Town Council - Regular Meeting

Is that his stenciling? He stenciled his boat. Yeah. He's proud of that. One minute. Everybody make sure their cell phones are on silent. Thank you. Oh yeah, I turned it up. Are you hot?

Were you hot?

I turned it up because I froze. I just turned it up to 78 or 80. It was cold. I call the meeting in order if everyone will stand for the Pledge of Allegiance followed by the invocation.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Eternal God, we thank you, God, for your love, your kindness, your mercy. We thank you, Lord, for allowing us to come here one more time. We thank you, God, for this beautiful day. So we ask you, God, be with us tonight, God, as we discuss today on business. Look upon us in wisdom and knowledge. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen, amen, amen.

Amen. Okay, the next item on the agenda is the adoption of the agenda. Is there any additions, deletions to the agenda? If not, I'm asking for a motion.

So moved.

A motion by Penuel. Do I have a second?

Second.

Thank you. Motion passed, adoption of the agenda. Next item, approval of the minutes. Hopefully everyone has read the minutes. Any additions, deletions to the minutes? Hearing none, I'm asking for a motion to approve the minutes. Come on. Is that a motion? Second?

Second.

Thank you, Tony. All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Aye. Approved. Public comment. I didn't read this last time, so I will read it this time. Introduction to public comment period. Now is the time to hear from our public. We welcome your comments, which are very important to us. Note that all comments are limited to three minutes. As a reminder, please go to the podium to comment. Please give your name, address, and your remarks to the chair. Note that we will not be entering into dialogue at this time. The purpose of this agenda item is for you, the public, to inform the US Council about your views. Thank you. Anyone have any public comment?

My name is Bunny Burton. I live at 405 North Bedford Street, and I just want to say thank you. to the flower committee that has done the circle. The circle looks beautiful. It looks very, very welcoming and best is looking a very long time. So thank you. I know it's a lot of hard work.

Thank you.

Eddie Wise, Old Perk Avenue. I know there's a position coming up for the Planning and Zoning Commission, which I missed. I just wish that it would stay open a little longer and maybe be brought up at a meeting or even put out a little different way than it is because there's a lot of people that don't go on the website to look at the news or whatever or get the emails from Gene for the weekly TAIL MANAGERS REPORT. THAT'S ALL I HAVE. THANK YOU.

ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU. GENE, AND HOW IS THAT PUBLICIZED? I KNOW IT'S ON THE WEBSITE, CORRECT?

YEAH, I BELIEVE IT WAS IN THE WEEKLY REPORT FROM THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT AS WELL AS MY REPORT THAT GOES OUT. I THINK THERE'S CLOSE TO 80 PEOPLE THAT GET THAT.

OKAY.

I'M NOT SURE IF WE'VE RUN IT. DID WE PUT IT IN THE PAPER? YEAH, IT WAS ADVERTISED IN THE PAPER AS WELL.

OKAY. THANK YOU.

Good evening. My name is John Peterson and I live at 304 North Bedford Street. Public meaning offers a clear method for understanding how symbols function in civic space. A symbol's public meaning arises from its documented history. its patterns of display, its institutional participation, and the community's shared experience. In practical terms, public meaning reflects a message a reasonable observer would understand a symbol to communicate in a civic setting. The reasonable observer standard gives municipal leaders a stable baseline for evaluating the public meaning of a displayed symbol. The Confederate flag carries a public meaning shaped by slavery, segregation, racial hierarchy, resistance to civil rights enforcement, and white supremacy. That meaning reflects generations of history. When the Confederate flag appears in a civic setting, a reasonable observer encounters it through its established public meaning. A civic facing display of the Confederate flag also creates a foreseeable risk of misattribution. When a symbol with documented exclusionary public meaning appears near municipal activity, a reasonable observer can mistakenly attribute that meaning to the town itself. That misattribution affects public trust, institutional neutrality, and the experience of equal belonging. Correcting that misattribution is a matter of municipal responsibility. In doing so, the town not only performs its sworn duty, but also demonstrates the integrity expected of a public institution. By confronting the public meaning directly, the town reinforces the integrity of its civic environment and exercises its charter level duty to safeguard public welfare and good government. Thank you.

