STIMULUS REPORT: County government so far has received nearly $17 million in federal stimulus money for 10 programs, chief of staff Nicole Majeski told County Council. The largest grant, $7 million, was provided by the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development for neighborhood stabilization. The Department of Energy provided $3.7 million for energy conservation projects at 20 county facilities and the county Department of Public Safety received a $1.6 million justice assistance grant. Also at a meeting of Council's finance committee on Jan. 26 acting chief financial officer Ed Milowicki reported that county revenue through December is running, on an annualized basis, $1 million ahead of what was expected at the start of the current fiscal year last July 1.

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By the end of the coming summer, patrons of the county library system will have direct access to some 2.5 million books and other items at more than 30 libraries throughout the state.

Anne Farley, director of the Department of Community Services, told a County Council committee on Jan. 26 that, instead of technologically updating its current on-line catalog at an estimated cost of $300,000, the department will 'migrate' it, without cost, into the state Division of Libraries electronic catalog and become its largest component. That means that county system cardholders not only will be able to locate material in whatever facility it is housed but also access data banks to which the various libraries subscribe. That will have the effect of extending statewide the present arrangement by which patrons can order lendable items from any branch in the county system and have them delivered to the branch they usually patronize.

State librarian Annie Norman said the state library catalog now includes all the public libraries in Kent and Sussex Counties as well as Delaware Technical & Community College and Wilmington University. Wilmington Institute Free Library also is expected to join the system, she said. Although the lending system is integrated, participating libraries remain autonomous and will continue to be responsible for staffing and operating their facilities. But they benefit in that duplication in acquiring new material for their collections is reduced. Farley said the New Castle acquisition budget this year is $880,000, a bit more than half what it used to be. Norman said a feature of the state catalog is an automatic spelling checker. "You can search for what you want even if you can't spell it," she said.

Conventional books comprise 80% of the present state catalog; recorded books are 10%; and D.V.D.s make up 5% of the collection. Other material accounts for the rest.

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BULGING AT THE SEAMS: With enrollment already "dramatically higher than we anticipated" and an increase of 50 more students projected for the 2010-11 academic year, Brandywine schools superintendent Mark Holodick said he expects to "add classroom space to meet the needs" at Lombardy Elementary.  He didn't say what form that would take, but John Read, construction project manager, said an additional 7,000 square feet would be needed to bring the building in lower Brandywine Hundred, smallest in the Brandywine district, into line with its other elementary schools. Holodick told the school board at its meeting on Jan. 25 that he will consult with the district's renovations oversight committee and present a firm recommendation in February.

Chief financial officer David Blowman said that a combination of factors brought about the crowding. Driven by the recession and attracted by full-day kindergarten, Lombardy this year has taken in several children from private, parochial and charter schools, he said. Board member Patricia Hearn said that the originally planned redrawing of Lombardy's attendance zone to accommodate the change this year to a kindergarten-through-fifth-grade alignment "met with a great deal of [unfavorable] public response." Brandywood and Carrcroft Elementary "are tight but manageable" this year, Blowman said. Be that as it may, Holodick said Lombardy, with a current enrollment of about 500, "simply cannot handle an additional 50 more kids."

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PURCHASE APPROVED: Brandywine school board on Jan. 25 approved purchase, for $2 million, of four tax-parcel lots along Eastlawn Avenue in northeast Wilmington and was told the district has executed a letter-of-intent to buy an adjacent lot. The district now leases three of the lots for its busyard. Barbara Meredith, director of support services, said the transactions will enable rebuilding the busyard to provide better facilities for parking and maintaining its bus fleet. She said the district has agreed with the state Department of Natural Resources & Environmental Control to treat the project as 'brownfields' redevelopment. Voters in 2005 approved raising a total of $8 million through bonds to acquire and develop a site for the busyard and the district's maintenance department. (CLICK HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)

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Both Attorney General Beau Biden and U.S. Senator Ted Kaufman declared unequivocally that they will not seek the Democratic nomination to fill the Senate seat formerly held by Vice President Joe Biden.

