Progress and Discovery 2012

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Progress 2012

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Contents 14

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Seaford Sussex County

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10

Blades

11

Nanticoke Memorial

12

Laurel

14

Delmar

17

Bridgeville

19

Greenwood

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Bayhealth

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Published by Morning Star Publications Inc. P.O. Box 1000 951 Normal Eskridge Hwy. Seaford, DE 19973 (302) 629-9788 (302) 629-9243 fax editor@mspublications.com Copyright 2012

About the cover

21 4 Morning Star 2012 Progress

At top left is a front view of the Laurel Fire Company building.

(Photo by Ron MacArthur) In the center at top is a photo of a beautification project in Bridgeville (Photo by Everett W. Faircloth) At right top is the entrance to Nanticoke Memorial Hospital, in the center is the Blades marina, and at bottom is High Street in Seaford.

Seaford

City taking steps to reduce flooding problem and improve systems

By Lynn R. Parks After years in the planning, a project to alleviate flooding in Wilmar Village, the small Seaford community near Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, and in east Seaford is underway. In March, citizens approved the city’s plan to borrow $2.579 million to fund the project and in October, Georgetown-area contractor A.P. Croll, with the lowest of eight bids, won the right to do the work.

City manager Dolores Slatcher anticipates that the project will be completed by the end of the year.

Croll’s bid was for $1.882 mil-

lion, well under the amount of the state loan that the city secured for the project. Slatcher has said that if the city is able, it will use the additional money to improve storm water drainage along Porter Street.

The Porter Street project, Slatcher has said, would cost $500,000 to $600,000. If it is to be included, it will be added to the project through subsequent change orders.

The 20-year loan for the project carries a two-percent interest rate and had no closing fees. Annual payback, which will be collected through the city’s sewer bills, will be $157,090, or approximately $3.55 per month

per household.

The project’s design includes several “green” components that allowed the city to get the loan’s low interest rate. Rain gardens, landscaped areas designed to hold water and allow it to seep into the earth, will be placed along its path. Those areas will be maintained by the city. In addition, the city has obtained an easement from Our Lady of Lourdes to allow it to replace part of the church’s existing parking lot with pavers, which allow rainwater to seep into the ground.

In the same year that the city embarked on the storm water drainage improvement project, it completed Morning Star 2012 Progress 5

Concord Pets and Sherwin Williams are among the new stores to open in the shopping complex north of Lowes.

another project, started in the fall of 2009, to improve its water system.

That project was financed by a $2.7 million loan, also approved in a referendum, through the federal government’s economic stimulus package.

A little more than half of the total debt, $1.4 million, will be paid by the federal government. The combined interest rate and administrative fees on the remaining $1.3 million is 3.24 percent.

Because the winning bid for the work, $1.5 million submitted by Bunting and Murray Construction, Selbyville, came in at substantially less than the amount of the loan, the city was able to expand the project beyond its original scope. “By receiving these funds, we certainly have achieved a lot of work,” Slatcher said. All of the dead-end water pipes in the city have been eliminated. A new water loop along Stein Highway, from Sussex Avenue to Read Street, has been installed, as has a new water loop along Bridgeville Highway, from Herring Run Road to Dutton Avenue. Water loops have also been completed on School Lane, Nylon Boulevard and Cypress Street.

West Ivy Drive, East Arbutus Avenue and Rosetree Lane have new water mains, fire hydrants, valves, meter pits and paving. In Westview, along Elm, Oak and Hickory streets, 6 Morning Star 2012 Progress

the water system has new mains, valves and hydrants.

Last year also saw the finalization of an agreement between the city and the Delaware Solid Waste Authority through which the authority transports leachate from its landfill near Millsboro to Seaford’s wastewater treatment plant for treatment and disposal. Leachate is the liquid that filters down through the pile of garbage at the landfill. Along the way, it picks up contaminants from the garbage.

The leachate is kept from running into the ground at the landfill by a double layer of clay and impervious material. It is collected and stored in a tank, then trucked out for treatment and disposal.

The city is paid 1.3 cents per gallon of leachate that it treats; as of November, the city had treated 3.94 million gallons of waste and had been paid $51,240. The money will be used for improvements at the treatment plant. “This is a new revenue stream for us,” Slatcher said.

The landfill generates between 9 and 11 million gallons of leachate a year; the authority is bringing about 6.5 million gallons of that to Seaford.

The Seaford wastewater treatment plant is designed to treat 2 million gallons of wastewater a day. It is currently treating about a million gallons per day, half of its capacity. Under

the agreement, the city will treat no more than 126,000 gallons of waste per week. The waste authority carries the leachate to Seaford in tanker trucks, each of which carries about 6,000 gallons.

Under the agreement between the city and the DSWA, the city can opt out at any time if its treatment plant starts to suffer. The city also reserves the right to refuse any leachate that does not meet the terms of the agreement, and to change the maximum treatable amount. Both the city and the authority will monitor the leachate for contaminants including arsenic, lead, mercury and other heavy metals. The agreement sets limits for those contaminants.

Last year, the city replaced 155 streetlights in Westview and along Shipley and Front streets. A $50,000 federal grant paid for the purchase of energy-efficient lights. Because of that efficiency, the lights will pay for themselves within eight years, Slatcher said.

2011 saw start of construction of Stoneybrook Apartments, an eightbuilding, 192-unit complex on Tharp Road east of U.S. 13. There will be one-, two- and three-bedroom models that will rent for from $850 to $1,200. The first units are expected to be available in early summer. Total construction time is expected to be

two to three years.