Hi, I'm Lisa Rolfing. I live at 2 Sweetcomb Court in the town of Georgetown. I would like to first thank you for your time and attention. I came this evening to address cottage living zoning as found in Ordinance 2507, effective date December 8, 2025. While myself and a group of concerned citizens that I represent acknowledge a nationwide housing shortage and the desire to create more affordable options for residents of Sussex County, we do not feel that the enhanced zoning changes made to Georgetown's zoning laws are beneficial to our community or align with desired outcomes. 12 housing units per one acre minimum lot size in the town of Georgetown is problematic for existing community structures and established residential neighborhoods. One parcel that this zoning change affects is 25 acres in size. Per these zoning changes, this could mean an additional 300 housing units on just this one parcel alone. There are several more parcels of property within town limits, one acre in size or greater, that this new zoning ordinance affects. We are aware that Georgetown has already started moving forward when granting the nonprofit group Little Living a 20-unit community on East Market Street, and except these units will remain. In past meetings, there were several concerned citizens of Georgetown present who opposed permanent zoning changes to allow for this type of housing. In addition, the town appointed zoning and planning and zoning commission anonymously recommended against these zoning changes. For these reasons, we would ask at this time you consider this matter and place the requested appeal of ordinance 20 2507 upon your council agenda to be heard expediently. Thank you.

Thank you.

I'm sorry, I misspoke. I meant to say repeal, ask that the repeal be put on your agenda.

Anyone else? Okay, we'll move on to the next. Item, council members' comments. Christine, you want to start us off?

Thank you. Good evening, everyone. Thank you all who attended the 250 celebration. It was a beautiful event, albeit a bit hot. There was a lot of work that went into that. There were a lot of people who put time and resources. Will there be a report of the results of the committee, of the 250 committee? Is anyone here from the committee?

There's no one here from the committee, and I'm not on the committee. I'm just the guy who takes the notes. We've done a survey to all of the vendors to get some feedback from them. And in addition, we will have a financial report. But we still have another event on July 4th, which we'll hear about tonight, and then return date.

I make that comment keeping in mind that there are a lot of events going on in town that require either our participation or funding from private individuals. And I just want to make sure that those private individuals are acknowledged and also businesses who do invest in the town, town activities and town welfare for the benefit of the people who live here. Thank you.

Thank you. Tony.

It's just good to see you about here tonight. It's just a blessing that we had a beautiful day and now we have a beautiful evening. So tonight we just have a beautiful meeting. Thank you.

All right. I'm going to finish with, I'm going to skip me for now. Michael.

Thank you for coming tonight. You know, I didn't miss the last meeting, but it is an honor and privilege to be able to sit up here and serve you guys. And I have to agree with Bonnie. The circle looks beautiful with the fire. So thanks to the fire committee.

And you.

It's good seeing everyone here this evening. And the circle does look great. It seems like we're beating a dead horse every meeting. We talk about what's going on out to the Marvel Museum. The town council has nothing to do with that. The sons of the confederate own that property. So I think the next step is to have a meeting with them and see how far you can go with that. Thank you.

Okay. And I'm up, I've had a busy two weeks. Um, our application for the great one now is on the website under applications. You can go on and fill one out and either mail it or drop it off at town hall.

anyone that's interested in serving on the Great Fund.

The Navy's coming to town in October. We had a meeting with representatives from the Navy. They're going to be here October 19th through the 25th. There'll be some celebrations, some concerts. We're trying to work out the details, and it'll be with the Chamber of Commerce. We're working together. At the next meeting, I had some requests from individuals to give us a recap of the 18404 interchange. So a representative from DelDOT will be here to refresh our memories as to what will take place at the intersection. The monuments are moving forward. meeting of the minds we met on the circle and we plotted out where the monuments will be going so that is in the works right now so hopefully that'll be done in the near future i met with todd lawson um john riley and doug hudson And we talked about the homeless situation in town. So they are willing to sit down with us and get a committee together. Hopefully we'll have our town police involved, state police, some prisoners from town that helped clean up before. But we're going to address the homeless situation in the woods. Part of them are on the town property and part is in the county property. So we're going to address that and see what we can come up with to move forward. Return day is moving forward. I've been attending the meetings for return day. So we're trying to ask different towns if they'll participate in doing floats for the parade. Juneteenth celebration, I attended it. It had a really good turnout for that beautiful weather. A lot of people. It was really nice, really nice event. There's a CDAC meeting on Friday. You were right, Brian. And Brian will be attending with me. They happen on the fourth Friday of every month at 9 o'clock at Splash Laundromat. And it's the Sussex Economic Development Action Committee. So it's representatives from all over the county, different towns, different chambers. And it's a meeting of the minds. It's very informative. Public comment. I have to agree with the repeal, Gene. So I'd like for you to place that on the next meeting on the agenda that we address it with the cottage living. There was majority of people that attended the meetings were against that ordinance. And to me, it's very scary. when you look at all the lots in Georgetown that would qualify for cottage living, 12 units or more. So I'd like to have that repealed, but would you place it on the agenda so we can talk about it?

