The Agenda

• The Bethany Beach Town Council rescheduled its special meeting/workshop originally scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 4, for Thursday, Oct. 11. The agenda for the meeting included: (1) discussion and a possible vote on a proposal from the Planning Commission that would identify in greater detail the Planning Commission’s duties, areas of responsibilities and membership, establish membership as five voting members plus the building inspector and a council member as additional ex-officio non-voting members, change the term of members from two to three years, and incorporates parts of Delaware law related to planning commissions into the Town Code for ease of access; (2) discussion and possible vote on future workshop topics; and (3) discussion and possible vote on parking permits related to the council.

• The Bethany Beach Commercial Design Review Committee will meet on Friday, Oct. 12, at 2 p.m. at the town hall. The purpose of the meeting is to review, discuss and vote on an application and plans submitted by Connor Mall LLC for property located at 765 Garfield Parkway, Lot 3, Block 30, C-2 Zoning District.

• The Bethany Beach Cultural and Historical Affair Committee will meet on Tuesday, Oct. 16, at 1 p.m. at the town hall. The agenda for the meeting includes discussion of: the cultural events calendar and volunteers for refreshments; awareness of and the docent program for the town museum; oral history project plans; additional historical markers; and the town hall lobby wall.

The Bethany Beach Town Council will hold its regular monthly meeting on Friday, Oct. 19, at 7:30 p.m. at the town hall. The agenda for the meeting includes: (1) committee appointments; (2) a first reading of an ordinance amendment regarding the planning commission, which identifies in greater detail the Planning Commission’s duties, areas of responsibilities and membership, establishes membership as five voting members plus the building inspector and a council member as additional ex-officio, non-voting members, changes the term of members from two to three years, and incorporates parts of Delaware state law related to planning commissions into the town code; (3) consideration of a contract submitted by Delaware Solid Waste Authority for town-wide voluntary curbsite recycling; (4) discussion and possible vote on town’s position regarding the establishment of a “dog park”; (5) discussion and possible vote on scheduling a public hearing in November to discuss possible legislation prohibiting smoking in the ocean, on the beach, boardwalk and town parks; (6) discussion and possible vote to town ordinances regarding the times bicycles are allowed on the boardwalk; (7) a discussion of and informational presentation on the town’s lightning warning system.

• The Bethany Beach Town Council recently named the following committee chairpersons: Design Review for C-1 and C-2, Tony McClenny; Audit Committee, Don Doyle; Board of Assessment, Donald Carmichael; Budget and Finance, Jerry Dorfman; Charter and Ordinance Review, Chuck Peterson; Communications, Tracy Mulligan; Flood Mitigation and Drainage, Harry Steele; Cultural and Historic Affairs, Carol Olmstead; Intergovernmental Relations, Bob Parsons; Traffic and Parking, Jean Wode; Zoning, Robert Graham. Anyone interested in serving on these committees is being asked to contact the Town Manager’s Office at (302) 537-3771 or e-mail admin@townofbethanybeach.com.

• Bethany Beach’s parking meter operations, parking permit requirements, lifeguard coverage, mosquito control spraying and prohibitions on dogs on the beach have all ceased until the summer of 2008.

• The Army Corps of Engineers has begun beach replenishment in the Town of Bethany Beach. During this replenishment, sand will be loaded on a barge offshore, brought closer to shore and piped to a beachfront location. The sand will then be piped to a discharge location and moved by bulldozer to construct the new dune and beach. The pipe discharge location will be moved to accommodate construction.

Beach access for equipment and materials for the entire project will be at the Cedarwood Street beach cross-over. Cedarwood Street beach access will remain closed throughout the entire project. Initial beach and dune construction has been completed through Central Boulevard and will proceed north to Fifth Street. After construction is complete on the north sections of beach, the project will shift to the southern sections of Bethany Beach, south of Hollywood Street.

All pumping activities will continue on a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-per-week schedule. During pumping activity, the beach will be closed in sections, depending on the location of the discharge pipe. Although the contractor will attempt to minimize the impact to residents, considerable noise is expected during the project. It is anticipated the project in Bethany Beach will not be completed until late winter or early spring, depending on weather issues during the construction.

South Bethany

• The South Bethany Town Council will hold its regular monthly meeting on Friday, Oct. 12, at 7 p.m. at Ocean View Town Hall. The agenda for the meeting includes committee and leadership reports, as well as property owners’ participation.

• Construction of the new South Bethany town hall is approaching its final stages. Town offices will remain open but have relocated to the former South Bethany police station building. Due to safety reasons, areas of construction at the site will be off limits to the general public. Also, parking will be very limited during construction. Due to the construction of the town hall building, the Oct. 12 town council regular meeting will be held at Ocean View Town Hall. Council workshops will be held in the conference room of the South Bethany Police Department through the end of the month, with the location of future meetings to be determined as construction progress continues.

• The Bethany Beach/South Bethany beach replenishment project began this week, with work in Bethany Beach. The project is moving from Hollywood Street to the north, then will move to Bethany’s south end before relocating to South Bethany. No exact timetable for the beginning of work in South Bethany has been released. South Bethany is providing copies of plans for reconstruction of the public beach on its Web site, at www.southbethany.org.

• Parking permits requirements in South Bethany have ceased until the summer of 2008. Lifeguards stopped patrolling the beach on Labor Day. Dogs are not allowed on South Bethany’s beach through Oct. 15.

• South Bethany officials are asking residents to report algal blooms via the DNREC Web page at www.dnrec.state.de.us/macroalgae.