Construction also got underway on a new apartment building near the city’s Ross Business Park. Better Homes of Seaford is putting up a three-story, 36,000-square foot apartment complex for low-income senior citizens. Hampton Circle, with 35 units, is being built on cityowned land. Access will be through Yorkshire Woods, a Virginia Avenue senior citizen complex also owned by Better Homes of Seaford.

Coldwell Banker Real Estate of Rehoboth has added a Seaford office to serve western Sussex County.

Their new office is located on Rt. 13 in the former Century 21 building.

Last year also saw the construction of two new homes on Locust Street, the start of Flow Smart, a new company in the Seaford Industrial Park expected eventually to employ 55 people, and complete renovation of two apartment complexes in town, Greenside Manor and Seaford Apartments. A downtown art gallery run by the Nanticoke River Arts Council held its grand opening celebration in October at its original Pine Street location. The gallery did so well that

by December, it had moved to larger quarters on High Street. “Artists just came out of the woodwork, so happy

The new Seaford Library is located north of Seaford near the Gov. Ross Mansion.

to have someplace to display their art,” arts council president Christina Darby said.

This year, the city expects to complete an engineering study of the feasibility of spraying treated wastewater on the lands of the Hooper’s Landing golf course. Treated wastewater currently is dumped into the Nanticoke

River and new federal laws, to be developed this year, are expected to reduce the amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus the city is allowed to put in the Nanticoke, which is part of the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

The study will cost $57,800. A state grant from the Community Environmental Penalty Fund, which

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holds money that has been paid to the state as a result of environmental infractions, will pay $43,360 and the city will pay the balance of $14,440. A final report to the state on the status of the project will be due in June.

The city obtained the golf course in 2010, after the 68-year-old Seaford Golf and Country Club was forced to close. The possibility of using the course’s open space as a spot to dispose of treated waste was first discussed at a public hearing on the city’s purchase of the property. At the hearing, Councilman Rhea Shannon said that if the city had to buy open land to use for spray irrigation, it could cost more than $4 million. And piping treated wastewater to a remote site would add another $1 million to the price tag. Using treated wastewater to irrigate the golf course would also save water, Slatcher said at the hearing. Irrigating the golf course uses 35 million to 40 million gallons of water a year.

Sometime in the first quarter of this year, the city plans to go to referendum again, to ask permission to borrow $1.9 million to finance a project to put water meters in all of its homes.

About 1,430 homes in the city need meters, Slatcher said. She added that Seaford is one of the last communities in Delaware not to have metered water. The time may come, she has told members of the city council, that the city won’t be eligible for state revolving funds unless its water is metered.

Charging people for the water they use helps to reduce usage as well as the amount of wastewater that they generate.

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All industrial and commercial buildings in Seaford, as well as some newer homes and all multifamily dwellings, already have meters.

The loan would come through the Division of Public Health. It would carry a 1 percent interest rate and in the end, 35 percent of the principal would be forgiven.

In addition, the 1 percent origination fee that is usually charged would be waived. The loan would be paid back over 20 years.

Also in 2012, the city will complete a project to replace streetlights in Martin Farms. It will continue to work toward installing solar panels to help offset operating costs at the wastewater treatment plant.

Its code department will also continue working with the Cordish Companies, which owns the largelycondemned Nylon Capital Shopping Center, to get the center into better shape. The owner has done “the minimum necessary” to avoid demolition, Slatcher said.

Slatcher said that, despite the continued slowdown in construction, she is optimistic that the economy is picking up. In the last few weeks of 2011, she said, during a time when things are usually quiet at city hall, there was a flurry of inquiries from business people, developers and contractors, wanting information about the city.

The city has worked hard to attract jobs to the area, she said; its permit fee exemption program meant more than $260,000 in savings to home builders in 2010 and 2011. In December, the city council voted to continue the program in 2012.

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Sussex is under new leadership

By Lynn R. Parks

The biggest news in Sussex County government in 2011 was the hiring of a new administrator. Todd Lawson took over the reins from former administrator Dave Baker on Jan. 1, after spending nearly five months in training.

“I can’t tell you how humbled and honored I am to serve as county administrator,” Lawson told members of the Greater Seaford Chamber of Commerce in December. Being able to come back to his native Sussex County to work is a “dream come true,” he added.

Lawson is a native of Georgetown.

He has a law degree from George Mason University and was working for the Russ Reid Co. in Washington, D.C., which lobbies on behalf of nonprofit organizations, including municipalities, when he was hired as Sussex County administrator.

In a phone interview earlier this month, Lawson said that he brings to his new job a lot of experience working in government settings. During the George W. Bush administration, he ran the Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Relations, part of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. There, he said, he worked with elected officials, learned how to write and live within a budget and got experience in problem-solving.

But the biggest asset he brings to his new job, Lawson said, is simply the fact that he is the new kid in the room.

“I bring an outside perspective and am able to view operations with a fresh eye,” he said. “In any organization, there is always room for improvement and I’ve been the guy sitting in the background, asking questions and offering a new perspective.”

Already, Lawson said, he is pushing the county to enhance its use of technology and streamline processes to make things run more quickly and smoothly. He has several ideas to boost efficiency and improve customer service, he said, that he plans to present to members of the county council for their consideration.

Lawson came to Sussex County in the midst of an economic turndown and huge slowdown in construction.

