VOL. 12 NO. 47
THURSDAY, JUNE 19, 2008
NEWS HEADLINES JULY 4TH IS COMING - And members of the Laurel Chamber of Commerce are getting ready. See page 4 for information about events. It’s not too late to sign up to participate!
Back from Iraq Laurel Police officer Pfc. Adam
SURVIVING SEVERAL CLOSE CALLS - Area veteran got the chance to feel that he made a difference. Page 8 HELPING OUT WITH COLLEGE EXPENSES Soroptimist International of Seaford hands out more than $35,000 in scholarships and awards at its annual banquet at the Seaford Golf and Country Club. Page 12
50 cents
Coleman
recently
returned from a tour in the Middle East with the 153rd Military Police Company of the Delaware National Guard, based in Delaware City. During a recent meeting of the Laurel Town Council, Coleman (left)
A BETTER BEAN - A UD Cooperative Extension associate for vegetable crops is seeking to develop new varieties of lima bean that are flavorful, produce consistently high yields and are resistant to disease. Page 31
presented Laurel Mayor John
TALK OF REGIONAL SEWER - A large, regional county-operated wastewater system with a county sewer line running down U.S. 13 does not appear likely. But that doesn’t mean the county’s Western Sussex Regional Wastewater Study, which started nearly two years ago, is dead and gone. Page 40
U.S. military outpost in Iraq.
FATAL ACCIDENT - A Sussex County paramedic and a patient are killed when the ambulance in which they are riding crashes. Police say that the ambulance driver swerved to avoid hitting a deer. Page 48 LEGION BASEBALL- The Post 6 Patriots defeated the Milford Red Sox in their home opener last week in American Legion baseball. Page 41 LITTLE LEAGUE - The Little League regular season is winding down. See Laurel Little League photos and results starting on page 41.
INSIDE THE STAR BUSINESS BULLETIN BOARD CHURCH CLASSIFIEDS EDUCATION ENTERTAINMENT FINAL WORD FRANK CALIO GOURMET HEALTH LETTERS MIKE BARTON MIKE MCCLURE MOVIES OBITUARIES
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17 22 32 10 28 55 54 11 37 50 53 45 7 24
ON THE RECORD PAT MURPHY PEOPLE POLICE JOURNAL PUZZLES SNAPSHOTS SOCIALS SPORTS TIDES TODD CROFFORD VETERANS OF WWII
30 21 16 48 30 52 53 41 7 51 8
Shwed with a United States flag and a state of Delaware flag, both of which were flown over a Photo by Tony Windsor
Drillers say private wells OK, council unconvinced By Tony E. Windsor Once again, the issue of private irrigation wells took center stage at Laurel’s Town Council meeting this week. Professional well drillers and a geothermal well system designer came to the meeting to attempt to convince the council that allowing private irrigation wells is both safe and beneficial to the overall conservation of Laurel’s public water supply. In recent weeks, requests by town residents and businesses to install private wells for the sole purpose of watering lawns and plants has met with opposition by the town’s administration. Town manager Bill Fasano and public works supervisor Woody Vickers have expressed concerns about the potential strain on the town’s water supply and risk of contamination if there was an incareased number of private wells. Former Councilman Frank Calio, who has recently requested a private water well to be drilled at his Lansing Avenue home, has criticized Fasano publicly for not supporting the right of
residents to have private wells at their own expense. Calio has attended council meetings and brought with him professional well drillers to try to convince council members that Fasano’s concerns are unwarranted. He said he feels citizens who are willing to pay for private wells should have the right to do so without the government mandating the opposite. He also stated that research he had been involved in with local well drillers and a state hydrologist show that private wells present no danger to the town’s water system, contrary to what the town manager has stated. During the Monday, June 2, council meeting, Calio presented local professional well driller, Ron Koslorowski, of Atlantic Coastal Well Drilling, Delmar, who supported his position regarding private wells. Koslorowski said he has personally been involved with a number of water well projects in the greater Laurel area and feels comfortable that private wells in no way create a risk to Laurel’s system. At the recent June 16 meeting,
Koslorowski came back before the council and reiterated his professional opinion that private water wells will not pose a threat to the town’s public water system. He said there are several private water wells within the town and there have never been any incidents of contamination to the Laurel water supply. “There is a well located just behind the town’s water tower that goes 93 feet down and runs out of the same aquifer as the town’s,” he said. “We only want to drill wells that go 30 to 40 feet down and this would present no problems to the town’s water system.” Also present at Monday’s meeting was Mike Kelly of Atlantic Coastal Well Drilling who said he has been involved in the drilling of several private wells in and around Laurel and has also helped drill wells for the town itself. Like Koslorowski, Kelly said that there are already private wells in and around Laurel that pump from the same aquifer as the town does. He said Continued on page four