Bethany Beach’s town hall will soon honor past town council members, with a unanimous vote by the current council on Sept. 19 to spend about $26,000 to create a “memorial wall” that will list members of the council from 1923 to the present — and on into the future.
The wall will be centered in the location just inside the town hall lobby where a bulletin board currently exists, adjacent to the town museum area. The town moved its official notice board outside the town hall doorway this year, inside a glass case. What will now take its place for visitors to see when they first come in to town hall is the town seal, a list of current council members and a chronological list of past councils.
As approved by the council last Friday, the town will pay for about $3,000 in installation costs for the wall and about $3,000 more in costs for materials involved in putting the town seal and list of current council members on the wall.
The remaining roughly $20,000 for the listing of past councils is to come from funds specifically allocated to the town’s Cultural and Historical Affairs Committee (CHAC), whose chairwoman, Vice-Mayor Carol Olmstead, emphasized that the display would be “a real contribution to the museum.” The committee has raised substantial funding from its annual Seaside Craft Show each June for the last several years, with the money to go toward its cultural events and historical endeavors, such as the museum.
Still, the proposed expenditure garnered some objections from citizens at the meeting who the outlay of so much money for the wall at a time when finances are tight in local government and in individuals’ wallets.
“Are we so loaded up with money that we can afford to spend $20,000 on this right now?” asked resident Phil Boesch. Michael Mee agreed with that fiscal conservatism, suggesting the money would be better spent as a donation to the poor.
CHAC member and new Council Member Margaret Bogan Young smoothed over some of those objections with a surprise. Ahead of the council vote, she announced that the Bethany Beach Historical Association, of which she is the secretary, would be donating $3,200 toward the cost of the wall — taking the town’s general-fund outlay down to just about $3,000 for the whole project.
Olmstead emphasized that the wall will be constructed in such a way that it can be moved to a new location should the town relocate the town hall at a future date. She also said the cost to add additional council member names in the future will run only about $12 per name, resulting in minimal cost to keep the wall updated.
The listing of the project as a “memorial wall” stirred some discussion on Sept. 19, as former council member Tracy Mulligan emphasized that the wall would display “a history of service,” as opposed to being a “memorial,” since many of the people who will be listed on it are still living. Olmstead said the name of the project was not going to actually be on the wall, mitigating that concern.
Opinions differed on the order in which the names of each year’s council should be listed, though.
Mulligan said he felt the names should be listed in alphabetical order, with the titles of mayor, vice-mayor and secretary/treasurer listed to the side of the appropriate person’s name for each year. Councilman (and former mayor) J. Robert “Bob” Parsons supported the council officers being listed first, from mayor downward and then alphabetically through the council.
Such details will be decided as the project comes closer to the construction phase, Olmstead said.
Resident Lonnie Moore further recommended the town consider adding a directory of staff and council to the town hall lobby, so as to help orient new residents and property owners when they first arrive there. Olmstead said the suggestion was a good one and should be considered separately in the future.
Annual street rehab set to begin
Bethany residents are likely to see pavement trucks and crews moving into the area in the coming week, as the time for the town’s annual street rehabilitation arrives on Oct. 1. The council on Sept. 19 unanimously approved a $204,000 contract with Delmarva Paving Company for the project.
The project consists of hot-mix patching repairs, and reclamation and repaving of existing pavement on several streets in town, as follows: full-depth reclamation with hot-mix overlay on S. Atlantic Avenue, from House #74 and including Cedarwood Street; Ashwood Street, from Atlantic Avenue to Pennsylvania Avenue; Maplewood Street, from Atlantic Avenue to Pennsylvania Avenue; Fifth Street, from N. Pennsylvania Avenue to Route 1; Fifth Street, from Evans Road to the end; and Seventh Street, from Evans Road to the end.
Some $135,000 in funding for the rehabilitation project will come from the town’s annual Municipal Street Aid funding through the state.
Additionally, the council also unanimously approved $25,000 in funding for a pedestrian “thoroughfare” in the 300 block of Central Boulevard, from Gibson Street to Route 1, to be constructed in conjunction with the rehabilitation project, and taking the total contract with Delmarva Paving Company to $229,000.
The walkway is one initial portion of planned pedestrian improvements in the town, aimed at creating safe pathways for pedestrians to traverse from the west of the town to the beach. Future plans under consideration for the overall project include creation of a thoroughfare for pedestrians and cyclists in the 200 block of Central Boulevard, as well as the restoration of sidewalks in the street’s 100 block.
The new walkway will run south of existing car parking areas on Central Boulevard and along the berm in the vicinity of Maryland Avenue.
