Mayor & Council

MINUTES Town of Smyrna Council Meeting Bi-Monthly Meeting Monday, June 17, 2024, 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm Council Chambers MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC WILL BE PERMITTED TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS MEETING by teleconference by calling 1-301-715-8592 and entering Meeting ID number: 834 1372 9751 Passcode: 124053 or by visiting Join Zoom meeting at: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83413729751? pwd=RDoWpkXRfIRi5zuhpJzWKWFsys7Q1N.1 1. 7:00 PM - Call to order – regular meeting 2. Pledge of Allegiance/Moment of Silence 3. Report of the Election Board read by Danielle Pope - Gerald Brown, 175 votes ; Dean Johnson, 392 votes 4. Swearing in of newly elected Councilmember the swearing in of Dean Johnson was read by Mayor Johnson. In attendance was Dean's wife, Mary 5. Roll call ​roll call was taken by Danielle Pope 6. Additions/deletions to published agenda A motion was made by Councilman Rasmussen to approve the published agenda. Councilwoman Gott seconded the motion. All approved. 7. Consent agenda: a. Council minutes of 06/03/2024 A motion was made by Councilman Pope to approve the minutes of 6/3. Councilwoman Gott seconded the motion. All approved. b. Executive Session minutes of 06/03/2024 A motion was made by Councilman Pope to approve the minutes of 6/3. Councilwoman Gott seconded the motion. All approved.​ 8. Non-agenda Items: a. Mayor & Council Members Mayor Johnson - The 2022 audit is now complete. The auditors will give a presentation in July. There could be a change to the budget process and how the  documentation is formatted. Smyrna at Night was good and fun. He thanked everyone. He expressed how he was happy to see meetings filled with residents. If they don't show up, they lose their voice. Plus, there's too much incorrect information on Facebook. Councilman Pressley - Charter and Ordinance Review will meet on Thursday, July 18, 5p, in the Committee Conference Room downstairs. Vice Mayor Rasmussen - Main Street Coordinating Board will meet on June 25. Murals are being worked on; 1 N. Main St with a ribbon cutting in the coming weeks. Councilman Pope - Personnel will meet tomorrow, June 18, 5p. He thanked Councilman Rasmussen for hosting the Spotlight event at Painted Stave; discussions about the rising costs and comparisons. Belmont Hall will have a ribbon cutting on Sunday, July 14. He thanked everyone for Smyrna at Night. Councilwoman Gott - Parks and Recreation will meet on Thursday, June 20, 5p. July 4 flags are getting ready to be put out on lawns. The Smile Place is having a grand reopening on Wednesday, June 26, at 2:45p. She welcomed Dean Johnson as a newly appointed council-member. She plans on sending out forms for the Veteran's Day ceremony. She asked to have a list of committees when possible. She talked about the community calendar. The Art Trailer was on display during Smyrna at Night and was a hit with the crowds. Snows Painting and Sherwin-Williams donated paint and it was designed by the Smyrna High School art students. Also during Smyrna at Night the Duck Creek Historical Society gave a peek at their new meeting and banquet place - Carol Hall. It'll official be open on Monday, July 15. Councilwoman Upshur - thanked everyone for Smyrna at Night; it was a fabulous day. She read two (2) proclamations: one for Juneteenth and one for Caribbean- American Heritage Month. She also listed the islands that envelope the Caribbean. Councilman Johnson - thanked the residents for believing in him and voting him to Council. Mayor Johnson - discussed the Opioid Commission for the State and the most recent settlement amounts. The money that local governments will be receiving will go to local responders. He said all the information can be found on the Commssion's website. He thanks Councilman Gerald Brown for his time on Council. b. Police Chief Chief James - they have a K9 who is fresh out of training, the first in 5 years. His a rescue dog. Thanked staff for Smyrna at Night. It was a long day, 6a-12a. Mentioned that the 2022 audit was completed. Vacancies are being filled in Finance - one for customer service and one for billing. c. Town Manager 9. Old business, including Discussions & Possible Action on the following items: a. Third reading of ordinance 006-24 to amend Chapter 26 (Elections), Article I (In General), to require a criminal history background check for candidates running for the office of Mayor and Town Council A motion was made by Councilwoman Upshur to agree that this was the second reading of ordinance 006-24. Councilman Pope seconded the motion. All approved. 