Welcome to the Ocean City Newsroom where you will find archives of important news released by the City of Ocean City. Browse the articles to learn a little more about Ocean City from a news bulletin point of view. For information about Ocean City community events, please see the home page.

January 17, 2006

MICHAEL ROSSBACH APPOINTED AS
DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT

With City’s Council’s consent, Michael Rossbach has been appointed Director of Public Works of the City of Ocean City by Mayor Sal Perillo. Mr. Rossbach will begin serving the municipality in February.

Mr. Rossbach will join Ocean City following his employment with Egg Harbor Township as a Deputy Director/Division Manager of Public Works. He has been employed by Egg Harbor Township since 1995 where he was appointed Division Manager of Public Works in 1997 and Deputy Director of Public Works in 2004. In those capacities, he assisted the Director in moving the 59 employee department forward in a rapidly growing community. He supervised the Solid Waste Division and developed a computer based log for tracking waste flow and employee productivity. He has also worked directly with municipal, county and state agencies overseeing the day-to-day operations of the public works department. His past experience in Egg Harbor Township also includes managing the Roads Division and responsibility for planning, coordinating and supervising roadway and shoulder maintenance, drainage and retention basin cleaning and maintenance.

Mr. Rossbach holds a Bachelor of Engineering Degree from Widener University where he graduated Magna Cum Laude. He also completed Public Works Managers Certification in 2002.

“I am confident that we have chosen the right individual for this position. Mr. Rossbach will be a great asset and I am pleased to welcome him to our City”, said Mayor Perillo.

January 17, 2007

OCEAN CITY PROMOTES ENVIRONMENTAL AGENDA

Solar energy, green buildings, hybrids, City property improvements, enhanced parks and bikeways are all part of the environmental agenda presented at Tuesday’s City Council meeting.

Last week, Mayor Sal Perillo introduced legislation that would create an Environmental Commission for the first time in Ocean City. Perillo noted that “this agenda will be used to provide guidance to the Environmental Commission on a variety of issues that affect the quality of life in our community.”

The City expects to take the lead on potentially a 1.3 Mw solar project that will provide power for four municipal buildings and all three schools located in the City. A $2.4 M grant from the NJBPU would help leverage this project.

Business Administrator Jim Rutala noted that, “While this project would be constructed at no cost to the City or School District, the potential of saving $100,000 in the first year exists. This is a good example of shared services with two public agencies working together to save energy costs.”

An incentive for a private partner to build this project is the NJBPU rebate, solar energy credits and Federal tax incentives.

The City has already purchased two hybrid vehicles and is in the process of switching to biodiesel fuel as a way to reduce reliance on fossil fuels. A portion of biodiesel fuel is made of soybean oil and it is available at the same cost as diesel fuel thanks to a rebate from the Board of Public Utilities.

A commitment to reduce electric costs by 10 percent is also part of the agenda. Energy star appliances, LED lighting, solar signage, and building upgrades are part of the plan to meet this goal.

Mayor Perillo noted, “It is timely that we present this agenda on the same day that we begin discussing the 2007 budget. All of the items discussed can potentially reduce the City’s budget while improving our environment.”

Increased recycling is another goal. The City’s recycling rate has dropped in the past years and a renewed campaign in the schools, through local realtors and in the business community will be put in place. Rutala stated, “Recycling is one of the few ways that residents can have a direct impact on the budget.”

The City pays for waste disposal by the ton – the entire program, including collection, cost the City over $2.55M in 2006.

January 16, 2007

MAYOR’S BUDGET ADDRESS

Good evening Citizens of Ocean City, Employees of Ocean City, and Members of the Municipal Council.

I have had the privilege to serve all of you as the Mayor of this great City. As I reflect back on the last six months, a number of things have become apparent to me.

Our Citizens

A City is first and foremost its people. Ocean City’s citizens and visitors, in many cases, have been connected to the City for decades. Ocean City has been discovered as a great place to retire to and to live in year round. Many of our new residents have chosen Ocean City in part because it has been their summer home and their family’s summer home for decades. This creates a sense of deep feeling about our City which is something special.

One of the by-products of the strong feelings our citizens have about their community is the willingness on the part of many people to volunteer their services to the City. The City runs 32 special events a year with a very small staff of dedicated City employees, Mark Soifer and Michele Gillian, and an army of volunteers. To build on that volunteer tradition, I have created the Mayor’s Commission on Volunteers which is making it easier for those who want to get involved to get involved. The response from the community has been very positive.

