Blizzard of 2010: Beauty and the beast

Beauty: Along Cave Neck Road near Milton.

Beast: Downed poles near Harbeson.

Sussex sitting on gold mine

Has Sussex County gone to the dogs? Let’s hope not, but the county has gone into the dog-licensing business.

Thanks to cost cutting at the state level, the state’s three counties are now charged with dog control. It’s not cheap to keep dogs under control; it will cost Sussex County at least $600,000, and probably a lot more.

The Kent County SPCA won the bid to provide actual dog control to Sussex residents, which is not a change from last year. The only difference this time around is that Sussex taxpayers are footing the entire bill without any state funding.

The county is, however, responsible for the sale of dog licenses. By law, all dogs except working dogs are supposed to be licensed. In reality, the SPCA claims only about 10 percent are. The SPCA also says there are about 48,000 dogs in Sussex County.

I need a license.

With a population of about 189,000, which is about 75,000 families, that means about 40 percent of Sussex homes have a dog. That number corresponds to the number of U.S. households owning dogs published by the Humane Society of the United States.

In my circle of friends and relations that number seems low. About 75 percent of those folks own dogs.

The county’s system is up and running and with a month to go before the deadline less than 800 of the expected 4,800 (10 percent of the total) dogs have been registered. Licenses are $10 or $15 depending if the dog is spayed or neutered.

There is a lot of work to be done to reach that number by March 1.

If the county reaches 10 percent, about $50,000 will be collected. It seems senseless to have a law only 10 percent of people follow. Can you imagine what the roads would be like if only 10 percent of drivers did the speed limit?

County officials need to step it up because they are sitting on a real gold mine. Even licensing half the dogs would bring in $240,000, a real bump in desperately needed revenues. Assigning, or even hiring, one person as the official dog-licensing enforcer would pay for itself.

Are sting operations and neighborhood and park road checks not too far off in the future? Bring on the house-to-house searches to round up those law-breaking Fidos.

To get more information about licenses, phone 855-7380.

Dan Kramer will be back

No wonder we are having so much snow. Dan Kramer missed a Sussex County Council meeting.

It’s really not a joking matter because Dan underwent cancer surgery Tuesday, Feb. 2, and will probably miss a few more meetings.

Dan, a gentleman farmer from Greenwood, is not sure when he first started attending council meetings, but he thinks it was around the time Council President Vance Phillips was elected to office. That was 12 years ago.

Since that time, he has not missed a meeting. He has been at meetings when he was ill and should have been at home. He schedules his week around the Tuesday time slot when council meets.

Attending meetings and keeping an eye on council is a source of pride to Dan – his colorful comments have livened up more than one council meeting over the years.

Dan will have a long road to recovery, but in his usual style he said there was no doubt at all he would beat the cancer.

One-man stand against gambling

Georgetown resident Eric Bodenweiser stands on his convictions, and is persistent as well. Last week he made an impassioned plea for Sussex County Council to pass a resolution against expanding gambling in the county. After not hearing anything from council, he returned to speak at the Tuesday, Jan. 26 meeting.

Bodenweiser also had an online petition opposing sports betting. In his mind, gambling only leads to troubles.

It appears he’s not going to stay away until he gets an answer. Although he asked for the item to be placed on the Tuesday, Feb. 2 agenda it was not.

Bodenweiser said at first, he had overstepped his bounds by asking council for the resolution against new casinos. “But you are concerned with addiction because you provide human service grants involved with addictions,” he said.

He said the council had donated thousands of dollars to at least six organizations. “There is no better way to prevent addiction than to stop it before it starts,” he said.

Bodenweiser said he was convinced if gambling expands to the county, some residents would stumble into addiction and lose their homes, jobs and families. “Then it will be too late,” he said.

He urged the council to follow the lead of the Indian River School District board that voted to oppose the construction of a casino in Sussex County.

Three groups have casino licenses pending in the county. The fate of new casinos in Delaware depends on General Assembly action, but it appears as if at least one will be given the green light to begin construction.

