Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan is preemptively rejecting millions of dollars from an offshore wind company.
In an online statement, Meehan said the CEO of US Wind emailed him in December 2023 offering a benefits package. US Wind is behind MarWin, a projected that is expected to have up to 22 wind turbines more than 20 miles off the coast of Ocean City, according to the company.
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US Wind offered Ocean City payments up to $2 million, Meehan said in a statement, on the condition that government officials not make negative comments about the proposed offshore wind project. “Ocean City Is Not For Sale” was the title placed on the news release.
“My response was, ‘Respectfully the future of the Town of Ocean City cannot be bought and we intend to continue to do what is necessary to protect the interests of our residents, property owners and future generations,’” Meehan said in a statement.
Meehan’s office did not respond to questions sent by a reporter.
A spokeswoman for US Wind, Nancy Sopko, said the company has tried to work with Ocean City officials for years.
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“We recently asked if they were interested in discussing a community benefits package, where we would provide some funding for local priorities. The mayor did not even want to talk to us about it,” Sopko said in an emailed statement. “The mayor’s refusal to talk will not slow us down one bit.”
In total, US Wind wants to have up to 114 turbines off the coast, according to documents within the Federal Register. Sopko said the company expects to have the federal permits in hand for development later this year.
In December last year, US Wind’s CEO Jeff Grybowski told The Banner he thinks construction on the offshore wind projects will begin in 2025.
The company has made similar benefits agreements to coastal towns in Delaware. The benefits package to the Delaware towns includes payments every year for 20 years, worth $2 million to each town, according to the company.
Ocean City has a fiscal year budget of more than $150 million.
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Cody Boteler is a reporter on The Banner’s Express Desk, reporting on breaking news, trending stories and interesting things in and around Baltimore. His work has appeared in The Baltimore Sun, USA TODAY, Baltimore magazine and others.
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