Their statements followed publication of an article in the Jan. 24 issue of the News Journal newspaper in which Vice President Biden was said to have asked the writer to persuade his son to run. According to Politico, an authoritative Washington website, his office quickly issued a statement claiming that the Vice President was referring to persuading Kaufman in the event the younger Biden decided not to run. The News Journal published a retraction acknowledging the error in its Jan. 25 issue. Attorney General Biden did not refer to that apparent gaffe in his statement, issued Jan. 25, which ended months of general assumption that Kaufman, an aide to Joe Biden when he was senator, had been appointed to keep the seek warm for the next Biden generation.

Beau Biden said in the statement that he has "a duty to fulfill as attorney general" and will seek re-election to that office. Although he did not mention him by name, he made it obvious that the duty is to prosecute Earl Bradley, a Lewes pediatrician who has been arrested on a huge number of charges of sexually molesting many of his young female patients. Kaufman said merely that he intended to fulfill the "commitment [he] made when appointed to the office" and not seek another term. All of that has assured that Delaware's senatorial race this year will see maximum effort by Republican politicians and bankrollers nationally to back U.S. Representative Michael Castle, their extremely popular, if aging, already declared candidate.

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MAY STAY PUT: Brandywine School District may not relocate its busyard after all. Barbara Meredith, director of support services, confirmed that the district is talking with the owner of the property in northeast Wilmington about buying it. She told Delaforum that Frank Byers proposed selling it. If the now preliminary talks are successful, the district would avert an almost certain public controversy. "It's not easy to find a place for a bus yard," Meredith said. Residents at the 2005 bond referendum authorized acquiring a site and constructing a new facility before its $7,000-a-month lease expires in June, 2011. The present yard is considered inadequate. Ownership of the site has changed since then. Because the location is acceptable, building there would serve the same intent, she said.

Meredith also confirmed that the district is planning to move its administrative offices from the former Pennsylvania Avenue Elementary School building in Radnor Green into the building on Duncan Road near Bellefonte, which houses Mount Pleasant Elementary and Edgemoor Community Center during the current summer. That move will not be up against a firm timetable as were the extensive moves which took place last summer because it does not require completion before the start of the academic year in August, she pointed out. Meredith said the vacated building will be torn down and the site left as open space. She denied that the district has any present intention to dispose of its high-rise Burnett building in north Wilmington.

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LEASING APPROVED: A State Board of Education hearing officer has recommended that Odyssey Charter School'sappeal of Brandywine district's decision to lease the Darley Road School property to Boys & Girls Clubs be turned down. In an opinion dated Dec. 29 and released on Jan. 19 to Delaforum in response to a Freedom of Education Act request, Jack Freeberry said it is doubtful that the state board has jurisdiction to rule in such a controversy. Even if it did, he said, Odyssey would have no claim under state law to the property in Claymont because its charter from Red Clay Consolidated School District does not authorize its operating outside the geographic limits of that district. Brandywine, he concluded, acted "within the sound discretion of [its] district board." (CLICK HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)

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County government will again attempt to resuscitate its resident curator program, but the Department of Special Services was warned that, if it swings and misses for a third strike, it will be called out.

Mike Svaby, the department's acting general manager, told a County Council committee on Jan. 19 that it will use "more aggressive marketing" to interest folks in agreeing to restore vacant county-owned houses -- mostly those with historic pedigrees -- and live in them rent- and tax-free. Robert Merrill, of the department, identified five that will be included in the initial offering: Ivyside in Bechtel Park off Naamans Road; the farmhouse in Jester Park off Grubb Road; the Talley house in Talley-Day Park off Foulk Road; Woodstock in Banning Park off Newport Pike; and the Gregg house on Delcastle golf course off Millcreek Road. The first four went unclaimed during the last effort to establish the program. Merrill said that as many as 20 others could be added if this attempt is successful.