“Today I appeal to you through our shared faith in God,” he said. “You can take a stand for what is right and show you are the leaders I think you are. I humbly ask you to place this on next week’s agenda.”

He said it didn’t matter what reasons were placed in the resolution. They could include increased crime, gambling addiction or traffic problems, he said. “Or you don’t have to give a reason,” he said.

Deaver comes clean on ‘real zoning’

Joan Deaver

During Sussex County Council discussions about land-use issues, Councilwoman Joan Deaver refers to “real zoning.” During those discussions, no one ever asks her what she means. So I did. Here is what she says:

“Real zoning. Real planning. Assign zones to the land. Plan how you want the county to look and zone accordingly, especially around the towns. Around the towns it’s a regional plan that’s put together by the town and county with public comment. Of course that’s a long procedure designed by planners and presented at a series of public hearings.

“But leaving the county all zoned AR-1 is absurd. AR-1 gives no one any peace unless they have purchased a home surrounded by a state park. Then I hear that state parks may also be used in the future to accept treated wastewater, so there’s little peace to be had without proper zoning.”

AR-1, or agricultural-residential, is the base zoning for the entire county with about 75 percent of the land zoned AR-1. Under Sussex County’s AR-1 zoning, two homes are permitted on one acre of land. That particular zoning is among the least restrictive on Delmarva, yet it has been in place since zoning was established in the county some 35 years ago. During that entire time I don’t think any council member has made a serious move to amend that zoning ordinance.

Sam calls it as he sees it

You may not agree with Sussex County Councilman Sam Wilson, a Republican from Georgetown, but you have to agree he keeps things lively in council chambers.

The right-winger wears his conservative values on his shirtsleeve and is not afraid to snap back when he feels backed into a corner. You have to understand that he has lived on the same farm outside Georgetown his entire life.

Sam Wilson

His comments go from the outrageous to down-home common sense. He says the only way to protect what happens next to your property is to buy it, and he didn’t make many friends in Lewes when he called their actions mob rule. He muttered under his breath that he probably shouldn’t have said that.

He couldn’t get elected town street sweeper in Lewes, but what he stands for must be all right with those who live in and around Georgetown. That shows how divergent opinions are in Sussex County.

Sam calls stormwater management “bunk” and urged people with water problems to pray to the Lord for relief because he controls it all.

In the face of hundreds of people claiming traffic would be appalling in the Lewes area if the Village Centre project were approved, he said he wasn’t convinced there would be traffic issues.

He and Councilwoman Joan Deaver, a Rehoboth Beach Democrat, not only sit on opposite ends of the council table, they are light years apart on just about every issue. When Joan says the sky is blue, Sam says it’s white.

It doesn’t take long to discover that Sam believes a man’s property is his own, and he can do pretty much whatever he wants with it. He has voted for nearly every subdivision, rezoning and conditional-use request that has come before him.

He’s tough when it comes to handing out county money and struggles with just about every councilmanic grant given out at the end of each meeting. When he was first elected he, as well as Deaver – they did agree on at least one thing – questioned many of the grants. He has since learned the grants are political leverage and he goes along with the rest of council, although his grants are usually small compared to others.

And here is the real kicker. All of the tidbits above were not compiled from months worth of meetings; they took place during the Tuesday, Jan. 19 meeting.

All you have to do is sit and listen.

Council’s most important task is land use

Growth is a tough thing to put your arms around.

A certain amount of growth is needed or an area or community becomes stagnant and unattractive to newcomers and new businesses.

Too much growth drives people and businesses away. Finding that perfect balance is a tough job, but it’s the main job of the Sussex County Council.

The five council members’ main task is to make decisions on land use, which is just another term for growth.

Sure they determine policy, deal with employee and constituent issues, determine budget matters and ponder over county projects, but their main focus zooms in on land use in Sussex County.

What experience does this august body have to make these all-important decisions?

Their experience is more than most people realize. Two members, George Cole and Vance Phillips, who usually vote on opposite ends when it comes to growth issues, have been on council for a combined 30-plus years. The other three members have been on the council for a combined three years.

