Ocean View

Last week, Lord Baltimore Elementary students crowded into their gymnasium for the culmination of fire prevention week, with an awards ceremony for students.

On Tuesday, Oct. 23, the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, along with the Town of Ocean View, will hold a private dedication of the Town’s solar carport.

The Bethany-Fenwick Area Chamber of Commerce held its annual Member Celebration and Awards Ceremony last week, and they honored Coastal Point publisher Susan Lyons with the Chamber’s prestigious Lighthouse Award.

The Ocean View Town Council voted 4-0 this week to approve and implement the compensation study — a 43-page document suggesting that the Town maintain a 14-grade pay structure — conducted by consultant Charles Hendricks.

In the past month, Ocean View has been hit with a string of thefts by what police said they believe are suspects looking for cash, and Ocean View Police Chief Ken McLaughlin held a Neighborhood Watch meeting earlier this week to urge residents to contact their local authorities anytime they find something to be suspicious, or if a crime has occurred.

When I recently highlighted recipes from members of VFW Post #7234 at Quillens Point in Ocean View, I met Chef Tom Bowen, who prepares meals Tuesdays through Saturdays all year ’round. I asked him to share some of his recipes with us.

The Ocean View Planning & Zoning Commission met recently to unanimously recommend that an ordinance amending the Land Use and Development Code of the town by restricting the use of outdoor seating areas and providing for “waiting-area bars” in restaurants. The bars would not be permitted to offer live entertainment and music, and service would end at 11 p.m.

Beebe Medical Center representatives on Monday afternoon notified the public that visitor IDs were being checked after a former patient allegedly threatened two physicians affiliated with the hospital through a telephone message that was left sometime during the weekend and received on Monday morning.

No decision has been made yet on the proposed rezoning for the Castaways Bethany project, as the county council deferred action this week while waiting for a recommendation from Sussex County Planning & Zoning commissioners.

The Ocean View Board of Adjustment voted 3-2 this week to reject an application for a variance submitted by Davis, Bowen & Friedel Inc. on behalf of Windansea LLC, the developer of the proposed Ocean View Beach Club community. The variance would have permitted construction of a paved roadway with curb and gutter measuring 30 feet from back of curb to back of curb.

On Saturday, Sept. 29, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., local law-enforcement agencies will be partnering with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) for the National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day.

The Ocean View Historical Society has been working to preserve the area’s history and educate the community through various outlets, including their preservation of the Tunnell-West House and their history lecture series.

Charles Hendricks of Hendricks and Associates Inc. this week presented the Ocean View Town Council with his firm’s completed classification and compensation study for town employees.

The National Drug Take Back Day event is on Saturday, Sept. 29, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., with 28 collection sites located throughout Delaware. The event gives the public an opportunity to safely dispose of expired, unused and unwanted medications.

In a marathon four-hour meeting with more than 100 opponents present and hundreds more making their opinions known through letters of opposition, Sussex County Planning & Zoning commissioners this week deferred action on the application of Castaways Bethany LLC for a proposed development consisting of a campground, multi-family duplex residential units and a waterpark, collectively to be known as Castaways Bethany, located off of Cedar Neck Road near Ocean View.

When I first met with the men and women of Mason-Dixon VFW Post 7234 to write my first column about them two weeks ago, I was overwhelmed by the level of service they provide locally, statewide and nationwide.

A proposal to build a campground, multi-family dwellings and an outdoor amusement facility on 38.5 acres on Cedar Neck Road near Ocean View was set to be the subject of three public hearings this week, on Thursday, Sept. 6, at 6 p.m. before the Sussex County Planning & Zoning Commission.

Monday evening, 26-year-old Joshua Dean Howard of Ocean View was arrested following a four-hour standoff with Delaware State Police.

Man arrested for fourth-offense DUI

Police this week arrested an Ocean View man on a fourth-offense DUI charge. According to the OVPD, Brendan S. McPadden, 51, was arrested Aug. 23 after an officer stopped his vehicle for an equipment violation and detected a strong odor of alcoholic beverages when he approached McPadden in the car.

When I received an email from Mason-Dixon VFW Post 7234 Jr. Vice Commander Fulton Loppatto, asking me to highlight the fine work, fine people and fine food of Post 7234, located at the end of Cedar Neck Road on the Indian River Bay at Quillens Point in Ocean View, I had no idea how involved members are, both locally and statewide.

After roaming free on Cedar Neck for an estimated 15 years, the peacocks at James Farm have been captured and penned.

The Town of Ocean View held a special meeting last week to unanimously approve a resolution rejecting all bids received for the construction of the town’s proposed public works building.

Earlier this week, the Town of Ocean View unanimously approved the ratification of an employment contract hiring Dianne Vogel as the town’s new town manager.

In two weeks, 14 children from all over Delaware, as well as some from Pennsylvania and Maryland, will be visiting Camp Barnes for the Fourth Annual Delaware Burn Camp.

Ocean View bicyclists, beware!

Just a hop, skip and a jump away from downtown Bethany Beach, in a quaint little storefront in Ocean View, delicious and nutritious juices are now on offer. Juicebox opened its doors about two weeks ago and has already begun to flourish as locals and visitors alike stop in to try the healthy treats.

Earlier this month, the Ocean View Historical Society received some exciting news — the Tunnell-West house, the society’s labor of love, will be listed on the National Registry of Historic Places.

By Maria Counts

Staff Reporter

Last week, Special Olympics Delaware athletes from all over the state journeyed to Camp Barnes to participate in a three-day summer camp.

Bear Trap Dunes Golf Club in Ocean View provides golfers with one of the most unique experiences in the entire state, with three nine-hole courses that make any outing different than the last time. Known as the Grizzly, the Kodiak and the Black Bear courses, each group of holes offers something different, all while adhering to the natural lay of the land.

Construction on Route 26 is unlikely to begin until spring of 2013 at the earliest, but DelDOT is already starting public outreach. Select community members along Atlantic Avenue have received invitations to join the Delaware Department of Transportation SR 26 Working Group.