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NEW CONTRACT:
The Brandywine school board most likely will approve a four-year
contract with the union representing teachers in the district when it
meets on Jan. 28. Teachers have been working without a contract this
academic year. Superintendent Jim Scanlon did not respond to a Delaforum
request for terms of the agreement, which runs a year longer than
previous ones, nor tell why it took so long to reach a deal. Past
practice has been to wait until union members ratify contracts and not
make their details public until the board completes the process.
Taxpayer-financed teacher salaries are the biggest item in the district
budget.
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American
College, which last year pulled out of a deal to buy part of the
Holy Rosary parish site to develop a campus, apparently is still
interested in expanding its presence in Claymont.
County Councilman John Cartier and Brett
Saddler, executive director of Claymont Renaissance Corp., said the
college is "in the early stages" of exploring the possibility of
locating a student- and faculty-run cafe and museum in the state-owned
but idle Darley House. Although he said he would like to see details of
the proposal, Cartier said it could alleviate "concern that a vacant
historic property like that is vulnerable." The house, at Philadelphia
Pike and Darley Road, formerly was a bed-and-breakfast inn. The museum
would be devoted to the life and work of illustrator Felix Darley, who
lived in the house in the 19th century.
In another matter at a meeting of the
Claymont Design Review Advisory Committee on Jan. 23, Saddler said
Delaware Department of Transportation's present thinking about
improvements to Philadelphia Pike is "the antithesis of everything we've
been working for." He said the preliminary plan includes adding a turn
lane into Renaissance Village at Manor Avenue, which would eliminate
on-street parking and reduce sidewalk width. "We don't think that is
necessary. ... We don't want people speeding on Philadelphia Pike,"
Saddler said. (CLICK
HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)
Saddler also reported that Renaissance
Village site work is about to get underway with initial construction now
scheduled for late summer. The redevelopment project, he said, "is ahead
of schedule."
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NOT TO WORRY:
Concerned residents who
turned out for a state environmental control department informational
meeting to learn details of Claymont Steel's request to modify its
pollutant-emissions permit were told the firm actually wants to lower
the limit on how much nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide and particulates
the plant is allowed to emit. Department environmental engineer Brad
Klotz told the gathering on Jan. 23 that the firm, recently acquired by
a Russian holding company, would still be well below the new limits and
would avoid the fuss and expense of justifying higher levels under new
federal requirements.
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FREEZE REPORT:
Charlotte Crowell, chief human resources officer, said county
government has hired 43 employees and filled 13 other vacancies through
promotions or transfers since a 'soft freeze' went into effect at the
start of the fiscal year last July. She told County Council's finance
committee that 30 of the positions were exempt from the freeze and six
were authorized by the contractor-licensing ordinance. The others, she
said, required department general managers to justify filling to a panel
of top administration officials. She said her office currently is
advertising for candidates for eight vacant positions.
Although contractor registration is
running slower than expected, the new program already has brought more
revenue into county coffers than it is expected to cost during the
remaining six month of the fiscal year, financial officer Michael Strine
told the committee on Jan. 22. It has spent $21,000 and encumbered close
to another $50,000 while collecting $470,000 in fees, he said. "One
thing I'll commit to is that we'll not spend more than we bring in"
Charles Baker, general manager of the Department of Land Use said.
Inspectors and code-enforcement officers have begun checking job sites
to make sure contractors are licensed, he said.
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FISCAL MEASURES:
Proposed ordinances to limit spending
of revenue from the volatile reality transfer tax and to
establish an advisory council modeled on the Delaware Economic &
Financial Advisory Council were introduced into County Council on Jan.
22.. They are
two of the measures proposed by County Executive Christopher Coons to
make structural changes in the way county government budgets and spends
its money. Sponsored by George Smiley, chairman of Council's finance
committee, the ordinances could be enacted in time to apply to the fiscal 2009
budget which Coons will present in late March.
The realty-tax ordinance would cap the
amount of revenue that could be budgeted at 90% of what was generated by
the tax during the previous fiscal year. Anything beyond that would have
to be earmarked for capital spending or used to reduce debt. The
advisory council would have nine members from government and the private
sector appointed by the executive and Council. It would present revenue
estimates every year, except the current fiscal year, at the beginning
of December, March and May. Unlike the state panel, its estimates would
not be binding, but would have to be "duly considered" while formulating
the budget.
(CLICK HERE to read
previous Delaforum article.)
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VOTE PLANNED: Councilman Penrose
Hollins intends to bring his controversial
'affordable' housing legislation before County Council for a vote at its
Feb. 26 session, about a month later than originally scheduled. He told
Council's land use committee on Jan. 15 that the need to give public
notice sufficiently in advance prevents it from being considered on Jan.
22 and rezoning ordinances are expected to occupy the Feb. 12 session.
