Ocean City in 'sticker shock' at $4.26 million cost to prevent attacks on Boardwalk

Just before the town's biggest holiday, officials learned a project to protect the millions of visitors to Ocean City's iconic Boardwalk will come at a higher cost.

A plan to secure all access points on the Boardwalk will cost more than $4.26 million — four times more than originally estimated, according to City Engineer Terry McGean.

McGean presented a detailed outline of the project along with Mark Parker, a consulting engineer for Johnson, Mirmiran & Thompson, during a recent Ocean City Town Council meeting.

“The price is sticker shock more than we anticipated,” Mayor Rick Meehan said. “But if we do this, we want to do it right and make sure it provides the level of protection we're looking for.”

The project was originally proposed last fall after multiple deliberate attacks on pedestrians involving vehicles occurred in cities across the United States and abroad. In the last four years, at least 15 such attacks have happened around the world, according to USA Today.

With millions of visitors throughout the year and more than 7,000 permanent residents, Ocean City officials are working with engineers to further protect locals and vacationers alike. While no attacks or threats have been directed at Ocean City, officials say they want to be proactive.

In one high-profile incident in 2013, a man deliberately drove down the Venice Beach boardwalk in Los Angeles, killing one person and injuring 16 others.

Five years later, the city of Los Angeles is paying up to $14 million to settle lawsuits from the victims who sued the city for not having proper safety barriers along the boardwalk, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Ocean City was not the first Delmarva beach to consider these safety precautions. Bethany Beach installed about five1,000-pound planters as safety barriers along its boardwalk three years ago, making it inaccessible to vehicles, said Cliff Graviet, the town manager.

Graviet said town officials thought it would be prudent to place safety barriers considering recent vehicular attacks in other cities.

More:Toronto is the most recent of many deliberate attacks involving vehicles

Other nearby beach destinations are also considering increased safety measures for boardwalks.

Rehoboth Beach wants implement a similar plan to Ocean City, said Krys Johnson, communications specialist for city. She said the police department sees an advantage to having safety barriers at access points on the mile-long boardwalk.

The police department is talking to the same company conducting the plan for Ocean City to see logistically how adding boardwalk safety barriers in Rehoboth would affect next year's budget, Johnson said.

Currently, there are no safety barriers at boardwalk access points, she said, but police officers are stationed along the beach 24/7.

"It's 2018. These types of safety measures are needed," Johnson said. "It's a concern. We're always thinking of how to stay safe."

The cost of protecting Ocean City's Boardwalk is substantial, though, because of its length. When the project was initially discussed, McGean estimated it would cost about $1 million. Now, the project cost has skyrocketed due to a number of factors.

The project outline currently calls for safety barriers at 26 access points along the 3-mile long Boardwalk, including the full length of the inlet parking lot.

McGean said including higher prices of barriers, the need to protect the entire north and west borders of the inlet parking lot and uncertainties in the cost of construction material due to new and proposed tariffs caused the miscalculation. 

Protecting Boardwalk openings on private properties was not originally anticipated.

More:Terrorism in Ocean City? Council acts against it with barriers

The Town Council expressed concern and “sticker shock” over the large increase in cost for the Boardwalk access project.

Council member Dennis Dare echoed the mayor's statement, saying he was shocked to see the price three to four times more than originally anticipated.

He added that while this is an important issue, Ocean City has other issues that also need to be addressed, such as street paving and staffing.

The plan for Boardwalk security can be adjusted to what the council believes is best for Ocean City, the engineers said. A few council members made suggestions for how these safety barriers can have multiple functions or be more aesthetically pleasing.

Council member Wayne Hartman brought up the issue of cigarette butts littering the Boardwalk. He said the cylindrical bollards could possibly be used as ash trays as well as safety barriers.

Fellow Council Secretary Mary Knight made a design suggestion for the sphere bollards to be painted to look like beach balls.

Although the price of paint could be absorbed in the overall cost, McGean said the council would need to consider the maintenance and upkeep of painting the sphere bollards. One concrete sphere bollard costs about $4,500, he said, but this price only includes the inner frame. The spherical covering is an additional cost. 

One challenge the engineers have faced with the design and placement of these safety barriers, McGean and Parker said, is ensuring delivery trucks and emergency service vehicles can still access the area. McGean said workers may have to open up certain areas to allow room for vehicles to come and go.

Dare said he doesn't want to lose any of the street area because he thinks it could cause operational issues.

"I understand the concern for aesthetics, but it has to be able to operate as well," Dare said.

Meehan said he and the council will continue to work with McGean and Parker to figure out these details. In future meetings, the mayor said they would also discuss possible cost saving measures for the project.

A few ways money can be saved with this project, McGean said, is to have less manual and automated gates at Boardwalk access points, lower the crash ratings of materials and use less aesthetic materials, such as railings or cable barriers.

These safety barriers vary in price with a single bollard costing about $3,400 and a three-bollard array priced at roughly $8,500. If the council decides to add planter shrouds over these bollards to make them look more aesthetically pleasing, that would cost an additional $2,500 each.

Gates with vertical lift beams have a price range of $44,000 to $60,000 each based on the width of the opening needed — either 16 feet or 24 feet — and whether they are automatic or manual.

All of these prices, Parker said, are just for the products and do not include the installation cost.

Temporary barriers were put in place along the Boardwalk last year, costing Ocean City $80,000. Those temporary barriers will be removed during the second week of October, as phase one of the project. Then at the end of October, phase two of the project will begin and permanent barriers will be installed.

The project is expected to be complete in early May 2019, before the tourism season starts again.

Council President Lloyd Martin said the main point from Monday's meeting was the price realization. But he said the council looks forward to continuing work with the engineers on this project.

"We'll have to value engineer this, and I think that's what the council direction is," Martin said.