So you're asking for a discussion of potential repeal? Yes. Okay. Yes.

There. Thank you. And I think that's it for me.

Item number seven on the agenda is the Planning Commission vacancy appointment. I believe you received one letter. Pleasure at the Mayor and Council.

Yeah, the one letter we got was from a Jennifer Weaver. Any comments, discussion?

And Mrs. Weaver had applied for the Board of Adjustment, and she did not get appointed to that. And then when we contacted her after she did not get appointed, she would suggest next time there was a vacancy to apply, so she did.

Okay. And this is the only one we got, so. Any questions, comments?

No.

Anyone want to make a motion to appoint?

So moved.

All right. I have a motion. Do I have a second?

Second.

OK, it was a tie between Tony and Michael. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion passed. The next item is the Downtown Development District Renewal Update. Gene?

I'm going to read on the agenda is Downtown Development District Renewal Update. I'm going to turn it over to Brian Oslak and Nicole from Wallace Montgomery, who's available on Zoom.

Good evening, mayor and council. Tonight we're just reviewing the process by which we went to apply for a renewal of the downtown development district designation for the town of Georgetown. I think on the line, too, is our consultant from Wallace Montgomery, Nicole Wiley. Nicole, are you there? She may be coming on, if not yet. But I'll tell you the good news. We were approved for our renewal for five years. We made our presentation to the cabinet committee on state planning issues. in May at their May meeting and it was recommended to be approved by the governor and the governor has it on his desk and we should be receiving that signature any day now. So that's the top line good news for this project. I'll just keep going. So ultimately, what does the Downtown Development designation mean and what is it all about? It's really about encouraging private capital investment, both in businesses and in residential development in our historic built up parts of town, particularly, we'll show you a map after this, but it takes part in parts of ward one, ward two, and ward two. It's also, the goal is to create job opportunities through the attraction of new businesses and overall new development to promote improved housing options through stable working options for residents and to attract new residents, as well as to promote a vibrant downtown allowing us, the local government, to grow and thrive as a part of the whole municipality as well. So as a part of this update, we were permitted to look at our existing boundaries for the Downtown Development District. By statute, we are limited to only 105 acres of development, or of a district, and we were presently at 94 acres, I believe, before this process started. when we looked at the existing district, we tried to see what parts of town had already seen development as a part of the DDD designation, as well as what parts may have been left out from the first time. we also made sure to remove properties that actually were not qualified to use the town and state incentives that are available so most of the growth that you see is to the northeast of ward 2 there we also added some land on north bedford street as well and of course we've removed some state property as well as some town owned property as well because we would not be qualified to use those incentives as well. And we have gotten up to the maximum limit of 104 acres and five eighths I think it is. So we wanted to put our best foot forward on that. So overall, a quick timeline of the process. We audited the plan, which was originally created and adopted in 2016. That was when we received our first designation To start the program, we wanted to see what gains we've made, what things were still left to be done, as well as what new opportunities might be available to us. We performed a series of public outreach techniques including a survey, an open house, as well as stakeholder interviews. And so we took all that information, we analyzed it, we analyzed all of the projects that have gone through the pipeline for the Downtown Development District and received approval over the last 10 years, and then developed the plan and revised the plan, I should say, also based upon that feedback. And then lastly, we submitted our application, which was approved to be submitted by council in January of this year, and then we submitted it in February. And as I mentioned, we were approved in May of this year. We also hosted a project website that could be entered through the town's websites where people were available to review draft maps, participate in those surveys that I mentioned, review the previous downtown development district plan, and also to get project updates as well. And that project website is still live in case you want to see some of the history of the planning process. So through the public outreach process that we performed, we heard similar things that we heard from the 2016 plan and study as well. We heard a number of comments regarding the need for more restaurant options, which was very common, again, to hear throughout the process, concerns about risk perceptions regarding crime in town in the general area, lack of downtown parking potentially as well, and also having difficulty in competing with businesses on Route 113 as well, which, of course, is where a lot of our highway commercial zoning is in town. Overall, over the last 10 years, we've seen a number of projects receive our downtown development district incentives. Over $55,000 worth of Discounts regarding building permit fees for projects in the downtown were granted to over 260 projects and applicants Almost $8,000 was distributed to applicants who were seeking facade improvement grants Business license fees were waived in the amount of $11,000 that's available to any new business that locates in the downtown development district and also we also issued approximately $30,000 of property tax exemptions for projects that have been added to the tax rolls in town. And we'll talk a little bit about what that looks like in the next few slides. So as a part of this renewal process, we were also tasked with looking at how well the existing incentives are, both from the town as well as from the state. The state provides the most generous of the incentives available to developers. You can receive