Agenda

Upcoming meetings and events for our towns.

Bethany Beach

• The Town Council and the Budget and Finance Committee of the Town of Bethany Beach will jointly hold a public hearing on Monday, March 15, 2010, at 2 p.m. in the Town Meeting Room, 214 Garfield Parkway, Bethany Beach, Del. The purpose of the hearing is to receive comments on the proposed town budget for the 2011 fiscal year, beginning April 1, 2010, and ending March 31, 2011. The proposed budget is available for inspection in Town Hall, Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., (except on scheduled holidays), and is also available on the town’s Web site at www.townofbethanybeach.com. All interested persons are welcome to attend the hearing and to make comment.

• The Bethany Beach Cultural and Historical Affairs Committee will meet on Tuesday, March 16, at 1 p.m. at town hall. The agenda for the meeting includes: feedback regarding the oral history project; discussion of the Loop Canal anniversary program; review of a letter to the mayor of Periers, France, regarding twinning the towns; discussion and a possible vote regarding Arcadia Books project; and possible museum projects.

• The Bethany Beach Charter and Ordinance Review Committee (CORC) will meet on Thursday, March 18, at 2 p.m. at the town hall. The agenda for the meeting includes a review of Volume II of the town code.

• The Bethany Beach Budget & Finance Committee will meet on Friday, March 19, at 2 p.m. at town hall. The agenda for the meeting includes discussion of the draft budget for the 2011 fiscal year.

• The Bethany Beach Town Council will hold its regular monthly council meeting on Friday, March 19, at 7:30 p.m. at the town hall. The agenda for the meeting includes: a second reading and possible vote on an ordinance to make “house-keeping” amendments to clarify that town-sponsored entertainment programs and Town-authorized concessions are exempt from all provisions of the ordinance in Chapter 27; a second reading and possible vote on an ordinance to amend “Regulations Governing Use of the Town Bandstand and Plaza” to provide for “special events”; a first reading of an ordinance to include Chapter 100, Article III, “Newsracks,” in the Bethany Beach Town Code; discussion and a possible vote on the proposal to relocate utilities on Garfield Parkway; adoption of a budget for the 2011 fiscal year and the updated Schedule of Fees; and update and possible vote on recycling; consideration of a request from the mayor of Periers, France, requesting possibility of “twinning” that town and Bethany Beach; consideration of awarding a contract to Harvey Mack Sales and Service for the purchase of a 2011 Mack GU 813 truck chassis for $109,777; consideration of awarding a contract to H.A. Dehart & Son for the purchase of a Pak-Mor HLRC 34T High Compaction, side-load refuse compactor for $69,505; and consideration of awarding the concession for a summer exercise program on the boardwalk.

• The Bethany Beach Planning Commission will meet on Saturday, March 20, at 9 a.m. at town hall.

• Six beach access ramps have been re-opened with temporary stairways to allow pedestrian access to the beach in Bethany Beach after the Nov. 12-15 storm, located at Cedarwood Street, Parkwood Street (beach lot), 3rd Street, Garfield Parkway (two ramps) and Campbell Place.

Town officials announced that, while the beach will be open for the public’s enjoyment, they were asking that the public comply with posted signs directing people to remain a safe distance from the dunes, as well as with other posted signs indicating ramp closures, etc. The beach will be patrolled by the Bethany Beach Police Department to ensure compliance, they said. The town has been granted permission to construct wooden steps leading from the beach to the truncated dune crossings in order to enable some beach access.

While sand has begun accumulating once again on the beach and is being moved toward the dune, the town is still awaiting word on whether and when contractors might begin some reconstruction of the eroded dune. Any work by state employees would take place this spring. Full reconstruction under the Army Corps of Engineers will require funding allocations that are not considered likely to come before spring.

• The Town of Bethany Beach’s Mediacom survey has now been completed. The town received responses from 350 residents using one or more of the services provided by Mediacom. The town’s existing franchise agreement for cable service with Mediacom is due to expire on Nov. 21, 2012, and the survey is the first step in the three-year process for renewal/non-renewal of that franchise. The next step will be a town meeting with a representative of Mediacom to discuss the survey results, to explore additional comments made on the completed surveys and to answer questions posed by residents attending that meeting. That meeting will be held in the late spring. In the interim, other vendors will also be contacted to determine their interest in serving the area.

