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Selbyville council puts fire company agreement in writing

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The Selbyville Volunteer Fire Company is aiming to add a new ladder truck to its fleet, and the Selbyville Town Council offered their full approval at their June 3 meeting.

To borrow up to $700,000 at a low-interest rate, the fire company needed a written agreement, officially stating the relationship between the Town and SVFC’s emergency services.

It was the first official agreement between the two entities but basically states what is already in practice: the VFC will serve Selbyville, and the Town will rely solely on the company for its emergency services.

With that agreement in place, the Town of Selbyville opened a very quiet public hearing for the VFC to request permission to borrow up to $700,000 toward a $1.3 million ladder truck.

“If it saves one life, it’s worth it,” said resident Lucille Creel.

The 2013 Rosenbauer T-Rex 115-foot aerial truck includes an articulated boom, so the ladder can rise high over a ledge, then drop a bucket containing firefighters. Fire company officials said the boom is helpful to get above Mountaire’s facility or false storefronts.

“It’s good for the town to get the equipment you need,” said Mayor Clifton Murray.

Approval was unanimous for the company to borrow the funds. The new ladder truck should arrive by August and enter service in September. It is expected to last 30 years. The old ladder truck will remain in service for as long as possible.

In other Selbyville news:

• Selbyville police reported 179 calls for service, 134 tickets, 13 arrests and $3,997 in fines in May. Police Chief Scott Collins said tickets were down, but fines were up — possibly because the State of Delaware was holding onto income tax refunds until outstanding fines were paid.

Police had just finished a distracted driving campaign, but Collins said they were to begin another crackdown June 7 to 17. Collins reminded people that, if you’re holding a phone, even on speaker, it’s not considered “hands-free.” Drivers in Delaware can only legally pick up their phones to dial or end a call.

Collins also reported that Selbyville police were involved in a high-speed chase after a robbery, but the pursuit ended in Frankford, when officers forced the car to stop with stop sticks.

Additionally, he said, the theft, in the middle of the day, of a motorized wheelchair valued at $6,000 was reported from by elderly couple.

“That’s low,” said Councilmember Jay Murray.

Collins also reminded people that a pawn-shop database has helped recover a considerable amount of jewelry, so people are being encouraged to record serial numbers to improve the chances of stolen items being recovered.

• Councilmember Rick Duncan reported that water usage was up to 9.3 million gallons, a 1 million gallon increase. He asked residents to “be conservative,” especially as Selbyville’s water system is still operating with only one well.

Erik Retzlaff, town engineer, said they’re waiting for the delivery of electrical and motor control equipment for the new well. He said he still hoped to see the new well online by late August.

• Councilmember Frank Smith III read a letter from the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, received after a recent compliance inspection at the town’s wastewater treatment plant. Housekeeping operations were “very good,” data was “acceptable,” methods were “in compliance,” and there was “no observable deficiency,” according to the letter. The DNREC representative commended the staff for a “fantastic tour” and their own dedication and compliance in wastewater treatment.

• Dickerson reminded people that Old Timer’s Day is scheduled for Saturday, June 15. Registration for cars, vendors and the yard sale are under way. He invited town dignitaries to make a speech at the auto awards. Due to a slight mishap with the awards, the customary pistons will be replaced with plaques this year, but they will return in the future.

• The council approved a 15-year franchise agreement with Mediacom, noting that prices are comparable to the other cable service with which the Town might have an agreement. They noted that satellite providers do not need to enter into franchise agreements with municipalities because they are wireless and don’t use municipal road space for lines. Dickerson said the only concern a resident had about the agreement had been answered.

• A house on 2nd Street that had been deemed unlivable was officially sold to a mortgage company in May, although the resident who had been living in the home was believed to still be residing there, town officials said. Dickerson said the company must now issue a vacate order.

• The council unanimously agreed on updates to the employee handbook, regarding motor vehicle record checks, cell phone usage at work and random drug testing. Dickerson said it provides for a safe working environment and helps the Town’s liability insurance to have good policies in place.

The next Selbyville Town Council meeting is scheduled for Monday, July 1, at 7 p.m.


Pet owners must prepare for hurricane season

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It’s hurricane season again. Are you ready? Is your pet ready? If you have pets such as hamsters, rabbits, guinea pigs and the like, it doesn’t take quite as much preparation to be able to evacuate with them. However, if you have dogs and cats, there is more preparation required. For horses and goats and the like, even more preparation is required.

No matter what kind of pet you have, some things remain constant. You need to decide if you will evacuate and, if so, will you take your pets with you? Where will you evacuate to?

For all pets, you will need to have an evacuation kit ready. That should include enough food and water for several days. (Water is important, because changing their water can cause digestive issues that are not pleasant.) You should have an ample supply of each pet’s medications.

You should have a current copy of their shot records. To always have this ready, I recommend buying a three-ring binder for each pet and buying the plastic sleeves so that you can slide each vet receipt into a sleeve and always have it ready. You can also make a page or two that gives basic information on your pet, such as what it eats, when, how much, current pictures, your name and address, emergency contacts, health issues, food allergies, medications and any other pertinent information.

Having a pet first aid kit is also a good idea. Also, having a spray/squirt bottle is something that often comes in handy, too. If your dog starts barking uncontrollably, sometimes a small squirt in the face will help to stop it. (I know many trainers will not like that advice, but it often works and it is not harmful.)

For your small cage-kept animal, you should have extra food and water, extra cage litter/bedding, plastic bags, paper towels and cage cleaner/disinfectant. A few extra toys and treats are also good to have. You should also have a small secure container to place your pet in while you clean the cage.

Pictures of you with your pet are another good thing to have. A towel, blanket or sheet to cover the cage with is good, too. That way, you can close out the commotion around your pet and give it some security.

For cats, you should have a small litter box (maybe even several disposable litter boxes), extra litter, food and water bowls, food, litter scoop, plastic bags for disposing of used litter, paper towels, cleaning solution, a few toys, carrier, leash and collar, if applicable, extra bedding and anything that might help keep your cat comfortable.

You also need a current copy of your cat’s shot records. You should have a few current pictures of your cat and, if possible, pictures of your cat with you. I would also recommend having a small dog crate for your cat.

After all, if you evacuate to one of the local evacuation centers, you will not be able to allow your cat to roam free, and the cat carrier is too small to place a litter box inside. It also allows your cat enough room to at least move around a little. I would also have a sheet or blanket that you can put over the crate with to allow your cat some privacy.

For dogs, the needs are more extensive. You need food and water, bowls for both, collar and leash, and I recommend a spare leash. I like to include what I call an “English lead.” It is a leash and collar in one. This comes in handy to use for any dog, even if the collar is missing.

You will also need current shot records, pictures of your pet and, if possible, pictures of your pet with you. You should also have a crate for your dog, extra bedding, plastic bags for picking up after your dog, cleaning supplies to clean bowls, etc., paper towels, treats, toys, medications and anything that might help to keep your pet comfortable. This may be special toy or blanket, something familiar for them.

A towel, sheet or blanket to cover the dog’s crate with is also good. This way you can block out some of the commotion around your pet and give it a little more comfort and security.

For all pets, evacuating will be stressful. Some animals may be affected more than others. Some pets are more use to travel and handle it well. Others get very upset and nervous. If you have a pet that is not use to traveling or that gets upset with changes, you need to be prepared for that. Some pets stop eating, others get digestion issues (vomiting or diarrhea). You need to be prepared for this. Check with your vet ahead of time and have needed medications handy.

Also. some food items that might encourage your pet to eat are cottage cheese mixed with boiled chicken and rice, or well-drained boiled ground beef and rice, or instant mashed potatoes, or a few spoonfuls of all-meat baby food. A few spoonfuls of plain yogurt may help soothe an irritated GI track. There are some herbal and natural items that can help pets to relax, like Rescue Remedy or Mellow Mutt.

One of the best things you can do is to try to prepare your pet ahead of time. Take your pet for some practice runs. Start by taking some short, pleasant car rides. By this I mean not to a vet or groomer — just for a 10- to 20-minute ride in the car and then back home.

You can also try taking your pet to a boarding kennel for an overnight visit. This gets your pet used to being apart from you and also used to new and different environments, and also lets your pet know that you will be returning and that it will also be returning to its home. The more variety you get your pet used to, the better it will be prepared when an emergency arises.

Remember also that your pets can sense your stress, and it will add to their stress. So, for your pets’ sake, you need to remain calm when the need for evacuation arises. The calmer you are and the smoother your evacuation occurs, the easier it will be on your pet. (This is also true for your human children, too.)

Remember, you know your pet the best. If you have a pet that does not handle stress or change easily, it is even more important that you make sure you have all of their regular items ready to go. Small things, like changing your cat’s litter because you waited until the last minute and couldn’t find your regular brand, can stress your cat excessively. Not being able to get your pet’s usual food can also be a large problem. This can cause extreme stomach upset, with very undesirable results.

I recommend keeping at least a week’s worth of all of your pet’s supplies around at all times, especially at possible evacuation times. (For large dogs, you can buy a small 4- or 5-pound bag of food and keep it on hand. Just be sure to use it before the expiration date, but don’t forget to replace it.)

If you have a high-stress pet, trying to get them used to change is important. Also, if you have a dog, make sure it is used to spending time in a crate, even when you are around. There is nothing worse than being at a crowded evacuation location and having your dog bark and bark and bark and everyone starring at you. It is possible that you could be asked to remove your pet from the site. Getting your dog used to being inside a crate is very handy at other times, too.

A few other items that are good to have are a flashlight with extra batteries, a portable radio with extra batteries, a car charger for your cell phone, a lighter, a hand-operated can opener and cash, all packed in plastic bags.

Whatever you decide to do — evacuate to a friend or family member’s home, evacuate to a shelter or to ride it out — plan now and get prepared. Discuss your options as a family and then get prepared. Do not wait until it is time and then make your decision. Get your kits prepared now. Even if you don’t have to use them, it’s better to be ready and not need it than to have to rush around and then not have what you, your pet and your family need.

Cheryl Loveland is a dog groomer, pet-sitter, dog trainer and fosterer for many unwanted animals. She does rescue work for all types of animals and has owned or fostered most types of domestic animals and many wild ones. She currently resides with two bloodhounds, which she has shown in conformation and is currently training her male bloodhound for search-and-rescue work. Also residing with her are a bichon frisée, two cats and two birds. She welcomes comments, questions and suggestions for future articles at countryservice@comcast.net. Remember, she is not an expert: she offers her opinions and suggestions from her experience and research.

Millville farmers’ market open for the season

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Millville hit the ground running this week with their farmers’ market, now in its second year. The market opened up last Thursday and offered fresh local produce from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., as it will for the remainder of the summer and into the second week of September.

Coastal Point • Maria Counts: A vendor bags up some vegetables during last year’s Millville Farmers’ Market.Coastal Point • Maria Counts
A vendor bags up some vegetables during last year’s Millville Farmers’ Market.

“We had 116 cars,” said Market Master Linda Kent, adding that they count patrons’ cars and keep track of their origins. “Of the cars, 93 were from Delaware, 10 were from Pennsylvania, a couple New Jersey and some random New York and Virginia.”

New this year, the market includes Hopkins Creamery, which is located on Route 9 near Lewes. Kent said their ice cream was a bit hit with market-goers.

They also have as market vendors Beach Sweets, a bakery that also sells salsa; Bennett Orchards for blueberries and peaches (which are not quite ready yet, but will be soon); Celtic Acres, which offers vegetables and free-range eggs; Good Earth Market and Organic Farm, including Backyard Jams and Jellies; Herbs, Spice and Everything Nice; Natural Creations, a landscaping company that offers plants and flower baskets; T.S. Smith and Sons from Bridgeville, Del., with their fruits and vegetables; and Seujay Farms Inc. from Route 17, with their vegetables.

“We had seven of our nine vendors,” Kent said of the market’s roster, adding that she expects they will fill up in the coming weeks.

“We did quite well compared to last year, obviously,” she said of the opening week of their second season.

Kent said the market is also trying to get chefs to come in and do cooking demonstrations, as they do in other markets, as an additional draw for customers. Also, on June 27, they are having DNREC come in to talk about recycling. Later this summer, Beebe Medical Center will do blood pressure checks on July 11 and Aug. 8.

The markets offers recipe cards from the Delaware Department of Agriculture and free produce bags, sponsored by Millville by the Sea and Beazer Homes. It is located on the side of town hall every Thursday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Parking is available at Millville Methodist Church, across the street.

For more information, visit them online at http://millville.delaware.gov.

South Coastal Library to offer child ID programs this summer

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This summer, the South Coastal Library in Bethany Beach will be offering a new program designed to help identify children in the event that they are ever lost.

New York Life insurance agent William Fraser will be attending three children’s storytimes at the library, to give parents the opportunity to have an identification card created that will include the child’s fingerprint, photo and other vital information.