County taxes are already low, he said, and “it’s tough to bring to the table many tax breaks” to encourage development. Even so, the county council voted last year to offer up to $800 in reduced taxes to new or expanding 10 Morning Star 2012 Progress

businesses for each new full-time employee they bring to the county. The county is also working with school districts to put in place breaks in school taxes, which make up 85 percent of the taxes that the county collects, and with municipalities, which can reduce taxes and fees and that are “more than willing to engage in these discussions,” he said.

That’s “the Sussex County way,” he added. “All hands are on deck in helping to get new businesses and expand businesses. That coordination shows that we really care.”

In January, the county council approved an ordinance that permits landowners who want to develop their land and who intend to do so using their own money to get started without having to arrange for insurance to cover the project should it fail. Such insurance, or a “bond,” will only be required when a third party, either a lender or someone who buys a lot, gets involved.

“This came about as the result of a request from a property owner,” Lawson said. “When there is no risk to a third party, when the risk is all the landowner’s, the county didn’t want to be the one that was hindering building activity.”

The county is in the midst of three construction projects to improve handling of sewage and wastewater.

New sewer lines in Angola will mean that 1,500 private septic systems can be eliminated, a valuable step in the watershed of the environmentallysensitive Inland Bays. That project, expected to be completed this year, will cost $23.6 million.

Another project, also expected to be completed this year, will bring sewer services to Oak Orchard, also in the Inland Bays watershed. It will mean the elimination of 675 private septic systems. Cost: $12.1 million.

Expansion of the Inland Bays Regional Wastewater Facility will enable the plant to treat 2.1 million gallons of wastewater a day, up from 1.4 million gallons a day. That expansion is expected to be completed in March.

“All of this will mean tremendous benefit to the environment as well as to the citizens of this county,” said Lawson. “We will be taking hundreds and hundreds of septic systems offline.”

At the same time, Lawson said, he knows of no county initiative to put in place stricter land-use policies to further protect the bays. The state’s attempt to override the county’s landuse laws in the watershed with stricter laws was recently shot down by the

Delaware Supreme Court, which ruled in a suit brought by the county that the state was overstepping its bounds.

“I have heard of no interest to amend our land-use plan,” Lawson said.

The county is working to make its buildings more energy efficient, Lawson said. As buildings are upgraded, they are evaluated to determine what can be done to cut the amount of energy the buildings use. In addition, a 109-kilowatt solar farm at the Sussex County Airport became operational in August. The farm, with nearly 400 275-watt panels, helps to power the county’s Emergency Operations Centers, also located at the airport.

Since Sept. 1, the farm has produced more than 45,000 kilowatthours of electricity, said county spokesman Chip Guy. That saved the county more than $5,000 in power costs and prevented the emission of nearly 30 metric tons of climate change-causing greenhouse gases, Guy added.

As it has been for a couple of years, the county is working to get a dredging project in the Nanticoke River underway. The river’s channels are authorized by the Army Corps of Engineers to be dredged to a depth of 12 feet. Along some stretches, the channel has silted in so that the water is much more shallow than that. Barges that carry goods up and down the river cannot be fully loaded for fear that they will drag the bottom.

Fewer barges in the river can mean more trucks on the road. It would take up to 70 trucks to transport one bargeload of grain or stone, according to the Delmarva Water Transport Committee, based in Salisbury, Md. One barge-load of petroleum equates to 125 truck-loads of petroleum.

In May 2010, Sussex County spent $580,000 to buy 40 acres at the former Woodland Golf Park near Woodland. The county plans to use 20 acres of the parcel for the spoils and 20 acres for a county park.

The county is working to acquire two easements required to accommodate pipes that would go from the river to the spoils site. It is also working with the Army Corps of Engineers, which would fund and oversee the dredging.

“We want to make sure that we remain in the queue,” Lawson said.

As it is now, though, “money for the project is not secured,” he added. “We are on a list of federal projects and when the funding comes through, we want to make sure that we’re ready.”

Blades

Water is priority

By Lynn R. Parks The town of Blades will hold a public hearing Monday, Jan. 30, on its proposal to borrow money to finance construction of a new water well. Mayor Mike Smith said that the town’s engineer has warned that the town is getting close to maxing out its two existing wells.

Smith said that the estimated cost of the new well is $300,000. The final cost will depend on the location of the well, he added.

A public referendum on the project will be held within 60 days of the hearing. If Blades citizens give their OK, the town will borrow the needed funds from the state. Interest rate would be about 1 percent, Smith said. At the conclusion of the project, 35 percent of the principal would be forgiven.

The well project, if approved by the citizens, will consume most of the town’s attention this year, Smith said. The town intends to continue its ongoing street paving project, finishing up at least two more streets in 2012, he said. Last year, seven streets throughout town got new surfaces. He estimates

that by the end of this year, about 60 percent of the town’s streets will have been resurfaced.

The town is looking for funding to expand its water system to U.S. 13. A number of residents east of town are interested in connecting to the Blades system, Smith said.

The county is still planning an expansion of the Blades wastewater collection system east of town to U.S. 13. The town pipes its waste across the Nanticoke River to the city of Seaford’s wastewater treatment plant for treatment. Smith expects work on that expansion to get started this year.

Last year, the town received an energy grant from the state to improve the efficiency of town hall and the police station. The $35,000 grant paid for new heating/air conditioning units for the two buildings as well as for new duct work and weatherization at the town hall.

Another state grant, also received last year, will pay for a generator to provide emergency power at town hall and the police station. The $13,000 grant is from the Delaware Emergency Management Agency.

