Mayor & Council

MINUTES Town of Smyrna Council Meeting Bi-Monthly Meeting Monday, December 16, 2024, 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm Hybrid 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: Passcode: or by visiting Join Zoom meeting at: 1. 7:00 PM - Call to order The meeting was called to order by Mayor Johnson at 7:00 p.m. 2. Pledge of Allegiance 3. Roll Call Roll call was done by staff liaison, Danielle. All were in attendance. 4. Additions/deletions to the published agenda Councilman Pope motioned to approve the published agenda. Councilwoman Dr. Upshur seconded the motion. All were in favor, motion passed to approved the agenda as published. 5. Consent agenda Vice Mayor Rasmussen motioned to approve the Consent agenda. Councilwoman Gott seconded the motion. All were in favor, motion passed to approve the Consent agenda. a. Council minutes of 12/2/2024 b. Executive Session minutes of 12/2/2024 6. Non-agenda items a. Mayor and Council Members Mayor Johnson - wished everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. He spoke on the grant process. Going into the new year, all grants need to be reviewed by the Town Manager and/or the Finance person who will be in charge of that. After a Department head has reviewed it, it needs to go to Finance for a code. Mayor Johnson said that it can't work that way because grants come up when they do. In some places, if the proper protocol isn't followed, the person becomes liable for the grant. Councilman Pressley did ask if they used to have a date that grants had to be submitted by. He continued that everything is moving in the right direction. He then mentioned that he did find an old grant process that was worked on by them and previous employees Gary, (Finance Director/Interim Town Manager), and Chalea, (Finance/Customer Service Manager/Assistant Town Manager). He said that with everything moving smoothly, he reminded Council that they have to stay out of the departments. They have to contact Torrie, (Police Chief/Interim Town Manager), and Jason, (Assistant Town Manager). Those two are the only ones that Council should/need to talk to. He reminded them that Committees can only make recommendations. He brought up that the Mayor can talk to Barrett, (Town Solicitor); it has to be important and strictly for legal items. He then moved on to the Opioid Commission. He is acting chair of the local government. There is $900,000 going to local governments. That will be discussed on January 8th; how the State is going to distribute the money. The State has received about $64 million. $36-46 million has been designated, but only about $13 million has been given out. They are having issues of having something in place where local governments and counties should be included more than what they are. There are lot of them who are not happy with the process. Local government is part of the State code, [for this]. The Fire Department needs things and the Ambulance Company needs things. Our Police Department deals with opioid people every day. If the Town gets these funds, the Town will have to come up with the process on how to distributed. He advised Council to read up on the Opioid Commission website; especially Exhibit E. There is also the opioid impact fees that the State collects. There's about $3 million from pharmacies. It's a small number that local governments get, like .001 per million. He said they have to become aware of these things and read up on it. He went to the Fire Department's Christmas party. He said it was a nice affair; food was good. The Town was recognized for contributions made and how well they are working with the Town and Council. He brought up the events held during the year. His example was the Veterans' event. Every event for 2025 needs to have a financial statement that tells what was done and a budget. Anything spent on events needs to come back to Council and presented as a budget amendment. There is a line for Council expenses and any costs should be taken from that. This is so that everything is accounted for in the budgetary basis. The information that staff is presenting is very good and with the Finance Committee helping, everything is going smoothly. This is to maintain controls. Councilman Johnson - thanked the Town crew for getting the electric turned back on last Friday. Thanked the Town crew for how nice the town looks. Wished everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Councilman Pressley - said that Charter Review will be January 16, 5 p.m., downstairs; everyone is invited. He commented to Councilwoman Gott on how nice the Veterans' Ceremony was. Councilwoman Gott said she appreciated that. Mayor Johnson asked if the 2 agenda items, [7 f & g], will be on Charter Review; [it was spoken briefly about tabling these items]. Councilman Pressley said that he wrote a note. Councilman Pope - he mentioned that the Veterans' event was nice and congratulated the recipients on this year and previous years. He said he went to the Pearl Harbor Remembrance Ceremony. It was cold but very well attended and well done. He said to keep a staff member in our thoughts, as she lost her father. He said that it's hard, but especially during the holidays. He wished everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Hanukkah, and a Happy New Year. Councilwoman