Memos at Random


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

PUT IT BACK: Edgewood Village L.l.c. was ordered to restore the section of a stone wall in the Paladin Club condominium complex which it surreptitiously had torn down more than a year ago. In a letter to Wendy Danner, the firm's lawyer, Charles Baker, general manager of the county Department of Land Use, said he has "concluded that the wall is historic in nature and must be restored in accordance with the [Historic Review] Board's recommendation." He agreed with the board that restoration should be done in a way that the wall "appears as it did originally." No deadline was set for complying with the order.

The issued has been pending since the board issued a decision early last summer. Residents of the complex had argued that the wall dates back to the early 19th Century and is one of a few surviving remnants of the Sellers family estate. Edgewood Village, an affiliate of Pettinaro Construction, claimed that the wall had no historical significance and that removal of part of it was not unlawful. Jonathan Husband, president of the Fox Point Association, told Delaforum that he believes the firm complied with a directive to keep the original stones (CLICK HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)

Four or five "major national developers" are in the running to buy the Brookview apartment complex, according to County Councilman Robert Weiner.

He did not identify them and declined to reveal if any had met the $31 million asking price. He said at least one has agreed to a "strategic partnership" with another firm to redevelop the commercial area fronting on Philadelphia Pike. Weiner told the Claymont Design Review Advisory Committee on Feb. 17 that all the proposals call for building "different types of housing styles ... [in a] traditional neighborhood design." They would be sold, not rented. He said Mid-Atlantic A.A.A. is eyeing the potential project as a place for mid-level employees it is moving into the Wilmington area to live.

The committee tabled the first redevelopment proposal to come before it as part of the 'hometown' zoning process after the applicant, Linda Ng, said she is uncertain whether to use the building at 3511 Philadelphia Pike for a Chinese restaurant or grocery store. Those uses require meeting significantly different development requirements. Carmine Casper, Ng's engineer, said also that nothing had been done to acquire shared parking space with the neighboring property to meet that requirement. "They have to do a little more research and come back," Committee member George Lossé said. (CLICK HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)

Announced at the meeting was a $25,000 grant "for planning and publicizing your activities" to the Claymont Renaissance Development Corp. from County Executive Christopher Coons.

Two people have filed to run for election to the Brandywine school board. Seats now occupied by David Adkins and Thomas Lapinski will be filled at the May election.

James Garrity, of Brandywood, said he will work to make the district "more sound financially," seek a larger amount of grant financing, encourage "more parental participation in the children's education, and bring "a stronger technology focus into the classroom." A native of Ridley Park, Pa., Garrity, 26, and his wife, Shannon, have lived in Delaware for two years. They have no children. He is a graduate of Salesianum School and the University of Delaware. He is employed as director of hosting services for Diamond Technologies and a part-time teacher at Wilmington College.

Jeanne Best, of Cragmere, said she decided to run when she "read about the opening." She said that she and her husband, Glenn, have "a fundamental belief that a good community needs a strong public school system." Growing up in the Newark area, she attended public schools. A 'stay-at-home mom', Best, 42, has been active as a classroom volunteer and with the Parent-Teacher Association at Carrcroft Elementary, which the two Best children, Garren and Justin, attend. Mar. 4 is the deadline for candidates to file. As of Feb. 17, neither Adkins nor Lapinski had done so.

APPEAL ENTERED: A British Petroleum subsidiary has appealed the denial of a permit to build a pier serving its proposed natural gas terminal in New Jersey across the Delaware River from Claymont. Natural resources secretary John Hughes ruled that the pier, which would be in Delaware, would violate the Coastal Zone Act. B.P. said in the appeal that that was an erroneous reading of the law. The company maintains the pier would be "incidental" to a legal manufacturing operation, which is allowed. The appeal will be heard by the Coastal Zone Industrial Control Board. (CLICK HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)

U.S. Senator Thomas Carper called upon President George Bush to take a cue from President Ronald Reagan and turn to a "true bipartisan commission" to deal with Social Security.

Speaking at the Academy of Lifelong Learning on Feb. 14, the Delaware congressman said that saved a system that was nearly bankrupt in 1983 and gave it 70 years of solvency. Republicans and Democrats can work together to achieve a shared goal if the commission is given its head and not set up to "rubber stamp what he (Bush) wants to do." Both Congress and the President should agree ahead of time to accept the commission's recommendations. If so, Carper said, "we can pass on a Social Security system to our kids that is as strong as the one we inherited."

Carper, a Democrat, said key to updating the present system in a way that will instill confidence in the rising generation that it will be around when their turn to benefit comes is to accept as a basic tenant that the U.S. treasury will repay what has been 'borrowed' from the system through its having invested in government securities. He said the concept of partly 'privatizing' Social Security by giving workers the option to invest in a limited number of relatively conservative savings funds is acceptable. But he said they should be required to 'opt into' such an arrangement rather than having to 'opt out'.