• The Town of Bethany Beach, in an effort to cut costs and increase efficiency, has reduced winter residential trash pick-ups on a trial basis to Mondays once a week during the fall and winter. The Bethany Beach winter trash schedule went into effect on Monday, Oct. 5. Trash collection will be on Mondays only until May.

• Smoking is banned year-round in Bethany Beach’s town parks, playgrounds and boardwalk bandstand plaza area. Verbal warnings are being issued to violators before written citations are issued. The ban on smoking on the beach and extended boardwalk ended Sept. 15 and will return to implementation on May 15, 2010. Parking meters and permit parking requirements ended Sept. 15 and will return to implementation on May 15, 2010. Restrictions on dogs on the beach and boardwalk ended Sept. 30.

• The annual water report for 2009 for the Town of Bethany Beach is now available. The report can be found online at www.townofbethanybeach.com.

• The Town of Bethany Beach is looking for interested residents to volunteer at its Conservation and Nature Center. Volunteers can participate at many levels, from organizing and administering the docents, to organizing and arranging presentations or simply being a guide/docent for the center. Interested residents are being encouraged to contact the Town Hall at (302) 537-3771 or via e-mail at admin@townofbethanybeach.com.

• The Town of Bethany Beach is offering a voluntary curbside recycling program. Participants in the program will receive a 65-gallon wheeled container, which will act as a common container for the recyclables. Citizens may participate in the recycling effort by filling out an application and returning it to the town hall or mailing it to the address on the application. The application is also available on the town’s Web site at www.townofbethanybeach.com.

• The Town of Bethany Beach has upgraded its emergency notification system. The system allows the town to telephone all or targeted areas of the town in case of an emergency situation that requires immediate action, such as an evacuation, contaminated water, hazardous chemical spill, etc. The system is capable of dialing the entire town within minutes. It then delivers a pre-recorded message describing the situations to a live person or an answering machine in the affected area, possibly including instructions requiring immediate action on the part of the recipient.

While a calling database was created by extracting information from the town’s computerized files and other public record sources, officials said they are certain that not all phone numbers of residents and residential and business property owners within our incorporated limits were captured. Those who reside or own property within the incorporated limits of Bethany Beach who would like to receive CodeRED emergency messages may sign up on the town Web site. Anyone desiring to be removed from the calling list may do so by calling the Bethany Beach Police Department at (302) 539-1000.

• The Town of Bethany Beach has received the National Flood Insurance Program rate reduction for implementing measures aimed at reducing property damage caused by flooding and increasing public awareness of flood risk. Bethany Beach received a Class 8 rating on the National Flood Insurance Program’s Community Rating System and qualified for the reduced rate. FEMA estimates that roughly 2,000 policyholders in the town will each receive an average discount of $55 per year – amounting to an approximate annual savings of $111,000 per year for the entire town. Beginning this month, all Bethany Beach federal flood insurance policyholders will receive the rate reduction when their policies renew. Property owners without current flood insurance are being encouraged to contact their insurance agent. New policies require a 30-day waiting period before coverage will take effect.

• Bethany Beach officials made the first assessment for the new Bethany Beach Volunteer Fire Company’s ambulance service in February of 2009 in an individual mailing to all property owners in the town. The assessment will be levied with the yearly tax/sanitation/sinking fund billing each May. It is estimated to be approximately $30 for the 2011 fiscal year (June 1, 2010, to May 31, 2011, for the ambulance service), with the annual assessment changing based on costs and cost estimates. Business owners will be assessed at the time they renew their yearly business license. The assessment does not fund firefighting service.

South Bethany

• Remaining meetings on South Bethany’s 2011-fiscal-year budget include a Budget and Finance Committee meeting on Friday, March 12, at 1 p.m. and a special meeting/third budget workshop on Friday, March 19, at 7 p.m. (previously scheduled for March 25). Although the special meeting/budget workshops are open meetings, there will be no public input. An executive session may be called to discuss salaries and personnel. The March 19 meeting is the final scheduled meeting on the budget prior to its planned adoption.

• The South Bethany Town Council will hold its regular monthly meeting on Friday, March 12, at 7 p.m. The agenda for the meeting includes: a third reading of Ordinance 152-09, Chapter 20, Planning Commission, to make revisions and updates; a second reading of Ordinance 153-10, Chapter 145, Zoning, to add § 145–14.3, “Ground covering allowed in setback area”; and Resolution 1-10, a resolution for a non-binding referendum on a South Bethany recreational area park; among council and leadership reports and other business.

