The Storms Before The Calm

The miserable weather we’ve been having lately washes up all sorts of debris on the beaches. You can help do something about it tomorrow.

In the email today:

In the email today:

• 📆 Upcoming Events in (and around) Ocean City

• 🚜 More Improvements Coming To Ocean City

• 🏝️ More Beach Erosion

• 📝 Registrations and Activities Coming Up

• 🏢 Municipal Renderings

• 🏠 Real Estate Update

• 🔗 News Links

• 📊 Poll

📆 Upcoming Events in (and around) Ocean City

Saturday, April 13

• 🏖️ Beach Clean Up | Music Pier | 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

• 🐶 Doo Dah Parade | Boardwalk | 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Saturday, April 20

• ⚾️ Sports Card and Memorabilia Show with former Eagle Mike Quick and former Flyer Mark Howe | Music Pier | 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

You can see the full list of events in all nearby Shore towns with the following links: Ocean City | Sea Isle | Margate | Avalon | Stone Harbor | Somers Point | Wildwood | Cape May | Ventnor

Also note the Ocean City Library has many events for adults and kids alike on their calendar, which can be viewed here.

🚜 More Improvements Coming To Ocean City

City Council unanimously approved a $160 million capital plan for a series of projects from 2024 to 2028.

While not set in stone, some of the planned improvements include:

• $30 million expansion and renovation of old public safety building (2024)

• $6.5 million police substation at 8th and Boardwalk (2024-2025)

• Widening of northern part of the Boardwalk from St. James Place to 5th Street, with $4.8 million coming from a New Jersey grant we told you about a few weeks ago

• $2 million - $3 million annually for dredging in the back bays and lagoons

• $7 million road drainage and flood control (2025)

• Merion Park flood mitigation work which has already began

Wonder if they can spare a few hundred bones to get better smelling urinal cakes in the Music Pier bathrooms— that fragrance has been etched into my memory since I was a kid. Summers at the Shore— salt, seaweed, Mr. Zog’s Sex Wax, and urinal cakes.

For the female readers.

🏝️ More Beach Erosion

Not great. Here are some photos courtesy of Stephanie on Facebook of beach erosion as a result of the storms last week. Never good to see a cliff. Never good.

📝 Registrations and Activities Coming Up

As a very friendly reminder that you’ll be competing with me armed with 16 monitors, 4 laptops, 2 rented government-issued Belgian Malinois, and a teem of migrant workers, May 1 at 9:00 a.m is sign up for summer activities at OCNJ rec desk. 

From the city: “Online registration will be through the RecDesk system (ocnj.recdesk.com), and anybody can create an account there to manage program and event registrations, as well as Aquatic and Fitness Center memberships. In-person registration will be available at the Ocean City Community Center (1735 Simpson Avenue), also starting at 9 a.m. May 1.”

May the odds be ever in your favor.

Also:

• The Ocean City municipal golf course will open on Monday, April 15— get those tax payments in and head to the links.

• The outdoor pickleball courts on 18th and Haven will open May 1. You can get season passes starting April 15 on ocnj.recdesk.com. Clip clop, clip clop.

• Kids in 3rd grade-8th grade can also sign up for the Ocean City summer basketball clinic this August.

🏢 Municipal Renderings

The future of the Ocean City airport is still in flux.

After a $3 million gift from Leon Grisbaum (owner, Berger Realty), which currently sites in escrow, the city is still exploring other funding options to raise an additional $6 million or more to complete plans for a roughly $10 million renovation of the airport.

If redone, it will be named the Leon and Elizabeth Grisbaum Airport Terminal in recognition of the gift.

If not, Mr. Grisbaum gets his money back.

Meanwhile, a bit earlier in the planning process is potential renovations to the Bayside Center (5th and Bay). The 100+ year old building is in need of restoration. The city provided a concept to OCNJDaily, but there are still no concrete funding plans or timelines associated with the project:

In other improvements: Mayor Gillian said last week that a sewer main replacement, which has disrupted travel on West Ave. from 9th Street to 14th Street since the fall, is just about done. The project will move to 14th Street to 16th Street and be completed well before Memorial Day Weekend. Though a topcoat will be in the fall.

🏠 Real Estate Update

Did you know Walking The Boards has a newsletter dedicated to Ocean City Real Estate?

If you’d like to opt-in, just click the subscribe button right here:

🔗 News Links

• See how Ocean City did in statewide schools report 🏫

• A dead whale washed up in Long Beach Island 🐋

• Travel and Leisure named Ocean City Boardwalk best place to visit in New Jersey— perhaps visitors can Walk The Boards ☀️

• North Wildwood bans big beach tents this summer ⛺️

📊 Poll

Thanks! Enjoy the weekend.