Millville News

Bethany Beach remains closed (Fri., Sept. 3, 2010) to all beach related activities (swimming, fishing, etc.) until conditions improve.

Ocean View and Millville officials this week confirmed that discussion of the possibility of joint policing of the towns has continued this summer, despite the cancelation of one planned meeting and a lack of externally visible movement on the issue.

Southern Sussex Rotary heard from invited guest U.S. Sen. Thomas Carper on Thursday, Aug. 27, regarding health care and recent insurance reforms. Carper explained that the idea of larger purchasing pools that the Bethany-Fenwick Chamber of Commerce put it motion a few years back was something he had talked up and “didn’t forget about.”

Children who have enjoyed the weekly lessons on marine life, wetlands and other fun outdoor activities at the Bethany Beach Nature Center – and those that have yet to see what the fuss is about – are being invited on a special free guided kayak tour through the inland bays on Saturday, Sept. 11.

The Town of Millville held its monthly town council meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 24, at which representatives from the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) presented the preliminary plans for the first phase of the town’s streetscape project.

Some area businesspeople got to sit down and pick the brain of U.S. Sen. Tom Carper on Friday, Aug. 21. Mike Nally of Miken Builders, along with some of his staff, and Mike Jahnigan of the Sun Group of Businesses, with some of his staff, each met with the senator to talk shop.

To many who visit the area, Millville is that little town on Route 26 that has some grocery stores, several banks and an enormous liquor store. It appears to be based solely on the retail of Route 26, just like many people from other areas consider Selbyville and Dagsboro to be towns that exist only along Route 113.

Combine years of pizza-making and management experience with a Pennsylvania tradition four decades in the making, and you’ve got Fox’s Pizza Den, a new establishment in Millville that is quickly picking up a following. Throw in a 10-mile delivery radius and extended hours of operation, and you have a recipe for instant appeal.

The Friends of the South Coastal Library will host its largest book sale ever on Thursday, Aug. 19, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; on Friday, Aug. 20, from 1 to 5 p.m., and on Saturday, Aug. 21, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The sale will be held in the meeting room of the library, at 43 Kent Avenue in Bethany Beach.

A party to celebrate the cross-country fundraising bike ride of Jack Hogan will be held on Saturday, Aug. 21, from 1 to 6 p.m. The event will be held at 47 Dukes Drive, in Millville, off Route 26, just west of the Fat Tuna. A $20 donation gets participants food, drinks, music and lots of stories. All profits go to Justin’s Beach House.

For close to a decade, McCarthy Stones has been one of the area’s leaders in exterior home improvements and landscaping, but recently they’ve expanded their services to cater to even more clients. Customers can now turn to the McCarthys for equipment rentals, as well as tent and tent accessory rentals for any occasion.

The Delaware State Police are asking for the assistance of the public in identifying suspects in a series of thefts from vehicles in the Millville and Selbyville areas this week. Police said the thefts occurred overnight from Saturday, July 31, to Sunday, Aug. 1, and impacted eight different victims.

Summertime is in full swing, and many have been heading to the shore for a relaxing getaway and time with family and friends. But the increased number of vacationers inevitably leads to higher volume of traffic on the roadways.

Bringing to a close discussions dating back to February, Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) Secretary Collin O’Mara recently announced that the agency has finalized a consent agreement with NRG Energy Inc. that will permanently shut down a third coal-fired electrical generating unit at the Indian River Power Plant in Millsboro by the end of 2013.

Whether doing cannonballs off the boat, taking off from the dock on a personal watercraft or swimming in the open bays, it’s nice to know how clean that water really is. And the Center for the Inland Bays’ second Recreational Water Quality Indicator Report can help in navigating the use of some of the local inland bays.

Several communities along White’s Neck Road not included in the original Millville Sanitary Sewer District, including West Ocean Farms, White’s Neck Village and Bowerset could soon see county sewer. Sussex County Engineer Mike Izzo presented to county council on Tuesday, July 20, a proposal to bring service to the remaining areas because they have come in under budget for the project.

It was that time again this week: time for Ecumenical Vacation Bible School. In the Bethany Beach area, ecumenical means several churches working together for this annual vacation tradition, and the time in the middle of summer that some kids look forward to all year long, where they will once again meet new friends, meet new teachers and, for some, be introduced to Jesus Christ for the first time.

At the old Millville post office, a new Italian restaurant has caused a flurry of attention from locals and visitors alike. Perucci’s is a little bistro owned by Lynn and Jim Rickards, the former owners of Bethany Beach Diner.

It was a “happy occasion” on Thursday, July 1, as Millville Mayor Don Minyon and Deputy Mayor Gerry Hocker broke ground on the latest phase of Millville By the Sea, along with officials from the large scale development’s new builder, Virginia-based Christopher Companies.

The towns of Ocean View and Millville joined forces this week in a workshop to discuss public safety. Ocean View Town Councilman Bob Lawless opened up the discussion by saying that there is a “natural relationship there,” between the two towns. He explained that Ocean View doesn’t want to make a profit on public safety service but, rather, wants to cover their costs, with the end result being a “win-win” for both towns.

Those interested in listening in on public safety discussions between the towns of Ocean View and Millville will get their chance on Tuesday, July 6, at 6 p.m., when representatives from the Millville and Ocean View town councils will meet in a joint workshop to discuss “the providing of public safety services to the Town of Millville from the Town of Ocean View.”

On Monday, June 28, the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) held an informational public workshop on the Route 26 Detour Routes Project. DelDOT officials were on hand to answer questions and to explain the process of both the detour project and subsequent mainline project.

On Saturday, July 3, from 8 a.m. to noon, the Town of Millville will hold its first community-wide yard sale and merchant sidewalk sale.

The Millville Town Council met on Wednesday, June 16, and held a public hearing and vote on the possible rezoning of four applicants’ properties from C-1, commercial, to C-2, large-scale commercial, zoning.

The long-awaited Route 26 Mainline improvements project can’t happen without some preliminary work first being done on the back roads that will be the detour routes while the larger project is under way. And while right-of-way acquisition for the Mainline project has started and will continue until the spring of 2012, the Route 26 Detour Routes Project is set to start this summer.