Ocean View News

Existing standards for public roads in Sussex County are admittedly less stringent than those imposed by the State of Delaware, but that could cease to be the case under a directive passed by the Sussex County Council at their Tuesday, Jan. 8, meeting.

The Sussex County Council on Jan. 8 granted unanimous approval of a conditional use for PMP Associates, which plans to bring a facility for healthcare and medical offices to a location near the intersection of Routes 54 and 20.

Ocean View is entering the home stretch with its central water system, as town officials moved Monday to formally establish rates that will be charged to water customers for operation of the new system and repayment of the town’s debt service for its construction, with a first reading of the associated ordinance.

This Monday, the Ocean View Board of Elections met to discuss ways to potentially smooth out concerns with voter registration, eligibility and district clarification. Among the items discussed were pending ordinances that will eliminate the troubles the town faced in the elections in April of this year.

After controversy over the descriptions of town council seat districts plagued Ocean View’s 2007 elections, the town is now one step closer to finally resolving issues surrounding the discrepancy between those verbal descriptions and the official district map.

The Ocean View Historical Society may only have met twice, but Town Councilman Richard Nippes, who heads the group, is eager to maintain the momentum they have already started to build as they seek to preserve and display the town’s history.

Ocean View citizens can expect estimated rates for the town-wide water project to appear within a month or so. The Ocean View Water Progress Construction Committee met Thursday, Dec. 6, to discuss the current condition of the construction.

“Everything’s basically finishing up in the first or second week of January,” said engineer Chuck Hauser of Davis, Bowen and Friedel.

After weeks of growing tension between the neighboring municipalities and an unresolved mystery over which Ocean View official might have given Millville a $220-per-hour cost quote on contracting Ocean View police to patrol in Millville, Ocean View council members at their Nov. 20 council workshop tried to put the entire situation behind them and move forward in a spirit of cooperation.

It’s been a hectic transition for South Coastal Library Director Sue Keefe and her employees to convert all of their materials from life in 10,000 square feet to only 3,000 square feet, but they’ve done it.

Ocean View police are warning area residents to beware of a mail scam that mirrors increasingly common Internet scams involving purported international lotteries and fake checks.

With a series of major capital projects behind them and transfer tax revenues continue to loom, members of Ocean View’s Long Range Financial Planning Committee met Tuesday, Nov. 13, to consider how to tackle a fiscally challenging future in the town.

After the South Coastal Library expansion project was briefly put on the back burner due to faltering bid procedure last month, Sussex County Engineer Mike Izzo was pleased to report on the favorable update of the process. He addressed the issue Tuesday, Nov. 13, at the Sussex County Council meeting on an update to the library project.

Low-income residents of Ocean View who may have been wondering how they were going to pay potentially thousands of dollars in hook-up costs for mandatory connections to the town’s new central water system may have gotten their answer at a Nov. 6 meeting of the town council.

Ocean View is nearing adopting of a revised version of the town’s voting district map and the related verbal descriptions. The two were found to conflict during this year’s council election process, leading to controversy over which candidates should have been running for a seat representing District 2.

Ocean View officials gave approval to two projects at meetings of the town’s Board of Adjustments and Planning and Zoning Commission on Thursday, Oct. 18.

Business owners Tommie Adams and Barry Kehler have worked to establish La Mirage Inc. in the area for two decades. Now in the same building with the Ocean View tanning salon I’d Rather Be Tanning, Adams and Kehler are bringing their hair styling studio and backroom boutique to another level.

A snafu with town council districts in the 2007 elections led Ocean View officials to take a deeper look into the town’s election laws recently. And while the problem that led to the controversy over districts has yet to be fully resolved, the town’s Board of Elections had its hands full with other anticipated changes to election regulations at an Oct.

The Ocean View Police Department honored a fallen officer, Auxiliary Patrolman Wallace Melson, who died in the line of duty in 1971, with the ceremonial opening of the new police department named in his honor.

The Ocean View Public Water System Project is moving ahead steadily, and area residents, employees and visitors will soon be noticing that progress as construction makes its way across some major roadways. The project, now 234 days into the one-year contract, will literally be moving across the town’s main roads within the next few months.

The Beach Cottage, on Route 26 in Ocean View, will be once again holding its annual outdoor art show, this Saturday, Sept.15, from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m., with a rain date on Sunday with the same hours.

The town of Ocean View is gearing up for its Public Safety Building Open House on Sept. 19, complete with recognition and acknowledgements from special guests state Rep. Gerald Hocker, Sussex County Councilman George Cole and state Sen. George Howard Bunting. Gov. Ruth Ann Minner and State Attorney General Joseph “Beau” Biden will also be in attendance to share words during the ceremony.

After some recent conflict between council members, it would appear that the Ocean View Town Council is making a quick turn-around to mend their ways and some fences. At the start of last Wednesday’s council meeting, Councilman Bill Wichmann opened with a statement to his peers.

According to engineer Chuck Hauser, with Davis, Bowen and Friedel, contract status on the town’s central water project has just passed the midway point, as the project reached 198 days of progress last Wednesday, Aug. 1.

“Essentially, we’re at a holding pattern on most areas when we get back on Central and [Route] 26. Right now, crews are still working in Ocean Mist.”

On Tuesday, July 31, Ocean View Town Council members responded to problems with council infighting that last month resulted in the arrest of a former councilman’s wife. The council made amendments to the rules of procedure of the town, defining order of business and conduct within town meetings, including members of council and persons addressing council.

For Pennsylvania native Bill Welham, running Ocean View Seafood has become more than an occupation. Since his move to the area roughly two decades ago, it has become more or less his life, and why not? He spent much of his early life on the open ocean, and even ran his own restaurant back home.