Ocean View

‘Why is Ocean View called “Ocean View” anyway, if the ocean is miles away?

An unnamed storm that lashed the area with high winds and heavy rain late last week caused significant beach erosion and flooding along the Delaware coast and inland bays. The late-September storm, despite falling during hurricane season and exhibiting counterclockwise rotation, was not classified as a tropical system but as simply a low-pressure system and therefore was not named.

The Board of Directors for the Center for Inland Bays bypassed a resolution put forth by the Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) on Tuesday, Sept. 23, and instead passed a different motion, with a vote of 3-2.

Gov. Ruth Ann Minner, Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) Secretary Carolann Wicks, state and local officials, residents and others were on hand at a Sept. 17 event to unveil the design for a new bridge over the Indian River Inlet and present the selected design/build team — Skanska USA Civil Southeast — to the public.

Denise Curtis and her husband wanted to try something different when they moved to Delaware. Their children had attended public school in Montgomery County, Md., and although that public school system is noted as one of the best in the country and was part of the reason they had settled where they did, when they moved full-time to Delaware, they were ready to try something new.

The Sussex County Emergency Operations Center mid-week was monitoring a developing storm system off the eastern United States that threatened to bring heavy rain, gusty winds, and prolonged higher-than-normal tides to the region for the next several days.

The Ocean View Town Council voted 3-2 at a special meeting on Tuesday night to change Police Chief Ken McLaughlin’s contract to read that he will now report to Town Manager Conway Gregory, after years of McLaughlin reporting directly to the town’s mayor. The town manager position has only existed in the town since early 2007, and McLaughlin has continued to report to the mayor since then.

On Wednesday, Sept. 17, many area professionals and residents had their questions (and prayers) answered as state and local officials unveiled the new plans for the long-anticipated Indian River Inlet Bridge project.

For Kay Ryan, running for representative for the state’s 38th District will be like an extension of the last seven years of her life before her retirement.

It’s hard to miss the Little Red School House, complete with an antique school bell on top, on Bayard Road. The building, which blends in with the scenery and looks as if it were an actual restored school house, was, in fact, built just 20 years ago by owner/teacher “Miss Debbie” Jahnigen and her family.

By popular demand, Old World Breads is now available at Good Earth Market in Clarksville. On Fridays and Saturdays, Steve Kogler’s Old World Breads, famously known and sought-after at the area farmers’ markets — especially for the cinnamon shorties — will be sold at Good Earth on Route 26.

Norino Properties, which earlier this year proposed a convenience store and gas pumps for property on Route 26 in Ocean View, has filed suit against the town, citing what they say was an unfair denial of the project in July.

The extensive agenda for the Ocean View Town Council meeting on Sept. 9 was cut drastically Tuesday after a 3-2 vote by the council determined the procedure of adding items to an agenda had not been properly performed.

It’s that time of year — time to prepare in case of a natural disaster, and the Ocean View Police Department wants the public to be educated on what could happen if a hurricane strikes the area.

Residents of Ocean View gathered prior to the town council meeting Tuesday, Sept. 9, to pray for town leaders amidst ongoing strife.

After much planning and preparation, Kool Bean Café in Ocean View now has four nights of dinners on the menu, with a hoped-for start date for dinner service at the end of September.

Chef Ronnie Burkle said they now have their liquor license and plan on offering a simple seasonal dinner menu Thursday through Sunday, in addition to breakfast and lunch daily.

Update, Sept. 6, 7:14 p.m. -- With Tropical Storm Hanna clear of the Delmarva Peninsula as late afternoon and evening arrived on Saturday, residents and visitors alike turned out by the dozens to check out the storm-tossed waves of the Atlantic and see what, if any, damage had been left in the storm's wake. By and large, the answer to that question was none -- a puddle here, a pile of pinecones and twigs there, and mild to moderate erosion to the front sections of the area's reconstructed beaches.

The Sussex County Emergency Operations Center is continuing to monitor the movement of Tropical Storm Hanna, which is forecast to track along the East Coast this weekend and bring gusty winds and heavy rain to Delaware. Forecasters expect Tropical Storm Hanna to pass just to the east of Delaware’s coast on Saturday. However, as the storm’s center moves northward, the system is expected to reach far enough inland to spread heavy rain and strong winds across Sussex County. Rainfall amounts of 3 to 5 inches, with winds up to 40 mph, are possible. Gusts could reach 50 mph, according to the National Weather Service.

With two months of construction behind them in the multi-year work to extend central sewer service along Route 26 through Millville, business owners along the busy road said in March that fears of major traffic tie-ups seriously impacting their bottom line hadn’t really come to pass.

Gardeners by the Sea will be hosting WHYY’s Mike McGrath, radio personality and former editor of Organic Gardening, on Friday, Sept. 12.

Officials at the Sussex County Emergency Operations Center announced Wednesday that they were closely monitoring Tropical Storms Hanna, Ike and Josephine in the Atlantic Ocean.

Delaware Electric Cooperative is asking all Delaware Electric Co-op members to voluntarily conserve or limit energy usage between the hours of 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday, when its membership is expected to be using the greatest amount of electricity and, as a result, when the cooperative expects to be purchasing power from the market at extremely high prices.

There’s not a brick or any mortar in sight, yet Justin’s Beach House will be welcoming its first guest this September, just in time for the Make-a-Wish Triathlon at Sea Colony.

I started covering local government when I joined the Coastal Point in 2004.

Ocean View police have filed 56 charges each against a pair of suspects in connection with a widespread series of thefts throughout the Ocean View area in the last two months. Additional arrests in the cases and more than 100 charges against the initial two suspects alone are expected in the coming days.

When Rick Hundley and his wife woke up on July 21 and discovered that their Cabriolet convertible had been replaced in the driveway of their Bethany Lakes home by two bicycles, they were pretty sure it wasn’t a guerilla statement on “green” transportation. They reported the theft to the police.

It’s no secret the town, county, state and nation are facing financial downfalls, but in Ocean View creativity could help get the town through the next five years.

Town Manager Conway Gregory announced on Tuesday, Aug. 12, slight changes in the town’s five-year fiscal plan that could help alleviate shortfalls from falling transfer tax revenue.

Susan and Richard White might have expected that there would be some fallout from taking out a full-page advertisement in support of their rally to gather signatures on a petition to request a state audit of Ocean View’s finances, or from the concerns Susan White detailed to the Coastal Point in the days leading up to that rally.

“There’s no organization and there’s no committee. We’re just two citizens who are sick and tired of it all,” Ocean View resident Susan White told fellow citizens on Sunday afternoon at a rally to kick off a petition campaign aimed to get Gov. Ruth Ann Minner to order a state audit of the town’s finances, with which White and husband Richard say they have concerns.

The renovation and expansion of the South Coastal Library and Joshua M. Freeman Cultural Center is proceeding on a schedule that should allow for a “grand” reopening in the spring of 2009. Please drive by the Kent Avenue location to see the progress being made (for your safety, please do not enter the “fenced in” construction area).