Smith expects the generator, which will be powered by natural gas, to be installed this year. Requests for bids will go out by the end of the month, he said.

As for housing construction, Smith said Blades, like most towns throughout the nation, is not seeing much. One new home is under construction in Little Meadows, a development on the east edge of town, and two new homes are planned for the town proper.

Work to install infrastructure for those two homes is underway.

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Nanticoke Hospital

Medical team and facilities grow

By Lynn R. Parks This year, the second heart catheterization lab at Nanticoke Memorial Hospital should get up and running. Nanticoke CEO Steve Rose expects construction of the $1.8 million lab, already underway, to be complete by June 1.

At around that same time, the hospital’s second interventional cardiologist will join the Seaford medical community. Dr. Ivan Pena, Nanticoke’s first interventional cardiologist, became part of the practice of Alicea, Buenano, Laurion and Simons in October 2010.

“We are quite pleased to be getting a second interventional cardiologist,” said Nanticoke spokesman Tom Brown. “They are pretty hard to come by.”

The cardiologist will join several doctors who are new to the Seaford medical community. In 2011, the hospital hired an endocrinologist, a general surgeon, a pediatrician, two pulmonologists and a urologist. In addition, an orthopedic surgeon has come to town and set up a practice.

Rose, who took over the reins as CEO in November 2008, said that he is very proud of the progress 12 Morning Star 2012 Progress

that Nanticoke Memorial Hospital is making. “Every year just gets better and better,” he said. “I am really pleased with how we are progressing.”

In October, HealthGrades, a private rating service that issues hospital report cards based on discharge information from Medicare patients, named the critical care unit at Nanticoke Memorial Hospital one of the top such units in the country. It also gave the hospital an award for pulmonary care excellence. “We have a great staff here,” Rose said at a ceremony celebrating the awards. “A lot of CEOs say that, but they don’t really feel it. I feel it. I wouldn’t trust my family to anybody else but Nanticoke Memorial Hospital.”

Last spring, Becker’s Hospital Review named the hospital one of the top 100 health care institutions in the country at which to work. The ranking was based on nominations as well as on research

by Becker’s and reviews by peers.

Also included on the list are Northwestern Memorial Hospital, part of Northwestern University in Chicago, Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore and the Mayo Clinic in Rochester.

In December, the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) ranked the information and technology system at Nanticoke Memorial Hospital one of the top five in the country among small (100 beds or less) hospitals. “That was quite an honor,” said Rose.

And just this month, HealthGrades, in another round of awards, announced that Nanticoke’s emergency department ranked among the top 10 percent in the country.

“We were very pleased and surprised by that,” Brown said. “It is great to have the quality and numbers that mean we deserve such an award.”

Last year, the hospital expanded its emergency department to include a clinical decision unit. The 12-bed unit is designed for patients who have come into the emergency room and for whom a decision about whether they need to be admitted to the hospital is still pending. Patients stay in the unit for up to 24 hours.

The unit means that patients can be moved out of the emergency room, helping to eliminate bottlenecks there, Rose said. At the same time, the patients aren’t taking up

valuable inpatient beds, he added.

In 2011, Nanticoke Memorial Hospital completed a renovation of its pediatric department. Located in what used to be the hospital’s intensivecare unit, the department has nine brightly-decorated private rooms circling a central nursing station. The department’s examining room is the safari room, with monkeys, a zebra, an elephant and a giraffe; even, if one looks closely, frogs and lizards. Other rooms are decorated in aquarium, castle and farm themes.

The hospital also instituted its new central monitoring system, through which the vital signs of all inpatients, in addition to being watched on monitors at the nurses’ stations, are also monitored in one central location.

Twenty-four hours a day, technicians watch computer monitors, looking for signs that a patient’s condition is getting worse. If they detect a problem, Rose said, they report it immediately to nurses on the patient’s floor.

The hospital is making continued progress on its effort toward having all of its records stored electronically.

That effort has been ongoing for more than eight years, Rose said, and so far has cost about $25 million. As part of that effort, the hospital plans in April

to start distributing its medicines through a bar coding system. The system will help to ensure accuracy in dosage, Rose said, and will mean increased safety for patients.

Last year, because of the progress it has made toward electronic record keeping, the hospital qualified for a $1.5 million federal grant to help reimburse it for money spent.

In December, Nanticoke Health Services announced that it planned to sell LifeCare at Lofland Park, its skilled nursing and rehabilitation center, to Genesis HealthCare, owner of the Seaford Center nursing home in Seaford. Last week, Rose said that that sale is still on track. Nanticoke has notified the state’s Attorney General’s office of the pending sale, something it is required to do because the facility is going from a nonprofit agency to a for-profit institution, and is awaiting a signed purchase agreement from Genesis.

Cost of the sale has not been released. But Rose has said that across the nation, facilities like LifeCare sell for from $70,000 to $80,000 per bed.

LifeCare has 110 beds. A financial committee will be set up by the board to decide how to spend the money that the sale of LifeCare brings in.

Genesis, which has more than 200 skilled nursing and assisted-living facilities along the eastern seaboard, from North Carolina to Maine, plans to keep both LifeCare and the Seaford Center open. In addition to the Seaford Center, Genesis operates the Milford Center and Heritage at Milford in Milford, Heritage at Dover and the Silver Lake Center in Dover, Atrium at Churchman Village and Churchman Village in Newark and Hillside Center in Wilmington. For the past several years, Genesis has contracted to provide the rehabilitation services at LifeCare.

