Memos at Random

Irony was pervasive as about 75 people turned out to voice strong objections to plans to build a combined retail and residential center at Concord Pike and Beaver Valley Road.

Several parallels were drawn to the extended controversy over development of Brandywine Town Center more than a decade ago. As it happens, County Councilman Robert Weiner, who hosted the meeting on July 30, is about to introduce legislation ending that controversy by liberalizing deed restrictions. After saying that he opposes rezoning the Woodlawn Trustees property, Weiner pointedly remarked that Whole Foods, originally billed as lead tenant, has been dropped from the current proposal. A major argument in favor of the Town Center was a to-be-unkept promise that it would feature up-scale department stores.

Pam Scott, lawyer for the would-be developer, Stoltz Realty Properties, said the current third version of the exploratory plan is significantly different from the earlier ones. The number of proposed residential units has been increased from 36 to 87. It is proposed that there be 237,000 square feet of retail space and a 120-room hotel. She said it is expected to take between 18 months and two years to obtain necessary approvals but neither she nor Stoltz officials would respond to a question about how long it would take to complete, saying that will depend upon future market conditions. (CLICK HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)

Venue for the acoustically-challenged and sometimes raucous meeting: The community building in Brandywine Town Center.

The nearly completed makeover of the Pierre S. du Pont school building in north Wilmington was intended to be a renovation. But, in some respects, restoration received equal billing. Brandywine School District officials were delighted to find, for instance, the original terrazzo floor in mint condition when workers removed tile from the entranceway and lobby. No one knows how long it was hidden from sight, but it -- and other features from the past in the 1934 building -- will remain visible. P.S. will reopen in late August as an intermediate school. It is scheduled to be converted to a middle school before the start of the 2009-10 academic year. (CLICK HERE to access additional photographs.)(CLICK HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)

UP FOR SALE: The historic Worth mansion on Philadelphia Pike south of Commonwealth Avenue is available for $1.75 million or for lease, according to real estate agent Daniel Lesher. Also, he told a recent meeting of the Claymont Design Review Advisory Committee that all or part the building which formerly housed Holy Rosary parochial school is open to lease. The mansion, which sits on a six acre tract, was once

the home of the Worth family, which founded what is now Claymont Steel. Before then it was owned by the Grubbs, a pioneering Brandywine Hundred family. Holy Rosary used it for a convent and a retreat facility.

"I look on that building with great concern," County Councilman John Cartier said. "Those kinds of buildings will never come back again." Lesher said Holy Rosary officials would not agree to having it protected by an historic overlay, but want it put to adaptive reuse and preserved. Carolyn Mercandante, president of the Claymont Historical Society, said that some authorities believe it was a waystation on the pre-Civil War Underground Railroad, complete with a tunnel leading to the Delaware River. In an unrelated move, Cartier is sponsoring an historic overlay on the nearby state-owned Darley House.

IN THE MAIL: County government sent property-tax bills for the current fiscal year to owners or mortgage holders, but not to both, on July 25. They are due by Sept. 30 or, if there any back tax included, by Sept. 2 to avoid further penalty. Officials emphasized that the bills include both county and school tax. The former is at a rate of 56.14¢ for each $100 of assessed value in unincorporated areas of the county. That amounts to $401.49 on a residence assessed at the average value of $71,516. School taxes range from $1.7785 per $100, or $1,271.91, in the Brandywine district to $1.5097 per $100, or $1,079.68, in the Appoquinimink district.

Eleventh-hour filers forced County Council president Paul Clark and Councilman John Cartier into primary elections in their bids for re-election to second terms.

Pike Creek-area civic activist William Dunn challenged Clark and Carl Colantuono, who has long been active in public affairs in Claymont, will oppose Cartier. All four are Democrats and, unless the Republican party enters candidates, the winners in the September primary will be unopposed in November. The deadline for any individual to file was July 25. As previously reported, former county executive Thomas Gordon is running against incumbent Christopher Coons in the Democratic primary. There are no Republicans seeking the top county office.

