Newsletter - April 21: 2 Big Blows To Big Windmill

Ahoy! No shortage of news this week as the island prepares for the summer season.

Welcome to the hundreds of new subscribers since last week. You now know more about Ocean City than your neighbor.

News flash: 9th and Asbury will be closed most of the day today due to paving.

In the email today:

📆 Upcoming events

🍃 Big blows to big windmill

🛟 Lifeguard negotiations continue to tread water

🔗 News links

🦈 Shark!

🏠 Real estate update

🎟 Tickets and discounts

🌊 Weather and tides

📆 Upcoming Events in (and around) Ocean City

• April 21st

  • Sea Isle City Spring Girls Weekend 2023 (Friday-Sunday)

    • When: All day

    • Where: Downtown Sea Isle

    • Description: Specials and deals at participating Sea Isle City businesses.

• April 29th

  • Sports Memorabilia Show (Saturday and Sunday)

    • When: 10:00 a.m. to 4 p.m.

    • Where: Music Pier

    • Description: Vendors with merchandise and collector’s items representing a variety of sports and teams will be on display and for sale at the show. Admission is free. Super Bowl champion Brandon Graham and World Series champion Chad Durbin will be part of the show and they will greet fans and lead Q&A sessions as part of the event.

  • Boardwalk and Downtown Merchant Table Sales

    • When: All day

    • Where: 6th to 14th Street on Asbury and The Boardwalk

    • Description: Outdoor shopping, baby!

Other events to look forward to: Spring Block Party (May 6, 5th to 14th Street on Asbury)

🤳 News Bits

Big Blows To Big Windmill 🍃

Two major stories about windmill farms off the East Coast cut through to the mainstream this week.

1) Bloomberg reports that the Pentagon opposes the development of wind turbines off the coasts of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina. Specifically, they are concerned about its incursion into areas frequently used by nearby military bases and testing facilities. They called the proposed locations of the wind farms “highly problematic”, and it appears their assessment will greatly impact the project.

2) Pro Publica, a respected and measured independent investigative journalism site, dove deep into the issue. They detailed how fishermen in New England are using their political clout to push back, with some success, against offshore windmills. More, they took aim at the revolving door between government and BIG WIND™ representatives. Just look at this line:

Two years ago, Beaudreau took in $2.4 million representing offshore wind developers.

Bloomberg and Pro Publica can hardly be accused of misinformed partisan hysteria the way many locals are.

While these stories focus on locations that literally book-end the Jersey Shore, its a sign that coverage and questioning of the pros and cons of offshore windmills has reached beyond Facebook pages and town hall meetings.

What it means for windmill development off our coast? Too early to say. But the tide may be turning in the direction of the opposition.

Lifeguard Negotiations Continue To Tread Water 🛟

Negotiations between the city and lifeguards continued over the past week.

Great way to kick off the 125th season of the OCBP.

Here are the details:

• The lifeguard union is trying to hammer out a new contract with the city before the summer season, and things are becoming contentious.

• Lifeguards want higher pay, at least in line with current minimum wage of $15 per hour.

• Proponents said better pay would lead to more and older (ie experienced) guards in (on?) the stands.

• Maddy Vitale of OCNJ Daily reports that last year there were 170 lifeguards compared to about 180 the year before, and that the city is aiming for 190 this year. She says the city has offered $17.50 per hour to rookie guards.

• Some were concerned last summer when the lack of lifeguards led to unguarded beaches late in the summer.

News Links 🔗

• The city will limit future cell phone tower placement to city-owned property and existing utility poles (ruling doesn’t effect the proposed tower we told you about last week) 📱

• The city approved a new Boardwalk police substation at 8th and the Boardwalk to help police better deal with summer crowds 🚓

• Ocean City schools performed fairly well in a state report— primary school finished in the 94th percentile 🏫

🦈 Shark!

OCEARCH logged 10-foot juvenile Great White Hali off the coast near Ocean City last week.

Enhance!

We don’t have a panic on our hands on the Fourth of July. Not yet, at least. Perhaps Hali just wanted to check out all the pageantry of the Doo Dah Parade.

🏠 Real Estate Update

Ocean City’s housing market still very much favors sellers.

As of March 29th, active inventory stood at around 267 properties. Historically, this is an incredibly low number— Ocean City usually has anywhere between 700-900 active listings at this point in the year.

Sellers are capitalizing on the city’s low inventory with higher asking prices.

Across all properties, the average listing price is about $1.87 million. This is led by several very expensive properties that recently hit the market.

Unsurprisingly though, most buyers aren’t letting this higher number dampen their plans, and they are either buying with expectations of future refinancing or just busting out the good ol’ Benjamins, with the current median sale price at a record of nearly $1 million:

This is led by a massive uptick over the past year in the price of single-family homes:

What does this mean? The market is normalizing. Sales volume is down YoY while listings are up slightly.

HOWEVER.

There’s a lot of junk on the market, and premium, move-in ready condos and single-family homes are as in-demand as ever, even if price hysteria has cooled a bit. One local agent reports people waiting in line for a second floor 3-bedroom condo on Asbury. Another local agent stressed that extremely low inventory means quality homes are still extremely competitive.

Real Estate News Bits 🐚 

• Merion Park is becoming increasingly popular for its year-round livability, and plans are in the works to mitigate flooding in the area 💦

• Relative to other towns in New Jersey, Ocean City tax rates are among the lowest in the state 💰

🎟 Tickets and Discounts

• Get $30 seasonal beach tags before the city updates to $35 on June 1. There is a $5 shipping fee on each order, but you can order up to 10 tags at once. Get them here.

• Wonderland Pier is offering 50% off ride tickets. Get them right here.

• Enjoy unlimited arcade play on April 21 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m at JiLLy’s for only $20—part of the Ocean City Crew fundraiser. Get your card here.

🌊 Weather and Tides

As always, we recommend getting up-to-date forecasts from THE GOAT of South Jersey weather, NorEaster Nick, directly on his Facebook page.

Tides (9th Street):

• Friday (4/21)

  • Low: 3:37 AM

  • High: 9:31 AM

  • Low: 3:37 PM

  • High: 9:48 PM

• Saturday (4/22)

  • Low: 4:24 AM

  • High: 10:15 AM

  • Low: 4:18 PM

  • High: 10:30 PM

• Sunday (4/23)

  • Low: 5:11 AM

  • High: 10:59 AM

  • Low: 4:59 PM

  • High: 11:12 PM

• Monday (4/24)

  • Low: 5:59 AM

  • High: 11:46 AM

  • Low: 5:42 PM

  • High: 11:57 PM

• Tuesday (4/25)

  • Low: 6:50 AM

  • High: 12:36 PM

  • Low: 6:29 PM

• Wednesday (4/26)

  • High: 12:47 AM

  • Low: 7:45 AM

  • High: 1:34 PM

  • Low: 7:24 PM

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Thanks! Enjoy the weekend.