“We’re going to have him in the meeting room,” explained Library Director Sue Keefe. “If the children understood why you were doing it, they might be a little upset, so we’ll have the children’s program going on, all the books and toys in the kids’ room to keep them occupied and we will just do a child at a time.”

According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, roughly 800,000 children are reported missing each year in the United States — roughly 2,000 per day.

Keefe said that, although it’s not something you’d ever want to plan for, the information would be invaluable in a worse-case scenario.

“Last summer, this little girl rode up to the library on her bicycle and came inside. She was upset and crying a little. She had been riding on the road down the street. I don’t know what happened, but she got left behind. Thank God she knew enough to see the library and knew it was safe and we’d help her. So, it does happen.”

Programs like the Child ID program offered at the library can provide families with child identification materials that may prove critical should an emergency occur.

“I thought, it’s a sad thing you have to do it, but it’s a really good thing in case your kid actually wanders away from you on the beach or anywhere. You’ll have the info, you’ll have the photo, you’ll already have their fingerprint. It doesn’t hurt to have it,” she said.

The ID programs will be held on June 20, July 11 and Aug. 1 at the library, from 10 a.m. to noon. They are free and open to the public, but a child’s parent or guardian must be present in order to participate.

“They’ll also do a sound recording,” said Keefe. “There’s no way to give the parents the sound recording, but they’ll keep it on file. So, God forbid, if the police would need the voice recording, they would simply have to contact New York Life. They will actually deliver all the info to the police; if you don’t have the information, to the police agency that you’re working with.”

Keefe said that cookies and balloons will be on offer for the children participating, and parents will receive the cards that day.

“They get the card right then and there, and the contact info.”

Keefe added that the library has extended an invitation to various groups and agencies in the area to take part in the free program.

“We thought it would be a good idea to run it three times. It changes so much here in the summer. The people who are here in June are not here in July and the people who are here in July aren’t here in August. So we thought it would be a good idea to run it three times, one in each month, staggering the dates, hoping to catch who we could.”

She added that she hopes many people will take advantage of the free program and the library’s safe environment to acquire the identification cards.

“The library is a good place to do it — it’s nonthreatening,” she said. “It would never hurt. Even if you’ve done it before, you might want it to be updated.”

For more information, call the South Coastal Library at (302) 539-5231 or visit www.delaware.gov/SouthCoastal.

Selbyville farmers' market not returning

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While it seems as though many area farmers’ markets are thriving, selling everything from fresh produce to homemade jellies and breads, not all have been a success.

Last spring, the Selbyville Farmers Market, which was located on the corner of Route 17 and Williams Street, was started by Jeannie Mariner, with the hopes of bringing a market to those in the town and the surrounding inland areas.

“My husband and I own the property there in Selbyville and were looking for something to do with it. We enjoy farmers’ markets. We go to them whenever we can. We thought, ‘Well, Selbyville doesn’t have a farmers’ market. We should give it a shot.’ That’s what we did.”

Although the market was successful in the beginning, Mariner said it couldn’t compete with the beach-area markets for vendors’ attention in the summer months.

“We had quite a few vendors at the beginning, and it was going quite well. And then, as soon as the beach markets opened, the vendors started trickling away. A lot of them would send someone to the beach market and to my market,” she said, noting that some vendors were kind enough to stay with the market through the end of its season.

“There was so much more foot traffic at the beach markets, we just couldn’t compete. It didn’t make sense for them to sit in Selbyville and make $100 or $200 a day when they could make $1,000 at the beach markets.”

Mariner said that the market, at its peak, had more than 30 vendors. At its low, it only had five.

Mariner said that, once a longtime produce stand on the highway opened for the summer, many of the remaining market-goers stopped frequenting the farmers’ market, as well.

Due to the inconsistency of vendors and the loss of customers, Mariner said she and her husband decided to not reopen the market for the 2013 season.

“It was a shame,” she said. “There were quite a few people who were there every week that really seemed to enjoy it. It’s a lot of work, so we decided we would shut it down. We gave it a try, and it didn’t work there.”

Mariner said that she believes a market would work in the spring or fall, but she doesn’t plan to try to start one again. However, she said she wouldn’t be opposed to letting someone else use the property for a market.

“There just weren’t enough vendors through the summer to keep us going,” she said. “It’s one of those things — you try it and see if it works. If it doesn’t work, you move on.”

Reporter learns a new appreciation for Father's Day

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In my life I’ve celebrated 25 Father’s Days, but this year’s will be the first of its kind.

This weekend, my brother and I will be spending Father’s Day finalizing moving my father’s belongings out of his home, as he is no longer able to live on his own.

Back in January, my father had a number of heart attacks, which led to him having to undergo quadruple bypass surgery. Due to complications following the surgery, he had a stroke — well, four, actually. Since then, every day has been Father’s Day.

It’s funny how one single event can change your life completely. Although my brain didn’t have a stroke, I’ve been affected indirectly because of it.

My father’s right-hemisphere strokes have caused him to have paralysis on his left side, to the point where he is unable to walk and care for himself. He now has permanent partial blindness, known as hemianopia, which has impacted his ability to read and write. He also has comprehension issues, and his personality has changed.

Because of the severity of this, our roles have now been reversed. My brother and I have now become parents to him. We pay bills, schedule doctor appointments, help him bathe — you name it. We try to have him eat healthy meals and try to comfort him when he’s down. We cried during his first haircut and his first assisted steps since the strokes.

We’re the advocates for his health and wellbeing, just as he was for us when we were young. All we want to do is protect him and help him get better. It seemed daunting at first, but we’ve come to embrace it.

It hasn’t been an easy road, but, throughout the journey, he has been teaching us along the way. My brother and I have learned how to be patient, how to be assertive. We’ve learned how to ask for help and when to say no. We’ve experienced overwhelming support and love from family, friends and strangers that we didn’t expect. And, from all of that, we’ve grown.

Through his struggles, my father has helped me grow over these last few months, and for that I am grateful. I now know what my true priorities are.

Whether he knows it or not, my father has shown me that life is precious and fleeting, and therefore we should treasure every moment — not waste our time sweating the small stuff.

The greatest gift he’s given us is unconditional love. It’s his love for me and my brother that has made us who we are today. We are stronger, more self-assured than ever before. We know because of this experience that we can get through anything. And I hope our love has done the same for him.

I never expected to have to deal with something like this, at least in this stage of my life. I’ve always looked at my parents as invincible, all-knowing beings, and now I know they are not immortal.

We all have things going on in our lives — difficulties, stresses, trials and tribulations. But this Sunday, we should take a step back and be thankful for the little things that make our fathers special.

Although the future is unclear for us, as he may never be able to live on his own or work again, it doesn’t matter… Not really. What matters is that we can take the time to truly appreciate him as a person and as the father who will never stop teaching us how to endure and, most importantly, how to love.

DelDOT: Lane closures on Route 26 to continue two more weeks

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Route 26 roadwork will be waking up earlier this month. Lane closures will continue for two more weeks for utility work but will begin at 5 a.m. daily, and there will be no lane closures on weekends.

The Delaware Department of Transportation notified the Route 26 Working Group in a June 6 email that early-morning lane closures would begin Monday, June 10.

Delmarva Power, Verizon and Mediacom are relocating utility lines in preparation for the Route 26 Mainline Improvements project, which will add a center turn lane and other changes to a 4-mile stretch of Atlantic Avenue.

That work may continue through summer, but DelDOT is requiring that lane closures stop from July to October, having already extended the previous mid-May deadline for their end to June 30. Until this week, lane closures had been permitted daily from 8:30 a.m. to dusk, according to DelDOT project manager Tom Banez.

With a request from Delmarva Power to start work earlier, DelDOT extended the time the utility companies could begin work to 5 a.m. According to Delmarva Power, the early closure will not be necessary every morning and will end June 30. The intention is to allow Delmarva Power’s work to be completed in Section 2 of the project, as far west as Railway Road, so progress can continue in a timely matter when the work picks up again in autumn.

In order to alleviate some of the concerns about weekend traffic, the hours permitted for the lane closures have also been changed for Fridays to 5 a.m. to noon, where previously the hours were the same 8:30 a.m. to dusk schedule that had been permitted the rest of the week.

“We were getting some feedback from people in the area with concerns over the congestion, so we offered these hours as a compromise,” Banez said.

After the DelDOT email that announced the extension of lane closures to June 30, some Working Group community members expressed displeasure at the lane closure extension.

Donald Hattier of Beachview Chiropractic Center wrote that “allowing work to go [until] June 30 will inevitably impact summer traffic. That is the week just before July 4 week and is the busiest week this area has. Extending that work time into the Fourth of July week is not a good idea.”

Hattier suggested DelDOT post “alternate route” signboards, so fewer vehicles get caught in Route 26 traffic. He said traffic had already negatively impacted his own business.

Bethany-Fenwick Area Chamber of Commerce officials suggested that lane closures end Fridays at noon, with no closures on Saturday and Sunday.

“Many businesses have also voiced concern that Quiet Resorts visitors will have an initial negative experience when arriving if they encounter delays. … This could also result in having visitors avoid the Route 26 area during the remainder of their stay,” wrote David W. Martin, Chamber executive director, also thanking DelDOT for communicating the state’s intentions.

DelDOT responded Wednesday saying there will be no lane closures on Route 26 on the weekends for the rest of the month.

Banez said DelDOT has stationary and mobile cameras, plus personnel, to help monitor the situation and make changes if needed. But if a few more days are needed to get Delmarva Power crews to the end point of the job, DelDOT may consider an additional small time extension, officials said.

“Thank you for your concerns,” wrote Natalie Barnhart, DelDOT chief engineer. “We understand the inconvenience that is generated from the construction work and we are doing our best to balance the needs of the local businesses, residents [and] tourists against our construction goals.”

“DelDOT appreciates the patience of the local community and their support of the project,” Banez said.

For more information on the Route 26 Mainline Project, call DelDOT Public Relations at (302) 760-2080 or visit www.DelDOT.gov, find the Projects page, and click “SR 26 Mainline and Detour Routes Project.” People can also download a smartphone app that will provide updates.

County hears concerns over poultry plant replacing pickle plant

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Last week, the Sussex County Board of Adjustment held a public hearing for Allen Harim Foods, which had applied to the county for a special-use exception for a potentially hazardous use — a poultry processing facility.

The company plans for the facility to be located west of Road 331 (Iron Branch Road) and southeast of Iron Branch and the Town of Millsboro, in the same location where the Vlasic Pickle plant once operated.

Jim Quinton, director of operations for the plant, said Harim plans to only do poultry processing, as no rendering will take place on-site.

“In a rendering plant, you’re processing offal, which is your blood, your guts, your feathers from the poultry process,” he explained. “We will not process any of that in this facility. It will go into trucks. The trucks will then be removed and taken off to a location out of state.”

Quinton said that the plant would receive a number of upgrades to meet or exceed standards, regarding wastewater, air quality and traffic.

“Basically, we want to bring live poultry into the processing plant through trucks. None of the trucks will be permitted to go through the town of Millsboro itself. They will go down 113, Thorogoods Road, to Iron Branch Road and to the facility,” he explained.

“Once arriving at the facility, they will go into a holding shed, which will be well ventilated and have a filtering system on it to remove the dust particles and any possible ammonias in there. Once coming out of this cooling shed, they would be backed into a building that will be added onto the facility and enclosed for live receiving.”

Attorney Gene Bayard, who represented Harim at the hearing, asked Project Engineer John Sheehan what permits are necessary for the project.

“DNREC [Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control] requires an air-quality permit, wastewater discharge, stormwater management, and then water allocation for wells to pump water for the processing, and we’ll be installing a new state-of-the-art wastewater system,” he said.

“DelDOT [Delaware Department of Transportation] gets into traffic design. We’ll be working closely to design the entrance and make improvements to that. We’re just getting started in the design. We have a lot of building design — electrical, mechanical, all those systems — to work out, as well as the environmental permits that were mentioned.”

Sheehan said that the site is a total of 107 acres, of which only 83 can be improved for the application — the rest being marsh or wooded areas.

“What we’re here tonight to ask the board to find, is that the area is appropriate, based on a minimum 50-year history of heavy industrial development in this quadrant south of Millsboro,” said Bayard.

Delaware Secretary of Agriculture Ed Key spoke on behalf of the application, stating he believes the plant would be an asset to the local economy.

“Our administration sees this as a great opportunity to continue what has been a 40-year use of food processing at this facility. Obviously, there is great economic activity.”

He described the $100 million construction project as “an economic shot in the arm,” adding that it would create 700 fulltime jobs, with 75 to 100 of those job being in management, engineering and supervisory positions.

“It also supports the farming community,” he said. “The farmers are not only raising the chickens, but the grain and the soybeans to support it. It’s a positive, economically. I also believe that this is an opportunity for a role model of a modern facility that is really run in an environmentally sound way and in a way that respects the community.