As for this year, Nanticoke has opened a new medical services office in Bridgeville. Two doctors already have offices there and a third doctor is expected to join them this summer.

Rose said that in 2012, Nanticoke’s board will focus on ways to improve the hospital’s four major “service lines”: cardiology, orthopedics, surgery and the emergency department. “They are the most critical areas for us and we will be developing plans to being to make improvements in care in all of them,” Rose said.

Improving those areas is part of Nanticoke’s strategic plan, a plan that goes through 2017, Rose said.

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One of Laurel’s highlights for 2011 came when the Delaware District III softball team made history this year by reaching and winning the Senior League Softball World Series championship. Shown (l to r) are members of the Laurel Senior League softball team, the 2011 world champions: front- Erin Johnson, Kortney Lee, Sara Jo Whaley, Whitney Toadvine, Logan Green, Regan Green; middle- Alexis Hudson, Alyssa Givens, Emily Pusey, Kristen Collins, Nicole Ullman, Bree Venables, Bethany Wheatley, Alison Pusey; back- coach Kevin Green, manager Brad Lee, and coach Bo Collins. Photo

by Mike McClure

Laurel

Town continues to look for growth

By Tony E. Windsor The town of Laurel, like many other communities across the country is struggling with a less than productive economic climate. However, in the face of diminished property tax growth due to almost stagnant development in the area, Laurel officials have taken a hard line approach to developing an annual budget. For the past few years while many municipalities and states have dealt with financial hardships creating over-extended budgets through loss of revenue, the town of Laurel has maintained successful, sustaining budget figures.

During meetings of the Laurel Mayor and Council, Budget Chair14 Morning Star 2012 Progress

man Councilman Don Phillips has credited a proactive, conservative approach to the budget as a way the town has addressed the municipal’s operating budget. He said that Mayor and Council have addressed finances in a proactive manner, keeping constant awareness of trends in the economy, both locally and nationally.

In a statement issued by the town in regard to a recent municipal audit, Phillips’ sentiments were echoed.

“Over the past few years, the town has invested time, effort, and funding, into bringing master plans, zoning, regulations, development policies and procedures, oversight and review, infrastructure, departmental leadership, and commensurate staffing levels all

up to the higher levels required to support anticipated economic growth in an expanded municipal Laurel,” the statement said.

“Although large parcels of newlyannexed property have been added to the northern and eastern borders of the municipality, the promise of large-scale commercial and residential development has yet to be recognized due first to legal delays incurred by developers, and then impacted by the drastic slow-downs in the real estate market and the residential and commercial property development industries.”

During the most recent municipal audit, Tom Sombar of Sombar and Associates, in Georgetown, told the

Mayor and Council that given the current economic picture, Laurel is “holding its own.” He said his firm performs audits for several Sussex County communities and the same economic challenges are facing each of these communities. He said Laurel has been meeting the economic challenges head-on and because of significant cost-saving efforts, the town is moving in a positive direction. “It is not to say everything is good right now, but it could be a lot worse given the state of the economy,” Sombar said. “I think it is safe to say that Laurel is heading in the right direction.”

The town has made serious labor and operations cuts over the past four years and taken measures to be realistic about developing a budget.

Mayor John Shwed credits the town’s staff for being conservative about spending without cutting services to the residents. The results of taking conservative measures in both administrative and operational areas of the municipal budget has allowed the town to meet budget each year without exceeding forecasted revenues versus expenditures.

In an effort to address the need to help stimulate the local economy and enhance Laurel’s tax base, the

municipal government has moved forward on a plan to extend town water and sewer services to the US 13 corridor. The project has been a long time coming and could define the future economic success of not only the town itself, but the Laurel School District as well.

Public Works Superintendent, Woody Vickers, said the US 13 water and sewer project is something in the town’s future that could help spell a financial improvement in the greater Laurel area. The last town on the US 13 corridor from Greenwood to Delmar to extend municipal utilities out to the highway, Laurel has spent years trying to figure out how to get water and sewer services out to US 13 in a financially responsible manner and without putting the tax burden on existing town property owners.

Last year, representatives from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) traveled to Laurel Town Hall to present a symbolic check in the amount of $8 million to help pay for the historic infrastructure project.

The opportunity to expand utilities to western Sussex County’s major thoroughfare is not being taken lightly by the town’s mayor. Since coming into office this project has been a priority item on John Shwed’s agenda.

The mayor said the USDA funds will provide two significant opportunities for the town to get water and sewer to US 13 without placing a major financial burden on the town.

He said that $1.5 million of the project money will come in the form of a grant. This will require repayment by the town for these funds. The balance of the $8 million dollars will come through a low interest loan, expected to be at about 2.37 percent.

While the project has not progressed as quickly as hoped, it is nonetheless, still a front-burner project for the town. Vickers said all permits and easements, with the exception of one, have been procured. Currently the town and US 13 business, Laurel Junction, are at impasse over easement along US 13 and Delaware 9. The town needs to secure a section of property where utility lines will run in order to have access should repair or replacement work ever need to be done. The town and Laurel Junction property owners have been unable to reach an agreement on a property easement, so no action can be taken to precede with the US 13 water and sewer property.

All other property easements have been secured by the town from those businesses and other property owners

Morning Star 2012 Progress 15

who are located in the project area. Vickers said the town has taken court action to gain easement and will be awaiting the court’s decision in the matter.

