Mayor & Council

MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC WILL BE PERMITTED TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS MEETING by teleconference by calling 305-224-1968 and entering Meeting ID number: 836 9827 0379 Passcode: 335065 or by visiting Join Zoom Meeting at: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83698270379?pwd=c1ObCJV1O96ML9pFyMobCFzuTseUhQ.1 Council Meeting Council Chamber, Smyrna Town Hall 27 S. Market Street Plaza, Smyrna, Delaware January 21, 2025 – 7:00 PM Agenda 1. 7:00 PM – Call to order Meeting was called to order at 7:00 P.M. by Mayor Johnson 2. Pledge of Allegiance 3. Roll Call Roll call was done by staff liaison, Danielle. All members of Mayor and Council were present. 4. Additions/deletions to the published agenda Vice Mayor Rasmussen proposed two (2) changes. One for new business, which would become 8G: discussion and possible action of DelDOT US 13, Cory Ln, Dominick Blvd/Sweet Corn Ln proposal. One to add an Executive Session for personnel matters. Councilwoman Dr. Upshur seconded the proposed motion. All were in favor. Motion passed for the changes. 5. Consent agenda a. Council minutes of 12/16/2024 Vice Mayor Rasmussen motioned to approve the Consent Agenda. There was a pause in the Zoom and the second motion wasn’t heard. However, all were in favor of the motion and it was passed. 6. Non-agenda items a. Mayor and Council Members Mayor Johnson – went to a Martin Luther King Jr. event; said it was fantastic. Thanked Kathleen, (Finance, Budget Manager), for putting together a nice document for the report. Discussed the layout she had and how the information is good; taxes, utilities, water/sewer revenue, what’s been paid to Kent County, electric, trash revenue, and so forth. He liked the capital budget with expenses and the council budget. He suggested a budget transfer to reduce excess budget lines. He recommended to Chief James to have a mechanism in the system for overages. Chief James said that a mechanism is in place. Mayor Johnson said other than that, the staff is fantastic, and they are doing a really great job and leadership is good. Councilman Johnson – thanked the Town crews for the recent snow removal and taking down the Christmas decorations. He said the next thing to look at are all the potholes around town. Chief James said they have started dealing with a few of them, but it isn’t the right time of the year right now Councilman Pressley – didn’t have anything to speak on Vice Mayor Rasmussen – didn’t have anything to speak on Councilman Pope – thanked staff and spoke on the new notification system. He received a message about a water main break and the timeliness of the repairs. He mentioned that there will be a Personnel Committee meeting on the 28th at 5 p.m. in the basement conference room. He said that Planet Fitness is having their Grand Opening on the 30th at 4 p.m. He then thanked staff for the excellent job they’ve been doing. Councilwoman Gott – thanked everyone who attended/participated in the Red Sand Project. She said people have gotten more sand and are continuing to support the project. There is a video being made that they will send to a woman named Sarah. She continued that there will be Narcan training taking place at the Levine Center. Kate E from the Police Dept is helping with that. She said that Kate has been amazing with the training. She thanked the Public Works crew for taking care of the water main break. She congratulated Chief James and Walt, (IT Manager), on the new notification system. She said residents aren’t calling as much because they feel more informed. She spoke on the DelDOT presentation and thanked them for being there. She thanked the staff for the EPP stuff during the inclement weather and thanked Kathleen, (Finance, Budget Manager), and Chief James for the Financial Report and showing the fiscal responsibility. Councilwoman Dr. Upshur – thanked the staff and echoed everything that other Council members spoke on. She felt safe with the maintenance of the roadways during the snowstorm. She mentioned the notification system and agreed that with residents getting information directly, there was less chatter. She thanked  Councilwoman Gott for brining the Red Sand Project to the Town and making everyone more aware about human trafficking; and also sharing the information with the Boys and Girls Club. She thanked Chief James for opening up the community room at the Police Department. She was also grateful for the reports that they get, because it is full transparency and easy to read. Mayor Johnson – spoke on the Opioid Commission. The settlement fund has $71 million in it. $15 million has been approved to be given out and $12 million has been distributed; leaving $59 million left. Councilman Pressley asked when the Town was getting their portion. Mayor Johnson said that with the