Middletown approves Fiscal Year 2009 budget

   On Monday, the Town of Middletown Mayor and Council passed the town budget for Fiscal Year 2009.
    Vice Mayor Jim Reynolds presented the budget. Middletown Mayor Ken Branner was absent due to double-knee replacement surgery.
    Reynolds said the Fiscal Year 2008 spending budget went in the red by 1 percent, due to a spending increase on public safety because of the new police department and rising energy costs. However, receipts offset these costs, so the town eventually came in under budget.
    He said the operating budget for FY 2008 will be more than $29 million, 10 percent more than last year, due to rising energy and public safety costs.
    “I believe 2008 to 2009 will be a very hard [fiscal] year,” Reynolds said.
    The capital budget is more than $8 million. Reynolds said 37 percent of the projects planned for the capital are targeted but will most likely not be completed this fiscal year. The capital budget is financed by capital income, surplus funds and/or more debt.
    Reynold said some of the projects include the East Main Street section of the Middletown Streetscape Project, the next phase of Levels Road Park – including a seeder for the open spaces, $159,019 to improve water lines on Industrial Drive, a new dump truck, a roller, a down payment on a truck for the electric department, storage vehicle facilities for the Middletown Police Department, two police cars for the new cadets, repairs at the Old Academy Building and a new cover for the Silver Lake pool.
    Kristen Krenzer, public relations officer for the Town of Middletown, said the town will also give two public service donations: $50,000 to Associated Community Talents, Inc., for repairs to The Everett Theatre and $150,000 to the Volunteer Hose Co. of Middletown.

DelDOT presents Westown update
    Mark Tudor, project manager of the Delaware Department of Transportation’s Westown project, presented an update on the U.S. 301 portion at the meeting.
    So far, DelDOT and the developers have completed work on Levels and part of Bunker Hill roads. The Westown project also includes rehabilitation to St. Anne’s Church Road, Wiggins Mill Road, the intersections at those roads and the St. Anne’s Church Bridge, which will be completely torn down and reconstructed.
    Construction of the Middletown Westown Transportation Project began in the spring of last year and is intended to improve some roadways on the west side of town. The project is 70 percent financed by developers and 30 percent financed by DelDOT, with approval from the town.
    Tudor said the U.S. 301 portion of the project will include expanded 12-foot wide thru lanes from 301 Plaza to Peterson Road. The shoulders outside of the roads will be 10-feet, while the shoulders running along the dividers will be 4-feet.
    This project is not the proposed U.S. 301 bypass, which will build an entirely new U.S. 301 and Spur Road, mostly outside of the limits of Middletown.
    In the U.S. 301 of the Westown project, the first phase of reconstruction of the current U.S. 301 will begin this month and end in the fall, Tudor said. It will encompass the drainage on the northbound side of U.S. 301 around United Drive and Vantage Road and the intersection of U.S. 301 and Peterson Road, which will be closed.
    The second phase will begin later this summer and end in winter 2009. New southbound lanes and medians will be built for U.S. 301 from Bunker Hill Road to United Drive. The intersection of U.S. 301 and Bunker Hill Road will also be entirely reconstructed. During reconstruction of the intersection, it will be closed and there will be detours from U.S. 301 to Peterson Road to Del. 299, from U.S. 301 to Sandhill Drive to Bunker Hill Road to Merrimac Avenue.
    Phase three will take place from spring 2010 to summer 2010. It will create southbound lanes and some medians on U.S. 301 from Peterson Road to Ash Boulevard. Doc Levinson Drive will be closed at this time. Residents living in Middletown Village will be able to enter U.S. 301 northbound by Ash Boulevard.
    The final phase will take place from summer 2010 to winter 2010. This will create northbound lanes and the rest of the medians on U.S. 301 from Peterson Road to Ash Boulevard. The existing roadway between Ash Boulevard and Peterson Road will also be overlaid. No streets will be closed in the final phase.
    “The U.S. 301 you see today will be dramatically changed in terms of this project,” Tudor said.
    Middletown Village resident Susan Love asked whether the detours would be a deliberate diverting of the traffic, especially since the roads at Middletown Village are not improved.
    Tudor said the detours will mostly be for those who live in the area to get to U.S. 301, and are not intended to send all U.S. 301 traffic through the development.

