Letter From Mayor: New Department Created and South-End Sand Requested

Mayor Jay Gillian posted his weekly update Friday on the City of Ocean City website. The April 26 letter addresses the merging of the Public Works and Community Services departments and provides an update on south-end beach replenishment.

April 26, 2012

Dear Friends:

Last evening, City Council passed on first reading an ordinance that will establish a new Department of Community Operations. This department will consolidate all of the functions of the former Department of Community Services and Department of Public Works with the exception of the Offices of Public Relations, Public Information and Neighborhood and Social Services, which will fall under the Department of Administration. The Engineering Team will fall under the new department.

The objectives of this reorganization include the following:

1. Greater efficiency in operations.
2. Improved internal communication.
3. Improved external communication centralized within the Department of Administration.
4. Opportunities for more cross training of team members.
5. A more centralized approach to our stepped up capital improvement plan.
6. The formation of a small group of skilled and experienced managers who will direct the day to day operations of the department.
7. The opportunity to form small working teams on certain projects and tasks without the barriers of departmental lines.
8. Improved opportunities for succession planning in key areas of the organization.
9. Cost savings over time through attrition.
10. Improved customer service as the Henry S. Knight Building becomes even more of a one stop shop for the majority of City services.

My Administration will provide more detail on the organizational structure of the Department of Community Operations prior to second reading of the ordinance.

I’d like to also provide a quick update on the beaches at the south end of Ocean City.  We are continuing to truck in sand at a brisk pace.  The mounds of sand that can be seen in front of the newly constructed protective berm will begin to be spread out in the coming weeks prior to Memorial Day Weekend.  Sand harvesting operations will be undertaken as well.  In short, we are doing everything we can to have these beaches in as good a condition as possible for the season.

I want to again assure you that my Administration is doing everything possible to have the much needed beach replenishment project for this area funded at the federal level.  The United States Army Corps of Engineers will provide a report to Congress on May 1^st that will hopefully shed some light on this project.  We remain in frequent contact with our federal legislators requesting their support.

On a parallel path we have requested the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to partner with Ocean City on a state-local project should the federal project not look promising.  That is Plan B.  Like Ocean City, the DEP is awaiting word on the Army Corps report prior to any decision.

Hopefully, we will have good news to report on this in the coming weeks.

Have a great weekend!

Jay A. Gillian
Mayor