change in administration, they held off on meeting until next month. This will give the Commission time to speak with the governor about a couple of things. He said that there is $909,000 that was received for local governments and is sitting in the bank. They are working with people now on how the money should be distributed. They found information from Tennessee and other states where they have set up three (3) pots of money: one for the State, one for the county, and one for local governments. He recommends Council read up on the document, especially Section E. He said there’s also $4 million in impact fees sitting for local governments to use for things like equipment for Fire trucks, various sources for Police, and the such. Councilwoman Dr. Upshur asked what his role was with the Commission. Mayor Johnson said he was the Vice Chair for the local governments. The Chairperson left their position. b. Police Chief c. Town Manager Chief James – thanked the staff. He said they’ve been doing an amazing job. He said that there’s been a lot of communication, especially on things like the snowstorm. He said that he, Jason, (Assistant Town Manager), Walt, (IT Manager), the Public Works Director, and the Electric Director are all on a test thread together and are communicating and meeting regularly to make sure that they stay in front of everything. He brought up that staff is beta testing the new notification system. He said he’s calling Walt at all hours, who in turn is putting stuff up. He said it is a much easier process now. A message gets put in the system and it sends out to all different platforms. He asked the public to please put the message out about the new notification system so that people have access to it. There are different things people can sign up for and a newsletter is being worked on. He moved on to the State audit and that the process is ongoing. He said that they have been around for a while now and should be finishing up. 2022 is complete, 2023 is being worked on, and 2024 is being closed out. The Finance team is busy and a little shorthanded, but he’s excited about where the Town is moving into 2025. He said that the first Managers’ meeting was today, and the theme will be accountability. He wants to make sure that everyone has a clean slate for 2025. Lastly, he spoke about the Lindens property. The Town is  coming to and end with it and will soon be taking possession of it, which will allow the Town to sell the other piece. 7. Old business, including discussion and possible action on the following items: a. Third 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 Vice Mayor Rasmussen motioned to approve this as the third reading. Councilman Pope seconded the motion. Councilwoman Gott asked if there will be a copy of it will look like for the guidelines to meet the requirements? Vice Mayor Rasmussen said that it was already shared. Mayor Johnson asked for all in favor or any opposed. All were in favor. The motion passed for the third reading of this ordinance. The effective date is 1/21/2025. b. Third 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 motioned to approve the third reading. Councilwoman Gott seconded the motion. There was no discussion. Mayor Johnson called all in favor or any opposed. All were in favor. Motion passed for the third reading of this ordinance. The effective date is 1/21/2025. c. Third 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 motioned to make this the third reading of this ordinance. Councilman Johnson seconded the motion. Vice Mayor Rasmussen asked to set the date because they were giving 90 days. There was discussion about the date and Town Solicitor Barrett Edwards said that the original date was February 1, but that was changed to March 1, under the impression that this would have been passed two (2) weeks ago. He suggested April 1 as the new date. Everyone was in agreement. He said that the motion then would be to approve the ordinance for the third reading with the one change being April. Councilman Pope motioned the third reading approval with the modification of April 1. Councilman Gott seconded the motion, (Councilman Johnson seconded just after her). There was no further discussion. Mayor Johnson called for all in favor or any opposed. All were in favor. Motion passed for the third reading of this ordinance. The effective date is 1/21/2025. Councilman Pressley thanked the Charter  members for getting these done. d. Members for the Police Accountability Board: i. Member of the Clergy – Reverend Ronnie Robinson ii. Citizen affected – Justin Capps iii. Community member – Corrine Upshur iv. Chief of Police – Torrie James Vice Mayor Rasmussen motioned to approve the Police Accountability Board. Councilwoman Dr. Upshur spoke up and said that an amendment needed to be done for the Member of the Clery. She said it should be