OC Council To Hold Special Meeting On $9 Million Lot Purchase

 

A public hearing and final vote will take place on a proposal to repeal the bond ordinance at the special meeting on Nov. 27.

 

OCEAN CITY, NJ — Ocean City Council will hold the public hearing and final reading of the proposed ordinance to repeal the $9 million bond ordinance that would allow the city to purchase the lot across the street from the community center during a special meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 27, city officials announced.

The special meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at City Hall, 861 Asbury Avenue. Formal action will be taken, according to the notice announcing the meeting. The regularly scheduled meeting will still take place as scheduled two days later, on Thursday, Nov. 29, 7 p.m. at City Hall.

The proposal was approved with a 7-0 votewhen it was introduced on Nov. 8. The proposal looks to repeal Ordinance 18-10, which put the funding in place to the city to purchase part of the land across from the Ocean City Community Center for $9 million.

Members of the advocacy group Fairness in Taxes then launched a petition to delay the purchase because they were concerned about spending so much money on land when it was unclear what it would be used for. The city initially said that petition lacked the necessary signatures.

However, Ocean City Mayor Jay Gillian later said the proposed purchase was off because the city would have to hear the petition at the council meeting, which came after the deal between the city and the land’s owners expired on Oct. 31.

When purchasing the property no longer became possible, Gillian asked Ocean City Council to do away with the bond ordinance.

“I will ask representatives of the city to resume talks with all stakeholders,” Gillian said a day after the first vote. “I want to make sure the city makes every effort to preserve the property before it’s too late.”

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