Council Approves Bond Sale For New Fire Station, Downtown Park Redevelopment, Baltimore Avenue Work

OCEAN CITY — Despite some misgivings about the price tags on some of the capital projects included, resort officials this week approved on first reading a future bond sale totaling nearly $49 million.

The Mayor and Council had before them on Tuesday the first reading of an ordinance authorizing the sale of general obligation municipal bonds totaling nearly $49 million. The bond sale includes multiple capital projects, including funding for the downtown recreation complex redevelopment, the relocation of the existing firehouse at 74^th Street to a new location in front of the Public Safety Building at 65^th Street, the next phase of the Baltimore Avenue corridor redevelopment among others.

Also included in the proposed bond sale is the refinancing of bonds issued in 2012 at around $20 million. By taking advantage of historically low interest rates, that $20 million still on the books since 2012 can be refinanced through the currently proposed bond sale, resulting in a savings of nearly $1 million.

Last week, the Mayor and Council got a first look at the design for the new Ocean City Fire Department firehouse and were taken aback by the estimated $11.2 million price tag. When the new firehouse was discussed last spring, the cost estimate was around $5.5 million, of which $1.5 million was expected to be the contribution from the volunteer fire company from proceeds from the sale of the existing firehouse at 74^th Street.

Because the estimated cost of the firehouse had escalated, and because the proposed design included a new Station 3 firehouse over two times the size of what was anticipated, the Mayor and Council sent City Engineer Terry McGean, Fire Chief Richie Bowers and fire department staff back to the drawing board to come back with a design closer to the original estimate.

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