“I think it is important and telling to note that the ownership and management of this company are very committed to doing this right.”

The board had received 14 letters regarding the application, 11 of which were in opposition. Two dozen people also indicated that they wished to speak in opposition to the application, many with concerns regarding traffic.

In a letter addressed to Wharton’s Bluff residents dated May 23, Harim officials stated, “We will be routing truck traffic on Thorogoods Road to/from Dagsboro Road (State Route 20). No truck traffic will be routed through Millsboro or on Possum Point Road. We anticipate 47 trucks per day, both live haul coming into the plant and dressed product trucks leaving the plant, which, over a 16-hour shift, is three trucks per hour. Employee traffic will also be routed away from downtown Millsboro to more direct routes out to Route 113.”

Washington, D.C., resident Lewis Podolske, who owns a home in Wharton’s Bluff, said that, although the company may say the trucks will be sent around the town, they will more than likely drive through the town.

“I never saw a truck come out of the Vlasic Pickle factory and turn right and go to Thorogoods Road. They all turned left and went by the schools. These trucks, unless there’s some kind of law passed, or it is part of their regulation or contract with the plant, are not going to go the long way around this facility,” he said. “That’s a concern.”

“The truckers will go whichever way they want to go,” said resident Wayne Morris.

“The schools are my major concern, with all the trucks coming in there,” added Diane Daly. “How are you going to tell the truck driver? And who is going to sit and watch that the trucks don’t come down this way?”

Quinton said the trucks’ route would be enforced through a condition of the truckers’ employment.

“We oversee our drivers and maintain our drivers. We have a way to maintain it through interoffice disciplinary action.”

Craig Havenner, a Virginia resident who also owns properties in Millsboro, said he isn’t necessarily against the plant but just wants make sure it is handled properly.

“I don’t think we’re necessarily in opposition of the concept of jobs and chickens — we all need them and we all eat them. The question is how to best integrate this new use into an existing community. This is a big change. This brings a lot more truck traffic, a lot more employee traffic and a lot more an issue of perception versus reality, in terms of what poultry processing means.

“I don’t think that the issue is really, ‘What came first: the chicken or the pickle?’” he added. “I think we’re looking at a changed use here… from the timing standpoint, from the number of shifts per day, from the types of odors that may be emitted. So the question is how does the chicken integrate itself into the neighborhood in a way that is accepted with open arms?”

Members of the community also asked the board to take their time in considering the application, suggesting that they wait until Harim gets all its approvals from state agencies.

“I think the main point is it is premature for you to make any decision,” said Podolske, who received applause from the gallery for his comments.

County Solicitor Jim Griffin also suggested that the board take its time in making a decision.

“The section of the code that we are dealing with regarding this requires that the board consult with other agencies created for the promotion of the public health and safety. I think it would be proper for the board to consult with those agencies prior to reaction,” he advised.

The board voted to table the discussion until their next meeting, on June 17 at 7 p.m.

Harim will be holding a public information meeting at the Millsboro Fire Hall on June 17 at 7 p.m.


State Supreme Court finds for AT&T in cell tower case

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It has been nearly four years since AT&T first filed an application for a special-use exception that would allow the company to erect a 100-foot-tall cell-phone tower on property just outside Bethany Beach Town limits, on the east side of Route 1 behind the Arby’s and gas station.

Despite the many hearings, decisions, appeals and public opposition that has happened in the intervening years, the application is now back to square one, with a Delaware Supreme Court decision on May 9 that reversed the 2012 decision that had denied approval for the tower.

History of case dates back to 2009

Back in October of 2009, a hearing on the special-use exception was scheduled before the Sussex County Board of Adjustments in Georgetown.

The hearing came as a surprise to town officials and many residents and property owners in the immediate area of the planned tower site. Many were wholly unaware of the proposal. Those who had noticed the sign posted on the east side of Route 1 saw its location in front of an abandoned home and overgrown lot and hadn’t publicly expressed concern about the project it described.

But the sign had been posted on the incorrect property, and publication of the hearing information in the Coastal Point was the first many people had heard of the tower, let alone that it was to be located behind the Arby’s, on land immediately adjacent to the Sea Pines Village community.

A grassroots campaign of opposition to the tower came together almost overnight, between the newspaper’s arrival on stands on a Thursday afternoon and the hearing the following Monday. Opponents argued that they hadn’t been properly notified about the application, with some nearby, mostly commercial, property owners having received direct notice and others not.

The incorrect location of the hearing sign further fueled their argument that proper notice had not been given.

Residents of Sea Pines Village, their attorneys, other nearby neighbors and Bethany Beach Town Council members testified in opposition to the application at that October 2009 hearing, many asking to at least be given additional time to prepare their case.

But, with County officials arguing that the direct written notification and on-site posting was a courtesy and not a requirement, the BoA rejected an extension of the hearing and went on to approve AT&T’s application in November of 2009, on a 3-2 decision.

Opponents then challenged that decision in court, while AT&T erected an 80-foot-tall wooden pole as a temporary tower on the site, which remained in place through subsequent court action.

The legal appeal was decided in 2010, in opponents’ favor, with the judge finding that the County had failed to properly notify the public about the application and hearing, at least in the confusion it had caused by posting the notice in the wrong location. AT&T would have to go through a new hearing before approval could be considered.

That second hearing, in 2011, again yielded arguments from AT&T and its representatives that the tower was needed in that location because it was the only suitable location they had found that would allow the company to meet its requirements of providing service to customers in that area and that the impact of the 100-foot-tall, 3-foot-diameter monopole tower on neighboring properties was not significant.

Opponents from Sea Pines Village argued that not only was the adverse effect on their property values and perceived safety significant but that it had already been seen in what they testified were reduced sale prices and numbers for units in the complex since the public had become aware of the application.

They further argued that AT&T had not exhausted other potential locations for the tower, such as on the water tower owned by the Town of Bethany Beach or atop the Sea Colony high-rises nearby.

With additional facts and extended arguments presented during the 2011 hearing, the BoA voted unanimously to deny AT&T’s application, finding that the tower would adversely affect nearby property owners.

AT&T went on to appeal that decision, arguing that it had proven its case and that the BoA had made a legal error in not applying a standard of “significant” adverse impact on the neighboring properties. That appeal was denied by the Delaware Superior Court in 2012, leading AT&T to appeal that ruling to the state Supreme Court in a hearing held earlier this spring.

Court finds BoA applied incorrect legal standard

In the May 9 decision by the Supreme Court and Chancellor Leo Strine, the justices singled out the absence of the word “significant” in the 2011 BoA decision to deny AT&T a special-use exception.

“Special use exceptions are permitted ‘if the Board finds that, in its opinion, as a matter of fact, such exceptions will not substantially affect adversely the uses of adjacent and neighboring property,’” the majority opinion notes. The word “substantially” was italicized for emphasis.

Referencing a decision the Supreme Court had made in the case of Hellings v. City of Lewes Board of Adjustment, the opinion supported a reversal of the denial in the AT&T case, because, “A Board decision based upon the proper legal standard is a prerequisite to the court’s performance of a review to determine the existence of substantial evidence. … [H]aving determined that an error of law was made at the administrative level, the Superior Court was not free to review the evidence and apply a different, more lenient, legal standard because to do so would be to substitute its own judgment for that of the Board.”

“We must reverse in this case as well,” the opinion went on to state. “Special use exceptions are to be granted unless the Board finds the exception will ‘substantially affect adversely the uses of adjacent and neighboring property.’ ‘Some’ adverse affect is insufficient under the ordinance to deny a special use exception. By requiring AT&T to prove no ‘adverse affect,’ the Board and the Superior Court required a heavier burden of proof than the ordinance demands.”

In addition to finding that the BoA had applied the incorrect standard by not specifying that “significantly adverse effects” had been found, the Supreme Court in the May 9 decision declined to consider the facts as presented during the 2011 hearing and make its own decision as to whether the case presented indicated that the AT&T tower would pose “significantly adverse effects.”

“The [Sea Pines Village Home Owners] Association argues that even if the Board erred in applying the correct legal standard, we still should affirm. The Association claims that AT&T failed to prove that there is no existing structures within a two-mile radius available for use. We decline the Association’s invitation to address the sufficiency of the evidence before the Board. The sufficiency of the evidence on alternative locations is reviewed in conjunction with and not independent of the required analysis for the grant of a special use exception.”

The justices found that AT&T had met the county requirement to provide documentation that another suitable location could not be found within a 2-mile radius. They also questioned the board’s reliance upon representations by Bethany Beach officials that collocation on its nearby water tower might be possible, saying that their acceptance of those statements showed the importance of not “bypassing the administrative process.”

Finding that the BoA had applied the wrong legal standard in denying AT&T’s application in 2011, the Supreme Court’s majority reversed and vacated the decision of the Superior Court that had been in opponents’ favor and cleared the way for AT&T to once again apply for a special-use exception that would allow the tower to legally be built.

Strine finds fault with Board’s application of reliability standard

Strine had more to say about the case, adding in a separate section of the decision that he felt the Superior Court had improperly neglected to determine whether the evidence in the 2011 hearing had been legally adequate to support the Board’s decision, which he said it was required to do as part of the appeal process.

He further said that he found that the BoA had accepted the premise that AT&T had not fully exhausted other possible locations as a result of a Bethany Beach Town Council member asserting at the hearings that the water tower was potentially available for collocation. That, he said, had turned out to be erroneous.

“Likewise, the Town’s own role in leading the Board to believe the water tower was available for use rendered the Board’s ruling arbitrary and capricious. To permit a ruling of a county adjustment board to stand when it is premised on a false finding of fact that a municipality within the county itself caused the board to make is Kafkaesque and the essence of arbitrary,” Strine wrote in his opinion.

“The Board’s reliance on this clearly erroneous fact finding also undermined its determination that placing an antenna on the water tower would provide adequate coverage and thus that AT&T failed to substantiate its need for a freestanding cell tower,” he continued.

But, Strine said, “instead of addressing AT&T’s contention that it needed a freestanding tower to provide ‘reliable’ coverage as an FCC licensee in the Bethany Beach area, the Board attributed to AT&T the notion that it was seeking ‘seamless’ coverage, a word that the expert who testified for the Association used, not AT&T.

“After doing so, the Board then made a conclusory finding that implied if the permit was not granted, AT&T’s service, although not ‘seamless,’ would be ‘adequate,’ without seriously weighing the record evidence that service was not reliable in several areas of the town.”

Strine acknowledged, “in fairness to the Board,” that none of the parties before the Board seemed to present clear authority as to the applicable FCC standard AT&T was bound to meet as a licensee. But rather than consider the relevant reliability standard, even if that took an additional hearing to obtain input regarding what the FCC means by that term in practical application, the Board instead made a conclusory ruling based on different concepts from the license requirement of reliability.”

Strine concluded that, when the Board examines the application again, it must “apply the relevant FCC standard in determining whether AT&T has demonstrated a sufficient need.”

Opponents urge County to correct problems with tower regulations

Sea Pines Village HOA spokesman Gary Bogossian told the Coastal Point this week that the decision had come as a surprise to the community.

“We were incredibly shocked, disappointed, and could not believe they would do something like this,” he said. “Essentially, they threw out the entire case, appeal and all associated with it, as if it never existed! (But we know it did — we were there for three years and spent hundreds of thousands of our dollars.)”

The Sea Pines Village HOA Board found fault with the BoA, County and the courts deciding AT&T’s appeal.

SPV HOA Board Member David Gerk wrote in an email to other board members after the decision, “The Supreme Court decided the case solely on the ‘substantially’ issue. If you will recall, the Board of Adjustment sloppily left out the word ‘substantially’ in its written opinion when it was describing that AT&T had failed to prove that the tower will not ‘substantially affect adversely the uses of adjacent and neighboring property,’ as it was required to do.”

He noted that the court had not addressed the other two grounds upon which the BoA had decided to deny AT&T’s application: AT&T not having shown that collocation locations were not available within two miles of the site; and their not having substantiated the need for the tower at the location.

Gerk said he felt the court had “dodged” the issues by saying the sufficiency of the evidence must be reviewed in conjunction with the analysis for granting the special-use exception. He also pointed out that Strine’s opinion “suggests that any of these grounds is sufficient to uphold the decision,” but said Strine “then analyzes the facts wrongly and focuses solely on the Bethany Beach water tower.”

In a letter to the editor released this week, the SPV HOA board wrote: “Many feel that someone needs to be held accountable for this. Is it the former BoA solicitor, who made the elementary, but colossal error? Or is it the Sussex County solicitor, who oversees county legal matters?

“Incredibly, by state law, the case cannot be remanded back to the County BoA so that they can correct this administrative error, and amend their ruling to rightfully include the word ‘substantially’ in their written decision, as was originally intended,” the Board stated in its letter.

