Fenwick Island News

The meeting was on the subject of beautification, but Fenwick Island Town Council Member Chris Clark dropped in an idea that has a larger potential impact on the town than any new landscaping plans or restroom renovations.

Fenwick Island’s recent tussle in the courts over its front yard setback requirements was behind an ordinance change proposed with a first reading at the town council’s Oct. 28 meeting.

After a roaring success with the inaugural edition of the Fenwick Freeze New Year’s ocean plunge, members of the town’s Beach Committee are already planning the second annual event, with a theme of “Dive Into 2006.”

Set, naturally, on Jan. 1, 2006, the swim will feature a few changes from 2005.

Fenwick Island Town Council Member Chris Clark and other organizers of the planned Nov. 4 Your Town follow-up meeting are hoping the second edition of the program will bring together residents, officials and interest groups from around Sussex County so a wide range of viewpoints can eventually be incorporated in the county’s next comprehensive development plan (due in 2007).

An initial delay of several weeks on the start of Fenwick Island’s beach reconstruction project may have worked to the town’s favor. Sand lost in the recent nor’easter might just get put back in place before the project is complete.

In the wake of severe tidal flooding caused by the recent nor’easter, the Fenwick Island Town Council voted unanimously (5-0, with Mayor Peter Frederick and Council Member Martha Keller absent) Oct. 28 to put a focus on the town’s flooding problems.

Do you like where Sussex County’s headed, or fear something’s maybe getting lost along the way? And is yours a majority — or a minority — view regarding what a plan for the county’s future should include?

Rumors that Fenwick Island police were slow to respond to a Sept. 14 bank robbery in the town due to staffing and communication problems are unfounded, according to town council members.

It was a time for revisiting a number of old issues at the Oct. 8 workshop-without-agenda (WWA) in Fenwick Island.

Fenwick Island police officer Jason Bergman didn’t have much warning that he would be heading to the devastated Gulf Coast region to provide relief to hurricane victims.

Joan Maloof, an environmental issues and biological sciences professor at Salisbury University, stopped at the iLand ArT gaLLerY in Fenwick Island last weekend (Oct. 1) to sign copies of her new book, “Teaching the Trees: Lessons from the Forest.”

It was a topsy-turvy day for those used to the normal flow of an agenda for the Fenwick Island Town Council. Mayor Peter Frederick turned the usual order of things on its head, starting off a new council initiative that emphasizes the performance of the town’s business in view of the public.

Fenwick Island’s town council accepted a series of amendments to the town code Sept. 23, codifying what has been standard practice as regards the building and operation of apartments in the town’s commercial district.

When Jason Bergman returned to his regular duties with the Fenwick Island Police Department last week, he had a surprise waiting for him.

The people spoke, and the Fenwick Island Town Council listened, voting 5-1 not to expand allowances for docks and boat lifts on the town’s canals at their Sept. 23 meeting.

They didn’t have to bring in any extra seating, but the turnout of Fenwick Island-area residents in opposition to a billboard proposed near the town was apparently enough to influence the applicant: He signed in for the hearing before the Sussex County Board of Adjustments but left before his case was heard.

On Friday, Sept. 23, at 2:30 p.m., the Fenwick Island Town Council will hold a public hearing in the town hall to receive testimony on a proposed amendment to the town code, Chapter 160 — Zoning, Paragraph 6-b, regulations for docks and boat lifts in canals.

Members of Fenwick Island’s Beautification Committee continued their efforts Monday, following up on a number of projects spearheaded by the committee and aimed at making the town even more aesthetically pleasing.

The Fenwick Island Town Council will continue to hold its informal “workshops-without-agenda” (WWA) on the second Saturday of the month, with a decision made by council members at just such a meeting Sept. 10.

As sand continues pumping into Fenwick Island’s beaches, the town’s streetscape has been chosen for a green makeover. The town council passed a motion Friday, Aug. 26, to approve the twofold Living Fence Project.

Fenwick Island will receive $5,000 in grants for the beautification initiatives, while labor costs — projected at $6,325.76 — will come from town coffers.

The Fenwick Island Town Council Friday, Aug. 26, voted to allow its insurance carrier, Scottsdale Insurance Company, to resolve the lawsuit brought by former police Maj. William Manning against the town and council members past and present.

Like newspaper editors cleaning up wire copy, Fenwick Island’s ordinance commissioners pored over pages of town codes, tweaking and tightening.

Atlantis is risen in Fenwick Island this week, as dredging outfit Bean Stuyvesant replaces sands lost to the tides over the past 13 years.

Jeanne Hastings, long-time resident of South Bethany, has continued to satisfy her faithful customers’ demands for interesting and fashionable clothing and accessories at her store, Lighthouse Landing, located in Fenwick Island.

Municipal hall resembled law school in Fenwick Island Thursday morning, Aug. 11, as the town council listened to town attorney Tempe Steen untangle the town’s law books.