up to 20% of your qualified project costs back as a rebate from the state if you qualify, which can definitely tilt the scales as to whether a project is feasible or not. We also looked at how well our building permit fees were working, and that was one of the most successful incentives that we had in town. as well as our impact fee reduction discounts. Projects qualify for mixed use and commercial impact fee reductions. Our facade sign and auditing improvement grant program was something that we were looking at potentially revising the policies on. We do have a maximum that we give out per year, but we generally are undersubscribed. That generally means that we don't give out all the money that's available. So we're looking to potentially repackage that program into something that might be more competitive to other potential business owners. We also, as I mentioned, have that 10-year property tax increase phase in. That means that on year one, any new property tax that would be gained from that development would be exempted and then it would slowly be added in over the course of 10 years. So that has proven particularly incentivizing and successful. with attracting new square footage and new buildings coming online. We're also looking to actually also revise the business license fee waiver, so even though new businesses qualify, existing business that enters into the downtown development district currently does not qualify for that fee waiver and so ultimately we do want to incentivize more businesses to move to the downtown especially if they started as a home-based business and then they're expanding to a new larger space we want to encourage that so that will be one thing that we will look to revise as well so just an overall outlook on what the previous investments were, almost $11.5 million worth of private investment was essentially spent and built in the Downtown Development District, which is significant. And out of the currently two projects, two large projects that we're able to get the special large project rebates that is worth over a million dollars of local economic activity. We also had 15 small projects qualify for the smaller rebate process, and that generally means that it's less competitive. They just have to get in before the money runs out from the state coffers, essentially. And that is becoming especially more competitive. We're seeing actually the money from the state for small projects is running out more quickly than it has in previous years which in some ways is good because more people are participating in that in that program that just means though that the state needs to perhaps consider a larger investment in that program So what was new in this plan versus our old plan was the addition of key priority projects. So this was a list of projects that can actually change every year if we decide that we need to add in order to obviously ensure that the program is being used, but also it helps to stage the particular the particular applications that are coming in from either the small or the large rebate program very positively. And so we looked at a number of projects that have either stalled in the past or that might be ripe for a large investment. Some of these don't have any current projects in the pipeline, but we noticed that some of these lands are particularly developable. And so we added a number of these properties to that list. Again, this list can change every year at the pleasure of mayor and council. For instance, 107 Depot Street is actually the Aspera school that is trying to get in. Now technically, they don't actually qualify for the downtown development, district incentives, but they do qualify for other tax credits and they qualify for our local incentives as well. So we decided to add that as well as a couple other vacant properties that are currently in the tax rules right now. We were also requested to add potential new recommendations as well. I won't go through all of these, but a couple important ones is to sort of revise and to basically restage our communications and marketing for the district. We want to make sure that all the developers and all of the potential builders in the area are able to use and are aware of this program. Another recommendation that came out of this new this new renewal update was to consider forming a permanent town working group or a committee on economic development specifically, which would enable the coordination of economic development activity across the town. And also looking at some of the zoning to making sure that we are as business friendly as possible as well. So the next steps, ultimately, because we are imminently awaiting the signature of the governor, it will be time to actually make those small changes to the incentives that we offer and to actually readopt our ordinance that governs those incentives. Technically, this current program expires at July 31st, so that will need to be coming online by August 1st. So it will be likely an ordinance that you will be seeing in the next few meetings, as well as to continue to promote the DDD to developers and business owners. And so are there any questions? Where were the two large projects you were referring to? The two large were Splash Laundromats and the J.B. Wagaman Building. So the J.B. Wagaman Building, the office building right back here. So actually two large projects, additional projects were awarded, two projects that are currently pending. One of them is Georgetown Apartments 2, which is on Ingramtown Road. I believe it's 12 new multi-family units, and then another is a mixed-use project on North Race Street.

Anything else, Mayor or Council? Questions?

Yeah, the Georgetown Apartments, they were recipients of DDD funds for renovations, correct?

That's right. I think it was in the neighborhood of $200,000 was the value of that rebate. I think it's money that also will help to fund the new construction. I believe they also received some tax credits as part of that.

Just both? Okay. Thank you.

Yes. Yes, that's right. That's a good question. So currently our, the grant making policy is that it's a 50-50 match. So we will give, we will match it up to $500. Presently that is the max. That's why we're sort of looking to see how we can make that program more attractive. That might include, you know, sort of making sure we have more money in the general pot, or maybe granting fewer projects and then making the amount more.