Gerk said that either the SPV HOA or the County could have, after the decision, filed a request for a rehearing of the appeal, should they wish to argue that the Supreme Court had missed a critical issue in reversing the prior decisions. “Prevailing on such a request is infrequent,” he noted.

That leaves it likely that the parties in the tower case will be facing a trip back to square one at the Sussex County Board of Adjustments in the near future, with AT&T able to file a new application for the special-use exception with the County.

SPV’s HOA is now urging the County to take proactive steps to deal with related issues, particularly the potential for damage, or worse, should a cell tower fall on adjacent property in the future, as they said has happened in the past, even when such towers are constructed to existing standards.

“In light of this debacle, we would again ask the County to immediately amend and fix the cell tower ordinance regulations to require an adequate minimum residential buffer and setback, to protect us all,” they wrote. “This can be done immediately. We had given the County the proposal for this over 18 months ago.”

Finances generate friction in Ocean View

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Financial concerns dominated Tuesday night’s meeting of the Ocean View Town Council, as council members wrangled with falling revenue, an increasing need for space for town operations and questions about how much value to place on a public safety program championed by the town’s police chief.

Anticipated drops in revenue for the last fiscal year were confirmed in a report Feb. 5 from auditor Jean Schmidt. Transfer tax revenues had dropped by 49 percent from the prior year, she told the council. But that news came with a small silver lining — the number was above the figure in the town’s budget. Meanwhile, property taxes had come in 8 percent above the prior year.

Cash in hand for the town was down more than 13 percent from 2006, Schmidt said, but the positive side of that figure was shown in the town’s assets, as a substantial portion of the spent cash had gone toward the cost of the town’s new public safety building. The town had also increased its assets with $1 million worth of streets dedicated to it by private developers, she said.

However, for the first time in history, Schmidt noted, the town had gone into debt in its general fund, with $661,000 in loan costs for the construction of the public safety building. She noted that the town’s public works department had been virtually self-sustaining, but that part of the plus side of that segment of the budget included the assets brought to the town by those new streets.

The general fund and public works had come in under budget in 2007, she said, with the town’s public safety department coming in above budget — not uncommon in the area as gas prices have remained high and growing populations have strained police coverage.

Schmidt found only one major flaw with how the town handles its finances: too few people involved in financial functions — also not uncommon in the area, with most towns having a single financial officer with assistance coming from other town staff. That, she said, is unlikely to change.

Council members accepted Schmidt’s report with a unanimous vote Tuesday.

Public works situation elicits strife

After an absence from a Jan. 22 council workshop for which he had sent a written statement for the record, Councilman Roy Thomas requested several of the items discussed at the workshop be raised again at Tuesday’s council meeting so that he could continue his dialogue about them before the public and respond to a recording of the meeting.

Thomas delivered a lengthy critique of the Jan. 22 council discussion of expanding room for public works and the administrative operations by Administrative Official Charlie McMullen. That discussion had dealt with a proposed $1.4 million public works building, a potential stop-gap move for McMullen and his staff to the town-owned Lampe house and a $300,000 figure allocated in the town’s current draft budget for expansion for public works in 2008.

The councilman took issue with any suggestion that “everyone has signed off” on the $1.4 million building proposed by members of the town’s public works building committee. As a member of the committee and the council, he said he had not signed off on the project and felt it had fallen by the wayside as a result of “sticker shock” over the estimated $1.4 million price tag.

Thomas faulted fellow councilman and public works building committee chairman Bill Wichmann — with whom he has repeatedly butted heads on various issues — that the project had not been pursued actively. It was a delay Wichmann himself had laid at the doorstep of town staff, who he said had not provided the committee or council with a requested financial study until January, about nine months after the committee had requested it.

Thomas argued that Wichmann should have been the one to be the prime mover behind the project and that the subsequent time had been spent in town officials inquiring about the availability of various parcels and subsequently purchasing the Lampe property.

Citing Wichmann’s Jan. 22 statement that he would “have nothing to do with” a $300,000 public works building, Thomas requested the council consider at their February workshop what Thomas termed as Wichmann’s “resignation” from the public works building committee.

Thomas also faulted the council as a whole for failing to anticipate the town’s future need for space, saying they had misjudged those needs, despite a “40-year plan” that spurred the construction of a large police building. He suggested the council pursue a wider 40-year plan beginning at their February workshop.

Mayor Gary Meredith objected to that criticism, saying, “I take issue with the accusation that we didn’t think ahead.” He said they had looked at the time at adding space at the town hall property but had been unable to do so due to limits on the size of structures they could build there.

Thomas recommended the council consider temporarily moving public works and related administrative functions to the new public safety building’s second floor, versus the Lampe House, which he said would then free the town to demolish the house and build a new public works facility there. He asked that the issue be considered at a future council workshop as well.

Finally, having praised Councilman Richard Nippes for his Jan. 22 recommendation that a needs study on the public works situation be done, Thomas recommended that the council put such a mandate on their agenda for their February workshop.

Police take-home policy supported, cost questioned

Councilman Norman Amendt and Wichmann spoke out strongly on Tuesday in favor of the Ocean View Police Department’s vehicle take-home policy for officers, which generated considerable criticism from Thomas over the potential costs involved in continuing the program.

The program allows officers in the department to drive their patrol vehicles to and from their homes. Wichmann noted that the program means off-duty officers can respond directly to an emergency scene when called in for assistance after-hours, when it is common that only one officer is on duty in Ocean View.

Without their patrol vehicle at home, he said, officers would either arrive at the scene without necessary equipment and their radios to update them on the situation or would have to stop at the police station to pick up the vehicles and equipment. The change would make a difference in response time and public safety, he argued. The policy was instituted in Ocean View at roughly the same time as the town added 24-hour police service.

Police chiefs throughout the area — and the nation — have expressed support for such programs. They are in place in 12 of 18 Sussex County jurisdictions, including Laurel, Greenwood, Georgetown, Millsboro, Dagsboro, Selbyville, South Bethany, Bethany Beach, Dewey Beach and Lewes, and are considered an advantage when departments are hiring new officers.

Sgt. Heath Hall, who represented the department at Tuesday’s meeting — Police Chief Ken McLaughlin being away for training with the FBI — said South Bethany and Bethany had limited their policies to allow officers to take home their cars only when they were scheduled to return to duty the following day, but he said that limitation was only in place due to a lack of enough vehicles for both on- and off-duty officers.

Ocean View currently has eight officer positions and nine vehicles. Both of those other departments, he said, would prefer to have a full take-home policy.

Town Manager Conway Gregory had added the issue to the January council workshop agenda after the town’s Long Range Financial Planning Committee had requested a study of the costs and benefits involved. He emphasized that the presence of the agenda item had not been intended to directly elicit a vote on whether or not to end the policy.

Thomas presented a two-sided approach to the issue on Feb. 5, saying on the one hand that he supported it and was unaware of any acceptable alternative to using it. On the other hand, he said, the costs of the program needed to be paid for.

While Thomas had faulted McLaughlin’s report to the council in support of the policy for a lack of concrete numbers, Thomas presented the council and those in attendance at Tuesday’s meeting with an extrapolation of figures related to the program’s cost. It suggested that the program nets the town $420,000 in costs over five years to maintain the existing fleet of nine cars at a normal replacement rate.

Gregory’s draft budget and long-range financial planning cut that rate from 1.8 cars purchased every year (based on a five-year lifespan) to just two cars purchased in the next five years — in 2009 and 2010. The latter number is figured into the budget under dramatic cost cutting measures.

But Thomas said he was skeptical that it was realistic and that he could not vote to continue a policy that would cost the town $420,000 over the next five years, by his calculations, without the council finding the money to cover the expense.

Wichmann took issue with the presentation of that number as an added cost, since the program is already in place.

Thomas also said he couldn’t vote against the policy. “That would indicate that I don’t care about the health and welfare of our citizens,” he said, adding that he planned to abstain on any such vote unless council would sit down and figure out how to pay for the program.

With strong support for the program and an acknowledgement that its costs would have to be paid, council members voted unanimously to do so on Tuesday.

Water nearly ready to go

Also on Feb. 5:

• Council members voted unanimously to adopt fees and regulations related to the new central water system. Construction of the system is now complete and it had been approved for operation for emergency purposes as of Tuesday. Property owners will have to wait to hook up to the system, as town officials worked mid-week to iron out a quarterly billing schedule with Tidewater Utilities, which will run the system.

Expectations were that the go-ahead for hook-ups will be given as of March 1, according to Gregory, but official word from the town was expected to be sent out by mail late this week or early next, with information on licensed plumbers, procedures, the official hook-up start date and an application for the needed utility connection permit from the town.

Property owners would be required to hook up to the system before Feb. 28, 2009, to avoid added fees.

• Hall reported that officer Mary Rehill had completed her Delaware certification after months of training with the department and was now on patrol duty. Rehill is a 21-year veteran of the Philadelphia police, where she worked mostly with a special investigations unit that was later relabeled as a narcotics unit. “I’m thrilled to be here. I love the department. I love the town,” Rehill told those present at the Feb. 5 meeting.

Ocean View police are in the process of filling one last vacancy at the department.

• Gregory noted plans to meet with property owners living in the area of Longview Drive, Hudson Avenue and Woodland Avenue on Feb. 12, to discuss plans for a drainage project there. Council members voted unanimously on Tuesday to approve up to about $211,000 for the two phases of the project.

The first, covering Longview and Hudson, is nearly ready to proceed, at a cost of $132,000. The second, is on hold pending agreements with property owners about the town’s ability to access the property for construction and future maintenance. Gregory said a standard maintenance easement had been refused by some of the Woodland Avenue property owners, who had cited concerns about a loss of property value. A “maintenance agreement” has since been proposed. If the agreement is not signed, Gregory said that second phase will be shelved.

• Council members voted unanimously to give a six-month trial to a new policy on distributing information to the public at meetings. In an effort to reduce staff and copying costs, the town will supply only copies of the agenda, ordinances up for public hearing at a given meeting, and any documents specifically requested by the mayor or a council member.

The public will be able to fill out a form to request any other documents referenced in the meetings. During the trial period there is to be no cost for those copies, but council said they would consider using their standard copying charges if the costs for requested documents proved too costly after six months, at which time the policy itself will be re-evaluated.

• Gregory reported plans to proceed earlier than anticipated with reconstruction of a sidewalk and parking area at the public safety building, due to severe flooding problems. He said state transportation officials had refused to extend an existing permit that would have allowed the work to be done later in the spring. The work is now slated to begin in the next two weeks.

• Council members unanimously approved an amendment to the site plan for the Fairway Village RPC, which details and slightly alters the layout of planned recreational areas, as well as separates the areas into a third parcel owned jointly by the planned condominium and single-family home owners’ groups. The approval was recommended by town planning commissioners.

• Council accepted unanimously and without comment an addendum to the town’s salary study for staff, which was extended to include the town manager position, chief of police and public works director. The study indicates that the mean salary for a town manager in the area is $72,950 annually, with a median salary of $67,550.

The salaries ranged from $49,500 in Millville to $118,389 in Seaford. Gregory’s salary is $77,800 annually. He is the third-highest paid town manager among those cited when comparing towns with similar populations. Slightly more than half of the cited towns provide the town manager with a take-home vehicle, as is the case in Ocean View. Only two have geographic limits on the manager’s residency. Gregory lives in Denton, Md., where he also serves on the town council.

• Council members unanimously voted to adopt a resolution supporting Senate Bill 4, which calls on state legislators to be accountable to the Freedom of Information Act, from which they are currently exempt.

• The council agreed to create a form by which emergency responders could apply for grants from the town. They agreed to provide that form directly to the Millville Volunteer Fire Company and to allow other emergency response agencies to apply for grants if they so choose.

There is about $2,000 currently in town coffers for such a grant. The deadline to apply for grants would be Feb. 29, with a decision to be made by a committee comprising two council members and the town manager sometime in March should there be more than one applicant.

• Council members unanimously approve a package of Web site policies drafted by Finance Director and Web site designer Lee Brubaker. He received praise for his work on the project from Nippes and Gregory.

• The council unanimously approved police procedural policies on the use of force and firearms and on background investigations. They also approved the police department’s endeavor to become accredited with the state police, which Hall cited as a stamp of professional status and superior service. He said it would also reduce the department’s liability costs and potentially make it eligible for significant grants that are being proposed by state legislators.

The town will pay a $100 application fee for the process and the department will be required to maintain certain standards to retain the accreditation. The flurry of police procedurals approved by the council in recent months has been part of the effort to qualify for accreditation.

• The council approved about $900 in filing fees to be paid for the town’s Historical Society to become incorporated and apply for federal non-profit status. Nippes said that without the 501(c)3 costs paid by the town from the existing historical committee budget, the society would be ineligible to pursue any kind of fundraising activity as it prepares to start up a town museum.

• Council members also approved a $500 hole sponsorship for the April 26 Golf Classic Tournament and Silent Auction at Bear Trap Dunes Golf Club. The event is a fundraiser that will support Beebe Medical Center this year.

