank you all very much. Bobby, if you would raise your right hand and repeat after me. Aye, Bobby Linda Costa. I Bobby Linda Costa.

SUMMARIZED BY OPENPUBLICA AI

TRANSCRIPT VIA PUBLIC VIDEO
openpublica.com