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Three bid farewell from Fenwick council
By M. Patricia Titus
Staff Reporter
Fenwick Islanders bid farewell to their three outgoing council members with a bang, at the Friday, July 28, town council meeting.
Kicking off his final report as mayor, Peter Frederick noted with wry humor some (apparently fictitious) plans to co-author a book on their mutual accomplishments with outgoing Council Member Vicki Carmean, with whom he has often butted heads. But he spent most of his time noting the accomplishments of the third outgoing council member, Harry Haon, who concluded 15 years of service to the town. During that time, he served with 22 different council members.
Frederick said he was disappointed that his efforts to work on plans for a new town hall had fallen through, mostly because there would be no wall upon which to list Haon’s accomplishments during that 15-year tenure. (“Why didn’t you tell me? Haon asked with a note of humor, as he had opposed the notion of a new town hall.)
Frederick noted in Haon’s service resume the town park, events held therein and the honorary brick project that it contains. There was water, sewer and parking, as well as extensive work on the town’s ordinances.
“It would be a challenge to find anything he hadn’t played a role in,” Frederick said of Haon.
For his part, Haon thanked all involved for “an enjoyable experience.” He praised the five candidates who had put themselves forward to serve on the council. And he praised town employees as a “superb, professional group of employees,” encouraging future council members to remember that. Finally, he praised citizens’ involvement in the town, through committees, town meetings and expressing their individual points of view.
“Even when we disagreed, that is what democracy is all about. We can only make the right decisions if that happens,” Haon concluded.
Carmean offered her own thank-yous, saying the term in office had been a “wonderful way to serve the community and to get to know the people who live here.”
Members of the public — while acknowledging some problems, disagreements and conflicts — were open in praising the time and effort put in by all three outgoing council members.
Frederick also recommended the post-election lecture from Town Solicitor Tempe Steen on the function of municipal government, not only to the successful candidates but to the public at large, noting the two-hour lecture as particularly informative. That is set for Aug. 18, at 10 a.m., in conjunction with the council’s reorganizational meeting.
A meeting with the Town Manager Search Committee, to brief the new council members on that body’s report to the council, is tentatively set to also take place that day. Committee facilitator Buzz Henefin noted that the interview committee for the search may need to change in makeup, as three of its members could potentially be on the council at that time, since some of them are also candidates for council.
Budget passed with tax hike
The outgoing council members left with important business completed, passing 6-1 a $1.614 million budget that included a 10 percent property tax increase (up from $1.60 per $100 of assessed value) as a measure to partially offset a recurring-revenue-short financial situation in the town.
The tax increase was expected to net $50,000 in additional revenue, compared to the $147,885 in realty transfer tax revenues the town will pull from its reserves this year to help cover the deficit between revenue and expenditures.
Council and budget committee members also did some minor slicing to the expense side of the budget during talks this spring and summer, but Carmean said the cuts weren’t enough for her. She cited some $60,000 in additional cuts that she thought could be made, ranging from reducing the number of 13 Nextel phones that were being purchased to outfit all town departments to cutting employee health benefits and lengthening the replacement schedule of lifeguard uniforms beyond annually.
Carmean said she was not reassured by statements that the budget was just a “road map” and might not actually include spending during the year of all funds allocated. She said her experience was that the amounts were generally spent. However, the town did have $90,000 remaining unspent from the 2005-2006 budget, which was returned to the coffers for this year’s edition.
Several members of the public, though, agreed with Carmean that belts hadn’t been tightened enough in the proposed budget.
But Finance Commissioner Audrey Serio said she didn’t think the budget could get any leaner and still provide citizens with the same level of service. Those issues had been examined, she said, and deemed to be important enough to continue at current or requested levels.
Carmean, assured that her recommendations and objections were part of the record, voted against the passage of the budget. All other council members voted in favor of it.
Council members did unanimously approve a new schedule of fees that reflects the change to the tax rate, as well as increased garbage fees (remaining at the cost of service to the town, per user). They also moved forward with an effort to allocate funds in the town reserves, as recommended by the town auditor. Those funds would require council approval for their actual expenditure in the areas “tagged.”
Municipal recycling still an option
The council on July 28 tabled the issue of joining the Delaware Solid Waste Authority as a municipal, town-wide recycler, with many of the council members saying the town’s special circumstances as a resort town meant it might not be able to use the service efficiently.
But Council Member Chris Clark, known for his passion for environmental causes, was moved to dismay at the stance. He said the town had been looking for years for an easier way to get people to recycle and thus benefit their coastal environment; yet here it was handed to them “on a silver platter” and they were reluctant to accept it.
Clark said he’d discussed the town’s special needs with DSWA officials and had been assured a modified schedule to accommodate a summer rental season could be created, as well as of other touches such as covered recycling bins to keep out seagulls when renters left recyclables out for the days between their check-out and DSWA pickup.
Hearing that, council members agreed to let Clark spearhead the research and recycling effort, with future consideration of the municipal recycling idea remaining on the table.
Council members also agreed to table discussion of a town comprehensive plan, with Clark noting that the project was best begun with the new council members in place. He reported that he and Haon had met with the University of Delaware’s Institute of Public Administration and planner David Nutter in recent days, and said he was expecting both to be able to provide the town with bids and proposals to assist the town through the planning process.
Also at the July 28 council meeting:
• Council members sent on to the town’s Park and Recreation Committee a request to have memorial inscriptions placed on one of the new dune-top benches. Family members of a recently deceased citizen had requested the memorial, saying the bricks in the town park were less representative of her love of the beach than the dune benches. Haon noted that there are only 12 of the benches, though, making the project significantly different from that involving the bricks.
• The council unanimously approved $500 to be granted to members of the Fenwick Island Beach Patrol who qualified for national lifeguard championship competition in California. The squad is endeavoring to raise the estimated $5,000 for the trip with a variety of fund-raisers and donations from the public and business community. Two male and four female guards will make the trip. The squad beat last year’s national champs, Rehoboth Beach, in a July 27 competition, winning the 4-by-200 relay and winning second place in two other events.
FIBP Capt. Tim Ferry was full of praise for this year’s entire roster of lifeguards, noting their hard work and responsiveness to increasing numbers of beachgoers.
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