Dr. Upshur - thanked Councilwoman Gott for the Veterans' event. Said it was phenomenal, had about 175 people. The Star Spangled Sweethearts were amazing. She said that she also attended the Pearl Harbor event and that it was a wonderful experience honoring those that were lost that day. She mentioned that Caroling on the Square was well attended. There was Santa Claus and karaoke. She thanked staff for everything they've done this year and how they pulled through with the budget. She thanked them for the transparency. She wished everyone Happy Holidays. She then said that she was voted by the DLLG to be on the Executive Committee. Councilwoman Gott - thanked everyone who came to the Veterans' event. Thanked Council for making it successful. She thanked the Public Works and Electric crews who hauled banners and banner items to and from [the Opera House]. She talked about Caroling on the Square and thanked Walt, [IT Manager], for his help. She bought a screen for outside and he said that it could work. She thanked Megan Brewer, who DJs at the Celtic Pub; she volunteered her time. There was a nice group of people. She mentioned that Santa was there, Tom's Coffee, and Sweet Josephine's. This year was the 8th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor Remembrance event. She said in 2026 they are looking to do a bit more and let us help them. January 10 is the Red Sand Project Day. She explained what it was about. It focuses on human trafficking awareness, knowledge, and education within the community. It will be posted in Town Tidbits and Facebook. There are packets of red sand that have been given by the National Foundation of Women Legislators. The local schools will have boxes of sand and they will designate who will use the sand at their school. She mentioned that businesses and individuals can participate in pouring red sand into cracks. The purpose is to show that the community is an open door for human trafficking awareness. This makes a tremendous difference for children and adults each year. She gave an example of what happen in 2019 at Wawa when a child goes in with a man in a white shirt and is told to wait for the man in a blue shirt. Then 3 days later, the man in the blue shirt brings the child back and the man in the white shirt takes the child back. She said that had Wawa staff known what was going on, they may have been able to prevent it. This project is what helps with awareness and she hopes it helps people become better educated and more aware of what is  going on around them. She said if anyone is interested to let her know so she can let them know when their red sand comes in. Kate, [from the Police Department] and kids from the schools are going to make a video. She then wished everyone Happy Holidays. Vice Mayor Rasmussen - said he reiterates what everyone has said so far regarding thank yous and Happy Holidays. He mentioned that Wednesday, Main Street Coordinating Board will have meeting downstairs at 8:30 a.m.; all are welcome to attend. He said that they'll be talking about potentially applying to the Delaware 250 Anniversary Commission for some additional signage and historic markers and other things in town. On January 9, Evie and he are working to plan an EDGE Grant workshop. This is a grant program from the State that helps support small businesses in start up and operations costs. He said that Evie works with the Small Business Development Center at the University of Delaware and provides technical assistance for small business who are applying for EDGE grants. He has applied and received a few. They are hosting a workshop with the State Division of Small Business to hopefully get more small businesses in the Smyrna-Clayton area knowledgeable about it and see more applications. This will be at the Police Station at 5:30 p.m. on January 9. Mayor Johnson - thanked each Councilperson for their service in 2024. He felt that everyone was beginning to be on the same page. Councilman Pressley asked him to speak up. Mayor Johnson spoke louder. They have dealt with a lot; good comments and bad comments, but it's all part of the job. He said it was nice to see them all working together. He also thanked residents for showing up and had issues, comments, and questions. He thanked specific members of staff for their hard work: Walt, [IT Manager], for working on a screen [for the budget presentation], Jason [Assistant Town Manager], for accepting the role, Jeremy [Planning Director], for all he does, especially with Economic Development and keeping up with all that stuff, Travis, [Finance Director], for all that he does, and Torrie [Police Chief/interim Town Manager]. He also thanked Barrett, [Solicitor], for his advise, legal opinion, and allowing them to pick his brain. What he does for the Town is immeasurable. b. Police Chief Chief James - said that they just hired a new officer. c. Town Manager Chief James - he thanked staff. He brought up the power outage that occured on Friday. The first outage was from a line that came into our power station from Delmarva Power and Light, [DP&L]. We did not have control over that. The second outage happened while we were transitioning over to the Beasley [Power] Plant. He said that a lot of people don't realize how lucky we are to have the main power plant for six to seven different town in our backyard. He said that it was an unfortunate incident but that we are working to do better with notifications. We are on the tail end of launching an app. He said that Walt, [IT  Manager], has been pushing stuff out, and that the database has about 6000 residents in it. Once we go live, we'll be able to get things out immediately. 