We have also involved the community in aspects of City government that they had never participated in. We began with the recruitment process for the Business Administrator which involved 15 citizens from the first to the final set of interviews. Their input and advice was helpful and was heeded by me. The result we achieved was better because of citizen involvement. In addition to establishing a Commission on Volunteers, we have also created a Beautification Committee whose goal is to make public property in Ocean City beautiful for our citizens and guests. Walk through City Hall and you will see their impact already being felt. Ten percent of our budget is spent on health insurance. We have involved citizens with extensive background and experience in employee benefits in a Health Insurance Advisory Committee. Recently, I have formed a Citizen Budget Task Force which will be actively involved, not only in the budget process, but also in the implementation of the budget once it is adopted. Eight citizens with over 200 years of financial and management experience have volunteered for that effort. Shortly, I will be announcing the creation of a Restaurant Task Force to help us develop ways to retain existing restaurants and to expand our restaurant base.

Our City Employees

A City Government is also about people, the people who work for the City and serve our citizens. In the last six months, I have come to appreciate how talented and dedicated so many of them are. During this year, we are going to focus on continuing to energize them. We are instituting a performance evaluation program for all of our employees which will start with the top management of the City. Good people and good employees will welcome an evaluation process that will recognize and reward their contribution to the City.

I have made the staff aware that it is a prime objective of mine to renew the City’s commitment to customer service. During 2007 we will emphasize this in all areas of our operations, from selling beach tags to issuing building permits. Our employees will receive customer service training. We interact with literally millions of people each year, and we’re going to make certain that they are treated with courtesy and respect.

The most important decision I have made in the last six months was the hiring of the Business Administrator. As I have indicated, I was assisted in that process by 15 citizens and the City Council. The person who emerged from that process, Jim Rutala, has demonstrated that we made the right decision. In four short months, Jim has taken hold of this organization and is moving it forward in new ways and new directions. Jim joins a group of capable, professional department directors I was fortunate enough to inherit.

Initiatives

With his background in planning, Jim has recognized the tremendous impact that the Route 52 bridge project will have on the City and the opportunities it presents to change 9th Street and to revitalize a large part of the commercial base of the City. With Jim’s assistance and leadership during the next year, we will be taking steps to create a new 9th Street Gateway to the City which transforms 9th Street into a beautiful and vibrant gateway to the City. We will be taking the City Hall Annex Property, which is an embarrassing eyesore, and transforming it with the assistance of a public/private partnership into an example of the kind of downtown commercial development that Ocean City needs and deserves.

In the area of information technology, we have made and will be making great strides thanks to the hard work of Max Hurst and his staff. The City’s website has been improved and is becoming more and more interactive. We have developed an email list with 700 subscribers who receive agendas for City Council, Planning and Zoning Board meetings, weather warnings, press releases and other information. The website invites citizens to communicate directly with the City and my office. On a daily basis, we are receiving and responding to e-mails from our constituents. Within weeks, the website address will be changed from the cumbersome ocean-city.nj.us to ocnj.us. Our website will be used for everything from ordering beach tags, tickets for Music Pier and City events, to renewing memberships to the Aquatic and Fitness Center. Our gasoline dispensing system is in the process of being computerized so that we will be able to monitor much more closely the use of fuel by City vehicles. A computerized time clock system is being installed throughout the City which will save payroll time and improve accountability. Our inspectors are using computerized hand held devices which reduce paperwork and the need to return to the office to file reports. With the assistance of the City library we are in the process of becoming the first municipality in the State to develop a citywide community wireless system which will not only make it easy and economical for our citizens and visitors to access the internet, but will also improve the ability of City government and our school system to communicate electronically. Channel Two will continue to be improved. Council President Thomas took the initiative last spring to create a Channel Two Committee. He has now encouraged the City Administration to take that ball and run with it. I thank President Thomas for his leadership in this area and I accept his challenge.

As an island community, our environment is of critical importance to all of us. My presentation will be followed by a City Council workshop on environmental issues, the first of its kind. Ocean City will become a model of environmental sensitivity and responsibility. We are embarking with the Board of Education to implement a solar energy system which will not only save energy but also save taxpayers money, over $100,000 a year. Jim, Dennis Campbell and the staff of the City have developed a strategy to implement this program without any cost to the taxpayers with the use of a $2.4 million BPU grant. The City Council is in the process of establishing the first Environmental Commission in the history of the City. The Environmental Commission will play a major role as we go forward. This year we are going to focus on improving our recycling program. We plan an aggressive educational campaign and other measures to improve our recycling rate by at least 10% this year, which will result in a savings of $135,000. Ultimately, our goal is for Ocean City to have the best recycling rate in Cape May County. This year we are introducing hybrid vehicles to the City fleet. These are just some of the programs we will be pursuing in the environmental area.

