City Council of the Mayor and Council of New Castle

Regular Council Meeting

Tuesday – June 10, 2008 – 7 p.m.

Present:

Also Present:

City Treasurer Janet Carlin, City Solicitor Roger Aiken, City Administrator Cathryn Thomas, Police Chief Kevin McDerby, Director of Public Services Joe Freebery, Building Official Jeff Bergstrom

Approval of Minutes by Date

A motion was made by Councilperson Reese to accept the following Minutes as presented:

April 10, 2008 May 13, 2008

The motion was seconded by Councilperson Churchill and passed unanimously.

Approval of Treasurer’s Report

City Treasurer Janet Carlin reported that there was $400 in petty cash, $213,797.16 total deposits for the month, $456,150.17 in the Wilmington Trust Accounts, $869,028.46 in the Certificates of Deposit and Delaware Government Investment Pool and $1,325,178.63 total cash on hand. A motion was made by Councilperson Reese to accept the report as presented and it was seconded by Councilperson Petty and passed unanimously.

Approval of City Administrator’s Report

Mrs. Thomas stated that her report to Council was in their packets and spoke about the City’s Summer Camp. Mrs. Thomas also stated that the franchise negotiations have begun with Verizon for the cable television portion of the franchise.

Approval of Staff Reports

Chief McDerby stated that his report was in Council’s package. Mr. Freebery stated that his report was also in Council’s packet.

Grant Review

Mrs. Churchill gave the grant information for the month of May. Monies received were $134,000.00 for State project #25-200-18 and $3,723.46 from Dell Computers. Bellanca Hanger Expenses for the month were $19,549.56 to Joshi Construction and $22,401.00 to Guardian Construction.

Communications

Mrs. Thomas received correspondence regarding the Wharf Dance. A group of residents would like to bring the dance back. One of the major issues would be insurance for the event. Councilperson Reese stated that some others dances/functions were covered under the City’s insurance policy in the past. This event is being held as a fundraiser for the Library. A meeting will be held on June 18, at 5 p.m. to discuss and vote on this matter.

Councilperson Reese stated that he received a call from Daniel Knox, Council’s new liaison for MSC regarding a vote that MSC would be taking regarding Delmarva Power and the purchase of “green” power.

Council President Blest stated that the residents are entitled to buy a portion of “green” power for a nominal fee now and if the City’s residents were interested they should contact MSC.

Business from the Floor (concerning agenda items only)

Chris Dunn of the PODS (Portable On Demand Storage) Co. spoke of Ordinance 458 regarding temporary storage units.

Business from the Mayor

Business from the Council President

Unfinished Business

31748. Third Reading, Motion, Discussion and Vote on Ordinance No. 458, a proposal to amend Chapter 140: Housing and Property Maintenance, to include language governing portable temporary storage units.

Council President Blest read the Motion for the record. Councilperson Churchill made a motion to approve the Ordinance. It was seconded by Councilperson Reese. Councilperson Reese said he thought section three was unfair in that since you could feasibly park a U-Haul brand truck in front of your house when moving in, why not a POD? Council chose to eliminate the current wording in section three and replaced it with language regarding the placement of temporary storage units on the public streets for a maximum of 72 hours, in which case persons must still obtain a City permit. The Ordinance passed unanimously.

31749. Discussion of progress on the Comprehensive Plan.

Marian Hull from URS summarized her work to date. The Planning Commission is comfortable with moving forward but they would like to have a public workshop and possibly a workshop with Council before moving forward.

New Business:

1.Consideration to refer to the Planning Commission a request for rezoning 0 Delaware Street, Parcel No. 21-010.00-017, from R1 Residential and Open Space & Recreation to R3 Residential.

Jeffrey Williams of Kercher Engineering gave a presentation to Council regarding rezoning the abovementioned property for residential use. Councilperson Reese inquired as to the type of development that is planned for this parcel and Mr. Williams said those details had not yet been finalized. Councilperson Reese made a motion to refer this matter to the Planning Commission. It was seconded by Councilperson Churchill and passed unanimously.

2.Comments from the floor.

Mr. Herb Swanson questioned the proposed development of new apartments across 9th Street from the existing Deemer’s Landing, noting he has records showing a paper street owned by the City, however the developer of the new building is proposing to build on that portion of the property where the City-owned street is; and also that when the existing apartments were constructed, contaminated concrete was taken off the development site and used to fill in a creek and drainage area, which now causes problems with water flooding the floor of a garage on an adjacent property.

Mr. Lloyd of School Street expressed concerns about St. Anthony’s fireworks going on from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on a Saturday and questioned the qualifications of the person(s) shooting off the fireworks and also the location from which they were being launched. Mr. Lloyd inquired as to who would have issued a permit for these activities and Mr. Bergstrom said he was the official who issued the permit. Mr. Bergstrom provided Mr. Lloyd with his business card and asked him to follow-up so that his questions may be satisfactorily answered.

Ms. Paula Stockton, a Buttonwood resident, questioned how the City could have issued a permit for a new house to be built on a lot in the Buttonwood subdivision when the lot is in the floodplain, and also that the impact of a house being developed on this lot is negative for surrounding properties which may now experience drainage issues which were not occurring prior to the new house being built. Councilperson Petty said she shares the concerns of Ms. Stockton, as she lives in the vicinity as well. Councilperson Petty, Mr.

Freebery and Mr. Bergstrom are scheduled to do a site inspection on Thursday, June 12.

3.Executive Session to discuss collective bargaining.

A motion was made to adjourn to Executive Session by Councilperson Churchill. It was seconded by Councilperson Petty and passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 8:33 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Jill DiAngelo
City Clerk