Developer receives preliminary approval for two warehouses
    Developer Rick Woodin presented preliminary plans for two 25,000 square foot “flex warehouses” located near the intersection of Patriot Drive and Levels Road, which council approved.
    Woodin said these warehouses would be faced apart so the backs would have a central access point which trucks could drive through and unload their wares. Stormwater management has already been approved and constructed for the project.
    Woodin requested the warehouses be permit-ready for any new tenants.
    “Then we can act quickly when the user wants space quickly,” he said.
    Springmill resident Earle Silverman questioned if Woodin had leases for the project, and mentioned some buildings around town had a high vacancy rate.
    Woodin responded there would be no construction until 50 percent of one of the properties was leased. He also said while Middletown has vacancies for office space, the warehouse will be made up of “light industrial” businesses.

Police report
    Middletown Police Chief Hank Tobin said there were 1,313 calls for service for the month of June. The officers also issued 137 arrests and 126 parking violations.
    Tobin said some residents have been complaining to the council for being cited for parking in a fire lane. He said the council cannot settle those disputes and all complaints about parking violations must be settled at Justice of the Peace Court No. 9.
    “It is a violation,” Tobin said of parking in a fire lane. “They are marked. They are approved by the State Fire Marshall’s Office.”
    Volunteer Hose Co. of Middletown Fire Chief Frank Bailey thanked Tobin for the Middletown Police’s diligence in freeing the fire lanes, as well as the police’s assistance in a deck that had been set on fire in Dove Run and a kitchen stove fire on July 4.
    “The service has just been excellent,” Bailey said.
    Tobin said major trends last month were speeding complaints in Willow Grove Mill, an increase in fuel thefts and reports of criminal mischief.

Public comments
    Numerous Middletown Crossing residents raised objections to the town’s plan to take down a fence around a stormwater management pond.
    Resident John Gill said the fence has acted as a safety measure so kids do not fall in the pond. He also said the area around the fence has been poorly maintained.
    Town Manager Morris Deputy said the plan to remove the fence has been implemented because the Delaware Department of Natural Resources & Environmental Control has guidelines that recommend against it. Fences are also not used around any of the developments in town limits.
    Reynolds suggested the residents and the town hold a meeting over some sort of option which could possibly keep the fence up. If it stays up, the fence would be fixed.
    Middletown businessman Jay Heath spoke against two of the headlining acts at the Unicity Festival scheduled for Aug. 2. He said the acts of film director John Waters and comedienne Sandra Bernhardt were obscene and promoted an “extreme liberal agenda” inappropriate for Middletown.
    “I know a lot of people who would consider this a threat to our wholesome, small-town atmosphere,” he said.
    Acting Middletown Main Street Manager Tracy Skrobot said these acts are enclosed and in a place children cannot see them. They are also not paid for with taxpayer money.
    The Premier Centre for the Arts and Realize Records are putting on the entire Unicity Festival and Middletown Main Street, Inc., has just partnered with them to offer volunteers and any other non-financial support.
    “They wanted to have a nonprofit involved if they needed help,” Skrobot said.
    Councilmember Jason Faulkner said the events would be guarded and ticketed.
    “We can control who goes and sees it,” he said.
    Councilmember Kathy Kelly said she did not know about the acts and was shocked.
    “I’m disgusted with it,” she said.
    Stephanie Jay, a local artist who will be at the festival, said she would not attend or let her kids attend the Waters show, but said she appreciated that Middletown would have entertainment for adults.
    She said the acts send a message that Middletown is not close-minded and appreciates the freedom of speech.
    “I hope we can have kids’ events and family events and adult events,” she said.
    The next Town of Middletown Mayor and Council meeting will be Monday, Aug. 3, at 7:30 p.m.