He said the present system is not near collapse and has the ability to pay benefits for the next 50 years, provided that the bonds it holds are redeemed as scheduled.

If you're waiting by your mailbox for a refund of some of your county property tax, don't bother. It ain't going to happen. At least that's the current thinking in county government.

County Council president Paul Clark told Delaforum the most likely course will be to combine the several reserve accounts which Chancellor William Chandler ruled illegal into one line in a revised budget for this fiscal year. An ordinance to do that is being drafted in conjunction with the county's executive administration. The decision "invited us to take corrective action; that is what we're going to do," said chief administrative officer David Singleton. There is no present plan to call a special or emergency meeting, according to Clark. "The judge understands how our [legislative] process works," he said.

"We will continue to seek to have the illegally accumulated $200-plus million [sic] returned to the taxpayers," Richard Korn said. He is one of two taxpayers who successfully challenged the practice of accumulating money for various purposes -- including politically popular averting tax rate increases -- without the funds having been established by law. While acknowledging that Council has the authority to set up funds in the budget, Korn noted that Chandler questioned the size of the 'rainy day' fund that he found legal. It is 20% of budgeted spending, compared to 5% in the state's similar set-aside. (CLICK HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)

Clark said that somehow distributing the reserves to county residents would be "fiscally irresponsible" and endanger the county's very favorable triple-A bond rating.

Chancellor William Chandler ruled that several county budget reserve accounts, including ones intended to maintain the current tax and sewer-service rates, are illegal.

What happens next is unclear since the judge did not spell that out in his 26-page opinion. It appears to indicate that County Council could formally establish the accounts or something like them while re-enacting the general fund and sewer budgets for the current fiscal year. Richard Korn, one of two taxpayers whose views Chandler upheld, told Delaforum that his position is now: "The illegal surplus must be appropriated. It cannot be stockpiled." Andrew Dal Nogare was the other plaintiff in the Court of Chancery suit.

Chandler declined a permanent injunction against the county's going ahead with the sale of $80 million worth of bonds. His opinion indicated, however, that Council's approval of the bonds is invalid and would have to be renewed. The only reserves which Chandler upheld were 20%-of-budget 'rainy day' set-asides. But he noted that they are set considerably higher than the 5% that state government is required to have. While expressing reluctance to infringe on the prerogatives of the executive and legislative branches of government, Chandler declared that "the county must abide by its own rules." (CLICK HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)

The ruling knocks out $81.3 million of the $109.1 million current general fund reserve and $9.5 million of the $80.3 million sewer fund reserve.

REINSTATEMENT ASKED: Robert Hicks wants his job back. The former county auditor, who was summarily fired by County Council, asked acting county attorney Dennis Siebold to investigate the legality of the meeting at which Council took the action and, while doing so, declare that he is entitled to be returned to his position under terms of the county law protecting employees from retribution for reporting wrongdoing. Hicks repeated a claim that his removal was in retaliation for conducting audits and making public their unfavorable results.

Hicks also joined two community organizations in complaining to the state attorney general that the Council meeting violated the Freedom of Information Act. It is alleged that proper advance notice of the special session, which was held on Jan. 25 after Council's regular session, was not given. Nor was the required justification for holding a special meeting stated, Hicks, Common Cause of Delaware and Green Delaware charge. Council's personnel committee, which has begun the process of seeking his successor, has endorsed Hicks's recommendation that his one-man office be expanded. (CLICK HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)

STILL ON TRACK: Absence of any reference to it in the state's proposed capital budget does not jeopardize Brandywine School District's plan to begin the third phase of its long-range building renovation program later this year, according to David Blowman, the district's chief financial officer. Nor, he said, does it do anything to change plans to hold a referendum in May seeking approval to sell bonds to finance the district's share of the cost. But there are still "a few wrinkles to work through" in setting the course that will be followed, he said.

If voters approve the local financing, "we'll need an amendment" to the 'bond bill', he said. That, however, would involve a relatively minor $2.7 million in state money to plan the renovation of the P.S. du Pont Intermediate School building during the coming fiscal year. The proposed state capital budget totals $631.1 million. Blowman said the district is still negotiating with the Department of Education seeking the usual 60% state share of financing to replace Brandywood and Lancashire Elementary buildings. But, he said, DelDOE officials have 'agreed in principle' to constructing the new schools. (CLICK HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)

A billboard along the I-95 viaduct in south Wilmington declares that Dover Downs is for 'serious' slots players, but doesn't say how to tell whether someone is pulling a handle seriously or otherwise.