Voter turnout hardy in 2008 elections
New Mayor Tony McClenny last Friday praised the turnout of voters in the town’s Sept. 6 elections.
“I want to compliment our voters for turning out in such numbers by absentee ballot and in person during the storm,” he said, referencing the tropical storm weather that apparently did little to deter the town’s in-person voters that Saturday.
Mulligan, who did not run for re-election, also praised the turnout, noting that overall voting was up 28 percent from 2007. In all, 1,082 voters cast ballots on Sept. 6, compared to 846 in 2007. Absentee ballots nearly doubled, from 234 to 465. And, despite the blustery weather, more voters turned out in person this year — 617 compared to 612 in 2007.
The strong absentee balloting may have been aided by two new town programs aimed at improving voter turnout. Town Manager Cliff Graviet said the opening of town hall on three Saturdays leading up to the election had netted a total of 52 requests for absentee ballots or the casting thereof. Some 32 voters came in to town hall the final Saturday before the election to request a ballot or to cast one.
The town also mailed absentee ballot request forms to about 2,700 potential voters this year, continuing as a trial a program instituted in 2007, after absentee balloting regulations changed statewide. This year’s mailing resulted in 91 requests for absentee ballots, Graviet reported on Sept. 19.
Also on Sept. 19:
• Graviet reported that the town would seek a waiver from the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) to allow it to keep benches atop the dune crests at beach crossovers year-round, despite regulations that require them to be removed from November through March. He said the town had been of the understanding that it would only have to remove the benches in the event of stormy weather and that he would be asking DNREC to formally issue a waiver of their policy to make that the case.
• The town’s unofficial measure of the summer season was reported by Graviet as well, with about a 1 percent drop in parking meter revenue recorded from 2007. Graviet said the town had taken in about $1.29 million in parking revenue this summer, compared to $1.42 million in 2007. He noted that the modest drop came in a summer when poor weather had been common and when Labor Day had come earlier than usual, ending the summer season a bit sooner than normal. The town will conclude lifeguard service for the season this weekend.
• With the first full summer since the town revamped its Web site having passed, Graviet also reported that most of the town’s 90,000 “hits” had been from people seeking “seasonal” information, with little interest being shown in documents and information related to town government.
• Former councilman and Budget & Finance Committee Chairman Jerry Dorfman reported that the committee had recommended that the council approve up to $700,000 from beach and boardwalk reserve funds be allocated for eastward boardwalk expansion, with another $300,000 from the boardwalk replacement fund to be spent on replacing worn boards. The former expenditure, by committee recommendation, would be repayed over five years from town revenue.
The committee also recommended the town revise its fees for outside shuttle buses to drop off passengers in the town, as the state beach shuttle fee was recently increased from $6,000 per bus per year to $8,000, where the town has been charging only $3,000.
• Mulligan, as Communications Committee chairman, recommended that the town consider the installation of a glass-enclosed bulletin board at the downtown post office at its own expense, citing that the town’s charter requires official notices to be posted in a location where unauthorized persons cannot add, remove or tamper with official notices. The post office is one of several official notification locations for the town.
• Olmstead announced CHAC’s first cultural event of the fall/winter season — a presentation on the archaeology of the nearby Bear Trap community, in conjunction with the Ocean View Historical Society. The event will take place at town hall on Oct. 28 at 7:30 p.m., with light refreshments being offered. It is open to the public. The future calendar of cultural events will also be revealed at the event.
• Parsons questioned a decision by the town’s Planning Commission to not immediately pursue developing a policy to make it easier for property owners to install wind and solar power features on their homes, citing a Dec. 31 end to the current state funding cycle that provides financial incentives for doing so. Outgoing Planning Commission Chairman and re-elected Council Member Lew Killmer said commissioners had been told that state officials expect the program to be renewed for another cycle, assuaging their concerns about the deadline.
• The council approved the appointment of resident Dan Costello as the chairman of a new ad hoc committee created to address any possible barriers the town’s code might pose to property owners who might seek to preserve and rehabilitate homes built before 1978, as opposed to razing them in favor of new construction. The committee is to report to the council in January on their findings.
• Secretary/Treasurer Jack Gordon reported that the town’s revenue continues to exceed its expenditures, nearly halfway into the fiscal year. It has taken in 62.4 percent of its budgeted revenue to date, compared to 63.4 percent at the same point in 2007. It has spent 43.3 percent of its budgeted expenditures, compared to 43.5 percent in 2007.
• The council unanimously approved at $26,082 contract for a 2009 Dodge Durango to replace an existing police vehicle. The funding will come almost entirely from annual police grants from Sussex County, with much of the equipment on the existing police vehicle to be transferred to the new one and new equipment costs coming from another grant.