Quality Of Life

Our quality of life in this community continues to be the envy of the region. How many communities can boast about having an airport, golf course, professional orchestra, music pier and concert quality performing arts center. We have them all. The amenities we enjoy are many, and we must continue to invest in them.

Six separate parks and recreation projects are either very close to completion or will be completed in 2007 including:

The park at 9th and West
The Tennessee Avenue Complex
The 52nd Street hockey rink and playground
The North Street Playground
The 34th Street Playground
The Little League Building at 35th Street
A new initiative to improve the 8th Street Playground and Recreation Center.

Other capital improvements that will be completed by summer include:

The parking expansion at the 7th and Central Lot which will increase the parking inventory in the downtown parking lots by 20%
The parking expansion across from the high school.
The Asbury Avenue paving project in the downtown.
New signals and pedestrian improvements on 9th Street plus paving from West Avenue to Atlantic Avenue. (The traffic light improvements are part of a $700,000 Cape May County project that we obviously appreciate.)
The nearly $1 million drainage and paving project in the Ocean City Homes neighborhood.
The Verde and Pitcarin Bulkhead replacements ($550,000 improvements.)

Beginning in the fall, and continuing through the spring of 2008, we will get complete the repaving of:

Ocean Avenue from 9th to 15th Streets – an estimated $500,000 project.
Asbury Avenue from 14th to 17th Streets – an estimated $250,000 project.
Spruce Road – an estimated $400,000 improvement.
Smaller repaving projects on 15th Street, Westminster Lane, 49th Street as well as several alleys.

Beach Replenishment and Bay dredging

Our beaches, bays and lagoons are tremendous assets that need to be protected. Unfortunately our beaches have been decimated by storms in recent years. Some properties are one storm away from being seriously damaged. Our bay front and our lagoons continue to silt over. We have been working closely with the Department of Environmental Protection and its very capable Commissioner Lisa Jackson to address these and other important issues. At the same time we have been in regular contact with our Federal representatives to encourage them to make sure the United States government lives up to its 50-year commitment to protect our beaches and property. I am hopeful that we will make progress on the beach and the bay in the near future.

Ocean City has so much to offer to our citizens and visitors. It is a great place to live and visit. Unfortunately, in the past, we have had government and private groups trying, independent of one another, to get that message out. Under the leadership of the Tourism Commission and its Chair, Councilman Michael Allegretto, we are in the process of consolidating and coordinating our marketing efforts with all of these groups which hopefully will include for the first time a significant participation by the business community. We are working towards developing a combined marketing budget that will be used to present a unified, cohesive and effective communications program. We have a great story but we need to tell it more effectively.

Zoning

Zoning has been and will continue to be a primary focus of my administration. In the last six months, the City Council has adopted four Zoning Ordinances which is four more than were adopted in the prior year. In July, we began the process to stop the duplexification and destruction of our downtown. I commend the City Council for responding so promptly. Since then, we have been working to put together a new Downtown Zoning Ordinance which will maintain and reinforce the commercial viability of the downtown. The process has taken longer and has been more difficult than any of us would have liked. I am confident that we, the Planning Board, the City Council and the Administration, will be able to achieve that goal within the next few months. In September, we presented to the community a 50 page Residential Zoning Ordinance which will plug the loopholes in the existing residential zoning, simplify and bring consistency to our Zoning Ordinances, and reduce the mass of residential buildings which are out of character with their neighborhood. The Planning Board is in the process of reviewing that Ordinance and I anticipate that in February, those changes will be presented to the City Council for their review and action. As we proceed during the year, we will focus on the other commercial zones in the City, including important zones such as the hotel/motel zone, the marine village harbor zone, the off-boardwalk zone, the neighborhood business zones, and the drive-in business zones, which have completely failed to produce the desired results envisioned when they were created 18 years ago. Although, despite 18 years of failure, they have remained and languished untouched, these zones will be the next ones to be addressed.

We have an ambitious agenda, but I am confident that with the hard work of our staff, the input and support of the community, and the cooperation of the City Council, this and more will be able to be achieved in the coming months.

The coming years will be an economic challenge for the City as the real estate market nationally and locally slows. We welcome and embrace challenges. We have a number of economic challenges facing us this year.

In next year’s budget, there are $3.7 Million Dollars of new expenses that the City will have to fund through local taxation that we did not have to fund last year. Those expenses include such things as $674,000 in pension payments that last year the State paid for and this year the State is requiring the City to pay for. This represents a 45% increase in pension costs this year alone. Our library contribution will increase by at least $500,000 and, if the regulations proposed by the State Librarian become law our contribution will increase by over a million dollars. The library and pension increases alone represent a one and a half cent increase in our tax rate. Increased debt service and contractual obligations add to our new expenses this year.

