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The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch
May 3, 2013
Design Study OK’d For New Beach Patrol Headquarters
By JOANNE SHRINER
STAFF WRITER
OCEAN CITY – Early design work, estimated at $165,000, for a new headquarters for the town’s beach patrol will begin soon, as the Mayor and City Council wants to get one of its priority infrastructure projects underway. The Ocean City Beach Patrol (OCBP) currently occupies three buildings on the south side of Dorchester Streeet between Baltimore and Philadelphia avenues. OCBP headquarters were once the old Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) and District Court facilities. “It was vacated as unsuitable by the police department in 1993 when we built the public safety building,” City Engineer Terry McGean said. The OCPB and OCPD both still utilize the facilities. The first floor of the old District Court serves as the police department’s bike storage and work shop, while the second floor serves as OCBP’s meeting and training space. The old police garage behind the old District Court serves as ATV, jet-skis and equipment storage with a restroom and shower and work shop area on the first floor, and umbrella, gear bags and clothing storage on the second floor with rain gear and paddle boards in the attic.
Three buildings on Dorchester Street currently serve as the Ocean City Beach Patrol’s headquarters, and the Mayor and Council showed support this week for relocating and building a new facility in the downtown area this week. File Photo
The third building, which is the old police office space, is now the OCBP’s conference rooms and computer space on the first floor with offices, reception and dispatch on the second floor. According to McGean, the existing facilities are all in need of significant repairs both cosmetic and structural. A brief examination of the existing buildings revealed significant issues, such as numerous ADA violations, nonfunctioning sprinkler systems, asbestos siding, cracks in exterior masonry walls and each building’s first floors are below the FEMA Base Flood Elevation. McGean furthered, the facilities are simply inadequate for the functional needs of the OCBP. The
required repairs and alterations to the buildings will exceed 50 percent of the current value of the structures and therefore each building will have to be brought into compliance with flood code requirements, meaning they will either have to be flood proofed or elevated. “For the last 10 years, we have been talking about a new home for the beach patrol,” McGean said. “We have looked at numerous locations throughout the town.” Potential facilities evaluated have included private properties for sale and existing city property. As far as location goes, the OCBP desires to remain downtown in close proximity to the Coast Guard Station as crews coordi-
nate a number of rescues, air operations and boat launches with the Coast Guard. Additionally, downtown provides convenient vehicle access to the beach. Staff recommended the new beach patrol headquarters be constructed on the three parcels recently purchased by the Ocean City Development Corporation (OCDC) between Talbot and Dorchester streets. The new 10,700-squarefoot facility comprised of office space, training areas, locker rooms, and equipment storage would house OCBP along with the OCPD bicycle storage and repair facility. McGean explained the estimated conceptual cost for the headquarters is $2 million. This will include the site, building, design and an allowance for furniture and equipment but does not include any land acquisition costs. The OCDC does have a mortgage for the proposed lot and paid for the development of temporary parking located there that includes 33 parking spaces. Combining the old beach patrol property with the current property used as parking would yield an additional 38 spaces at that site. The cost to construct a permanent parking lot at that location would be $300,000. McGean requested approval of the Mayor and City Council to negotiate an agreement in principle with the OCDC to place the new SEE NEXT PAGE
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