• The council also approved this year’s participation in the state’s mosquito control program, which is set to begin in mid-March.

• Finally, McMullen proposed council members consider at a future meeting an amendment to the town’s new rental tax code, designed to ensure that all owners of rental properties file a rental receipt tax form with the town. Filing of the forms has been spotty, McMullen said, with most professional management companies filing them while many individual property owners have not.

Bethany adopts Mediacom franchise agreement

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For nearly four years, the Town of Bethany Beach has been looking at its franchise agreement with cable television and Internet provider Mediacom, which was up for renewal this year. They began with a community survey in September of 2009, leading up to a June 2010 hearing, and, in the process, the Town heard many comments from the public, expressing concerns about the agreement and service provided locally by Mediacom.

Recognizing that they were dealing with many of the same issues as other local municipalities that were also due to renew their franchise agreements with Mediacom, Bethany Beach then joined with the towns of Ocean View, South Bethany and Millville, and collectively hired an attorney who specializes in cable franchise agreements, in an effort to get the best agreement possible for all of the towns.

The end result of that process was adopted by Bethany Beach this week, with officials there expressing less than total satisfaction with the outcome but assuring the town’s citizens that it’s the best they could get.

“There is no other provider interested in servicing our area,” Vice-Mayor Jack Gordon noted at the council’s June 21 meeting, adding that after a number of meetings and iterations of agreements, the final agreement was “an improvement. It’s not perfect,” he admitted, emphasizing that the new agreement has a shorter term — seven years instead of the usual 15 years — and offers better service guarantees for customers on complaints and work request responses.

“It has improved telephone answering response times built in,” he added, “and customers will be notified annually of their rights in dealing with them on customer complaints.”

Councilwoman Margaret Young asked Gordon if he felt the agreement had come out better because of the cooperation between the towns.

“It offers more protections, better information,” he said. “It doesn’t resolve a lot of the problems people have. … It is an overall improvement, but it is an improvement more in the communication between the customer and Mediacom. They will let the customer know what their rights are.”

Gordon said the agreement dictates how fast customer complaints and requests should be answered, with customer service available by telephone and a local service office.

“We had more leverage working with the other towns. However, we still don’t have a perfect agreement,” he acknowledged.

Gordon noted that requests for more or different channels, or improved sports availability — a common complaint from local customers — are hampered by FCC requirements that restrict origin locations for the channels shown locally.

“The Town doesn’t have any choice,” pointed out Councilman Jerry Dorfman, noting that infrastructure issues prevent the area from having much competition for the services. “We don’t have many full-time residents.”

Referencing a letter about Mediacom’s service from the homeowners association for The Canal, Dorfman said, “It’s sad when you read it. Most of them are changing over too,” he said of his own move to satellite television. “We have to vote for it because we don’t have any choice. So all I can say is, ‘DirecTV,’” he added to laughter from many of those at the meeting.

Councilman Lew Killmer also noted the lack of choice local residents have in terms of television and high-speed Internet providers.

“There’s no sense of competition in the whole process,” he said. “Getting down to seven years is the most significant,” he said of the changes in the agreement, noting that the Town needs to notify Mediacom two years ahead of time if they may wish to end the franchise agreement in the future.

Mayor Tony McClenny noted that the agreement was the end of a three-year process.

“During the negotiations, I, too, switched to an alternative,” he said. “I’m hoping that, at the end of seven years, there might be a change in technology.”

“Or a better company,” Killmer put in.

“The consumers’ guide rates cable companies every year, and at the bottom of the list is Mediacom,” Dorfman noted.

Resident Pat McGuire commended the town committee that had worked on the agreement, but he asked about rumors he’d heard that Verizon was offering its FIOS service in Ocean View — a rumor that is not true.

“When we made the inquiry formally several years ago, we were told [Verizon] had no plan to go south of the Indian River Inlet at this time,” Town Manager Cliff Graviet clarified.

Killmer said he had met with executives from Verizon and Comcast during the negotiation process. “They basically said we will never see FIOS or Comcast in this area. The main concern is ‘the last mile,’” he noted, referencing the infrastructure cost of bringing service to individual customers and how it has prevented the companies from expanding service locally, “because we don’t have a critical mass of people, and they feel people won’t pay higher fees to have FIOS in their community.”

Killmer acknowledged that the South Coastal Library has a fiber-optic Internet connection, but he said the service is provided on “black lines,” which are restricted to use by government facilities and can’t be accessed by the public.

Even with the cooperation between the local towns on the franchise agreement, council members said, there had been no success in getting other companies to offer their services locally.

“That was part of the reason we teamed up,” McClenny said, adding that he would be crossing his fingers that the town would have other options for service as the new seven-year contract reaches its end.

The council adopted the agreement on a unanimous vote.

Proposal to expand smoking areas gets lukewarm reception

The town council at the June 21 meeting also held a first reading on a proposal to expand the number of designated smoking areas along its beach from 10 to as many as 15.

Gordon said that the idea behind the proposal was that offering more designated smoking areas, spaced over the same distance, would help with the Town’s enforcement efforts for its smoking ban on the beach, boardwalk and in parks.

Recalling the controversy over the adoption of the ban — which has since been replicated in other local beach towns — Gordon said a compromise had been made at that time in allowing smokers to have someplace where they could smoke.

“The only negative comments I’ve had is when people have asked me where they can smoke, and I tell them they can smoke at that red can a half a mile away.”

The proposal received some criticism from citizens present at last Friday’s meeting, with several people commenting on the contrast between the Town’s recent honorable mention in the Delaware Healthy Communities program and efforts to increase opportunities for smokers to engage in the habit.

“I would think the smokers could stand to walk an extra block or two,” one resident suggested.

Resident Norbert Craig agreed, questioning why the Town would encourage “something that is a known non-healthy act and making it easier for people … to smoke in more places.”

He added that he felt the policy was difficult to get enforced, with a report from the beach taking 30 to 45 minutes for a response from a code enforcement official. “It’s not enforced now, and now you’re making it easier for people to smoke. It’s foolhardy that we’re even considering it,” he said.

“At the time the ordinance was passed, there was disagreement as to whether we should prohibit people from smoking on the beach at all,” Gordon said, noting that the council had been urged to compromise rather than allow the idea to fail entirely.

The compromise with 10 designated smoking areas was “probably the only reason the council was able to dig up enough votes to make the beach non-smoking during the summer,” he added. “A while back, we tried to make it non-smoking during the winter, and that one failed. We try to do the best we can.”

Graviet said the intention was to help gain greater compliance with the ban.

“We don’t really want to dedicate two, three or four full-time staff members to policing cigarette smoke,” he said, noting that many violators had immediately told enforcement officials that they didn’t know about the ban and didn’t know where the designated smoking areas were. “This was recommended by people on the beach who have seen the problem, as a way to handle enforcement.”

Craig said that, when he has asked people breaking the ban to stop smoking, they had “no concept that there is a no-smoking ordinance, because the signs are very non-descript and subtle. I think we need more awareness.”

The council does not generally vote on proposed ordinances on a first reading, and McClenny said the issue will be on a future agenda. “I’m not in favor of it, either,” he added.

Council adopts building fee reduction for non-profits

The council voted unanimously on June 21 to adopt an amendment to the Town’s Schedule of Fees, adjusting the fee schedule for building impact fees for 501(c)(3) non-profit groups.

After lengthy discussions during recent council workshops about which groups should be eligible for partial or complete exemption from the fees, the council had settled on two distinct categories for the exemption. The two non-profits that receive funds from the Town — the Bethany Beach Volunteer Fire Company and the South Coastal Library — will be exempted entirely. For all other 501(c)(3)s, the fee will be reduced from 3 percent of the project cost to 1 percent.

McClenny noted that the Town had not been charging a fee for non-profits for years but that a minimal fee was necessary to cover Town expenses incurred during the building application and inspection process.

Council members also voted on June 21 to delay the adoption of the new fees until Jan. 1, 2014, to allow pending projects to move forward under the existing long-running exemption for all 501(c)(3)s.

Tempe Steen, secretary for the board of St. Martha’s Episcopal Church, thanked the council for that consideration and said they appreciated the trouble the council had gone to in accommodating them as their renovation project moves forward. “This will give everyone a chance to get started without having to get more money,” she added, noting that the church does use the space for public purposes, not just church use.

Replenishment set to begin later this summer, timetable unknown

Graviet addressed a number of potential concerns for beachgoers and rental property owners at the June 21 meeting, including the potential for beach replenishment to begin in the area as soon as this month.

Graviet reported that, while the replenishment was not expected to happen south of the Indian River Inlet until late August or September, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had given permission for its contractor to begin work on the Delaware beaches as soon as July 2.

He noted that the presence of contractors working on the ocean outfall project in Rehoboth Beach and Dewey Beach meant the Corps would not allow replenishment to occur there until that project is completed, leaving project areas in Fenwick Island, South Bethany and Bethany Beach as potential starting points.

Last week, beachgoers spotted the first elements of the project in Fenwick Island, with the landing of an anchor point for the project’s survey ship on the beach there. No start date for any of the actual replenishment work has been given to officials there, either.

“We hope they’ll work at the inlet first and push ours as far back as possible,” Graviet said.

He also reported that the second phase of the town’s Streetscape project is to begin in late September. But, he noted, the Town was in an ongoing dialogue with DelDOT as to whether that work could be pushed back until early October, “to spare the businesses in the 100 block as much as we might be able to do.”

Graviet said DelDOT’s schedule for the project mandates that contractors be off-site by mid-December, which will impact whether a later start date will be acceptable. “We’re working to see if they can accomplish it between early October and mid-December,” he said.

Graviet also reported on June 21 that public works staff were working on a plan to help reduce rainwater runoff and flooding problems in the area of Gibson Avenue, after “one of the rainiest Junes in history” for the town.

He said that the staff had been working on the flooding issues by keeping culverts, swales and pipes cleared, but that, “after a certain point, the ground is saturated and maintaining drainage becomes problematic.”

Graviet said that part of the recent problem may have been that the newly planted grass on the former Christian Church/Neff property hadn’t fully taken root, resulting in “more overflow than we had planned on.” He said the Town would be taking their plan back to residents in that area as they try to address the concerns about the runoff.

As the renovated park property begins to green up, Graviet said the Town had also met with consultants at the University of Delaware about the project. The UD consultants are to develop an “objective third-party survey” that will help the Town determine what the final form and uses for the park will be. He said he hoped to have that survey back to the Town this week.

Graviet acknowledged that he had previously said the resulting survey would go out to the public for a review before being conducted by the Town, and he said that if the Town received it back in time, it would go on the agenda for the upcoming council workshop. If not, he said, it would be placed on the Town’s website and sent out to its email list.

He emphasized that the review of the survey would not be to solicit additional input on the survey itself but solely for citizens to review it, as the Town had not “gone to the contractor and said which questions we wanted asked. We asked these professionals to give us a survey to solicit input from all citizens about the park and what they would like to see in the park. If the council wants to solicit a survey on the survey, let me know, but the intention was to put it out for review, with an open-ended question at the end, asking for ideas or thoughts not included in survey.”

Graviet also reported that the Town’s new Thursday-night bonfires have continued to grow in popularity.

“I wish we had done this a number of years ago,” he said, also reporting that the Monday-night Movies on the Beach were continuing to grown in popularity, as well, though they had been hampered by weather-related cancelations this year. “We’ll hope for a clear, beautiful summer the rest of the year,” he added.

Bethany sees 24 percent increase in transfer tax revenue

Bethany’s financial picture remains sunny, as Graviet and Dorfman reported at the June 21 meeting. Graviet said the Town’s general fund revenue is 2.8 percent higher than at the same point last year, with transfer tax revenue up 23.9 percent and permit fees up 15 percent.

He noted that the eight-day delay in implementing paid parking due to the late completion of Phase I of Streetscape had reduced parking revenue by 17 percent. Overall revenue, though, was up nearly 3 percent, he said.

Dorfman reported that the Town’s expenses to date are also below that of that same time last year, having spent 12.8 percent of its budgeted expenses, versus 14.3 percent last year. The Town’s revenue continues to exceed its expenses, he noted.

Also at the June 21 council meeting:

• The council unanimously approved a tax adjustment and the assessment list for the quarter.

• McClenny noted that the application period for council candidates has opened, with a deadline of July 24 for candidates to apply. The election was officially set for Saturday, Sept. 7, from noon to 6 p.m. The council also unanimously approved appointments to the Election Board and election officers, all of whom have served previously. They also set the council reorganizational meeting for 10 a.m. on Sept. 16.

• The council unanimously approved the appointment of Jerry Morris to the Board of Assessment, and as its chairperson, and Killmer offered thanks to outgoing chairman Donald Carmichael for many years of service.