• Any citizen of South Bethany who would like to receive the Zephyr newsletter via e-mail instead of through the U.S. Postal service is being asked to complete and submit the Homeowner Contact Information Sheet online at:www.southbethany.org, on the Homeowner Contact Information Sheet/Email Registration page.

• The South Bethany Town Council is organizing a historical exhibit related to the town. Anyone who has photos, artifacts or memorabilia they would like to donate or lend to the exhibit is asked to contact town hall.

Millville

• On Oct. 18, there is an annexation committee meeting tentatively scheduled at Millville Town Hall at 10 a.m.

• On Oct. 23, the Millville Town Council has scheduled a workshop at town hall at 7 p.m.

• The new Millville town Web site is now up and running, at http://millvillede.us/.

Ocean View

The Town of Ocean View will hold a meeting at 8:30 a.m. on Monday, Oct.15, in the town hall to discuss possible revisions to the town’s election procedures as a result of the newly adopted HB 410, “An Act to Amend Title 15 of the Delaware Code Dealing with Municipal Elections.”

Fenwick Island

• On Aug. 24, the Town of Fenwick Island Town Council unanimously approved an agreement with Delaware Solid Waste Authority (DSWA) to offer all town residents curbside recycling. This program is being offered to town residents at no additional cost. The program was set to commence with the first pick-up on Friday, Oct. 5. Throughout the months of October to April, residential curbside recycling pick-up will be bi-weekly, on Fridays. During the months of May to September, the pick-up will be weekly, on Fridays.

Residents who sign up for the program will receive a 65-gallon cart on wheels for plastic narrow neck bottles, plastic grocery bags, aluminum, steel and empty aerosol cans, newspapers, junk mail and corrugated cardboard. These containers will be delivered about the third week of September. Property owners and residents can sign up at any time. There is no deadline. For more information on this program or any other DSWA program, call the Citizen’s Response Line at 1-800-404-7080.

Registration forms are available by download on the town Web site at www.fenwickisland.org or in town hall. The Fenwick Island Lions Club is continuing to recycling aluminum drink cans, which can still be dropped off in the bin behind town hall.

• The New Friends of the Fenwick Island Lighthouse is currently meeting for reorganization and future planning. Donations to the group are being accepted at P.O. Box 1001, Selbyville, DE 19975.

Sussex County

• The Sussex County Board of Adjustments will meet on Monday, Oct. 15, at 6:30 p.m., in council chambers off The Circle in Georgetown. The agenda for the meeting includes, among other business, two special-use exemption requests from Gerald Hocker for billboards to be located northeast of Road 17, south of Route 26, with requests for variances for additional signs on the billboards and variances from the maximum height requirement for a sign; as well as a request for a variance from the Dagsboro American Legion for property north of Route 26 and west of U.S. Route 113, regarding minimum parking space and paving requirements.

• The Sussex County Council will meet on Tuesday, Oct. 16, at 10 a.m., in council chambers off The Circle in Georgetown. No agenda for the meeting was available prior to Coastal Point press time.

• The Sussex County Planning and Zoning Commission will meet on Wednesday, Oct. 17, at 3 p.m. in county council chambers off The Circle in Georgetown.

The agenda for the meeting includes continued consideration of: (1) a conditional-use application from Michael Orndorff for 4.1 acres of land in the GR General Residential District, northeast of Road 358 (Sandy Cove Road) and northwest of Road 357 (Cedar Neck Road), as a multi-family dwelling structure (16 units); (2) the conditional-use application from Bridget M. Nicholson for 23,899 square feet of land in the AR-1 Agricultural Residential District, at the southwest corner of Road 370 and Road 384 at Bayard, for new and used furniture sales, a thrift shop and an office; (3) the subdivision application of Mandrin Homes to divide 27.34 acres of land in the AR-1 Agricultural Residential District (Environmentally Sensitive Development District Overlay Zone), west of Road 381, north of Route 54 and south of Dirickson Creek, into 56 lots; (4) the application of Bethany Woods LLC to consider the subdivision of land in a MR Medium Density Residential District in Baltimore Hundred, Sussex County, by dividing 12.20 acres into 19 lots in the Environmentally Sensitive Developing District Overlay Zone, located south of Road 360 and west of Route 1.

Other business before the commission includes consideration: of the conditional use for substantial construction at Seasons at Bethany; of time extensions for Subdivision 2005-64, Palisades Land LLC; Subdivision 2005-67, Summer Hill Developments; and Subdivision 2005-76, James H. and Dorothy M. Bailey; and of two parcels and a 50-foot right-of-way for Jerry Shockley on Road 375.

• The Bethany-Fenwick Area Chamber of Commerce is planning a meeting to discuss the Route 26 Sewer Project. The meeting will take place on Wednesday, Oct. 31, at 10 a.m. at the Millville Town Hall. Representatives and engineers from the project will be present to discuss the timeline and scope of the upcoming project. There is no cost to attend the meeting, and the Chamber is encouraging all Millville business owners to attend and to inform their neighboring businesses. RSVP to Helen at helen@bethany-fenwick.org or (302) 539-2100, ext. 16, no later than Monday, Oct. 29.

State of Delaware

Delaware gubernatorial candidates for 2008 Lt. Gov. John Carney and state Treasurer Jack Markell will appear at two events hosted by the Southeastern Sussex Democratic Club at Bethany Beach fire hall on Oct. 18 and 16, respectively. The events will start at 6:30 p.m., with refreshments, and proceed to question-and-answer segments with the audience at 7 p.m.