How do we propose to meet these and other challenges?

Shared Services

We are meeting with government entities within the City, surrounding municipalities and school districts and County government to explore opportunities for shared services. The solar project with the School Board is one example. Without City participation, the school board legally would not be able to proceed with this program. Shortly we will be presenting a shared service agreement with Upper Township to provide fire and EMS services to Strathmere. I commend Chief Foglio for the work he has done to develop this agreement. Ocean City, even though we are an island community, intends to be a leader in the State in the area of shared services.

Multitasking and cross training

We propose to provide the services and programs described above and other expanded services with fewer full time employees and no increase in part time employees. We will reduce our full time staff by 7 positions. This represents the smallest number of full time employees in over a decade. The Police Department will be reduced by one police officer and one civilian. I commend Chief Blevin and his staff in accepting my invitation to see how we can reduce staff but still maintain the high level of service our Police Department is known for.

How will we do more with less? The answer is that our employees are stepping up with an enthusiasm and energy that will make this possible. Employees are assuming responsibilities outside of their traditional areas. By way of example, our Purchasing Agent, Joe Clark, will play a major role in the Annex development. Our Finance Director John Hansen and his staff are probably the only Finance Department in the State that checks beach tags and runs parking lots. Our former Public Works Director George Savastano has for the last three months run the Public Works Department while reorganizing Community Development into the new Department of Planning and Engineering. This winter, rather than bring in temporary workers to repair the Boardwalk we have used existing employees at a savings of $35,000. Mike Dattilo and his staff continue to multitask by doing everything from running the DooDah Parade and over 30 other events, to helping to produce our TV show. In addition Mike and his staff plans to make our residents better aware of the array of social services and assistance that is available to them. Our COAH compliance plan, home energy assistance, senior programs and a revitalized Neighborhood Preservation Program will all include an extensive outreach program designed to communicate with segments of our community currently underserved and under recognized. We have a need for these outreach efforts to be done in a bilingual manner, a challenge we will also address during 2007. I thank them and many others for accepting various challenges willingly and with enthusiasm.

We have also proposed a $10 million reduction in our capital program. Debt service in 2007 will increase by $438,000 or ½ a cent on our tax rate. If we did not adjust the capital program, debt service would have increased by a cent year in 2008, 2009, and 2010. Given the clouds we all see on the economic horizon, I do not believe we can responsibly continue capital spending at that level.

I believe budgeting is about more than just dollars spent and dollars raised; it’s about outcomes and achieving objectives as well. In this regard, all departments are setting specific and measurable goals for 2007. These will be refined in the next month and performance reviews will be put in place for all employees by year’s end.

On the revenue side of the budget, we plan to explore new funding for our capital needs. This could include use of the Environmental Infrastructure Trust, land swaps, lands sales and the aggressive pursuit of grants from other levels of government and other sources.

Budget Process

I was asked last week by one of the members of the Budget Task Force whether I expected him to support my proposed budget. I explained that I don’t support this budget. This budget is a beginning, a good beginning. This budget is not perfect; it is a work in progress. The objective is to make this budget a good as possible. As we go forward I invite the City Council and the community to work with me to achieve that objective.

As far as I am concerned, everything in this budget is on the table subject only to some cautionary comments.

Given our dependence on the ratables created though new construction and the fact that construction is declining, I would caution the City Council against using the fund balance for tax rate reduction. We know that we will see a reduction of hundreds of thousands of dollars of revenue in 2008 as a result of the decline in new construction. As a result I have proposed to reduce the fund balance by $185,000 to reflect that. I would also caution against reducing the reserve for uncollected taxes. Our collection rate for 2006 for the first time in years has begun to decline which reflects the economic times we are in. We are all aware of speculative developers who have millions of dollars of completed homes on the market which have not sold. We should not touch the reserve for uncollected taxes.

Finally, I would urge the City Council and the community as we go forward not to deal with the budget in terms of generalities, please be specific. Please do not say reduce the budget to a certain tax rate or reduce the budget increase by a certain percentage. Instead, if anyone feels that there are responsible economies which can be realized, please point out the specific reductions that can be made. The overwhelming majority of our budget is composed of personnel costs. The Business Administrator and the Department Directors have identified 7 full time positions that can be eliminated. If anyone can identify additional economies, I would encourage them to do so.

As we proceed we may not always agree on everything. I suspect we will not. Let us work together, however, to try to achieve the objective we all seek, which is a responsible budget that maintains the level of services and the quality of life that our citizens deserve.

Thank you.

The press releases archived here date back to October 2006. The most recent releases are posted on the home page, so remember to check www.ocnj.us often to stay up to date.