I mean, I'm not speaking for business, I don't know about any stretch, but one of the more frequent businesses that was the antique shop that we have also in the building, in the kind of building, and that line, that facade, the booths,

Sure, sure. Well, we certainly would be very willing to. And again, as a part of our renewed marketing for this, we will go to as many businesses as we can. Sure, I agreed. Definitely.

Any other questions? Thank you, Brian. Next item is the overview of town operations and projects.

All right, members of council, this is the annual update on projects and operations here within the town. So as a reminder, the town operates under a council manager form of government. The elected governing body is the mayor and the four members of council. Quorum to transact business is three. Council action requires an affirmative vote of three or more members of the council and the mayor is included in the voting members. They are responsible for the legislative function and setting policy. They pass local ordinances, vote on appropriations, and develop the overall vision. The town manager's role is to oversee daily administration and operations, supervisor of all personnel, implements all policies and procedures, develops operating and capital budgets, advises the elected governing body, researches special topics and concerns, contact with the town solicitor when necessary, and facilitates all grant applications. Both of these are outlined in the town charter. overview on the department's administration and finance, so that's the oversight of the town operations. On an annual property tax basis, we have 2,800 accounts, and we billed this year just under $3.1 million in property taxes. On a quarterly basis, we bill for water, sewer, and trash. On average, we collect just shy of $1.1 million. We have 2,246 water customers, 2,328 sewer customers. That's because we have some properties outside of town limits that are on sewer. And we handle all the miscellaneous problems. Finance handles all accounts payables and receivables. We perform and work with the annual audit and budget preparation, and we handle all the payroll and reporting and parking enforcement reports to the administration. Community Development Department handles all of our building permits and our certificates of occupancy issuance. They handle all of our licensing of businesses as well as our rentals and also the inspections that take place with rentals. They manage the comprehensive plan. They handle all of our mapping and addressing updates. They facilitate all of our pre-development meetings. And they facilitate all of our project review and administration. So this is everything from annexation through final site plan approval, conditional uses, and subdivisions. They provide administrative support for both the Planning Commission and the Board of Adjustment, and as presented earlier this evening, they also are our downtown development district management. Police department offers coverage 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. We are authorized 25 sworn officers. We have 24 active and one recruit is in the DSP Academy who will be graduating in August. Patrol currently has 18 officers. The four newest have completed their field training and are out on the road. Detectives has four and that includes our SRO and that school resource officer and a lieutenant. And then we have two administrators, the chief and the deputy chief. We have two full-time victim services employees, and then we have two full-time code enforcement employees, and then on call we have our mental health clinicians. With respect to public works, we maintain 26.94 miles of town-owned roadways. All of those activities, including street management, maintenance, repair, sweeping, signage, and parking regulation, fall under them. Building grounds, we maintain all the town facilities and we maintain all the parks that are town owned. This includes the Circle, Wilson Park, North King Street, Leighton Thompson Park, Kimmy Street Park, and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. And we also maintain the bike trail from Airport Road to Ingram Town Road at Parsons Lane. The water department, we have two production wells, or two production areas. The first one is on King Street. The second one is on South Railroad Avenue. We have 46.2 miles of water mains sized between two inches and 12 inches. It makes up our distribution system, and within that we have just shy of 2,500 water meters, 713 valves, 336 fire hydrants, and we maintain currently elevated storage at Delaware Tech and at Lynch's Lane. Our construction coordinator handles all project reviews. He handles inspections both for utilities and certificate of occupancy, deals with special projects, and is the facilitator for all of our missed utility locates. Wastewater, we have collection and conveyance. We have 24 pump stations, three regional pump stations. That's at County Seat, Easter Seals, and Sand Hill Road. And we have approximately 72 miles of pipe that's combined gravity and force main. Our wastewater treatment plant has a rated capacity of 1.3 million gallons per day. We are currently averaging, coming into the plant, 765,000 gallons per day. And being treated and sent out is 769 million gallons per day. From a disposal standpoint, we have land application through spray irrigation. The town owns 85 acres that's done with solid set sprayers. On Baxter Farms, we have 199.2 acres with five center pivots, and Petty John Woods is 89 acres of solid set sprayers. Some of our infrastructure projects, the first set is town funded, so we have several street rehabilitation projects. James Street, we're investigating the main stormwater conveyance line down the center of the road. North Ray Street from Pepper Street to Douglas Streets to do improvements with sidewalk, curb, and roadway rehabilitation. And then our