State representative Bryon Short faces Republican James Bowers in November and representative Robert Valihura is opposed by Democrat Dennis F. Williams. Diana McWilliams, a Democrat, and Republican Gregory Lavelle are unopposed for re-election to round out the Brandywine Hundred delegation in the General Assembly. The race to succeed Republican state senator Charles Copeland, who is running to be lieutenant governor, is wide open with primaries in both parties. Republicans Richard Abbott, John Clatworthy and Michael Fleming and Democrats Dee Durham and Michael Katz are seeking the seat.

County Council appeared ready to reject Sherry Freebery's bid for reimbursement of $3.7 million in legal fees, but her lawyers indicated that the issue could well be left for a court to decide.

Members were tightlipped after hearing arguments on behalf of the chief administrative officer in the previous Gordon administration and Janet Smith, a political appointee at the time, who wants $25,000. However, the tone of their questioning during an unusual special Council session on July 21 seemed to imply that at least six were leaning toward voting against the reimbursement resolutions at the July 22 plenary session. With Penrose Hollins agreeing not to participate because of reputed past animosity to Freebery and William Powers away on vacation, that would prevent the measures from receiving a majority vote.

Lawyer Elizabeth Taylor said Freebery's 31 years of county service entitled her to indemnification after successfully defending herself against an "artful drafting of an indictment" with multiple corruption charges. Not only is she presumed not guilty of charges that were dropped but those charges "were not true," Taylor said. Had Freebery not been serving in a political position, she "would not have been charged with [any] crime," Taylor added. Failure to support government employees accused but innocent of wrongdoing would deter anyone from public service, her brother, John Taylor, also a Freebery lawyer, argued. (CLICK HERE to read previous Delafourm article.)

Asked by Councilman Jea Street if he would be willing to settle for a lesser amount, John Taylor, replied, "We didn't come here to negotiate. ... There is no air in the [legal-services] bill."

FOOD GOES UP: The Brandywine school board raised the price of government-subsidized lunches by 25¢ for the coming academic year. Elementary-school students will pay $1.50, secondary-school students $1.75 and adult staff members $3. Superintendent Jim Scanlon said prices had not been increased since 2002 and blamed higher food and transportation costs. In another matter at the meeting on July 21, Debra Heffernan was elected board president and Olivia Johnson-Harris vice president. Joseph Brumskill declined another one-year term as president. New members Ralph Ackerman and Cheryl Siskin were sworn in. (CLICK HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)

REPORT CARD: Most Brandywine district schools posted increases in average scores in this year's state student assessment tests with P.S. du Pont Intermediate and Darley Road Elementary showing the largest percentage gains over 2007 results. The exception was in writing where all elementary schools had double-digit percentage declines. In an unofficial statewide comparison, Brandywine outperformed the state average in all but middle-school reading. Superintendent Jim Scanlon, in a public statement, attributed gains to improved teaching strategies and curriculum alignment. (CLICK HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)

Percentage of Brandywine district students meeting or exceeding state standards:

Schools	2008	2007	Pct. change	Schools	2008	2007	Pct. change	Schools	2008	2007	Pct. change

3rd grade reading				3rd grade mathematics				3rd grade writing
Carrcroft	88.89	80.81	10.0%	Carrcroft	87.50	80.58	8.6%	Lancashire	62.82	82.42	-23.8%
Lombardy	88.46	92.11	-4.0%	Brandywood	83.67	77.98	7.3%	Brandywood	53.61	74.07	-27.6%
Brandywood	87.23	88.24	-1.1%	Lombardy	82.76	83.91	-1.4%	Carrcroft	50.53	64.08	-21.2%
Mt. Pleasant	85.00	82.47	3.1%	DISTRICT	78.63	76.36	3.0%	Mt. Pleasant	46.63	71.43	-34.7%
Lancashire	84.93	87.64	-3.1%	Mt. Pleasant	76.22	75.78	0.6%	DISTRICT	46.28	69.07	-33.0%
DISTRICT	84.31	81.56	3.4%	Forwood	75.64	72.15	4.8%	Forwood	46.15	63.29	-27.1%
Forwood	80.00	71.43	12.0%	Maple Lane	75.00	63.16	18.8%	Lombardy	40.23	71.26	-43.5%
Maple Lane	79.17	71.70	10.4%	Lancashire	74.36	83.52	-11.0%	Maple Lane	32.91	55.36	-40.6%
Darley Road	76.27	63.64	19.9%	Darley Road	71.43	61.22	16.7%	Darley Road	32.26	57.14	-43.5%