As Delaforum previously reported, a revised version of the pending
ordinance will be offered under Council rules allowing substitute
measures to be introduced and voted upon at the same session. (CLICK
HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)
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END OF THE
LINE? The long-running dispute over further development of the
Paladin Club complex will be resolved by a mere formality. Charles
Baker, general manager of the land use department, told a Council
committee on Jan. 15 that Edgewood Village's plan to build 38 townhouses
meets all code requirements. Under the law, Council must now approve the
plan. "That has nothing to do with my personal feelings. ... We're just
doing our professional job," Baker said. Objecting residents argued that
the plan violates their rights as condominium owners to common property.
"I feel like the victim of a hold-up," Roy Jackson said. (CLICK
HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)
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Delmarva Power has begun collecting
the portion of its massive 2006 rate increase which some customers chose
to defer under a state-mandated phase-in plan. The deferred amount will
be charged in equal installments included in the public utility's next
17 monthly electricity bills.
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PLAN REVEALED:
B.T.L. Foundation wants to use the
historic house in Bechtel Park as a facility providing office, meeting
and activity space for ethnic organizations and a children's theater.
Foundation secretary Punith Venkatesh told Delaforum that the goal is to
promote "better understanding between different cultures." He said the
Hockessin-based foundation provides assistance to needy people in this
country, India and elsewhere. Although it submitted proposals on two
resident-curator sites, Venkatesh said it will pursue only one and
probably would prefer the Naamans Road property over Banning Park. (CLICK
HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)
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State Representative Gregory Lavelle
apparently has lost his last-minute bid to
block the ban on dumping yard waste into the landfill although
enforcement will be put off until July.
The House natural resources committee
voted to indefinitely table Lavelle's bill after it was strongly opposed
at a committee meeting on Jan. 9. That indicated he would be unlikely to
garner enough support to bring the measure before the full House of
Representatives for a vote. Most significantly, two of Lavelle's
Brandywine Hundred colleagues testified against the measure. "Removing
the ban is bad policy for the community and businesses," Diana
McWilliams said. Bryon Short disputed Lavelle's contention that there is
widespread public opposition to the ban. "I don't hear anybody saying
it's onerous," he said.
Although the yard-waste ban officially
goes into effect on Jan. 24, a natural resources department report
distributed at the hearing said "enforcement procedures" will not begin
as previously planned in April. They will be directed at wholesale
violations. "We're not going to be issuing tickets to homeowners,"
natural resources secretary John Hughes said. Robert Byrd, a lobbyist,
testified that trash-hauling firms are ready to offer collection
services to their customers "once we see the yard-waste ban is going
into effect." Lavelle questioned whether the firms are "prepared to do
what they're supposed to do with the stuff." (CLICK
HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)
Hughes said the department's drop-off
mulching sites have proven to be popular. "I love meeting the happy
people who are using them," he said.
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Advanced five years ago as a sure-fire
way to preserve historic buildings in
Jester Park and other county parks, a resident curator program has
bombed.
Only one proposal was received for one
the three properties offered in Brandywine Hundred and three were
submitted for two properties elsewhere. B.T.L. Foundation proposed to
convert Ivyside, a house in Bechtel Park, into a "multi-cultural service
center." Limited information publicly available at a bid opening on Jan.
9 did not explain what that would be nor provide any details about the
foundation. A call to the contact telephone number in the proposal
reached an answering machine at what apparently is a private residence.
No proposal was received for the house in Talley-Day Park or the
farmhouse in Jester Park.
Delaware Humane Association and 'Dimnia
Humitas' submitted proposals for the Hermitage in Glasgow Regional Park
and B.T.L. Foundation also submitted a proposal for Woodstock in Banning
Park. A resident curator arrangement, which provides open-ended rent-
and tax-free occupancy in return for maintaining the building, was first
suggested by Councilman Robert Weiner in response to opposition to
developing Jester Park for active recreation. Councilman David Tackett
revived the idea last summer in connection with developing the Glasgow
park. (CLICK
HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)
County officials previously told
Delaforum that the deadline for submitting proposals was extended
because numerous inquiries about the program had been received.
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NEARING COMPLETION: The
final phase of the Blue Ball highway project
-- reconstruction of the Concord Pike-Interstate 95 interchange -- is
now expected to begin in 2009 and be completed in 2011, according to
Delaware Department of Transportation project manager Mark Tudor. He
said DelDOT has money budgeted for design work and is looking for the
General Assembly to provide construction funds in this year's
capital-spending legislation. The conceptual plan presented at a public
'workshop' on Jan. 7 showed relocation of the southbound I-95 exit ramp
and widening of the other existing ramps. (CLICK
HERE to read previous Delaforum commentary.)
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EARLY START:
The administration has begun, several weeks earlier than usual,
negotiations with the unions representing most county employees, whose
current contracts expire in April. The one covering park and sewer
workers already has gone to binding arbitration, County Executive
Christopher Coons said. He described determining wages and benefits has
"our biggest challenge" as the process of coming up with a proposed
budget for fiscal 2009 gets underway. Looming are the previously
reported $7.5 million court judgment and an $800,000 revenue loss
from an assessment appeal, both of which are being appealed.
Last updated on January 26, 2008
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