7. Old business, including discussion and possible action on the following items: a. Economic Development Incentives Jeremy [Planning Director] - presented updated information regarding the incentives. He said that Ambulance 64 doesn't have an objection to the partial fee waiver in the industrial park. VIce Mayor Rasmussen - asked if he could provide a refresher on what the proposal is. Jeremy said that what is provided in the IORP; the Duck Creek Business Park and the Smyrna Business Park, is a 50% waiver for municipal impact fees and municipal building permits. A waiver for for ambulance, fire, or school is not offered. The reason was that those were capped at $3750. With the increases, in order to stay competitive, staff recommends a cap of 50% for the business parks. Councilman Pope - reiterated that it was just for the business park. Jeremy confirmed that was correct. It would include the Duck Creek Business Campus, the Walmart Distribution Center, and the Smyrna Business Park. Councilwoman Gott - asked what is their [Ambulance 64] assumption that we [Council] are asking them to do; because initially Council said no to incentives. Jeremy - addressed Councilman Pressley, since he serves on the board . Councilman Pressley - said that they decided that whatever they get helps them. It is better then $3750, but they didn't want to get nothing and they didn't want to hurt the town on having businesses to come. Jeremy - provided an example of the difference from the new Delaware Home and Hospital. The cap would have been $3750. Calculating the building permits, $250,000 will be going to the fire company and $41,000 will be going to the ambulance company. He said that that if this is added to a business coming to the business park, we are competing again other municipal locations. Councilman Pressley - said that we don't want to put ourselves out of the ballpark and told Jeremy he did a good job. Vice Mayor Rasmussen - summarized that the proposal is to add the 50% waiver that's currently offered under the existing sliding investment scale and apply it to the other impact fees associated with the IORP area to the fire and ambulance impact fee as well. Jeremy - said that was correct. Barrett [Town Solicitor] - this would be Code amendment and he can draft an amendment if this was the direction they wanted to go in. Vice Mayor Rasmussen - spoke after a few seconds pause that no one seemed to be objecting and asked Barrett to draft it.  b. Second reading of Ordinance No. 017-24, amending the Town Code of the Town of Smyrna to establish a property tax exemption for disabled individuals and to update the income requirement to qualify for the tax exemption Councilwoman Dr. Upshur motioned to make this the second reading. Councilwoman Gott seconded the motion. There was no discussion and no abstentions. Motion passed for the second reading. c. Second reading of Ordinance No. 018-24, amending Chapter 18, (Buildings and Building Regulations), Article XI, (Rental Properties), to require rental licenses and rental inspections and certification of occupancy for rental units occupied by individuals related to the property owner Councilman Pope made the motion to make this the second reading. Councilman Johnson second the motion. There was no discussion, no objections. All were in favor. Motion passed for the second reading. d. Second reading of Ordinance No. 019-24, amending Chapter 14, (Animals), of the Town Code of the Town of Smyrna to clarify the exemptions from the prohibitions contained therein Councilman Pope made a motion to make this the second reading. Councilwoman Gott and Councilman Johnson overlapped on a second motion. There was no discussion, no objections. All were in favor. Motion passed for the second reading. e. Reclassification of the Public Safety Committee to the Police Accountability Board to meet the standards required by House Bill 206, (2023) Vice Mayor Rasmussen - said that this is a necessary item in order to meet the requirements that were passed by the State in 2023. He asked if there was specific language that needs to go along with this or just a motion on reclassifying the Public Safety Committee with the Police Accountability Board. Chief James - said it's just a change over. Vice Mayor Rasmussen - asked for a motion. Councilwoman Dr. Upshur motioned to reclassify the Public Safety Committee to the Police Accountability Board per the standards required by House Bill 206 [2023]. Councilman Pope seconded the motion. There was no discussion, no oppositions. Motion passed to reclassify the Public Safety Committee to the Police Accountability Board. f. Mayor and Council term limits Tabled so that Charter Review can discussion at their next meeting. g. Council selection of the Vice Mayor Tabled so that Charter Review can discussion at their next meeting. 