Observing that some county properties "are in such bad shape [that he doesn't] think that the average citizen can fix them up," Council president Paul Clark said he would allow for "one more shot" before introducing legislation to require the county to restore the properties and either sell or rent them. John Cartier said that would achieve twin benefits of having the buildings occupied and producing revenue for the county. David Tackett said that, given current economic conditions, lenders would not lend money to pay for restoration since they would be unable to hold mortgages on the properties. Svaby agreed to explore the possibility of using 'recovery zone' stimulus bonds to help finance restoration.

Merrill said the department already has had three inquiries concerning the Jester property. It was in connection with redeveloping that parkland that Councilman Robert Weiner in 2002 first suggested a curator program. The most recent attempt to start one was in 2005.

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IN THE RUNNING: A confident Governor Jack Markell stopped just short of describing Delaware as a shoo-in to obtain some of the $3.35 billion the federal government will distribute this spring in an effort to bring America's public schools into line with international education standards. But he said this state had a head-start in the competitive 'Race-to-the-Top' with several years of collaborative effort to improve its schools. At an informal conference in his office on Jan. 19, Markell said Delaware meets all the criteria set by the U.S. Department of Education to qualify for a grant. They are: A demonstrated commitment to improving education; use of data systems to measure progress; willingness to require teacher accountability; and a need to reduce the number of sub-standard schools.

Delaware, on the advice of "experts whom we consulted," applied for a $107 million grant although size would indicate a more likely range of $20 million to $75 million, he said. State Secretary of Education Lillian Lowery said half of whatever it receives will go to local districts, which will have flexibility to spend it "within parameters" set at federal and state levels. She was not specific, however, about the basis upon which it will be apportioned. All 19 districts and every charter school have agreed to participate in the program. So has the statewide teachers union. "It was pretty much a no-brainer to support the application," Dianne Donohue, its president, said. Texas is the only state not seeking a federal grant. Few, of any, of the others match Delaware's 100% participation rate, Markell said. (CLICK HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)

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COMING DOWN:

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EFFORT PAYING OFF: A concerted effort to attract civilian workers being transferred from Fort Monmouth, N.J., to Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland to settle in New Castle County and to get technology-related companies which contract to support research and development efforts at one of the world's foremost research and development facility to set up shop here is exceeding expectations, according to Karl Kalbacher, county government's economic development director. Citing a recent relocation survey, he said, "We're going to get 10% of the workforce; we originally thought we'd be lucky to get 2%." The first 1,000 transfers took place between June and December, 2009. Some 24,000 military and contractor jobs will have been relocated by mid-September, 2011.

Kalbacher told a community meeting sponsored by Councilwoman Lisa Diller on Jan. 11 that the University of Delaware is about to sign a research and development agreement with the Army and expects to dedicate part of the former Chrysler plant site it has acquired as a 'technology park' to house companies doing work for Aberdeen. Not only is the university offering in-state tuition rates to families intending to move here but also is the only higher-education provider intending to conduct job-related classes at the sprawling base on the shores of Chesapeake Bay. The long-range effect of the base realignment cannot be overstated, he said. Including its 'ripple effect' that will course through the gamut of local businesses, "this is our economy for the next 10 to 20 years," he said.

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POLICE CHIEF SEARCH: The next county police chief probably will come from the ranks of the force. Rick Gregory, the county's chief administrative officer and its former police chief, told County Council's public safety committee that a panel consisting mostly of persons outside of government has been formed to screen applicants for the position from among the 10 command-level officers who are eligible by virtue of their rank for the job. Michael McGowan, who has held the chief's position in an acting capacity since Gregory was promoted to be county government's second-ranking executive, is considered the front-runner among likely internal candidates. County Executive Christopher Coons will make the appointment, subject to Council confirmation.

Chairman William Bell indicated at a committee meeting on Jan. 12 that he was pleased with the decision to look within department before or in lieu of conducting an outside search. But William Tansey questioned whether "we're being too parochial." He noted that Gregory, who was hired from Florida, is widely regarded and said it might be "possible to find someone just as good or even better" through a wide-ranging search. Gregory said a search would cost between $60,000 and $90,000. "For three years, we've invested in developing leadership in the department. ... They should [now] have the opportunity to demonstrate their skills and ability," he added. Human resources director Lynn Howard will be the only one from county government to serve on the internal-search panel.

