News - February 10, 2009
RBHA BOARD MEETING
The RBHA Board of Directors will meet on Saturday, February 21, 2009, 9:00 am, at All Saints Episcopal Church, 18 Olive Avenue. At its November meeting the Board discussed a new idea for future events: a series of meetings giving City Commissioners an opportunity to offer in depth presentation of important issues as well as allowing the public the opportunity to get answers to questions of concern to them. Mayor Sam Cooper has expressed interest in addressing RBHA on important matters, including the Wastewater project. He will be attending and the Board will have a Question and Answer session with him on Wastewater.
RBHA GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING
Here’s another important meeting to mark on your calendar. On Saturday, April 18, 2009, 9:00 am we will hold our Spring General Membership Meeting. This meeting also will be held at All Saints Episcopal Church, 18 Olive Avenue. Dr. Pal Littleton, Chair of the City Planning Commission, will present the proposed update to the City’s Comprehensive Development Plan. Dr. Littleton states,
“As you know, in addition to accepting invitations from RBHA and other interested RB organizations, the Planning Commission will also be conducting Public Information sessions prior to holding formal Public Hearings. It is the desire of the Planning Commission to inform as many people as possible about the draft plan and to encourage their participation at the Public Hearings.”
A “working draft” may be found at http://www.cityofrehoboth.com/cdp2008.html. It is important to emphasize to all that the document is only a DRAFT; it is only after Public Hearings that the Planning Commission will finalize the draft and forward it to the Board of Commissioners. While the Planning Commission has the responsibility of preparing the CDP, it is the Board of Commissioners that has the responsibility for adopting the plan.
BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS MEETING
The Rehoboth Beach Board of Commissioners held its Workshop meeting on February 2, 2009. The Mayor reported that grant money has been obtained to fund a study by the City and County in a wastewater partnership. The study would focus on spray irrigation options with the City and County sharing responsibility. There are several spray irrigation variations as well as an ocean outflow option. A preliminary meeting with engineers will take place soon. The Board considered a proposed resolution to hold a public hearing for the rezoning a section of lots in the area of Canal, Sixth, Grove Streets and Rehoboth Avenue from C-1 to R-2; it will make a decision at the February regular meeting. Mr. Rick Kirchhoff, a principal of the Canalside Inn, which is located in the neighborhood, expressed his concern that a change in the zoning will place him at great financial risk; effectively cutting off all business options, he could be left with a property which would have no commercial or residential value.
Commissioner Mills offered proposed amendments to two ordinances affecting restaurant permit requirements. The Board will further review the suggestions at a future Workshop. Changes to Board meeting times, the possibility of installing solar panels on the new City building at 306 Rehoboth, and a new zoning map were New Business items that were discussed without further action taken.
BUDGET COMMITTEE MEETING
The City held its second budget meeting on February 7, 2009. The City operates on a fiscal year, which begins April 1st.
City Manager Greg Ferrese presented a second draft of the budget with a total of roughly $39,000 more than the original. The Commissioners agreed in principle to several changes. Most significantly, a 10% increase will be applied to sewer fees, which will generate about $124,000 to be set aside explicitly for the wastewater project. Part of the reason for the increase is to build a fund for this project but also to allow residents to adjust to the large increase that is anticipated when the final solution is in place by slowly increasing fees rather than all at once. $25,000 will be allocated for the Boardwalk project. And $10,000 will be earmarked for the fire department to be used to update communication equipment. Commissioners expressed continuing concerns about possible revenue shortfalls. The City Manager reduced his estimate for transfer fees by $90,000, but he also noted that for January only $10,000 in transfer tax revenue was received. A question by Commissioner Kuhns about Dispatch Center expenses (just under $500,000) led to an animated exchange about why the City appears to be subsidizing the emergency service far beyond the City limits. Commissioner McGuiness pressed for a justification and the Mayor challenged her to find other funding sources.
The next Budget Committee meeting is scheduled for Saturday, February 17, 2009 at 12:00 noon.
PARKING COMMITTEE
A parking committee meeting was called for Monday February 2nd, after not meeting since early November. Unfortunately, as a result of not meeting in the critical months before the budget is completed and decisions are made as they relate to parking, the committee was not consulted on any issues that have been presented to the Commissioners for review. There are fine increases and meter increases that are in the projected budget and the committee was not involved in that process.
Under old business, many items were discussed that related to past ideas the committee had circulated; namely, the potential conversion of the parking lot behind city hall, new technology that is available for meters and enforcement, future agenda dates and items, parking permits for the season, and enforcement staffing for the summer.
Items:
- Parking lot behind city hall - agreement to pursue costs associated with it and where to MOVE the recycling bins. Unfortunately, this will not happen in 2009 since the committee did not meet in the months mentioned above and it is too late for this year's budget.
- Linda Kauffman, committee member and RBHA President, will make a presentation to the committee at a future meeting on the trends of technology in the parking industry
- Future agenda items included a consensus that the committee should be more active in recommending rates and fines to the city so the process does not become just a budget exercise but rather a look at good parking management programs. Other items included looking at the permits for future years (this year, since the committee did not meet, the City Manager and parking staff made the determination.) Enforcement staffing was discussed but the City Manager felt that it was adequate. Future meetings will be the 1st Monday of every month at 1 PM
BOARDWALK COMMITTEE MEETING
The committee met on February 5th with all members present. The Committee heard a very positive report on the opportunity for Federal Stimulus funds. According to information from the Center for American Progress Delaware could receive $1.57 billion, if the legislation passes as proposed. [By the way, $48 million could be designated for “clean water infrastructure;” might that include our wastewater needs?] The Committee is pressing ahead with plans for a full engineering study using a grant from DelDOT. To that end a consensus was reached to plan on load-bearing standards, which will permit vehicles of up to 40,000 pounds; the additional cost will be around $320,000. As to what vehicles might be used, the Committee discussed specific problems with trash trucks on the Boardwalk. It decided to address possible solutions head-on at a future meeting.
For more on the Boardwalk, see: News Journal article
http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009902070349