8. New business, including discussion and possible action on the following items: a. Members for the Police Accountability Board Chief James - said that he has spoken to some people because there are certain criteria that has to be met. He is requesting to add Reverend Ronnie  Robinson, Mr. Justin Capps, Councilwoman Upshur, and himself as he is Chief of Police. Vice Mayor Rasmussen - asked if that was all; if it was a 4 member committee. Chief James - said yes, that was all; it can be expanded upon, but it meets the criteria: somebody that has been affected, somebody from the clergy, somebody from the community, and himself. Mayor Johnson - said that the names should have been listed. Vice Mayor Rasmussen - asked that a list of names be on the next agenda, so that it is a formal approval for the minutes. He then asked if there was any further discussion. There was none. b. Council and staff interactions Mayor Johnson - he said that it was discussed a little bit earlier, but he wanted to reiterate the point that everything should go through Torrie [Police Chief/interim Town Manager] and Jason [Assistant Town Manager]. Anything legal that would need to be for Barrett, he said to go to Torrie. He said that Council Secretary may reach out to Barrett because of the specific powers they have/higher authority. 9. Reallocation of budgeted ARPA funds Jason - presented and let Council know that staff was requesting that Council approved the reallocation of budgeted ARPA [American Rescue Plan Act] funds to meeting the obligated deadline requirements, that states that all funds must be obligated to an ongoing project entered into contract, awarded bid, sub-awarded, or transactions that require payment by December 31, 2024. He listed the overfunded and underfunded projects that are current. Funds from Projects 21C04, [E Commerce St utilities, $103k], and 21C08, [Downtown parking lot, $34k], to be reallocated to Projects 21R08, [Basketball courts, $-133.98], and 21C02, [GCW Jr Park bathrooms, $-39k]. After the overage funds cover the shortages, the remaining balance will go to the ongoing project to support the well and treatment plants. The reallocation is because any funds not being obligated to a project by December 31st, will be returned. Vice Mayor Rasmussen - asked if all the funds were expected to be expended by 2025. Jason - by 2026 all ARPA projects will be expensed, so this will help get us through. Mayor Johnson - said that the balance is $976k; $5.4m spent of the $6.3m. Vice Mayor Rasmussen - asked for a motion Councilman Pope motioned to approve the reallocation of budgeted ARPA funds as recommended by staff. Councilwoman Gott seconded. All were in favor. There was  no opposition. There was no further discussion. Motion passed to approve the reallocation of budgeted ARPA funds. Mayor Johnson - asked that in the future if things like this can be put on a screen. Chief James - said that Walt, [IT Manager], and he are working on some things to add to the room that will make it easier for the public to see what's going on. Mayor Johnson - said it was an excellent document. Chief James - said it was thanks to the Finance team. Councilman Pope - asked if the document could be put on the town's website. Mayor Johnson - said it'll be with the minutes. Then said that since this was such a great document, they'll be looking forward to similar documents for all future council meetings. 10. Presentation and public comments (3 minutes) PIa Robinson - said she cannot find minutes. Councilwoman Gott asked if was for a specific meeting or just all meetings. Pia said for the last meeting. Vice Mayor Rasmussen told her that the 12/2 meeting minutes were just approved at this meeting, which is why they are not posted. She said okay. She then asked about a development going up on Rabbit Chase. She wanted to know if that was going to be rezoned because she knows it's in town, but they won't have taxes. Jeremy spoke up about some developments. Pia clarified. Jeremy said that on the right is Centerville, approved back in 2010 for 430 duplex dwelling units. On the left is a previously approved subdivision with a new school. He continued with the subdivision of Worthington, which has about 300 built houses, but slated for upwards of 800. Pia said she was concerned about the Rabbit Chase side and whether or not the town would be getting taxes and utility revenue. Jeremy said that is correct. He also said that Rabbit Chase Ln will double in width with a series of roundabouts; per DelDOT. Vicky Blair - wanted to thank Council, the Mayor, and staff on the rough year that was had. They made a lot of hard decisions. She Mayor and Council for their patience with her in regards to asking a lot of questions. She's the type of person, if she has a question, she wants an answer. She thanked them again and wished them a happy holiday. Irene Strozeski - wished Council a blessed holiday and said she appreciates them. She also wanted to thank the staff. She said they, [staff], are their [Council's], rock. She thanked everyone who shows up and voices their opinion. Her husband and she will continue to do what they do. Then she said from their household to Council's, she wished everyone a blessed life, season, and New Year. 11. Adjournment Councilman Pope motioned to adjourn the meeting. Councilwoman Gott seconded the motion. All were in favor. The meeting adjourned at 7:53 p.m. Posted on 0925/2023 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.