Reverend Dr. Ronniere Robinson. There was some discussion on the correct spelling of his name before Councilman Pope asked if there was a second motion. There wasn’t, so he seconded the motion. There was no further discussion Mayor Johnson asked for all in favor or any opposed. All were in favor. The motion passed with the amendment of correcting Reverend Dr. Ronniere Robinson’s name. 8. New business, including discussion and possible action on the following items: a. First reading of Ordinance No. 001-25, amending Chapter 18, (Building and Building Regulations), Article XXII, (Development Incentives), to permit Economic Development Incentives for fire protection impact fees and ambulance services impact fees. Vice Mayor Rasmussen motion for the first reading. Councilman Pope seconded the motion. There was no further discussion. Mayor Johnson asked for all in favor or any opposed. He then asked for a roll call vote because he wasn’t sure if everyone spoke. Vice Mayor Rasmussen – aye Councilwoman Gott – aye Councilman Pope – aye Councilman Pressley – aye Councilwoman Dr. Upshur – aye Councilman Johnson - aye Motion passed for the first reading of this ordinance. b. First reading of Ordinance No. 002-25, amending Chapter 66, (Traffic and Vehicles), of the Town Code of the Town of Smyrna to include a definition of sidewalk Councilman Pope motioned to make this the first reading. Councilwoman Gott seconded the motion. Mayor Johnson asked if there was any discussion. Vice Mayor Rasmussen asked for clarification on whether there was ever a definition of sidewalk or if this was updating it. Town Solicitor Barrett Edwards said that he  was correct, this was a clarification. He said that there’s been some issues identifying when you have the driveway and it is crossing over the sidewalk. People are parking in their driveway, but it’s technically on the sidewalk; so people cannot walk up or down the sidewalk. This ordinance is clarifying that even if a driveway crosses a sidewalk, it is still considered a sidewalk and you cannot park your car because then they’re blocking the sidewalk. Mayor Johnson asked if there were any more questions or further discussion. There was none. He asked for an all in favor or any opposed. All were in favor. Motion passed to make this the first reading of this ordinance. c. Appointment of Audit Review Committee Members: Dawn Haw-Young and James Walls Mayor Johnson said that this committee is for when the Town goes out to bid for the audit. Chief James confirmed that this would be for the 2024 audit. Mayor Johnson said he knew that these were two (2) highly qualified people. He reminded everyone that the Audit Committee has to be separate from the Finance Committee. Vice Mayor Rasmussen spoke up and clarified that the committee would be reviewing the proposals. Mayor Johnson said that was correct, they would be reviewing and making their recommendations to Council. Vice Mayor Rasmussen motion to approve the recommendation for the Audit Review Committee. Councilman Pope seconded, (Councilwoman Gott was right behind him). There was no further discussion. Mayor Johnson asked for all in favor or any opposed. All were in favor. Motion passed to have these two (2) as members of the Audit Review Committee. d. Senior Tax Exemption for 2025 Councilman Pope motioned to discussion. Councilwoman Gott seconded the motion. Vice Mayor Rasmussen said that the form looked good, but the numbers needed to be updated with the passing of the ordinance, [017-24], as well as adding about fully disabled. He asked if there was any other action that was needed? Councilman Pope said that just the recommended revisions. Town Solicitor, Barrett Edwards, said that they just needed to vote to confirm that they will be offering the senior tax exemption at the recommended amounts. Councilman Pope motioned to approve the senior tax form with the revisions. Councilwoman Gott seconded the motion. Mayor Johnson called for all in favor or any opposed. All were in favor. The motion passed to approve the Senior Tax Exemption form with the recommended updates per the newly passed ordinance, [number 017-24]. e. Set time and place for the April 29, 2025 Town of Smyrna election  Vice Mayor Rasmussen motioned to approve to set the location of the April 29 election at Town Hall during the hours of 7:00 A.M. and 8:00 P.M. Councilman Pope seconded the motion. There was no further discussion. Mayor Johnson asked for all in favor or any opposed. All were in favor. Motion passed to have the April 29 Town elections at Town Hall from 7:00 A.M. to 8:00 P.M. f. Election Board members Mayor Johnson asked staff liaison Danielle about the current members of the Election Board. Danielle let everyone know that she has been out sick and that this was her first day back, so she has not contacted anyone. Mayor Johnson said that if anyone would like to be on the Election Board, to let him know. Councilwoman Dr. Upshur asked if that could be on Town Tidbits, [weekly e- newsletter]. He said it could be added to the website. g. DelDOT proposal, (added during additions/deletions part by Vice Mayor Rasmussen, seconded by Councilwoman Dr. Upshur, and approve unanimously) Vice Mayor Rasmussen motioned to support DelDOT’s recommendation of the un-signalized R-cut proposal at Rt 13 and Cory Ln and Dominick/Sweet Corn Ln. Councilwoman Gott seconded the motion. There was no further discussion. Mayor Johnson asked for all in favor or any opposed. All were in favor. Motion passed to support DelDOT’s R-cut recommendation. 