The Town of Middletown Mayor and Council ratified a contract with the Town of Odessa to sell Odessa 100,000 gallons worth of sewer treatment capacity.
“All we’re doing is selling them capacity,” Middletown Mayor Ken Branner said of the contracts. “No improvements [to the infrastructure], nothing.”
The councils of Middletown and Odessa have worked on setting up this arrangement for months in expectation of the Odessa Common property, which was annexed into Odessa and will add new residences and commercial properties to Odessa. Middletown’s motion to create the contract was passed in September 2008, this new motion approves the contract on Middletown’s end.
Middletown has 500,000 gallons worth of sewer capacity. The town also has a contract to sell sewer treatment to New Castle County.
The council purchased a property on Haveg Road near Industrial Drive for $600,000. Verizon formerly owned this property, and made improvements to the lighting and the blacktop area around it before it was sold to the town.
Branner said for now this property is only being bought for now. It will not yet be put into use. The town wanted it because it is contiguous with Middletown’s public works near the site, and it can be used as new space for a public works department, as the current building is full.
To pay for the purchase of the building, as well as other upgrades to the town, the council adopted a resolution to re-finance the mortgage on the Middletown Town Hall. Since the mortgage is tied into a loan to pay for infrastructure, refinancing will result in $3 million to pay for East Main Street, $1 million to improve Industrial Drive and $600,000 for the new building. Kristen Krenzer, public relations officer for the Town of Middletown, said the refinancing could potentially save the town $333,000 to $448,000, depending on which bank they decide to take out a loan with.
“[It’s a] good way to save,” Branner said.
Approved land use plans
The council gave approvals to two Appoquinimink School District plans. Appoquinimink received major land development approval for a new agricultural science building at Middletown High School and minor land development approval for improvements at Louis L. Redding Middle School.
Shane Minner of Landmark Engineering presented both plans. The agricultural building will be 8,356 square feet and located adjacent to the already-present greenhouse.
Minner said the trailers in the area will be removed before construction and the 24-foot wide gravel access area nearby will be a paved road. Some sidewalks in the area will also be replaced and the circle will be changed.
The minor land development plan includes 24 new bus parking spaces and 28 new auditorium parking spaces for Redding Middle School. The access from New Street to the bus parking will be reconstructed, and the pavement near the front entrance, the eastern parking and the rear parking will all be milled and overlaid, Minner said. The projects are part of the 2006 referendum.
The council also gave preliminary approval to a development plan for a shopping center located off Doc Levinson Drive and U.S. 301. This center will include 110,000 square feet of commercial and retail properties – one large building in the back and three smaller buildings, including a restaurant, in front. Scott Lobdell of Landmark Engineering presented this plan. He said Landmark will also work with the Delaware Department of Transportation to include a landscape island in the center of Doc Levison Drive, which will slow traffic.
Council approved this plan after Branner requested the buildings in front be moved so the face of the buildings are closer to U.S. 301 and most of the parking is behind the buildings.
Roger Brickley also received a variance to split three acres on Summit Bridge Road adjacent to Springmill into three lots, each 1-acre.
Krenzer said these acres were once part of the Carter Farm, and will now be used for three single-family homes for the children of Barbara Carter.
Police report
Middletown Police Chief Hank Tobin said there were 1,098 calls for service in January. Of these calls, 271 were documented and 66 led to arrests. There were 77 criminal charges issued.
There were 47 traffic accidents. Of these, 33 involved property damage, nine were personal injury, four were hit-and-run and one was a personal injury accident/hit-and-run.
Tobin said there were 19 thefts from vehicles this month of items that were unsecured and in plain view. Some of these items included $45,000 worth of jewelry taken from a car. He reminded residents to lock up their valuables.
“Even though we made arrests on this, please do that anyway,” he said.
The council also approved a grant for $2,500 to the Middletown High School Robotics Team.
The next Middletown Council meeting will be held Monday, March 10. The meeting will be delayed a week as the Middletown Council election will take place on Monday, March 2.
Middletown, Del. —
