A potpourri of miscellaneous news SCRIBBLED IN A REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK

County Council soundly rejected a proposal to appoint a receiver to manage the affairs of the Ethics Commission and declined to even consider seven other ethics-related measures

In his last appearance as a county legislator, Councilman Richard Abbott received support only from Council president Christopher Coons for establishing a temporary arrangement while the commission is without members. The other five members voted against the proposal. No one was willing to second Abbott's motions to bring his other proposed ordinances dealing with conflicts of interest and financial statements to the floor for a vote at the Oct. 22 meeting. Abbott said a receiver and temporary attorney are necessary to safeguard commission records and provide advisory opinions to county employees until the commission is again able to function. (See previous Delaforum article.)

Defeated by William Tansey in a Republican primary in the heavily Republican Third District, Abbott will lose his seat when new Council members take office after the November election. Somewhat ironically, a federal grand jury reportedly is looking into the legality of activity by county employees on behalf of Tansey during the primary. Kenneth Bartholomew, spokesman for an ad hoc committee concerned about county government, told Council that the delay in filling commission vacancies is doing a disservice to employees. "The commission's troubles seemed to start when the administration appeared to be coming under review. There seemed to be no problem when the rank-and-file were being investigated," he said.

Coons told Council that he expects to present the names of candidates to fill Ethics Commission vacancies at the next meeting, on Nov. 12.

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DEVELOPMENT ORDINANCE TAKING SHAPE: If New Castle County gets an ordinance providing for environmentally-sensitive conservation design for major development projects, it should be mandatory and apply to all areas of the county. "I don't see how you can do it here but not do it there. How do you choose?" George Haggerty, assistant general manager of the Department of Land Use, said at a meeting of an advisory group working toward drafting an ordinance. But he said at the session on Oct. 21 that a previous proposal to require that at least half of the lots in a residential subdivision abut open space "has been taken off the table."

Kim Brosseit, of the Committee of 100, said that development business trade organization favors an "incentive approach" to promoting the practice. "The largest concern about this is the issue of [being able to build] affordable housing," she said. Principal issues the advisory group has yet to deal with are who should own areas set aside for preservation in their natural state and how to pay for their maintenance. Ideas advanced so far range from using general tax revenue to imposing a selective tax similar to what is used to pay for optional street lighting or establishing an arrangement similar to the maintenance organization system that manages private parkland in some communities. (See previous Delaforum article.)

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EDUCATION FINANCING: Delaware last year received a 52% increase in the amount of federal education financing, the largest of any state, Congress Michael Castle told a meeting of representatives of school boards in New Castle County. Overall, he said, the financing growth rate has been 13% over the past five years. He said a major federal effort in the coming year will be to help finance education research. That is intended to reduce or eliminate the practice of implementing new programs "without any idea of how effective they will be or even if they'll work," he said. Moderate Republicans, he added, "think the federal role in education should be significant but not dominant."

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Would you be willing to pay $100 to attend a seminar on how to avoid becoming the victim of a scam? If so, maybe you should.

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PERMIT SOUGHT: Sunoco has applied for a Costal Zone Act permit to build the sulfur-recovery unit it has promised for its Marcus Hook refinery. Said to virtually eliminate the need to burn off waste gas, the unit would produce 40 long tons of liquid sulfur a day. The Department of Natural Resources & Environmental Control said the unit will require, at a minimum, reactors, blowers, distillation columns, pumps, a tank, valves and an incinerator and new cooling tower. It would emit 214 lbs. of sulfur dioxide, 88 pounds of carbon monoxide and 41 pounds of nitrogen oxide a day. Dennis Brown, a department planner, said that would be "a great improvement over what is happening now."

A copy of the application is available to the public at the Hockessin branch of the county library system and, at Delaforum's suggestion, Brown said he will have one placed soon at the Claymont branch. A public hearing on the permit application has not yet been scheduled.

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AN END RUN?: The Claymont Renaissance steering committee was told at its meeting on Oct. 17 that McDonald's Corp. may be seeking to renovate its outlet on Philadelphia Pike at Harvey Road instead of rebuilding it. Doing over less than half of a structure is permitted without the need to seek approval under the county land use code. In this instance, it would appear to be a way to get around Department of Land Use rejection of a plan to replace the existing building with one modeled on the chain's 1950s eateries, which area residents opposed. "It looks like they are working against the community, not with it," George Lossé, president of the Claymont Community Coalition said.

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HELP WANTED: More than half of the seats on New Castle County boards and commissions are vacant or occupied by persons whose terms of office have expired. A staff report prepared for County Council shows that none of the 12 panels is at full strength. Considerable attention has been given to the fact that no one remains on the Ethics Commission following a mass resignation last summer. Virtually unnoticed outside Government Center, however, is the fact that all seven members of the Compensation Commission and five of seven on the Ambulance Advisory Board are lame ducks waiting for successors or reappointment. All totaled, there are 25 vacancies and 25 expired terms among 96 positions.

The problem is said to lie with difficulty finding qualified candidates. Most of the positions are not paid. Members of the Board of Adjustment, Board of Assessment Review and the Human Resources Advisory Board receive $50 per meeting attended and those on the Planning Board get $100 for showing up at regular meetings and $50 for special ones. The Board of Adjustment reportedly had to cancel a recent public hearing session because it was unable to muster a quorum. Council and the county executive share appointment authority. Councilman Robert Weiner has suggested that the county take out newspaper want ads soliciting applications whenever a spot languishes longer than 60 days.

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ON HOLD -- KINDA: The county is still pursuing a demolition permit to take down an old  farmhouse and outbuilding in undeveloped Jester Park off Grubb Road, but will not immediately do so if it gets one, Delaforum has learned. The Historic Review Board's automatic nine-month moratorium on granting permission has only two months remaining. Meanwhile, preservation interests have proposed that the possibly historic house be fixed up enough to allow a caretaker to live there as a steward. County Executive Thomas Gordon has ordered the Department of Special Services not to make any precipitous moves until it is determined if someone can be found. If not, a second waiting period would not be imposed.