10. New Business, Including Discussion & Possible Action on the following Items: a. Presentation by DelDOT for the Commerce Street Transportation Alternatives Project Jeremy Rothwell discussed the process - plan is Commerce St/Rt 13 to Smyrna- Clayton Blvd. Gentleman from DelDOT discussed that the project will be streetscaping and they will have Federal Funding. TAP - no cost to the town as this is a feasibility study. There will be a 3-step process, ADA updates, and so forth. There will be two (2) public workshop meetings. The first meeting will be Monday, July 22, 6p-8p at Citizens Hose. The second meeting will be determined at a later date. Wallace & Montgomery are the agency who will be doing the work. DelDOT will have the information up on their project site and they are hoping that the Town and Jeremy will collaborate with them by sharing the information. Councilman Pope asked to have this on the Town's website. b. Recent report regarding PFA levels in the Town's drinking water Councilman Pope spoke on this saying that a report published on May 28 talked about five (5) municipalities having high chemicals in drinking water and Smyrna was listed as one of those five. He asked Public Works Director Jason McNatt to speak at the podium. Jason McNatt explained that every public water system goes through rigorous testing by the State and if any numbers fail, the testing restarts. Our report from the State came back with no detection of high chemicals. One visitor asked about TideWater testing procedures and Jason McNatt suggested the visitor call TideWater as they are a separate entity and we would not have their reports. c. Discussion and possible action on electric for Citizens' Hose Co. and Ambulance 64 Councilman Pressley asked for this to be removed/tabled. All agreed to have it removed/tabled. d. Tax assessments * i. Senior Citizen exemptions Vice Mayor Rasmussen wanted to discuss the Senior Citizen exemptions and asked if Charter/Ordinance Review could look into making changes. Councilman Pressley said he'd add it to an agenda for the committee. ii. Payment arrangements Vice Mayor Rasmussen wanted to discuss what additional flexibility can be given to property owners regarding their tax statements. Councilwoman Gott asked if this is similar to what Chief James had discussed when the taxes increased? Chief James said that there isn't an official process and that the Town Manager's office is working with people as they reach out. e. Recommendation of Award - Public Works Parking Lot ** Assistant Public Works Director Jake Mitchell discussed the needs for updating the Public Works parking lot, including reconstruction and upgrades. The Planning, Inspections, and Zoning department team is located there now, which has also brought more visitors. The funding will be through the Municipal Street Aid. Vice Mayor Rasmussen listed the contractors from the bid: Dixon Contracting, Green Paving, George & Lynch, Zack Excavating, and ADEL Construction. The winning bid and award recommendation is ADEL Construction. He made the motion to award the project to ADEL Construction. Councilwoman Gott seconded. All approved.  11. Presentation and public comments (3 minutes) Vicki Blair - appreciated that the 2024 Budget was up on the website and noted it was nice to see that all future Mayor and Council meetings were on the website also. She asked about the new communities coming up. Jeremy Rothwell let her know those are all in pre-planning phases. Gerald Brown - spoke briefly about his time on council and thanked everyone. He talked about doing better with public announcements and accountability. He spoke briefly about being on the following committees - Parks & Recreation, Public Safety, and Utility. Barbara Davis - asked if a light or stop sign could be placed at the intersection of South St and Main St, (by the library). It's a bad intersection. Chief James said that a safety study was done in 2021 and we were told that at the time that a light or stop sign was not needed. Debra Wineglass - lives in the Ashland community and thanked Chief James for getting the electronic speed signed installed. Alex Fadell - asked about the tax increases and what will happen next year. Mayor Johnson said that the Town needs to project numbers for the future and that is through starting the budget process earlier. Ken Olsen - wanted to say that he and many residents are not happy about the tax increase. 12. Executive session to discuss personnel matters in which the names, competency, and abilities of individual employees will be discussed. 29 Del. C. § 10004(b)(9) Vice Mayor Rasmussen motioned to go into Executive Session. Councilwoman Gott seconded. 13. Possible action on matters discussed in executive session Councilman Pope motioned to come out of Executive Session. Vice Mayor Rasmussen seconded. 14. Adjournment Councilman Pope motioned to adjourn the meeting. Vice Mayor Rasmussen seconded. Meeting was adjourned at 8:35 p.m. Posted on 06/10/2024 at 4:30 PM * Posted on 6/11/2024 at 5:00 PM ** Posted on 6/12/2024 at 4:30 PM NOTE: This agenda as listed may not be considered in sequence. This agenda is subject to change to include additional items, including Executive Sessions, and/or deletion of items, including Executive Sessions that arise at time of meeting.