Sussex County Council Gets Update from Buffers & Wetlands Working Group
It’s been two weeks since the last meeting of the Sussex County Council. This week the Council was updated by the working group on Buffers and Wetlands, which has met nine times since February. They are looking to update the county code when it comes to buffers, wetlands and resource protection. The working group, which included farmers, environmentalists, developers, scientists, consultants and county officials, worked to better define the terms and their uses, as well as work to update existing maps, which are not updated. The working group members were glad that they all worked together so well – and they’re now ready to take the next step and move forward into the ordinance writing phase. Council President Mike Vincent told the group, “This is a big deal – very important to all aspects of the county.”
County Finance Director, Gina Jennings talked to the Council about the last quarter’s Pension Committee meeting. The committee has made a recommendation for the budgeted additional contribution of $5-million. Based on the Pension Committee and Marquette Associations recommendations the County Council approved the motion to approve the pension contribution with a unanimous vote.
Ms. Jennings also brought funding for transportation expenses from DART for $796,850. These are expenses for the six senior centers in Sussex County – and mirror previous years amounts that come from State grant funds. The Council approved the recommended funding for each of the agencies will be the same as in previous years.
There was also some trash talk during this week’s meeting. Government Affairs Manager, Michael Costello told the Council that county employees will hold a clean up as part of a September 20th employee appreciation barbecue – which will be the County’s contribution to Governor Carney’s “Keep DE Litter Free” initiative. Over 40 county employees will take part – and deal with roads in each of the council districts. Sussex County has also taken on trash on it’s own with a partnership between DelDOT and the DOC that was started last year which boosts the State’s existing clean up efforts. As of last month – Sussex County has dedicated more than $210,000, with the partnership netting nearly 3,300 bags of trash from some 340 miles of roads in the county.
The County Council had an afternoon session away from the county offices which included lunch at the Sussex County Association of REALTORS office and discussions with the Board of Adjustments and P&Z members. Then at 2pm the Council hosted a Fair Housing Training Seminar.
The Sussex County Council will meet again next Tuesday morning at 10am in the County Administration offices on the Circle in Georgetown. According to information from the Planning & Zoning Commission, a public hearing on CU-2176 – for a convenience store with gas to be located at the intersection of Route 24 and Angola Road will be held during the afternoon session beginning at 1:30. The CU application won approval from the Planning Commission during its August 22nd meeting.
You’ll find more on this week’s Sussex County Council meeting in this week’s Council Packet
