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OC Today-Dispatch JANUARY 23, 2026

STUBBORNLY LOCAL, EQUALLY INDEPENDENT

PRICELESS

Petition has what it needs? With more than 1,200 signatures, but needing just 990, the petition calling for a referendum on the issuance of new short-term rental licenses should make the cut. — PAGE 4

PHOTO COURTESY OF DEELEY CHESTER

GREENLIGHT TO NOWHERE The Route 50 Bridge closure went into effect on Monday and is planned to continue through Feb. 3. Repairs will be conducted to the drawbridge’s “nose locks,” mechanisms associated with securing the span when it lowers back into place after boats pass through.

Fire parade marches on The Maryland State Firefighters Association has voted to move its June parade from Ocean City to Berlin after the town quickly agreed to stage the event on a Saturday. Ocean City did too, but not until after the wheels of relocation were already moving. — PAGE 22

New dredge funded — PAGE 12

Resort beach replenishment cost doubles Inflation, materials, labor ... no one is quite sure why the estimated cost of this year’s beach work has gone up by many millions of dollars. — PAGE 3

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OC Today-Dispatch

JANUARY 23, 2026

OC Today-Dispatch

Beach replenishment cost surges, work to begin in fall Next pumping effort will start in Sept. after a year delay if Trump signs bill

By Brian Shane Staff Writer (Jan. 23, 2026) Ocean City’s beach replenishment project for 2026 may cost Maryland taxpayers twice as much as previous cycles. Scheduled for a post-summer start, beach replenishment now carries an estimated price tag in the range of $37 to $40 million. That’s nearly double the cost from 2021, when federal, state, and local partners contributed about $21 million. Congress on Jan. 16 authorized $20 million for its share of the project by passing the Senate’s 2026 Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bill; the funding was included at the request of Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.). A House version of the bill passed Jan. 8. President Trump is expected to sign the bill into law by the end of the month. Beach replenishment occurs generally every four years, and 2025 was supposed to be a project year. But Congress failed to set aside its funding share, marking the first time in three decades that the project didn’t meet its expected interval, according to City Manager Terry McGean. “With disagreements and challenges on the federal level, that didn’t happen,” he said. “We’re very optimistic and hopeful this goes through, and we can start in the fall. Fortunately, we haven’t had bad storms, and the beach is in good shape. We kind of got lucky. Another year without it, we’d start to be in trouble.” According to McGean, Ocean City and Worcester County for years have each set aside money for a Beach Maintenance Fund. The state contributes $1 million a year and manages the fund. The city and county in recent years have contributed $500,000 each, he said, which doesn’t cover local costs like dune maintenance and crossover repair. Moving forward, “that contribution’s going to have to go up,” McGean said, adding that the city won’t know the true costs for 2026 until contractor bids arrive. Worcester County Administrator Weston Young said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which oversees the work, had shared with him a preliminary estimate of $40 million for this year’s project. He didn’t know the exact reasons for the higher cost, but believes it generally reflects the price of everything going up, including materials and labor. “If their number doubled,” he said

of Congress, “I imagine all our numbers would double.” When asked why the Army Corps’ costs were so much higher for this cycle of beach replenishment, spokeswoman Cynthia Mitchell said the agency is planning for and expecting higher prices based on recent bids and contract awards for similar regional dredge work. The last time Ocean City completed beach replenishment in 2021, project totals came to $20.9 million: Congress earmarked $11.1 million, and Maryland allocated $9.84 million for the local share from the maintenance fund, according to records from the Maryland Board of Public Works. After Hurricane Gloria flooded Ocean City and partially destroyed the Boardwalk in 1985, local leaders faced a hard truth: they needed a stronger long-term solution to protect the shoreline from devastating storms. They turned to beach replenishment. Sometimes called renourishment or shoreline protection, it’s the process of siphoning sand from the ocean floor 8 miles offshore, called a “borrow area,” and pumping it onto the Ocean City shoreline. Its goal is risk management: combat erosion and keep the defensive line of sand dunes intact. Going block by block, crews take months to pump an estimated 800,000 cubic yards of sand from a hopper dredge onto about 8 miles of beach. The completed berm ranges from 40 to 100 feet wide, and elevates the beach to about 7 feet above the median high-water line, according to Mitchell with the Army Corps. After Gloria, the state got behind beach replenishment, taking the lead on beach widening in 1988 and dune construction in 1990, online records show. It took volunteers two years to track down signatures from 250 owners of direct oceanfront property to grant easements for the dune line. In a 50-year agreement inked in 1994, Congress pledged to fund 53% of the cost of beach replenishment. Remaining costs are shared between the state of Maryland (23.5%) and Worcester County and Ocean City (11.75% each). That initial work also included construction of the 1.4-mile-long sea wall along the Boardwalk, where crews inserted a steel sheet pile bulkhead deep into the ground from Fourth Street to 27th Street. Since the first replenishment 32 years ago – this will be cycle No. 8 for the resort – the ongoing project has saved the resort from more than $927 million in storm damage, according to the Army Corps.

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WE CANNOT SA AY Y THAN K YOU ENOUG H FOR F THE OVE RWHE LM ING SU P PORT TH I S C OMMUN ITY HA H S SH OWN US ! A SP ECIAL THAN K YOU TO F INS ALE H OUSE & THE O G CR AB CAK E FA FACTOR RY Y!

NOT I C E OF T E M POR A RY C LOSU R E DUE TO A RECENT INCIDENT, T, OUR EST ES ST TA ABLISHMENT A IS CLOSED UNTIL FUR RT THER NOTICE. WE ARE WORKING DILIGENTL LY Y TO REOPEN AN ND REGRET ANY DISRUPTION TO YOUR PLA ANS. TH HA ANK YOU FOR YOUR UNDER RS ST TA ANDING. A WE WILL PROVIDE UPDA DA AT TE ES S AS SOON AS POSSIBLE REG GA ARDING OUR REO OPENING. The Mushrush family would like to thank you for all the calls , messages & kind d wor rd ds.