• Councilwoman Carol Olmstead reported that the 2013 Seaside Craft Show had been “a tremendous success, with perfect weather” and that feedback from vendors had all been “very, very positive.”

• Killmer reported that a boom in new businesses and new business signage had continued, with the Non-Residential Design Review Committee having received 12 applications in the last two months and having approved new signage for a boutique, a restaurant and an accessories store, as well as modifications to the plans for the Disciples of Christ conference center, to accommodate the possible future installation of solar panels.

• Finally, resident David Limeroth recommended the Town consider prohibiting future installation of semi-permeable surfaces, such as pavers, to avoid problems with flooding. With the maximum lot coverage set at 40 percent, Limeroth said he felt most or all of the rest of the properties were getting paved in one form or another and that pavers were impervious to water, despite the fact that many people choose them over asphalt because of their higher permeability.

Limeroth said he had, after the big storm of 1992, dug 11 3-foot-diameter holes around his house, down through a layer of clay, and had filled them up with big round rocks to the level of the ground, then filled them in with pea gravel and placed pea gravel around the drip line of his home.

“I do not have a water problem there,” he said, contrasting that with water coming an inch below his foundation in the 1992 storm.

Limeroth said he felt putting a prohibition on pavers and similar materials on the 60 percent of non-covered lot for new construction or renovation would be a more effective solution to the flooding problem than $60,000 spent to have the Corps show that the problem doesn’t have a solution. “I think we can do something about this,” he said.

JROTC camp offers students leadership development

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For more than 10 years, the Army Junior ROTC Junior Cadet Leadership Challenge Summer Camp has been helping young men and women prepare for life, by providing cadets challenging and meaningful hands-on training in a military environment in an effort to develop good citizenship, leadership, teamwork, problem-solving and patriotism.

“The purpose is to develop a sense of confidence and increase the knowledge base with things that are not normally conducted in the classroom,” explained Lt. Col. Ron Erale, who founded the camp.

Erale, who runs the Cape Henlopen High School JROTC program, said that Delaware JROTC students previously attended a similar camp in Baltimore, Md., but eventually decided to start their own.

“We discovered we didn’t like doing that. The quality of the students was so different. This is not a camp to correct criminal activity. Bring ours together here, and it’s much better for them,” he said, adding, “We also didn’t like the distance.”

More than 60 cadets selected from five Delaware and one Maryland Army JROTC programs assembled at the Delaware National Guard Training Site in Bethany Beach for the camp. They came from Cape Henlopen High School, Sussex Central High School, Sussex Technical High School, Appoquinimink High School and Mount Pleasant High School in Delaware and Wicomico County High School, in Salisbury, Md.

During the students’ weeklong stay at the camp they are able to learn a variety of skills and complete a variety of tasks, such as line navigation.

“It’s like a scavenger hunt. You’re looking for points on the ground that you’re going to navigate to with a direction from a distance,” Erale explained.

During the week, which culminated with a ceremony and guest speaker, campers went to the Maryland National Guard Little Gunpowder Falls Training Site for a physically taxing training day that included a Leader Reaction Course, a very difficult obstacle course, and even rappelled.

“We rappelled from a 30-foot and 60-foot wall. Rappelling was the best. It was a little scary while going over the edge but once you got over it it’s really fun and easy. It makes you want to go back up again,” said 15-year-old Cape Henlopen student Joshua Betts. “We also went to other bases, like Dover Air Base, where we looked at some of the planes there and learned the history. We also went to the Coast Guard and learned how to use our uniform as a floatation device.”

Betts said camp is great because of Erale’s involvement, noting he’s a wonderful JROTC teacher who really cares about his students, which he said means a lot.

“He’s there for the kids. He’s always helps them out and keeps them on the path of what they need to do. He explains everything well and is a good teacher. He even helps kids with college, with recommendations and things like that. For the most part, he puts the kids before himself.”

Betts joined JROTC because he plans to join the Army when he gets older.

“I want to join the military when I get older, and I thought it would help me get a head start. I just want to go into the military and serve my country. I heard many good things about it. It looked like a fun thing to do that would help me out. The goal of JROTC is to help us be better citizens. So it teaches us all the things we need to do good in life,” he said.

He added that the camp has helped prepare him, as well. “It’s really fun and it gives you an idea of what military life might be like. We work on different problem-solving abilities and stress management.”

For a fee of $40, campers were able to stay at the Bethany Beach National Guard Training Site. Erale said that the U.S. Army is kind enough to fund a good portion of the camp, to help keep costs low for the campers.

“And, of course, if we have students with economic need, we’ll just pick up the fee. Most schools here do that.”

The camp is also co-ed, with more than 10 girls participating in the daily activities.

“My mom wanted to get involved with the Army, but then she couldn’t because she got pregnant with my sister. So I figured I’d go ahead and see what it was like,” said Mount Pleasant High School student Shelia Saunders of JROTC. “It’s really fun, interesting. It’s educational and very educational. It’s a better school environment.”

Saunders said she had thought about coming to the camp last year after hearing a number of her peers talking about it.

“Everyone was like, ‘Oh, my god — you have to go.’ Then I joined the raider team for JROTC and I figured I might as well go to camp,” she said.

Sussex Tech senior Hope Riale is in her third year of attending the camp and is attending alongside her brother.

“I’m one of seven,” she explained. “My oldest sister started JROTC and decided she really liked it. She had a lot of her own personal issues, and she definitely learned to cope with them. So my mom decided it would be a good program for all of us to join. We’ve all been in it, except for my little sister, who’s 12.”

Riale said that being a member of JROTC and attending the camp has helped her learn how to interact with different people.

“I like being able to meet new different people. When you see the same people every day, you get so used to their personalities, and you don’t get to deal with other people. When you come here, you just open up and get to know people really well. Like, I just met [Saunders] and we’re like besties.”

The students said the camp has been a wonderful experience and that they would recommend it to anyone interested in participating.

“It’s just a really great experience. If you enjoy putting yourself up to a challenge, being a leader and having fun, then it’s definitely the right program for you,” said Saunders.

“It’s a really fun and exciting way to spend your summer,” said Betts. “It really teaches you a lot. Many people should do it and look into JROTC. Even if you’re not planning on going into the military, it’s still a very good experience to have in your life.”

Parents speak out at meeting against SDSA busing changes

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At Indian River Schools District’s regular Board of Education meeting on June 25, several parents of students at the Southern Delaware School of the Arts shared their frustration about some likely changes in the school’s busing policy.

Beginning in fall, the district may not provide the same transportation to Southern Delaware School of the Arts as it has in years past. Previously, some students were bused from their homes to their home-locale school, where they then caught a shuttle to SDSA. They were also returned home by bus.

But East Millsboro Elementary-area students received a letter in March that that service will likely stop in September.

Parent Lucinda Mancuso spoke first during the public comments. Last year, she said, she complied with the morning drop-off, in which SDSA students met at a central location — the BJ’s shopping center parking lot in Millsboro — to catch a ride to SDSA. They were not picked up from home, but they were driven home.

Now, Mancuso explained, the district is asking her to also pick up her two children (both middle-schoolers who began SDSA in first grade) each afternoon.

“As working parents, we don’t have the ability to pick our children up,” Mancuso said. “Other options don’t work with my family situation. My children are too old for daycare.”

The district may continue dropping groups of SDSA students at daycare centers, and Cheryl Arnold said it was suggested that parents could change daycares, if necessary to get their child bused to an after-school location, but “some places have a two-year waiting list.”

Arnold had rearranged her work schedule last school year to drop her two children at the shuttle stop. She and her husband work swing shifts.

“Now, because of the referendum — I was all for that — and full-day kindergarten… and I was not told that we wouldn’t have bus transportation,” Arnold said.

She suggested that current SDSA families be grandfathered in, so transportation won’t be taken away midway through the children’s school career.

“[My children] already had five years there, and now you want to take that away from us,” Arnold said.

Parent Osvaldo Paxtor said, “I do not speak clear English, but I have to try, because … we have problems with the bus.”

Paxtor leaves too early to drive to the shuttle stop, so his wife handles that each morning. But afternoons are still difficult for them.

“We cannot work for three, four hours, then pick up the kids. Me, I’m working 10 hours a day,” plus travel, Paxtor said. “If you can help us with the bus, we will appreciate it.”

Paxtor said he had asked his daughter if she wanted to go to her home school and said she had replied, “No, because it is a good school. I feel comfortable there.”

“It’s difficult as parents working full-time to pick them up. Last year, you were able to accommodate us,” said Mancuso. “My children love SDSA. They don’t want to leave.”

After the school board meeting, Assistant Superintendent Gary Brittingham told the Coastal Point that the State had provided funding for SDSA shuttle buses years ago.

“SDSA is a school-choice school. The law says, if we have space, kids can ride a bus. There is no longer space on the buses,” Brittingham explained.

Bus space will also be limited by the addition of state-mandated full-day kindergarten (made possible, in part, by additional space being added to six IRSD buildings, the funds for which were approved by a public referendum in January). No longer are the kindergarteners being split into morning and afternoon classes, which means they use more seats on the regular bus routes.

“It’s still possible that we may be able to provide some transportation home, but we may not,” said Brittingham. “And I’ve told those ladies that.”

He said other schools, such as Lord Baltimore Elementary and Long Neck Elementary, have not had any shuttle service to SDSA for “years.”

As the district has grown by 1,000 students in the last six years, IRSD has backed away from SDSA transportation.

“We’re going to try work it out, do the best we can, but we may not be able. … We asked people to prepare,” said Brittingham.

Further decisions will be made by the district and announced after the State budget is released in July.

In other IRSD news:

• As part of efforts to improve school safety, secured entrances and swipe cards should be installed by the next school year. The Raptor identity system may be discussed at the next Board of Education meeting.

• By a 6-3 vote, the board approved hiring of a construction management firm for the $11 million capital improvement project. The district would pay the firm an estimated rate of 9.5 percent of that amount over five years, which Board Member Rodney Layfield said he felt was rather “high.” He and fellow Board Members Doug Hudson and James Fritz Jr. opposed the motion. Board Member Donald Hattier was absent.

• The new tax rate increases that were approved by referendum were unanimously approved (with Hattier absent) to be put into effect.

• IRSD is accepting bids for architectural services for expansions at six IR school buildings. Proposal submissions will be due by July 3, with awards decided by Aug. 5.

• Temporary classrooms at North Georgetown, Long Neck and Phillip C. Showell elementary schools should be ready by end of October/first of November, with East Millsboro being delayed a little longer.

• IR High School softball coach Chris Megee was honored as 2013 Henlopen Conference and State Softball Coach of the Year.

• Board President Charles Bireley was awarded a Certificate of Boardsmanship, and Board Member Doug Hudson earned a Certificate of Distinction.

• There was a glycol leak in the Sussex Central High School auditorium on Sunday, June 2, causing up to $50,000 worth of damage. The district is working with its insurance company on costs to repair the damage.

• The district is still negotiating the best possible deal for the regular tree harvest at Ingram Pond.

• Lloyd Elling, parent of an IRHS student, addressed the board to again share his displeasure with the Indian mascot and Indian River name, criticizing the historical mistreatment of local Native Americans and “apparent self-imposed ignorance and resistance to understand past histories of greed and violence.”

“I have personally moved on, and I ask the district to move on, as well,” said Elling, who said he prefers the name “Inlet River” School District, in keeping with the nearby geographic feature. He also suggested other mascots, such as the Sharks, Sea Turtles, Sea Gulls, Surfers, Hurricanes or Green & Gold.

The school board’s reorganizational meeting for swearing-in of members for new terms will be Tuesday, July 2, at 8 a.m. at Millsboro Middle School. The next regular IR Board of Education meeting is scheduled for Monday, July 22, at 7 p.m. at Indian River High School. All school board meetings will be held on Mondays in the future.

Aquaculture legislation passed, now headed to DNREC

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Last week, the Delaware Senate unanimously passed House Bill 16, to allow commercial shellfish aqua-farming in Delaware’s Inland Bays, and which is believed may also lead to cleaner, healthier waters.

“The Center got involved for the environmental benefits,” said Center for the Inland Bays Executive Director Chris Bason. “The inland bays are still some of the most polluted water bodies in the region. They have so much excess nutrients that a lot of them are just really in poor shape. They have really low dissolved oxygen, and the habitat is still fairly wrecked.”

The passing of the legislation came after years of work put in by various organizations, including the Center for the Inland Bays.

“We have quite a history of exploring shellfish aquaculture,” explained Bason, noting the center first began its research in June of 2011. “At that time, we put together a forum with the University of Delaware to explore shellfish aquaculture and what it might mean for Delaware and its inland bays.

“Basically, we brought all the stakeholders together; we laid out the benefits, what other states were doing, by bringing in a bunch of different speakers. At the end of the forum, we asked the audience how they felt about shellfish farming and if it’s something that might have a future here in the inland bays.”