biggest project will be Rosa Street drainage and rehabilitation. State funded, we have the Georgetown to Lewis Trail. This is coming from Cool Spring to Georgetown. That's currently in process. Park Avenue realignment phase two. They're currently doing some utility markings and getting ready to start that one up. The U.S. 113 and Delaware 18404 grade separated intersection. And then following that one, the next one will be U.S. 113 and U.S. 9, grade separated intersection there. And then we have a matched project, which is the Parsons Lane Trailhead Parking Area. It's a combination of outdoor recreation parks and trails grant, community transportation funds, and community reinvestment funds. In 2021, we did receive ARPA dollars American Rescue Plan. We were direct recipient of Josiah $4.1 million. We did encumber the full 4.1 million. The infrastructure uses were sewer. We did pump station repair and upgrades. That work is complete. We did have another idea or another project with treatment facility upgrades due to other funds being committed. We did not do that. And with respect to water, we spent the money on that side for our advanced metering infrastructure and that project is completed as well. The spending requirement on that was to be obligated by December 31st, 2024, which we achieved, and all of the monies need to be spent by December 31st of 2026, which we will also achieve. Currently on the development project highlights, housing under construction, we have Admiral's Landing, which is our first exclusively all townhouse community. Cheer Gateway East has begun work on their administration building. Savannah Grove off Calhoun Street and Savannah Road is apartments. The Oaks at Georgetown Phase 2 is in process, and the Village College Park continues with both single-family and multifamily. Housing that's planned is Greenlee Place. That's on East Market Street. Shortleaf Preserve on Parker Road and the ponds at the on Trapond Road. Commercial completed, we just have Umami Sushi and Ramen Bar just opened, and then we have planned El Pollo Asada, Holiday Inn Express that's on the County Seat Highway side of 113 and the Georgetown Plaza, Popeyes where the Old God's Way Thrift Store was, and Valvoline where the car wash was taken down across from McDonald's. And then our largest institutional project is the Georgetown Police and Public Works Facility. Some of the challenges, Sussex County reassessment, we adopted their reassessed values effective May the 1st of 2026, and that impacted us for fiscal year 2027. As we just had a presentation, the Downtown Development District, we were approved for a five-year extension, so we'll be seeing some ordinances related to that. And we remain as an Opportunity Zone designation for really the north side of East Market Street and the east side of North Bedford Street. With respect to environmental issues, we are dealing pretty significantly with emerging contaminants, that being the PFAS, the Georgetown dump site on Donovan's Road, and the Georgetown North Groundwater Superfund site through EPA. Legislatively, we're dealing with current and proposed legislation. It's been a very active last two weeks. Certainly, utility costs are impacting the municipality as well as it is businesses. And personnel contract negotiations with the FOP will be shortly coming up. So a reminder, the most important documents, the charter that's available online is also in paper copy, the code of ordinances, which we modify as we need and see fit, and the town's budget. And I remind everyone that the town's budget is available online, and then once a month we produce the actual versus budget report. So a couple of considerations. Employees are the most visible portion of our local government, especially management and department heads, and we do have an established chain of command that's available in your packets. With respect to FOIA, all document requests have to be in writing, and they are reviewed by myself and the town solicitor. No town business should be discussed outside of public view except for executive session, and those areas are what's permitted under the FOIA statute. Email communications, I urge all members of council to be sure to use their town email for business and use of personal email and devices has been subject to FOIA in the past. And if you have constituent concerns, please refer to town offices or get information from the town administration and then we can reply back and that ensures consistent follow-up and consistent answers. So stay connected. The weekly town manager's report comes out every Friday, usually between 4.30 and five o'clock. We have a financial, let's see, number two is notify me. You can sign up to have your email. You get an email every time there's any news or public notices, as well as emergency notices that are published by the town on our website. We have our financial transparency portal. It's the icon that's there on the screen. It's available on the home page. And I will take you to, I believe it's five or six years worth of all the budgets by department, by expense element. And that's where the town's open checkbook is maintained. And then we do participate in crime mapping. You can go to crimemapping.com. and search into Georgetown, Delaware and you can get data on every crime. I think you can go back at least four years, but you have to do the specifics on the dates that you want to use. One final thought, we don't know what we don't know. If you hear a concern, please let someone know. The issue may have been previously addressed, could be something we need to investigate. The information that's being shared might be incorrect, may implicate confidential concerns, especially if it involves personnel, and allows for documentation of our responses. And then just a reminder that our town of Georgetown is well-rounded. That's all I have on that, if there's any questions.