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STIMULUS BONDS: When County Council next meets, on Jan. 26, it likely will authorize sale of $30.8 million worth of 'recovery zone' bonds to help finance three economic development projects. The largest amount -- $13.5 million -- will go to Citrosuco North America Inc. to pay for new storage tanks to expand its terminal at the Port of Wilmington. Gibraltar Preservation Group will get $9 million to build a 6,500 square foot office building and restore the mansion at the historic Gibraltar estate in west Wilmington. Rama Corp. is down for $8.3 million to convert an existing structure on Old Baltimore Pike, near Newark, into a six-story hotel. The total is considerably less than the $76 million limit imposed when Council approved participating in the federal economic stimulus program.

Ordinances to authorize selling the tax-free bonds were introduced at Council's meeting on Jan. 12. Council president Paul Clark said the public will have an opportunity to comment on the proposed legislation at the finance committee meeting to be held during the afternoon before Council's evening plenary session on Jan. 26. Meanwhile, with reference to another county-supported development project Councilman John Cartier told the Jan. 12 finance committee meeting that there have been $7 million worth of sales at Darley Green, a combination residential and commercial development in Claymont. That, he said, will net county government $110,000 in realty transfer tax. Infrastructure bonds related to that project have not yet been sold. Apr. 1 is the deadline for doing so. (CLICK HERE to read previous Delaforum article.)

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Brandywine School District asked the state Department of Education to deal it in if Delaware receives a federal 'Race to the Top' grant, but was less than enthusiastic about doing so.

By a five-to-one vote, the school board on Jan. 7 authorized its president, Debra Heffernan, to join superintendent Mark Holodick and teachers union president David Bradley in signing a jargon-laden agreement "to establish a framework of collaboration" with DelDOE in the event any money is forthcoming. The $4.35 billion competitive grant program administered by the U.S. Department of Education is part of the economic stimulus legislation enacted last year. It is intended to enable selected states to improve performance of public schools, including charter schools. It could not immediately be determined how many states in addition to Delaware have applied for a grant nor how many Delaware districts have asked to share in the grant if it's awarded.

Board member Ralph Ackerman cast the negative vote after telling his colleagues that "we will lose a lot of control over the district by taking [the] money." Calling participation in the program "a state takeover" of districts which participate, he said, "It's time to just say no." Holodick said that "Brandywine is willing [to participate], but it better be collaborative." Other board members objected to use of the term 'failing school in the agreement. "We're not a failing district, but there are some areas where we need some help," Olivia Johnson-Harris said. A grant would "help support some initiatives we're not able to do ourselves," Holodick added. Heffernan said the state agreement is vague enough that "we can wait to have more specifics to decide if we want to stay in."

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OPEN FOR BUSINESS: Some 470 Lancashire Elementary School students in kindergarten through fifth grade returned from their holidays break to classes in a new building. The building, which is being occupied eight months ahead of schedule, incorporates state-of-the-art infrastructure in a traditional-appearing context. "It was designed to the way we instruct students in this day and age,"

principal Peter Barry said as he prepared to welcome the youngsters on Jan. 6. The new building replaces one built in 1968 on the same campus off Naamans Road between Foulk and Marsh Roads,. The $14 million capital project will be completed after the old one is torn down following close of the academic year in June. The Brandywine School district also intends to replace Brandywoood Elementary.

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RECYCLE PROGRAM PROPOSED: Governor Jack Markell unveiled a plan to accomplish something which has eluded four of his predecessors: To establish household recycling as a way of life in Delaware. On Jan. 5 he announced his intention to seek legislation to require all trash haulers in the state to provide recycling service to their customers by late 2011 or early 2012. Meanwhile, he wants a law effective in 2010 to replace the 5¢ deposit on returnable bottles with a 2¢ tax. Proceeds from that levy would be used to help the companies buy equipment and cover start-up costs of initiating recycling service. When the program is fully effective, actual recycling would remain voluntary, but incentives would be provided to companies to encourage customers to avail themselves of the service.

Last updated on January 27, 2010

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