While water and sewer infrastructure work has stalled on US 13, Vickers says water infrastructure improvements in the center of town have greatly improved water service. He said a project to install water meters throughout the town has been completed. Last year the town was approved for a $560,000 loan from the Delaware Office of Drinking water to complete the water meter project.

The loan was awarded at zero percent interest with the principal to be forgiven once the project was completed.

Essentially, the “loan” became a grant because there is no expectation of the town paying it back with the successful completion of the project. The funds allowed the town to finish installing 400 meters and also made it possible for the job to be done by the scheduled deadline of January 2012.

Vickers said the town has been able to do the water meter project under budget, which will enable additional infrastructure work to be done. “We have stayed under budget and we have additional money that the Office of Drinking Water is allowing us to use to replace water laterals that are failing with copper laterals with the additional money,” he said. “We are also installing a blow-off hydrant at the dead-end of South Wilson to help maintain better water quality.”

Vickers said now that all residential and commercial water meters have been installed, the town will install six water meter pits to town-owned buildings as a means to monitor water usage. He said the water meter project has been done in a manner to allow an initial meter cost of

about $285 per property owner, to be reduced to a cost of just over $212 per meter.

The water improvement projects also includes multiphase improvements to water service in the areas of 4th, 5th and 6th streets, Cooper Street and hydrant and water main replacements in the area of Willow Street. In all, water service improvements have resulted in better water flows and pressures throughout the town.

Recently the Laurel Volunteer Fire Department commended the town for helping to improve a nationallyranked rating of Laurel’s fire service by the Insurance Service Office (ISO). The recent results of the ISO survey demonstrated a marked improvement over that from 1995 when the last survey was conducted.

Laurel Volunteer Fire Department Chief, Jeff Hill, said that the new ISO classification is great news for Laurel and shows the strides that have been made both by the fire department and the town in improving services to residents in the Laurel and the Laurel fire district. In addition, he said the improved ratings will be beneficial in the way of premiums paid by home and business owners who are seeking insurance.

“I think it is great to have a situation where two agencies like the fire department and the town can work so well together to improve services in the community,” Hill said. He said the fire department is also excited about the town’s plans to extend municipal water services out to US 13 and feels this will be another opportunity to see the ISO classification improve in the coming years. “I hope that we can request the ISO back in five or 10 years and have another survey conducted with even better results,” he said.

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16 Morning Star 2012 Progress

Shown are the Lecates building, left; the new town hall, center; and the former town hall. Work on converting the town old town hall into a public safety facility will take place this year. Town officials and residents are also hopeful that the abandoned Lecates building will be renovated in the near future. Photo by Mike McClure

Delmar

New town hall opens in Delmar

By Mike McClure The town of Delmar opened its new town hall and completed an upgrade to its wastewater treatment plant in 2011. This year it will turn its attention to renovating the previous town hall building for a public safety building that will house the police department.

While the new town hall (the former Bank of Delmarva building) is now up and running after months of planning a great deal of renovations, the project will be completed in 2012 with the addition of a courtyard style entrance.

The new building provides the town’s employees with additional storage space. The second floor of the building has not been renovated, but Town Manager Sara BynumKing says it will eventually be used as a training area as well as for budget workshops for the elected officials.

The town also completed its upgrades to the wastewater treatment plant, a project that started in 1996. According to Bynum-King, the project allows the town to stay within its permitted limits for discharge, meeting clean water requirements.

“To see it finally come to fruition is wonderful,” added Bynum-King, who called the project a major uptaking.

The town also started the Delaware Avenue water main project in 2011. The project involves increasing four inch water mains to eight inch, replacing some of sewer mains, addressing storm drain issues, installing ADA ramps, and correcting damaged sidewalks.

The project started from Fourth Street to Pennsylvania Avenue and on First Street from State Street to Lincoln Avenue. The bids came in under budget, so the town decided to utilize the remaining SRF funds to extend the water main work from Fourth Street to Seventh Street on Delaware Avenue. Bynum-King expects work to be finished sometime this spring.

“We feel like we’re doing our share (of job creation),” Bynum-King said. She added that the town is looking to do affordable projects without affecting taxpayers with an increase in rates.

The main commercial development that took place in 2011 was Delmar Square, which is located north of Delmar Commons and now houses a new pharmacy and other Morning Star 2012 Progress 17

The Delmar town hall opened late last year after months of planning. The town purchased and renovated the former Bank of Delmarva building and will complete work this year with the addition of a courtyard style entrance. Photo by Mike McClure

commercial stores.

New developers took over the Yorkshire Estates commercial development and cleaned it up, sold homes, and started new construction on additional homes. The development had homes sitting unoccupied for a couple years before the new developers got things going last year.

As for future residential development, a new owner of Heron Pond (located on Route 54) is introducing new concepts. Bynum-King anticipates some activity in that development in 2012.

There is also a new potential purchaser of the Wood Creek development. The developer is looking to continue to build homes in the development.

The town will also look to complete the Walnut Street project, which has been on the books for a long time and is under design. The project will include street paving, water mains, sewer mains, storm drain, sidewalks, and grading for curbing.

Bynum-King also anticipates the addition of new ADA compliant restrooms in Gordy Park by spring.

One other project is on the wish list of Bynum-King and many other residents, the renovation of the Lecates building, an abandoned building located on the corner of State Street and Pennsylvania Avenue (across from the street from the new town hall). A new owner was in the process of purchasing the building at the end of 2011.

“It has such historical significance in town,” said Bynum-King. “I’m confident that something positive is going to happen with that building and I’m hopeful that maybe this will be the year.”