Thank you.

Any questions? Just a comment. There are attachments to the weekly report.

Yes, there are.

You didn't mention those.

So the weekly report is any upcoming events. It's updates from each of the operating departments. And then it usually has our weekly code enforcement stats, what types of violations. Then there's a section that deals with the police department, and that's weekly and year to date. Then for wastewater, it's because that's our most critical barrier out on the wastewater treatment side. It has our missed utility locates. And then we put in the... key financial indicators once a month on building permit revenue and it compares to the last four years, water impact fees, sewer impact fees, realty transfer tax, and I think that might be it. And then once a month we put out there the actual versus budget line item detail.

Thank you. Any other questions? Thank you, Gene.

Just give me your email address and I'll add you to the distribution. Or you can go right to, if you go to the town's website, go to department's administration. There's seven years worth of town manager's reports out there. And all the minutes from all of the supplemental committees.

Yeah.

But I'll put you, I've got your email if you want to be added.

Yeah.

No problem.

All right, thank you. Departmental reports. Jean, you're up again.

All right, members of council, a couple updates. Police and Public Works Facility, masonry work has started. The stormwater management is in process and plumbing is being scheduled. So you have here pictures of the block work for the walls. You have the stormwater conveyance being installed with the catch basins and the transmission lines. And then in the center is just one of the areas where they're doing the stones. The Chad Spicer and Harvey Grave monuments, we did have a meeting out there. Reinstallation is in the process of being planned. Foundation digging will be followed by concrete. We anticipate the digging to take place the week after 4th of July. Once that takes place, then we'll have concrete poured. There's a 28-day cure period, which puts placement in and around early August. And I want to thank Senator Pettyjohn for assisting us with funding for the reinstallation of the monuments. And the two circles show you where the monuments are being located. Chad Spicer is to the lower right. And that's right here between the quadrant with West Market Street and North Bedford Street. And Harvey Gregg is diagonally across from him on this side between South Bedford Street and East Market Street. Yes. They will be the safest places after bollards are installed, which is not part of this project. At some point in the future. Yes. Next, the next America 250 activity we will have is the reading of the Declaration of Independence that will take place Saturday, July the 4th on the Circle. The readings are at 8 a.m., 12 noon, and 4 p.m., and I encourage anyone who's looking for something to do on that day here in lovely Georgetown to take advantage of it. It's about 15 minutes to read it. July 13th meeting as the mayor Indicated we will have a representative from the Delaware Department of Transportation to talk about the great separated intersection We will also have a representative from the help initiative come and speak about energy efficiency in the homes and the area that they're working with and then we will have a presentation by love in the name of Christ also known as loving and Upcoming events, Supportive Housing Issues Committee will meet this Wednesday, June 24th, 4 p.m. here at Town Hall. Delaware League of Local Governments is Thursday, June 25th, 5.30 in Cheswold. America 250 Committee meeting will be on Tuesday, June 30th, 3 o'clock p.m. here at Town Hall. Town offices will be closed Friday, July the 3rd in observation of the July 4th holiday. Reading of the Declaration of Independence, Saturday, July 4th, 8 noon and 4 pm on the circle. And we have, I'll go through the bills in a second, but there's four legislative days remain in this current legislative session. So I'm only going to highlight bills that have changed or there's a status change since the last report. So the first one is House Bill 286, which deals with the state portion of realty transfer tax that was voted out of the House Revenue and Finance Committee on June 10th, and it was assigned to the House Appropriations Committee on June 11th. House Bill 294 with House Amendment 1 deals with parking spaces for pregnant persons at state buildings and state facilities, did pass the Senate June 16th, it's now ready for the governor's action. House Bill 363, 20 mile per hour residential speed limit, that did pass the House on June 11th, and it was assigned to the Environment, Energy, and Transportation Committee in the Senate, and it was voted out of committee on June 18th. House Bill 339 deals with virtual anchor meeting. That did pass the Senate on June 16th, and that will be ready for the governor's action. House Substitute 1 for House Bill 407 deals with brownfield grant funding. The House Substitute Bill was introduced on June 11. That did pass the House of Representatives on June the 12th, and it was assigned to the Environment, Energy, and Transportation Committee in the Senate on June 18. House Bill 413, expanding green light use, did pass the House on June 9th, and it was assigned also to the Environment, Energy, and Transportation Committee of the Senate and was voted out of committee on June 18th. House Bill 416, dealing with realty transfer tax, a reduction of one quarter of a percent on the state side, was voted out of the Revenue and Finance Committee in the House on June 10th and was assigned to the Appropriations Committee on June 11th. House Bill 426, dealing with electronic submission of state aid to municipalities for streets, did pass the House on June 11, and it was assigned to the Environment, Energy, and Transportation Committee in the Senate and also voted out of committee on June 18. House Substitute 1 for House Bill 450, this is the reforming opportunities and accelerated development for Delaware, did pass the House of Representatives on June 18th and was assigned to the Banking, Business, Insurance, and Technology Committee in the Senate on June 18th. House Bill 474 dealing with short-term rental lodging tax collection was assigned in the House to the Revenue and Finance Committee, and then it was moved to the Economic Development, Banking, Insurance, and Commerce on June 17th. House Joint Resolution 11, which deals with housing opportunity and poverty elimination, did pass the House on June 9th. and was assigned to the Judiciary Committee in the Senate on June 9. Senate Substitute 2 for Senate Bill 23, Housing Supply and Affordability, was passed by the Senate on June 11. And it was in the House and was voted out of committee on June 16 and is awaiting consideration in the full House. Senate Bill 249, Substance Abuse Harm Reduction was voted out of the Health and Human Development Committee on June 17th. Senate Bill 310, Establishment of a Disaster Recovery Fund was voted out of the Administration Committee in the House on June 17th. And Senate Bill 312, Dealing with Data Center Non-Disclosure Agreement Prohibitions did pass the Senate on June 11th. and was put into the administration committee in the house and voted out of committee on June 17th. Senate Bill 335, the fiscal year 2027 appropriations bill, did pass the Senate on June 18th and was assigned to appropriations in the House on June 18th. And Senate Bill 336, one-time supplement, passed the Senate on June 18th and was assigned to appropriations on June 18th in the House. And we're still waiting for the bond bill and then also grants and aid. That's all I have. They're still in committee. So that was House Bill 454, protections for Delawareans experiencing homelessness, was introduced and assigned to the housing committee in the house on June 4th. Pardon me? Yes, and that's the same status that House Bill 135, protections for Delawareans experiencing homelessness, that one was not released from the housing committee.