• The Town of South Bethany has one seat open this year for mayor (with a two-year term) and three open seats for council members (two-year terms). Applications to run in the upcoming 2010 election are being accepted until April 15. The applications are available at the Town Hall, 402 Evergreen Road, South Bethany, DE 19930 or may be requested by e-mail at townhall@southbethany.org or by calling (302) 539-3653.

• South Bethany changed recycling providers from DSWA to Allied Waste beginning Jan. 1, 2010. Allied Waste will be providing new recycling carts for South Bethany. They will include both 65-gallon and 35-gallon containers – but the latter only for those who already had the smaller DSWA carts.

Carts from the previous and new providers were to be switched out on the second pickup of the month through April, so the existing DSWA carts were to be placed curbside for these pickups until they were replaced with new ones, but town officials said last month that DSWA had picked up many of its carts earlier than planned. Those who had their DSWA carts picked up but who have not had the Allied carts supplied yet should contact Allied or town hall.

Those who are already signed up for recycling do not need to sign up again. Those not currently participating in the recycling program may sign up for recycling on the Recycling Sign Up page on the town Web site. Recyclables are now collected on the first and third Friday of each month from September through May. The pick-up schedule will be weekly on Fridays in June, July and August. Trash collection will be on Mondays only from October through March.

• State workers have completed cleanup of debris from the Veteran’s Day storm that heavily damaged South Bethany’s beach and dune. While sand has begun accumulating once again on the beach and is being moved toward the dune, the town is still awaiting word on whether and when contractors might begin some reconstruction of the eroded dune. Any work by state employees is likely not to start until this spring. Reconstruction under the Army Corps of Engineers will require funding allocations that are not considered likely to come before spring.

• A safe-boating course will be offered at South Bethany Town Hall on April 17, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., through the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary. The cost is $10. Completion of the course will qualify participants to receive a Delaware Safe Boating Certificate, which is required for all boaters born after Jan. 1, 1978. To reserve a spot in the class, call Bob Adams at (302) 541-4038.

• Honorary/memorial bricks for the area located around the flagpole at town hall can now be ordered. For details, refer to the town’s Web site and its forms page and click on the honorary/memorial brick order form link.

• Any citizen of South Bethany who would like to receive the Zephyr newsletter via e-mail instead of through the U.S. Postal service is being asked to complete and submit the Homeowner Contact Information Sheet online at: www.southbethany.org, on the Homeowner Contact Information Sheet/Email Registration page.

Ocean View

• The deadline to file as a candidate in the Ocean View election for 2010 is 4:30 p.m. on March 11. Candidates must be at least 18 years old, a U.S. citizen, an Ocean View resident for at least one year immediately preceding the date of the election, must be a resident of District 1 or District 2 at the time of filing and during the full term in office, must be a Town of Ocean View-eligible registered voter and must have no felony convictions.

• The Ocean View Historical Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the coastal towns’ history. For information and to obtain a membership form, visit the town’s Web site at: http://www.oceanviewde.com. The group is also selling greeting cards with prints of historic buildings painted by local artist Wanda Powell. For more information or to pick up a set of six for $10, with proceeds going to the Historical Society/Coastal Towns Museum, call Powell at (302) 539-9429.

• The Ocean View Homecoming event will be held on May 15, 2010.

Fenwick Island

• Missing person notice: Last seen in Fenwick Island: Greg Forte, 29, of Selbyville. Forte is a white male, standing 5 feet, 11 inches tall, weighing 155 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. He was last seen on Monday, Feb. 8, about 11:30 p.m. in Fenwick Island. Anyone who knows his whereabouts or who has additional information that could possibly lead to his return is being encouraged to call Delaware State Police Troop 7 at (302) 645-6653 or Delaware State Police Troop 4 at (302) 856-5850.

• Dune grass planting by volunteers will take place on Saturday, March 20.

• The next regular Fenwick Island Town Council meeting is set for March 26 at 3:30 p.m. In the remainder of the 2009-2010 council year, council meetings will be held April 23, May 21, June 25 and July 23, 2010. Meetings are held at 3:30 p.m. in the Town Hall, 800 Coastal Highway, Fenwick Island.

• Starting in November 2009 and continuing through 2010, Delmarva Power will install new advanced metering technology (referred to as “smart meters”) in an effort to improve reliability and service. Crews from Scopes Services Inc., the company working for Delmarva Power, will be in the community. They will be in white Ford Ranger pickup trucks with the Scopes Services and Delmarva Power signs on them and will wear a uniform and a photo identification badges. Anyone with questions can call DP’s customer care number at (800) 375-7117.