“I have grown up around the Inland Bays, so I know how much of a treasured resource they are to our community and how big of a tourist attraction they are,” said State Rep. Pete Schwartzkopf (D-Rehoboth Beach). “This is also a resource that can produce millions of dollars in unrealized potential. We have seen states up and down the East Coast benefit from shellfish aqua-farming, and we have seen what works and what doesn’t.

“That’s the beauty of this proposal — we aren’t moving into uncharted waters. It’s quite the opposite. We have a proposal here that will create jobs, produce a local product for our restaurants and clean our Inland Bays. It will create a new multi-million-dollar industry in Sussex County,” he added.

Under House Bill 160, which this week awaited the signature of Gov. Jack Markell, commercial shellfish farmers would be permitted to lease one- to five-acre tracts of shellfish grounds in Delaware’s Inland Bays. Farmers could lease up to five acres in Rehoboth and Indian River bays combined and could lease one to five additional acres in Little Assawoman Bay.

The leases would be renewable annually for 15 years, at which time the lessee could renew for another 15 years. Delaware-based residents, partnerships or corporations would be charged $100 per acre each year, while out-of-state farmers would pay $1,000 per acre annually.

In their study, the Center for Inland Bays recommends several lease areas in each of the three Inland Bays. Under the recommendations, Rehoboth Bay would have 261 acres, or 2.8 percent of the total bay area, available for lease, Indian River Bay would have 125 acres (1.3 percent) available, and Little Assawoman Bay would have 227 acres (10 percent).

“This is something that is creating jobs and cleaning up the bays,” explained Bason. “In other states, shellfish farmers are savvy marketing individuals. They’re good communicators, and they’re selling their oysters to discerning markets. These people have big potential to also be advocates for the health of the water bodies that they’re farming in. We’ll just have more opportunity for people to say, ‘The clarity and health of this bay is very important to how I make a living.’”

Bason said that, from the beginning, it was apparent that community felt fairly strongly that aquaculture could be something compatible with Delaware. In March of 2012, the Center’s Board of Directors formed the “tiger team,” comprising the Center for the Inland Bays, the Delaware SeaGrant Advisory Service, Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC), Delaware Department of Agriculture, recreational fishing interests, commercial shellfishing interests and other stakeholder groups.

“The team was tasked with laying the policy groundwork, the scientific groundwork and the educational groundwork that would be needed to support shellfish farming in the inland bays,” explained Bason. “We knew we were the last state where it was illegal to do it, so what would be needed to get over those barriers? Over the course of the year, that’s what this tiger team did, deliberate on how aquaculture would best occur in Delaware’s inland bays.”

As Delaware is the only coastal state with no commercial shellfish aquaculture — an industry that on the East Coast is valued at $119 million — Bason said the state has a distinct advantage and was able to work through the process of creating legislation with the help of such states as Maryland and New Jersey.

“There was a real advantage to us in being the last state to do this, because we got to see where everyone else had tried and learned.”

Bason said that each oyster and clam can help filter out excess nutrients in the bay water that causes an increase in algae, leading to unhealthy waters.

“That’s the problem with excess nitrogen and phosphorous — it causes these algae blooms and it makes the waters in our bays, which were once very beautiful and clear, murky, and doesn’t allow light to get to the bottom,” he explained.

“An adult oyster can filter 20 to 50 gallons of water per day. If you have a couple thousand oysters in an oyster cage and you have a whole acre of leased bottom with all these oyster cages, you’re talking 750,000 oysters you might be able get on an acre, that could filter 15 to 40 million gallons of water per day from one acre of oyster aquaculture.”

Shellfish aquaculture has numerous other benefits, including denitrification, a microbial mediated process is enhanced by the oysters and helps aerate the waters, as well.

“The oysters also excrete. They’re not 100 percent efficient. So they’re putting out this pseudo-feces that comes out of the oyster, that falls down to the bottom, and by the activity and the oyster’s growth, it helps aerate the bottom of the bay. It causes a microbial reaction in the bay bottom that takes the nitrogen that might be in the sediments and it turns it into gas and leaves the bay.”

Another benefit is that oysters and clams are reef-building organisms, which would also help improve the bays’ habitat.

“Even though they are going to be on cages, close to the bottom, it’s essentially replicating a reef, an artificial oyster reef. We’ve found through years of our oyster gardening program in the bays, there’s 49 species of fish and invertebrates that use these oysters in the bays. It’s going to be a real improvement of the habitat in the bays, as well.”

Bason said that, once the shellfish farms are installed, improvement will be almost immediate.

“You put in these structures with little baby oysters in it, and they start working and start filter the water. Instantly when you put structure in, organisms are attracted to it and begin to essentially create little reefs. They attach to the cages, they attach to the oysters. It’s an attractor and creates a little community,” he explained.

“Some people ask, ‘Where do you see the benefit?’ Of course, the benefit is local. It’s not going to clean up the [entire] bay. It’s going to be little bits of help here and there as the industry expands. The water quality benefits are going to be localized near the reefs.”

He added that there have been studies conducted on natural oyster reefs that show a literally clear improvement in the water as one travels over the reef itself.

“That’s significant and exciting. Oysters and clams are native to this ecosystem, so it really provides an opportunity for other restoration projects that the Center is involved in,” he said, adding that the harvesting of the oysters will also provide benefits to the bays. “On a three-year harvest cycle, you’re pulling out hundreds of pounds of nutrients that were previously just floating around the bay, causing algal blooms.”

Once Markell signs the legislation, Bason said it will go to DNREC, and the agency will be tasked to develop regulations that will govern shellfish aquaculture farming.

“We’ve got the law, essentially. We’re going to developing the regulations, but we still don’t have the public infrastructure, as far as the support network that other states with mature industry has. That needs to grow in Delaware. There needs to be financial support for aquaculture in Delaware like there is in Rhode Island and Maryland. There needs to be education and support,” he said.

“The Center, we bring a lot of scientific expertise, so we do still see ourselves being involved in that process. We’re not exactly sure how that’s going to go. We’re looking to DNREC to follow their lead, but we’ll be involved in any way we can help.”

Bason said that, overall, the process was overwhelmingly good, and he and the Center are excited to help bring commercial shellfish farming to Delaware’s inland bays.

“Our goal in this was to lay the groundwork to get this going, and we were completely successful. Everyone involved in this has been very proud, and it has been a very great experience. There was a lot of goodwill generated about the bays and about our community because everyone really came together on this one,” he said.

“It was a great process. I know that my board and my staff feel very thankful and fortunate for the support of the folks in the legislature who were really interested in working with us and did a great job on their end running the bill through. It had great support.”

For more information on the Center for the Inland Bays’ work on aquaculture, visit www.inlandbays.org/aquaculture-initiative. House Bill 160 can be read in its entirety at legis.delaware.gov/LIS/lis147.nsf/2bede841c6272c888025698400433a04/5fa45acf1edc76ab85257b79004e49cf?OpenDocument.

Good Earth grows into Rehoboth area

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Green is growing, and now those in the Rehoboth Beach area can enjoy the selection of natural and organic goodies already available at Clarksville’s Good Earth Market & Organic Farm at a second location, Good Earth Market near Rehoboth Beach.

Coastal Point • R. Chris Clark: Clarksville’s Good Earth Market & Organic Farm has thrived so much that owner Susan Ryan recently opened a new location near Rehoboth Beach.Coastal Point • R. Chris Clark
Clarksville’s Good Earth Market & Organic Farm has thrived so much that owner Susan Ryan recently opened a new location near Rehoboth Beach.

“Today was our first day,” said owner Susan Ryan on Tuesday, July 2. “We just did a soft opening of sorts, just quietly put the sign out.”

She said things were going “really well” in their new location, which is in front of Bin 66 and next door to Pottery Place, just north of Dewey Beach, in the “designer mile,” as merchants like to call it.

“I love the location,” she said. “I love the neighborhood.”

She said they are busy working to fill the store with inventory of all the items people have come to love at Good Earth, including coffees, teas, local eggs, local jams, grains, beans, organic milk and butter, sprouted breads, gluten-free items, gourmet groceries, all natural beauty products and earth-friendly cleaning solutions.

She explained that they had been looking to expand into Rehoboth area and said she excited for what the future may bring.

“I had been looking for a space in Rehoboth Beach for about a year,” said Ryan, “and this is just perfect. It’s a stand-alone building and just really cute.”

She said the new store will have everything that the Clarksville location has, but has a bit more space.

“It’s a nice layout. We fixed up the building, and we are right near Bin 66, a high-end wine shop who have been fantastic neighbors so far,” said Ryan.

Ryan and her team have not only brought natural and organic more to the mainstream locally with her farm and retail store in Clarksville but have encouraged education on natural and organic living, as well.

While they have their own farm in Clarksville and the market there carries many local and organic products from other small farmers, they also have supported the efforts by hosting a farm to table event twice a year that benefits many different charities and have brought in speakers to educate the public through seminars, talks and cooking demonstrations, all of which will continue in the new store.

She said her staff, many of whom have been with her for eight and nine years, all pitched in to make it happen.

“They all have been up here helping. It has been a team effort. It’s been great,” she said.

“We are thrilled to be able to expand and to offer good, clean food in even another location.” said Ryan. “It really shows that people are eating better and better. It has allowed us to expand.”

Good Earth Market’s Rehoboth Beach location will be open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week, year-round. For more information on Good Earth Market, visit them online at goodearthmarket.com or on Facebook.


OVPD offers safe way to dispose of medications

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The Ocean View Police Department has installed a permanent drug drop-off box in its lobby to offer the community convenient access to safe drug disposal year-round.

“We put it in about five months ago, as a follow-up to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Drug Take-Back Initiative. Every year we’ve participated in that, we’ve just had an overwhelming response in this area,” explained Ocean View Police Chief Ken McLaughlin. “So we decided to permanently install something there. People drop off their drugs, and then we collect it.”

McLaughlin said that any drug — legal or illegal, prescription or over-the-counter — may be dropped off at the Wallace A. Melson Municipal Building, no questions asked.

“We get all kinds. Obviously, there’s the really bad stuff that we want to get off the street, the narcotics. But, in the past, that has only made up a small portion of what we get. A lot of it is everything from vitamins to diabetes medicine — everything you could imagine. It’s not just like the Oxycodone.”

The OVPD has participated in the Drug Take-Back Initiative for a number of years and has always collected a tremendous amount of drugs to be disposed of in a safe and proper manner.

“A lot of this stuff poses an environmental hazard when it’s simply washed down the toilet or thrown in the trash, so this way it is disposed of responsibly,” McLaughlin noted. “A lot of it becomes dangerous after the expiration date. Some of these medicines can really be harmful to you. If you’ve got something in your medicine cabinet that expired five or 10 years ago, it could be dangerous.

“We want to get that stuff out of the house and get it disposed of properly.”

McLaughlin said that the department usually receives more than 100 pounds of unused drugs during the annual drop-off and will take anything except for syringes. The OVPD securely stores the drugs until they are collected by the DEA.

“What we do, with the next upcoming Take-Back, we box everything up and give it to them, and they dispose of it all,” he said. “It has worked very well. It’s a great concept, I believe. It gets the unwanted, unused medicine out of people’s homes and to a safe place, and ultimately safely destroyed.”

The Ocean View Police Department is located on the first floor of the Wallace A. Melson Municipal Building at 201 Central Avenue in Ocean View. For more information, call (302) 539-1111.

FEMA lowers flood elevations in Fenwick Island

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Fenwick Island streets and structures were inundated with water during Hurricane Sandy, but updates to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) flood maps in the near future could actually lower the flood elevations of many properties in the town. That could mean property owners could actually build closer to the ground than they do now.

Efforts to make the flood maps more accurately reflect real flooding risk meant FEMA was already working on updating them, for the first time in decades, prior to Sandy, with the revisions and research started in the fall of 2009.

The draft maps, which were recently released to the Town, reduce the flood elevation by about 2 feet in some of the town’s bayside and commercial area, while oceanfront properties have had their flood elevation reduced by about three feet, explained Councilman Bill Weistling at the council’s June 28 meeting.

Weistling and town building official Pat Schuchman had met with FEMA officials on June 19 to discuss the new digital Flood Insurance Rate Map panels and the new Flood Insurance study, which can be found online at www.rampp-team.com/de.htm.

“Oceanfront houses, on average, will be allowed to build three and a half feet lower than what they are now, and most of the bayside area, and especially along the highway, they are going to be allowed to build two feet lower,” he explained.

“I don’t know why they are lowering it, rather than raising it... With FEMA, it is how they word certain things. With a crawlspace, you can’t go down that far and yet, with a garage, you could. It’s complicated.”

The Town has 90 days to appeal the maps after receiving them, but Weistling emphasized that they can’t appeal them just because they don’t like the change.

“We can appeal, but we can’t appeal them on feelings alone. We have to have the data to back it up,” he explained last Friday. If the Town does appeal, DNREC and FEMA would also have to accept such a revision.