You're welcome. Any questions? Thank you, Gene. You're welcome. Next item is Public Works Superintendent Eric Rust.

Good evening, everyone. Nice to see you.

Good evening.

Gene, you got a clicker?

No, we don't. I'll do it for you. All right.

I'm going to start off tonight with the Water Department. A.C. Schultz, he installed a new well casing, new pump and motor for well S2 on South Railroad. It is back up running and in rotation. Townwide valve exercising continues. Ward 1 and Ward 2 are complete. There are still a few stragglers left in Ward 2 and some risers and all that we're going to have to go back and put on. AC Schultz, he started drilling the new test wells. We're going to be drilling four new test wells. They started the first one today. Rick Hudson contacted me this afternoon about 3.30, and the first one, right now they're down about 200 feet. And we're going to try to go down to about 550. So we made good progress today. Repaired fire hydrants that were damaged by automobile accidents around town. The PFAS pilot and instrumentation is still up and running at the South River water plant. And water meter rereads, postings, and shutoffs were complete. Public Works installed brackets and hung hometown hero banners, assisted the Water Department with posting, rereads, shutoffs, and valve exercising. Sweepers been on the road throughout town, installed a new radar sign on Burton Street and fixed many other signs townwide, set up and broke down for many events throughout town, serviced many town vehicles, weekly routine and maintenance, trash, grass, watering flowers, bike trails, and new light was installed on North Belfast Street at the entrance to the circle. And for the wastewater, the lagoon depths, the large lagoons are about 10 foot, small lagoons at five foot. Influent flows January through May of 2026 was 120.6 million gallons. Effluent flows from January through May, 132.13 million gallons. Pump station rehab final walkthrough was held on June 18th. Everything went good. Denali started hauling sludge on the second week of May. They're contracted to do 300 dry tons. As of June 12th, they were at about 150 dry tons. We removed pump two from the main pump station, which is the one at the maintenance shop. Sent it to Hills Electric for repair. We did have a spare pump. We installed it. So we still have two pumps there. Removed pump one at Sussex Central High School. Sent it to Hills Electric for repair. We got it back and reinstalled. And all flow meters have been, had their yearly calibrations. That's all I got. Questions?

Any questions?

Nope. Thank you. Thank you, Eric. Thank you.

Thank you. Next item is executive session. We're going to adjourn. Do I need a motion on that, Gene? I need a motion.

So moved.

Second? Second. So moved. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed?

Okay.

We're going to retire into the back room. We'll be back.

Thank you.

Offline and we always go back.

Oh, okay. Okay, we're back. Okay. I'm going to entertain a motion.

Well, let's say what time is it? Oh, 9.01.

All right, 9.01 and we're back in session from executive session. I'd like to entertain a motion that we move forward on the item as we discussed during executive session.

So moved.

Second.

All right. All in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion passed. An adjournment. Is there a motion to adjourn?

Make a motion to adjourn.

OK. Second? Second. All right.

All in favor?

Aye. All right.

Tony or Christina? OK. Be careful going home, everybody.

Thank you.