The town will once again hold its Heritage Day in the fall. The Greater Delmar Chamber of Commerce also sponsors Day in the Park, the Delmar Citizen of the Year banquet, and the Delmar Christmas parade annually.

18 Morning Star 2012 Progress

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Shown is the Bridgeville Professional Center, a 19,000 square feet building, located on Antique Alley Road. Scheduled to open in early 2012, one of the building’s tenants will be the Nanticoke Medical Center. Photo by Mike McClure

Bridgeville

Town continues to move forward with signs of improved economy

By Mike McClure The town of Bridgeville will look to continue to plan for the future in the new year after seeing signs of gradual economic improvement in 2011.

The town’s building permit funds increased from $31,870 in 2010 to $45.301 in 2011, a trend the town hopes will continue in 2012. Bridgeville is also seeing improvement in commercial development through increased transfer taxes.

While the overall economy is still slowly improving, town finance director Jesse Savage says the town is in a solid position and will continue to put money into reserve accounts for future needs. The town will look

to stay financially solvent with a balanced budget, while planning for the future.

Among the highlights of the past year are: the showing of Mayor Cupcake (January), which was shot in town; the hiring of new water superintendent Scott Kimball, the 20th anniversary of the Apple-Scrapple Festival (October), the start of the town’s energy savings project (December), and the finalization of a new town website.

Site approval was granted for the Bridgeville Professional Center, a 19,000 square feet building, located on Antique Alley Road. The building is scheduled to open in early 2012 with the Nanticoke Medical Center scheduled to open as one of the facil-

ity’s occupants.

The Bridgeville Commercial Gateway Center (Rifle Range Road) has also been granted preliminary site approval, but developers are looking for an extension for the project. That commercial development will feature 90,000 square feet of commercial/office space.

The Bridgeville Commission is considering a new ordinance which would allow developers two years to finalize site approval with a possible one year extension. The measure, which is being considered due to the economy, is similar to a county policy.

Bridgeville residents and visitors also have more dining options as Pizza King opened a restaurant in town Morning Star 2012 Progress 19

in July. Another restaurant, Fat Daddy’s, is scheduled to open next to Tony’s Pizza in 2012.

Heritage Shores continues to be the main catalyst for new construction of homes in town. Town Manager Merritt Burke is hopeful that new construction of single family homes will continue in Bridgeville in the new year.

Among the other events that occurred in 2011 are: the town hosted a community branding workshop and the police department secured several grants for future equipment purchases.

The town has over $500,000 in reserve for future water, sewer, street, and infrastructure repairs and other possible expenditures not included in the budget, Burke plans to pursue low interest loans/grants for future sewer expansion.

Bridgeville is also looking to complete its five-year capital improvement plan. The town’s new website (Bridgeville.delaware,gov) is now up and running and is more interactive and informative.

Delaware Greenways made a presentation to the Commission last year, proposing a partnership with the town for a Bay to Bay Byway. The town is in the process of requesting funds from state representatives to take part in project, which is designed to bring tourists into town.

Bridgeville received over $170,000 in ARA funding for energy projects. The town replaced lighting at town hall, police department, wastewater facility with LED lighting and replaced windows and doors at the wastewater plant, resulting in an estimated $24,000 in savings.

The town has also received state and federal funding to draft a master plan and to revise its water and wastewater facilities plan. The police department received $35,000 in matching grants which it used to purchase two new police vehicles.

Over 20,000 visitors came to Bridgeville last October for the 20th Annual Apple-Scrapple Festival.

Other annual town events include: Christmas in Bridgeville, an arts and crafts show at Woodbridge High School; the town’s Memorial Day celebration; and the National Night Out, which is organized by the police department.

The town hosted the Fifth Annual Charity Open golf tournament in 2011. The Bridgeville Senior Center, Lions Club, and Kiwanis Foundation each received $2,650 as a result of the tournament, which took place at Heritage Shores.

In 2012, Burke is looking forward to the completion of the town’s energy projects. The town is also looking to conduct a street survey to see which roads are in need of repair.

DelDOT will be modifying the traffic signal in front of town hall and will repave the road out to Route 13.

Woodbridge School District will also move forward with plans to build a new high school outside of town.

Burke said the town is looking forward to partnering with the school district to help with this transition.

Burke is also hopeful that the town will see continued economic development, especially additional commercial development on Route 13. In the meantime, the town will focus on planning for the future.

Mike Vincent Sussex County Council President

Bridgeville Commission President Patricia Correll gets her hands dirty while helping to beautify the town this past autumn. Photo by Everett W. Faircloth

20 Morning Star 2012 Progress

“Sussex County is truly a wonderful place to live. Now that everyone is aware of us, the challenge is to work to make the county remain a great place to raise our families.”

Greenwood

National chain will construct store on US 13

By Lynn R. Parks The town of Greenwood may soon have a brand new store on the south edge of town. Town manager John McDonnell said that a national chain plans to build a store on U.S. 13, south of Royal Farms.

He added that the chain wants to have the store under construction by mid-March. It will be nearly 10,000 square feet in size.

McDonnell declined to say what the retail company is.

The land on which the store will be built is partially in the town limits and partially outside them. The town is working toward annexing the parcel that is outside Greenwood’s borders.

McDonnell hopes that the new store is not the only construction that the town sees in 2012. “We’ve been through a very long stretch with not a lot of movement in the economy,” he said. “If the economy would just start to pick up a little bit, we’ve got sufficient buildable lots and enticements that could draw developers here.”