But all three have been involved in governmental issues. Mike Vincent has a background in the fire service and served on the Seaford planning and zoning commission and city council. Joan Deaver, who moved here from the Annapolis, Md., area has an extensive business background and has been an activist most of her adult life. Sam Wilson runs a farm and has been deeply involved in Republican politics most of his adult life.

In other words, they have some background to support their decisions.

What grade would you give the current council on making land-use decisions? The answer to that question depends a lot on where you live. Residents on the western side of the county would probably give the council a passing grade; some of those on the eastern side would give them a failing grade.

Growth, even in a weak economy, is a lot more pronounced on the eastern side of the county; there is absolutely no doubt about that.

Decisions on growth are the most important council members make because they not only influence what happens today, but also what happens tomorrow.

A failure to communicate

“What we’ve got here is failure to communicate.”

That famous line from “Cool Hand Luke,” a movie filled with quotable lines, applies to what it occurring behind the scenes of Sussex County Council.

The recent nonaction on the Lingo-Townsend rezoning application is a prime example of what occurs when public officials stop communicating or choose whom they speak with.

It was Councilwoman Joan Deaver’s mission to get the application, which, if approved, would pave the way for the Village Centre shopping and office complex, on the Tuesday, Jan. 12 agenda.

And according to council protocol, because the application is in District 3, which she represents, she has the right to set the timetable for it. Deaver said she spoke with Council President Vance Phillips about placing the item on the first agenda for the New Year, but conceded for the second meeting.

Somewhere along the line, it was either taken off the agenda or never placed on it without Deaver’s knowledge. That’s gap number one in the communication miscues related to this matter.

Deaver said she did everything she was supposed to do according to the rules of procedure to get the application on the Jan. 12 agenda. But because Councilman Mike Vincent requested a few more weeks to mull the matter over, it was not placed on the agenda. That was after Deaver told her constituents and announced in public it would appear on the Jan. 12 agenda.

No one told Deaver of Vincent’s concerns; she read his comments in the Cape Gazette. That was the second communication miscue.

Phillips claims Deaver did not instruct the clerk of the council to place the item on the agenda; Deaver claims she did. There is another communication question.

It appears in this case, Deaver did not have the final say when the application is placed on an agenda.

Vincent asked for 60 more days back in October and he was granted the time; the 60 days expired the last week in December. That motion implied the matter would be placed on the first agenda to start 2010.

She said the matter should be on the Tuesday, Jan. 19 agenda.

There is a bigger issue here than an application on an agenda. It appears Deaver is not privy to some communication between other members of council. Regardless of which side of the fence council members sit, open communication is paramount to proper governing of the county.

And another oft-quoted line is apropos as well: communication goes both ways.

Winter wonderland

Fort Miles

Tower, Cape Henlopen State Park

Rehoboth Beach.

Say a prayer for Dan

If you follow Sussex County Council, you know that sitting in the back of the room is Dan Kramer of Greenwood. Dan has not missed a meeting for more than 15 years.

We all need to say a prayer for Dan as he undergoes some medical procedures to start the New Year. Knowing his feistiness, he won’t be down for long.

In fact, I think he has planned everything so he won’t miss a council meeting.

Dan is one of those unique Sussex County individuals who is not afraid to speak his mind to anyone who will listen. But, ironically, since the council changed its public participation policy he has not spoken during a regular meeting. He will talk during public hearings, but refuses to utter a word until council rescinds the current policy.

Under the policy, speakers must sign up at the meeting and restrict their comments to around three minutes. In addition, all comments must be general in nature and not aimed toward a council or staff member. In other words, you can’t call out someone at a meeting.

It’s not that he can’t speak his mind in three minutes, he says the entire policy restricts free speech.

I know that council members put little stock in what Dan says. They view him as a thorn in their side.

In reality, he is one of the few citizen watchdogs out there keeping an eye on county government. Sometimes he is the only member of the public at a meeting.