9. Presentation and public comments (3 minutes) Vicky Blair – brought up the impact fees and that some members of Council are members of those organizations. She asked if it is concerned a conflict of interest, since those organizations are receiving the fees. She said the Council who are members would be benefiting from it. Councilman Johnson said he doesn’t get a paycheck from the Fire House. Councilman Pope spoke up but then stopped. She said she didn’t need the snide comments and is just looking for a legal standing on this. Town Solicitor, Barrett Edwards said that what the ordinance is doing is reducing the amount of impact fees that they’d be getting. Anyone associated with the fire or ambulance service and voting in favor of this is actually taking money out of those organizations. Given the vote, he isn’t sure that there would be a specific conflict there. Vicky said that if it affects money, whether positive or negative, she felt that it would be the definition of conflict. She said she’s looking out for the Council members and wouldn’t want someone to come back to them. Town Solicitor, Barrett Edwards said that she has a valid point. Under the ethics code, whether or not there’s an ethics violation, is usually whether or not someone or their family member would receive some type of financial gain as a result of this. He said that theoretically speaking, if someone would financially gain from this, that could potentially be an issue, and they would need to recuse themselves. But he doesn’t feel that is the case here. He continued by saying that generally speaking, when talking  about a conflict, a lot of it is whether or not this would impact an individual more so than anyone else. The reality is that people are elected to represent individuals, organizations, constituents, etc., so everyone’s got a little bit of a vested interest in some of the votes because that’s why they’re on here. He said that if it was a vote to increase the amount of impact fees going into the pockets of the entities, then maybe he could see the conflict, but as it is, he does not. Vicky then asked if the Council members should have initially voted when this was brought up months ago because it would have been money coming into the fire department and EMS? Town Solicitor, Barrett Edwards said that if they or their family were going to financially benefit individually, then yes they wouldn’t have been able to vote on something that is going to put money in their pocket. But if it’s putting money into an organization, then they’re one of a number of people. He said another way to look at it is that they were elected to have a voice for the entities. Vicky said she disagreed, and Barrett said that was okay. She said that they were voted in a town election to represent the town, not individual entities. She just wanted clarification. Barrett said that with respect to the vote tonight, and particularly since it is removing money from the organizations, he doesn’t see any issues. Thomas McGill – he lives in Twin Willows development and heard that there was going to be a rezoning of 81.9 acres on Twin Willows Rd; some houses, apartments, and a stirp mall. He wanted to know more about it. Mayor Johnson let him know that this was outside of town limits. Thomas asked where he should go for the information. He was told to reach out to Kent County; permits, licensing, or planning departments. 10. Executive Session to discuss personnel matters, (added during additions/deletions part by Vice Mayor Rasmussen, seconded by Councilwoman Dr. Upshur, and approve unanimously) Councilman Pope motioned to go into Executive Session. Councilwoman Gott seconded the motion. All were in favor. Executive Session started at 7:42 P.M. 11. Possible action on matters discussed in Executive Session regarding personnel matters, (added during additions/deletions part by Vice Mayor Rasmussen, seconded by Councilwoman Dr. Upshur, and approve unanimously) 12. Adjournment Vice Mayor Rasmussen motioned to adjourn. Councilman Johnson seconded the motion. All were in favor. The meeting ended at 8:04 P.M. Posted 1/14/2024 at 4:30 PM (#1) 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.