• According to the Fenwick Island Police Department, beach access is now open and repaired, thanks to the State of Delaware. Town officials are still asking people to stay off the dunes.

• Starting on Oct. 1, trash collection in Fenwick is on Mondays only. Also starting Oct. 1, curbside recycling is collected on the first and third Fridays of the month.

• All Fenwick Island property owners must register to vote and will not be eligible to vote in town elections unless they are registered. Registrations prior to Aug. 4, 2008, are not valid. For more information, contact Town Hall at (302) 539-3011.

• Fenwick Island citizens and council members serve on a variety of committees that aim to advance cultural, environmental and good-government causes. For the most up-to-date information on these committees and their upcoming meetings, visit the town Web site at www.fenwickisland.delaware.gov.

• In October 2008, the Fenwick Island Town Council adopted a resolution that would bring the town’s streets and addresses into conformance with Sussex County Code (see www.sussexcountyde.gov Online Services tab, “County Code,” Section 73).

Frankford

• A public hearing will be held Tuesday, March 30, at 6 p.m. at town hall for a presentation from the town attorney and consultants on the proposed Land Use Development Ordinance.

• Frankford’s 2010 town elections, set for Feb. 6, were canceled. Only the three incumbent council members, President Greg Johnson, Vice-President Jesse Truitt and Councilman Charles Shelton, filed to run in 2010, and they were re-elected by default. Johnson and Truitt were sworn in at the March 1 town council meeting. Shelton, who was absent, will be sworn in next month. The term for those seats is two years.

• The next Frankford Town Council meeting is scheduled for Monday, April 5, at 7 p.m.

Selbyville

• Selbyville canceled its annual council election for 2010. Only the two incumbent council members who were up for re-election filed to run in 2010, and they were re-elected by default. The term for the seats is two years. Two council seats and the mayorship will be up for election in 2011.

• The Selbyville Town Council will meet next on Monday, April 5, at 7 p.m. at town hall.

Millville

• Millville Town Council Members Jon Subity and Gerald “Gerry” Hocker Jr. were sworn to new two-year terms in at the March 9 town council meeting by Town Manager Debbie Botchie, after being re-elected without opposition.

• The Millville Planning and Zoning Commission met March 8 to review and discuss the five applicants for C-2 zoning. The properties in question are proposed to be changed to C-2 due to the new town comprehensive plan. The commission plans to review the applications more thoroughly and give town council a recommendation May.

• Charles Ellison Jr. of Miller and Smith, the new developers of Millville By the Sea, will be giving the town hall plumbing and kitchen fixtures from model homes free of charge. Some of the fixtures the town will be accepting include commodes, a shower and stainless steel appliances fixtures. The model homes were originally going to be moved, but the developers found the process too costly. They will instead be torn down in the fall.

• Town Manager Debbie Botchie reported that is in talks with the town managers of South Bethany, Bethany Beach and Ocean View over the possibility of hiring a lawyer to collectively renegotiate their Mediacom franchise agreements. More information will be presented at the March council workshop.

• The planning committee for the annual Great Pumpkin Festival will meet at 6 p.m. on March 16 in town hall.

• A policy manual for Millville volunteers will be submitted for review to the council at their April meeting.

• The March Millville Town Council workshop will be held Tuesday, March 23, at 7 p.m., when Greg Hastings will give a presentation on the planned expansion of town hall.

• The Millville Historic Preservation Commission is asking anyone with old photographs, stories or historical information about Millville to share their memories for documentation and preservation purposes.

• The Millville town Web site is located at www.millvillede.us.

Sussex County

• The Sussex County Planning & Zoning Commission will meet in County Council Chambers, County Administrative Office Building, 2 The Circle, Georgetown, at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, March 17. The agenda for the meeting includes consideration of a revised preliminary plan for The Estuary and a revised Phase 2 plan for Roads Bay Forest Club MR/RPC at Roads 347 and 349, among other business.

• The Sussex County Board of Adjustments will meet next on Monday, March 15, at 7 p.m. in the County Council Chambers, County Administrative Office Building, on The Circle in Georgetown.

• The Sussex County Council will meet next on Tuesday, March 16, at 10 a.m. in County Council Chambers, County Administrative Office Building, 2 The Circle, Georgetown. The council did not meet on March 2 or 9.