Last year, the town completed a project to install 451 water meters on homes throughout town. Starting in September, residents are paying water bills based on the amount of water that they use.

The meter project was financed by a state loan for $528,230, 39 percent of which the town is paying back.

The remaining 61 percent will be paid by federal economic stimulus funds.

In spring, the town completed testing of its wastewater system, to find leaks where rainwater and groundwater was seeping in. All leaks, including off-kilter manholes, ineffective sewer drains and sewer caps that were broken or that had been cut off by lawn mowers, were repaired by town crews.

Those repairs have meant a reduction in up to 15,000 gallons a day in wastewater that the city sends to the Bridgeville wastewater treatment plant. The town sends up to 80,000 gallons of wastewater a day to the Bridgeville plant.

That reduction, McDonnell said, has meant a “considerable” savings to the town in how much it pays Bridgeville to treat its waste.

Last year, the town added to its police force. Brent Raughley joined the department in the first quarter of the year, doubling the number of full-time officers from one to two. The department also has a part-time officer.

Next month, the town will hold a referendum on a plan to borrow $232,500 from the state revolving fund to finance a project to mix water from its three wells. Water from one of the wells comes close to exceeding allowable limits of certain chemicals, McDonnell said, and mixing the water will mean that the town won’t have to shut down that problematic well.

Upon completion of the project, the state would forgive $45,000 of the loan. Payback would be over 40 years; the interest rate will be determined at the time of closing.

The referendum is set for Saturday, Feb. 18, from noon to 5 p.m. Voting will take place in town hall.

Morning Star 2012 Progress 21

Bayhealth: Expansion showcased

By Lynn R. Parks

On Jan. 7, Bayhealth Medical Center invited the public to visit its Kent General Hospital in Dover, to tour the medical facility’s just-completed 400,000-square foot expansion. The $147 million construction project included a new emergency department, three times larger than the hospital’s previous emergency department, and a cancer center. The project also included a new main entrance, a 375-space parking garage and a central services building to provide heating, air conditioning and electricity to the growing hospital.

“Our new facility will help us continue our legacy well into the 21st century,” Bayhealth president and CEO Terry Murphy said in a Jan. 5 press release. “We’ll continue to invest in our infrastructure so that our patients may receive the high-quality, patient-centered care they deserve.”

Kent General’s new emergency and trauma services department is 35,000 square feet in size. It has 39 treatment bays, compared to 21 bays in the old emergency department, and is equipped with advanced CT scan and X-ray machines.

The Bayhealth Cancer Center brings together departments that were previously located in four separate locations. Radiation and medical oncology are now in the same place.

Completion of the Kent General expansion doesn’t mean the end of construction for Bayhealth. In September, the health services organization received approval from the Delaware Health Resources Board to construct an emergency center at its Smyrna Clayton Medical Services building.

The center will have eight treatment bays. It is expected to open in late summer and will accommodate the approximately 6,000 patients who travel from the Smyrna/Clayton area to Dover’s Kent General every year.

Savings in patient transport time, said senior vice president of planning John Van Gorp, could mean the difference between life and death.

Last year, Kent General Hospital and the Bayhealth Women’s Center were designated a Breast Imaging Center of Excellence by the American College of Radiology. The desig22 Morning Star 2012 Progress

The rendering at top shows the layout of Bayhealth Medical Center’s 400,000-square-foot expansion.

At left is a rendering of Bayhealth Medical Center’s welcome pavilion.

nation is given to centers that exceed the college’s standards for its accreditation program.

Bayhealth is certified in several diagnostic imaging services, including stereotactic breast biopsy, breast ultrasound, ultrasound guided breast biopsy and traditional mammography.

In August, Smyrna Clayton Medical Services began offering digital mammography and breast ultrasound services.

In August, Kent General Hospital was certified by the Joint Commission as a primary stroke center. The Joint Commission’s certification program was developed in collaboration with the American Stroke Association and is based on the Brain Attack Coalition’s recommendations for treatment.

“This certification is affirmation of our commitment to the highest standards of care for stroke patients,” said stroke care coordinator Dawn Fowler.

In September, Bayhealth put into place a new neurosurgery program to treat patients with complex neurological conditions including traumatic injuries to the brain and spinal cord.

Neurosurgeon James Mills coordi-

nates care along with the Bayhealth emergency department, operation room, intensive care unit, medicalsurgical units, physical therapy and diagnostic imaging.

“When it comes to neurosurgical issues, it’s imperative that patients receive the best possible care in the shortest amount of time to ensure the best outcomes,” Mills said. “By offering these services at Bayhealth, we hope to facilitate the best outcomes.”

Also in September, Bayhealth appointed an administrator for Milford Memorial Hospital. Michael Ashton, who most recently was director of the medical service line for WellSpan Health, a coalition of health-care facilities in York, Pa., is the first person to fill the newly-created role. He will play an instrumental role in planning for construction of a new hospital.

In March, Bayhealth announced that it was expanding its recycling program. Milford Memorial already had a can and bottle recycling program and a similar program was instituted in Kent General. Vice president of customer service Rich Butto estimated that the new program will recycle 12,000 pounds of waste.

Looking to the Future State Representative

Biff Lee

On behalf of my constituents in the 40th District, I’ll be working on the following issues in 2012:

Making Delaware a more business friendly state to create job opportunities.

Opposing higher (or new) taxes and fees.

Supporting harsher penalties for those that prey on our children.

Increasing the transparency of government.

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