Sports
Fun
Biz
Remembering IRHS boys’ lacrosse coach Jim Dietsch
Mad scramble for Easter eggs
Tulip sale to benefit educational gardening program
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APRIL 10, 2026
THE LOCAL VOICE OF YOUR COMMUNITY.
Volume 23, Issue 15
FREE
Ocean View candidates address voters ahead of April 11 elections By Susan Canfora Staff Reporter In anticipation of the Ocean View election on Saturday, April 11, candidates for mayor and for the Ocean View Town Council seat representing District 1 answered Coastal Point’s questions. The candidates for mayor are former councilman and mayor pro-tem Tom Maly and resident Randy Robust. The candidates for the District 1 council seat are incumbent Councilman John Planchart and challenger Richard Dimock. Incumbent Councilman Jay Tyminski is running unopposed for the seat representing District 3. Also on the council are Councilwoman Colleen Twardzik, representing District 2, and Councilman Don Walsh, representing District 4. Mayor John Reddington has served two consecutive terms and is not eligible for reelection this year. Ocean View Town Council members serve three terms and are also limited to two consecutive terms. They are paid every six months. April and October 2025 payments were $690.41 for the mayor and $517.21 for council members. April and October 2026 payments will be $717.28 for the mayor and $537.34 for council members.
Tom Maly, candidate for mayor Q. If you are elected, what three topics affecting Ocean View and its citizens would you focus on? A. Tax stability. Ocean View’s FY 2027 does not include a tax rate increase. This is a result of the Town’s methodical budget preparation process. The recent sale of the Town’s water distribution system to a private company has enabled the Town to establish and fund the Tax Rate Stabilization Trust Fund. A future tax rate increase can be offset by issuing See Q&A page A6
Special to the Coastal Point • Marian Dowling
The sun rises on a beautiful day in our resort area, bringing the most beautiful shades of red, orange and gold to the skies above the Atlantic Ocean.
Contractors clear most of blizzard-downed trees from Assawoman Canal By Susan Canfora Staff Reporter Following eight nine-hour days of work by Big Wave Construction of Selbyville last month, the Assawoman Canal has been mostly cleared of trees that fell in the water during the Feb. 22 blizzard, but boaters must still be careful. “The south side is kind of narrow. There is a pass-through on the south side. Boats can get through, but they need to be careful at low tide,” Big Wave owner Josh Boyer told the Coastal Point this week, adding that the south end is from the Route 26 bridge to the Jefferson Bridge. Boyer said his company — which was assisted by two other companies and began the work on March 20 — “could use a few more days to clean it up and make the south side look as
good as the north side looks.” At mid-week, he was waiting to hear whether DNREC would approve additional days of work. “The job was worse than we expected,” Boyer said. “We were limited to eight days. Because the one crew had to haul stuff back and forth, that ate up so much time at the one side. We were not able to open it up as much as the north side. Originally, when we bid, we told DNREC we needed 10 days, and they said, ‘Can you do it in eight days?’ and I said I would do my best. If I had those extra days, when we were done, you could fit two boats side by side,” he said. “A good half of the canal still needs some TLC,” he added. “I drive my boat through there, and I know what I deal with every time I come through at low tide. Go slow through
here,” he advised. “There are permanent stumps on the bottom that we just cannot get out, so when it’s real low tide people need to be careful.” Overall, he said he was pleased with the outcome of the project DNREC paid for by the day, with total payment expected to total about $100,000. “We opened it up pretty good. People can get through, but in some spots, boats have to go single-file,” he said. During the work, residents gathered to watch. “A bunch of people were taking pictures. I was working right next to the walking trail, so people were there all day long, watching us. There were some people who said, ‘I miss the tunnel look,’ but it looks nice See CANAL page A12