5th grade reading				5th grade mathematics				5th grade writing
Claymont	89.49	90.03	-0.6%	Claymont	83.90	84.97	-1.3%	Claymont	73.76	77.38	-4.7%
P.S. du Pont	87.25	77.83	12.1%	P.S. du Pont	83.19	75.23	10.6%	DISTRICT	65.59	67.47	-2.8%
DISTRICT	86.67	82.97	4.5%	DISTRICT	81.87	78.19	4.7%	P.S. du Pont	62.67	61.29	2.3%
Harlan	83.43	76.84	8.6%	Harlan	76.40	70.33	8.6%	Harlan	57.30	58.24	-1.6%

8th grade reading				8th grade mathematics				8th grade writing
Springer	88.33	84.00	5.2%	Springer	86.42	74.92	15.4%	Springer	91.36	87.04	4.7%
Hanby	83.49	81.69	2.2%	Hanby	83.69	73.82	13.4%	Hanby	83.54	86.03	-2.9%
DISTRICT	78.64	79.71	-1.3%	DISTRICT	72.56	68.99	5.2%	DISTRICT	82.00	81.99	0.0%
Talley	67.94	69.49	-2.2%	Talley	51.66	50.84	1.6%	Talley	74.76	64.61	15.7%

10th grade reading				10th grade mathematics				10th grade writing
Concord	80.15	85.67	-6.4%	Concord	63.47	71.09	-10.7%	Concord	91.42	86.64	5.5%
DISTRICT	75.36	77.79	-3.1%	DISTRICT	58.66	61.49	-4.6%	Brandywine	88.47	73.04	21.1%
Brandywine	74.58	75.65	-1.4%	Brandywine	57.81	58.44	-1.1%	DISTRICT	87.53	74.27	17.9%
Mt. Pleasant	70.05	68.81	1.8%	Mt. Pleasant	53.47	50.99	4.9%	Mt. Pleasant	80.90	57.71	40.2%
SOURCE: Delaware Department of Education

District	Reading	District	Math.	District	Writing

3rd grade
Milford	89.64	Smyrna	88.82	Appoquinimink	59.58
Smyrna	88.56	Milford	87.26	Woodbridge	58.22
Indian River	88.19	Indian River	86.70	Smyrna	56.80
Appoquinimink	87.68	Woodbridge	85.62	Caesar Rodney	55.26
Caesar Rodney	85.71	Caesar Rodney	84.84	Indian River	49.16
BRANDYWINE	84.31	Appoquinimink	83.56	Christina	47.94
Christina	82.73	Cape Henlopen	80.76	Milford	47.77
STATE AVERAGE	81.69	BRANDYWINE	78.63	Capital	46.80
Capital	81.48	Christina	78.32	BRANDYWINE	46.28
Cape Henlopen	80.77	STATE AVERAGE	77.42	STATE AVERAGE	45.21
Woodbridge	80.30	Red Clay	72.79	Cape Henlopen	40.76
Lake Forest	79.73	Seaford	72.60	Red Clay	38.54
Colonial	78.90	Lake Forest	71.88	Lake Forest	36.88
Seaford	78.90	Capital	70.68	Colonial	34.84
Red Clay	78.21	Colonial	70.68	Seaford	26.79
Laurel	72.00	Laurel	62.35	Laurel	16.67

