Ocean View News

As time ticked down this week to Saturday’s election, candidates Roxana “Roxie” Davis, Gordon Wood and Richard Nippes prepared for their chance to take a seat as a member of the Ocean View Council, filling the District 1 seat vacated by six-year councilman Eric Magill.

They will vie for the spot the Saturday, April 14, in the town’s annual election.

Construction continued this week in Ocean View as the town moved closer to getting a central water system. With crews rounding up construction in Country Estates and Country Village, sights are set on Route 26 — though the primary concern inhibiting construction along the major roadway is the same one that prevented the project from getting started in the past: easements.

The first annual Lord Baltimore Fun Festival is set to kick off May 19, with hopes to mimic the excitement and exhilaration that the old Coastal Music & Arts Festival had brought to the area years ago.

With vendors, arts and crafts, games, food booths, music, pony rides, a moon bounce and train ride, the Fun Festival is a promising event for children and families.

Warm summer days at the beach and icy confections go together like peanut butter and jelly, or bikinis and sunscreen. But the days of Bethany Beach residents and vacationers running off the beach or out of their homes at the sound of a ringing bell to get a snowball have become a distant memory. That’s something Melvin McMahon would like to change.

Bethany Beach Town Council members have been eager to champion the creation of a farmers’ market in the town, as proposed last month by Delaware Department of Agriculture officials. But at their council workshop on Monday, Feb. 12, the council members made it clear that the ball is in the court of those who will organize the market and are seeking a location on private property.

Cold weather moving in may discourage some of the construction on the new Ocean View Police Department, but work thus far has been spot on. In fact, the completion date of the new building, originally set for the second week of June, now sits at May 18, according to Willow Construction’s project manager, Rebecca Howe.

The fate of a long-anticipated project to widen Route 26 from the Assawoman Canal to unincorporated Clarksville now parallels that of a package of fee and tax increases introduced by Gov. Ruth Ann Minner in her 2008-fiscal-year budget proposal last month, state officials have said recently.

Alice Hajjar has been commuting to the Eastern Shore beaches for many years now. Formerly a human resources consultant, her passion for dancing is becoming more of a true calling with each passing day. Though a Frederick, Md., resident, she has now found time to introduce her love of ballroom dancing to the Delmarva area, most recently in Ocean View.

Some residents in Ocean View’s Country Village may have received an unwelcome wake-up call on recent mornings as construction began this past week on the new central, public water system to replace the individual wells that currently service the town.

Weeks of dedicated hours and an impressive accumulation of lights and decorations are displayed at the Golis family’s Ocean View residence every holiday season. But this year, for the first time in their 20-year tradition, the twinkling exhibition became the target of some decidedly discourteous mischief.

The Town of Ocean View is hoping to spread the holiday spirit this weekend by holding the 23rd annual Carols in the Park Christmas Celebration on Friday, Dec. 8, in John West Memorial Park.

The completion of Ocean View’s new police building at 201 Central Avenue may still be seven months away, but locals won’t have to wait much longer before noticing a change in the building’s appearance.

The Ocean View Board of Adjustments met on Thursday, Nov. 16, for several public hearings. In board action that night:

• Jackie Katz of Beached Blonde Designs was granted variance from §222-94-B(3) of the Town Code to place a wall sign in excess of the signage height restrictions at the south end of her shop at 13 Atlantic Avenue.

This Thanksgiving weekend will mark the 12th annual Southeastern Delaware Artists Studio Tour (SEDAST), when 15 of the top artists and crafters in the state open their studios to the public.

Village of Bear Trap Dunes’ home owners are looking beyond this holiday week toward the coming holiday season, and are again decorating their houses with lights, Christmas trees and décor, as part of plans to host the fourth Bear Trap-sponsored Holiday Home Tour.

After a one-year layoff following a successful event in 2004, seven homes are participating in this year’s Dec. 2 tour.

A regular customer of Ocean View’s Beach Cottage visited the furniture store/art gallery recently — not to purchase anything, but to show her new puppy to the store’s owner, Karen Pomije.

Local and statewide residents can now save money on generic drug costs. Almost mirroring a Wal-Mart plan launched in Tampa, Fla. almost two months ago, Giant is using its Super Giant Delaware stores as a test for a $3.99 generic drug plan.

In a heavily debated decision that could lead to increased taxes for Ocean View property owners, the Town Council made a 3-2 vote on several money-saving proposals at Tuesday night’s council meeting.

On Thursday, Nov. 2, Lewes Projects Coordinator/Grants Administrator Nelson Wiles shared some helpful advice as he presented Ocean View Town Council with an Emergency Operations Plan (EOP). The plan was officially considered for the Town of Ocean View by the Town Council on Tuesday, Nov. 7 at the Town Council Meeting.

At the Ocean View Town Council work session on Tuesday, Oct.17, the town council members discussed a proposal for electrical repairs on Atlantic Avenue, Route 26.

The repairs would ensure the town’s holiday lights will be up and functioning on the town’s main thoroughfare this winter. The council decided to go through with the repairs after checking the town budget.

At the Sept. 19 Ocean View Town Council meeting, Council Member Roy Thomas introduced concept ideas to establish a Long-term Capital Reserve Fund and an Emergency Fund specifically for the town.

After nearly five years as Ocean View’s Town Manager/Financial Director, Kathy Roth accepted a job with Sussex County and will vacate her town position the first week in October.

Staff Report

A 27-year-old Ocean View man who was visiting a friend in Wilmington was beaten and robbed there early Tuesday morning while he slept, according to New Castle County Police. Police officials have yet to release his name.

When Ocean View Town Council voted on Tuesday to set up a grant fund for emergency service organizations serving the town, Millville Fire Company finally received some help with its funding woes.

Maybe. Probably.

Actually, Fire Chief Graig Temple didn’t seem sure at all on Tuesday that the grant fund would actually help his company.

After more than a year away from their Ocean View location, Lord Baltimore Elementary School faculty and staff poured back into the now air-conditioned and bathroom- and elevator-laden building amid boxes and furniture not yet in place.