Alternatively, he said, the Town could simply accept the new maps but consider the option of “freeboarding” — setting its own rules for building elevation, at whatever minimum height it deems appropriate. The Town would get credit for freeboarding under the Community Rating System program, which offers discounts on property insurance if property owners manage risks.

Weistling said DNREC emphasizes freeboarding as a response to the updated maps, recommending that towns use minimum building heights of at least 12 to 18 inches above the FEMA flood map levels.

A preliminary element of dealing with the updated maps is simple corrections, and at the June 28 council meeting, the council approved on a 5-0 vote Schuchman sending minor changes regarding street names to FEMA. Such changes must be sent to FEMA by July 19.

“I can’t believe, with all we went through with the 911 street changes, that the street names here are not only misnamed but also missing,” said Councilwoman Vicki Carmean.

Weistling said he was having problems accepting that FEMA had reduced the flood elevations.

“With all the problems up the coast, the costs of that, they’re going to have to raise rates,” he said. “I would have done just the opposite and raised the flood elevation.”

He suggested the council have at least one workshop on the updated maps and discuss further whether the Town should appeal the new designations or simply raise its minimum building levels above the FEMA requirements. Once approved, the maps would go into effect in June of 2014, according to Schuchman.

Point reporter Monica Scott contributed to this story.

Fenwick Island cancels council election, prepares for change

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There will be no election in Fenwick Island this year, although there will be some changes in the council makeup. Roy Williams is set to take over the council seat held by Vicki Carmean, who will retire after 13 years on the council, effective in early August.

The town’s Board of Elections, at a special council meeting on June 18, announced the cancelation of the 2013 election, after only three incumbents and one challenger filed to run for the four council seats to be elected this year. Incumbents Eugene Langdon, Todd Smallwood and Audrey Serio will retain their seats.

Williams said there were some things he felt strongly about — for example, not wanting the building height limits raised — but, for the most part, he said, he is just gearing up to serve his town.

“I have been here full-time since 2005,” said Williams, “and I felt it was time I start to participate in town functions. I am going to spend the next month doing my homework, and when I start, hopefully, I can help the town.”

Lynn Andrews, of the Board of Elections, thanked Carmean for her years of service.

“I would like to thank everybody and, especially Vicki for her service, and I totally understand, why after 13 years, it is time to quit. But, I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: it should not be a life sentence to run for council in Fenwick Island.”

Carmean, at her final council meeting on June 28, said with a chuckle, “It’s time to leave. I can’t remember how many years I’ve been up here, so it’s time to leave.”

Andrews said she is “thrilled” that Williams has stepped forward to fill in, but “somehow we have to be more encouraging for people to serve on council,” she added.

She also said, while it does not affect the town this year, that they should be concentrating on registering voters.

“We have got to get more involvement in this town,” she said.

Carmean joked that it has been a “privilege and pleasure, most of the time, to serve on the council.”

She said she “absolutely agreed” with Andrews about the need for turnover on the council and expanded community involvement.

“Most towns — not all, but most — have some sort of term limitation, and I think an arrangement needs to be looked at by the Charter and Ordinance Committee,” said Carmean,”even if we limit it to three-year terms, with a limit of six and a year in between,” she offered.

“I have done it for a dozen years or so, and I believe strongly in government and, at the same time, I feel like it is not American for someone to be there that long. It’s just the same people, and you start to lose touch with the community.”

She also said the charter calls for a “councilmanic” form of government but that, over the years, it has been more of a “mayor form of government — but the town never gets to elect the mayor. That’s just another set of checks and balances.”

Smallwood said he thinks the council has done a good job of limiting controversy, so the status quo has been acceptable for townspeople.

“I agree with you, but one thing — controversy. People who aren’t happy always spur an election,” said Smallwood. “I don’t want to toot our own horn, but I think we have done a pretty good job sitting up here. I don’t think there is a lot of public outcry right now. I hate to say it, but sometimes controversy is what spurs change.”

Andrews replied, “We all know change is coming in the flood plain and with FEMA — all that stuff is looming,” and said people need to be proactive in their approach to town politics.

“We need to fight to protect what we have here and be actively involved. It always seems like when it hits the fan, people come out of the woodwork, but it needs to be before then. We have to protect what we have.”

Fenwick will also see one more change in the coming weeks. Town Clerk Agnes DiPietrantonio will also be leaving her post, retiring after many years and many varying job duties.

“We want to thank her for all her years of service to the Town. There isn’t much she hasn’t touched in the process,” said Town Manager Merritt Burke. Police Clerk Linda Poole has stepped up to take on some of the town clerk’s tasks with DiPietrantonio’s departure, he noted.

New York man still missing after swim near inlet

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Officials this week called off the search for a New York man who had gone missing last weekend while swimming near the Indian River Inlet.

Special to the Coastal Point • Chuck White: A massive search took place last weekend for Jeff King of Jordanville, N.Y., who was reportedly swimming at Delaware Seashore State Park on June 29 when he went missing, according to Delaware State Park officials.Special to the Coastal Point • Chuck White
A massive search took place last weekend for Jeff King of Jordanville, N.Y., who was reportedly swimming at Delaware Seashore State Park on June 29 when he went missing, according to Delaware State Park officials.

Jeff King of Jordanville, N.Y., who was said to be about 30, was swimming in the early morning hours with two other people at Delaware Seashore State Park on June 29 when he went missing.

“The individuals he was swimming with told us that he was struggling — that’s how they put it,” said Wayne Kline, chief of enforcement for Delaware State Parks. “They tried to help him and couldn’t. They saw him go under the water. The other two individuals came into the beach and were waiting and watching to see if he came in through the surf. And he didn’t. And that’s when they called 911.”

Kline said that, within minutes of the call being made around 7:54 a.m., officials arrived on the scene, including the Delaware State Police, Bethany Beach Volunteer Fire Company, the U.S. Coast Guard and DNREC, to search for King.

“Most of the agencies were there for about two and a half hours. The U.S. Coast Guard stayed on scene with their boat and aviation unit for most of the day. Around three o’clock, the Coast Guard officially suspended their search and rescue efforts. State Parks Enforcement, we were on scene the entire day. We were checking the beach areas. We have lifeguards on duty in the area,” said Kline.

He added that King went missing during an outgoing tide, from a guarded beach, but before the lifeguards were on duty.

“They went in the water, they said, around 7:30, and our lifeguards are on duty from 9 to 5 in that area. We had the lifeguards on all day, so, essentially, we were still looking for him throughout the entire day.”

Kline said officials have been scanning the beaches every day since the incident, and are currently waiting for any evidence of King to surface.

“We were checking the beaches every day since. We had the state police helicopter up and flew over a lot of the area around the inlet, the beach areas from Rehoboth down to Bethany,” he said. “We’re basically in the recovery mode, waiting to see if the individual surfaces, comes up onto the beach or if he’s seen by boating traffic out in the ocean.

“It’s obvious, being this far into the event, there’s very, very limited probability that the individual is alive unless he’s come out of the water and has an ulterior motive to be someplace else.”

Officials have not released any photos of King. Kline noted that, if a body is recovered, it is not guaranteed that it will be visually identifiable.

“We’re just waiting for him to come up. In my experience, if he’s found, he would come in with the tide onto a beach area someplace. It could be in a municipality. It may not necessarily be at Delaware Seashore State Park. He could come in the town limits of Bethany or Dewey or Rehoboth. The water and the tides do things,” he said.

“We won’t know if it’s him. The only way of positively identifying him would be through the Medical Examiner’s Office. The body would be turned over to them to determine identity and cause of death. It depends on how long the person has been out there and if there’s any decomposition, whether we’re able to possibly tell if it’s the right person. That’s the general protocol when a body is found.”

Kline added that, although such incidents are not common, they are also not unheard of.

“There are several cases, I would say, throughout the year in the beach areas, of people who go into the water and are missing. I’m not saying this is the case, but sometimes it’s suicidal, sometimes it’s people who have had too much to drink and they try to go for a nighttime swim.

“When you look from Ocean City, Md., to Lewes, Del.,” he said, “there are usually a number of cases every summer along that coast where there’s usually some sort of water incident or accident like that.”

Kline urged swimmers to wait to go into the ocean until lifeguards are on duty, for their own safety.

“It is one of our most popular swimming areas,” he said. “We recommend you swim in a guarded swimming area during lifeguarded hours, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.”

Safety concerns heightened after cluster of pedestrian fatalities

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In 2012, there were a total of 30 pedestrian fatalities in the state, according to the Delaware Office of Highway Safety (OHS). Within the last six months, there have been at least 10 pedestrian fatalities, and OHS and other organizations have been hard at work to try to keep people safe.

“We ended 2012 with a 30 pedestrian fatalities, which was a big spike for us in Delaware,” said Alison Kirk, public relations officer for the OHS. “I can’t say when we had so many pedestrian fatalities in one year. We try to keep it under 20. Obviously, we would like to have it be zero, but things happen.”

This year, OHS currently has a zombie-themed pedestrian safety campaign, “Don’t Join the Walking Dead,” which they hope will encourage pedestrians to be vigilant and safe.

“When we planned it, it was to focus in New Castle County, because the majority of our crash data showed all of the clusters there. With the most recent crashes and fatalities happening down at the beach, within such a short period of time, we are partnering with the trauma nurses at Beebe hospital and are setting up pedestrian safety checks.”

The OHS and its partners, including the Delaware State Police, the Delaware Department of Transportation and Beebe Medical Center, will hold two checkpoints promoting pedestrian safety. The checkpoints will take place on July 26 at the Starboard in Dewey Beach and Aug. 3 on Second Street in Lewes.

“We’ll have a tent set up where we have our banners and information about pedestrian safety to distribute to the community. Pedestrians walking by, we’ll give them information, flyers about pedestrian safety, how to cross the street, where to cross and also give them a reflective item. We’re also having our partner agencies coming with their information to help spread the word.”

Kirk said that OHS has also partnered with local law-enforcement agencies, urging them to be lenient with pedestrian tickets and instead just give a friendly reminder of safe practices.

“Instead of throwing them a ticket, just say, ‘Hey, it would be better if you crossed at a crosswalk instead of midblock, because we’re having a lot of crashes.’ That’s what we’re trying to do.”

She said that OHS also has data analysts who try to pinpoint the reasons for the accidents and then takes that information to their partners, to help look for a solution.

“Data analysts are looking at where crashes are happening, what time of day and what day of the week they are happening, and trying to see is there is any common factor. We try to look at all that different data that we have available to us to figure out what can we do for highway safety to address that issue,” she said, “what can we all do together to try to improve this.

“That’s where we are now this year. We had a pedestrian safety meeting with all the partners earlier in the year to discuss this. There is a lot of traffic and roadway improvements that could be done but that you probably won’t see because it takes them so long to be constructed. But DelDOT is taking all of that under advisement.”

Ocean View Police Chief Ken McLaughlin said that his department also plans to have its annual bike safety checkpoint in Ocean View this summer, but a date has yet to be finalized.

“These checkpoints were developed in response to some serious collisions that we’ve had in the past involving bicyclists, primarily on the Route 26 corridor. We have a huge influx of seasonal foreign students that come to work here each summer. Their primary mode of transportation is bicycling,” he noted.

As for safety precautions, both Kirk and McLaughlin said the rules are very simple.

“It’s what your mother told you,” said Kirk. “Look both ways before you cross the street, don’t step out in front of a car, use the crosswalks at marked intersections. If you’re walking at night, carry a flashlight or carry something reflective so a car can see you. Cars can’t see you if you’re wearing dark clothing. Always walk against traffic. Bicycles ride with traffic.

“It’s a lot of the simple stuff we heard growing up as kids that I think we tend to forget.”

“Bicyclists should follow the rules of the road. Don’t drive against traffic, drive with traffic. Bicycles, per Delaware law, essentially have to follow the same laws as any other vehicle on the road,” reminded McLaughlin. “Stop at the stop signs, stop for the traffic lights. And, especially during the evening hours, make sure you’re wearing bright clothing, reflective clothing, and you have the appropriate lights on the bike.”

Bikes are required under Delaware law to have a white light on the front of the bike and a red reflector on the rear of the bike.

“And wear a helmet. Many folks — especially the teenagers and young adults — are reluctant to wear them because maybe they’re not fashionable or whatever, but it truly can be a lifesaver.”

Delaware law requires that those younger than 18 wear a helmet when cycling. The law also requires pedestrians to carry a flashlight or reflective object when walking at night.

Kirk said people all need to do their part to keep each other safe on the roadway.

“We all have to take our part on the roadway. Remembering that we are pedestrians at some point in time when we do get out of the car. Motorists, just because we may be trying to get somewhere fast in our car, we eventually park and get out and become the pedestrian. We need to take care of each other in the roadways and watch out for each other.”

For more information, visit ohs.delaware.gov.

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