5th grade
Indian River	94.76	Indian River	89.21	Appoquinimink	72.81
Milford	94.26	Appoquinimink	83.68	Indian River	69.43
Smyrna	92.60	Milford	82.73	Cape Henlopen	67.63
Appoquinimink	91.04	BRANDYWINE	81.87	Milford	66.55
Caesar Rodney	90.87	Woodbridge	81.56	BRANDYWINE	65.59
Cape Henlopen	90.37	Smyrna	81.27	Caesar Rodney	65.22
Seaford	88.63	Seaford	81.15	STATE AVERAGE	62.12
BRANDYWINE	86.67	Caesar Rodney	80.07	Colonial	61.52
Colonial	86.21	Cape Henlopen	79.71	Christina	60.90
STATE AVERAGE	86.12	STATE AVERAGE	76.46	Red Clay	57.14
Red Clay	86.10	Red Clay	74.36	Seaford	55.33
Lake Forest	83.57	Lake Forest	73.49	Smyrna	55.33
Woodbridge	80.74	Christina	72.22	Capital	53.78
Christina	79.53	Colonial	66.39	Lake Forest	53.31
Capital	78.34	Capital	66.31	Woodbridge	52.48
Laurel	69.68	Laurel	63.89	Laurel	42.46

8th grade
Caesar Rodney	93.36	Caesar Rodney	80.10	Appoquinimink	88.57
Appoquinimink	91.82	Milford	79.94	Caesar Rodney	87.96
Milford	91.79	Indian River	79.31	Indian River	83.10
Indian River	90.10	Appoquinimink	77.21	Milford	86.73
Delmar	85.33	Lake Forest	76.63	Red Clay	82.66
Smyrna	83.91	BRANDYWINE	72.56	BRANDYWINE	82.00
Cape Henlopen	83.44	Cape Henlopen	69.01	Cape Henlopen	82.00
Red Clay	81.48	Delmar	68.95	Colonial	81.68
Lake Forest	81.27	Red Clay	68.20	STATE AVERAGE	81.40
STATE AVERAGE	80.79	STATE AVERAGE	64.91	Christina	77.89
Colonial	79.90	Smyrna	59.72	Capital	77.63
Laurel	79.75	Laurel	55.80	N.C.C. Votech	76.67
BRANDYWINE	78.74	Seaford	53.73	Lake Forest	76.26
Woodbridge	75.28	Colonial	53.52	Delmar	76.19
Seaford	75.10	Capital	51.09	Laurel	75.14
Capital	74.15	Woodbridge	50.72	Smyrna	74.65
Christina	67.79	Christina	49.03	Seaford	72.01
N.C.C. Votech	54.72	N.C.C. Votech	16.67	Woodbridge	66.99

10th grade
Sussex Tech	88.99	Polytech	75.17	Sussex Tech	89.97
Polytech	83.33	Caesar Rodney	73.12	BRANDYWINE	87.53
Delmar	80.26	Sussex Tech	72.12	Red Clay	87.24
Milford	78.95	Red Clay	70.35	Appoquinimink	85.55
Cape Henlopen	78.85	Milford	67.80	Polytech	83.57
Caesar Rodney	78.70	Appoquinimink	67.05	N.C.C. Votech	83.26
Red Clay	77.96	Delmar	61.01	Milford	82.95
Appoquinimink	76.18	Cape Henlopen	59.06	Caesar Rodney	82.91
BRANDYWINE	75.36	Indian River	58.97	Cape Henlopen	81.02
Indian River	73.98	BRANDYWINE	58.66	STATE AVERAGE	80.77
STATE AVERAGE	70.70	STATE AVERAGE	57.87	Seaford	80.72
N.C.C. Votech	70.32	Lake Forest	57.34	Indian River	79.92
Smyrna	66.55	N.C.C. Votech	57.00	Laurel	79.82
Seaford	65.43	Capital	52.34	Capital	79.47
Capital	65.08	Smyrna	51.32	Delmar	78.85
Laurel	65.00	Seaford	47.27	Lake Forest	77.42
Woodbridge	62.61	Woodbridge	46.72	Christina	71.62
Colonial	60.65	Laurel	44.83	Smyrna	71.52
Lake Forest	57.53