Mayor & Council

MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC WILL BE PERMITTED TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS MEETING by teleconference by calling 301-715-8592 and entering Meeting ID number: 883 3715 7372 Passcode: 296006 or by visiting Join Zoom Meeting at: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88337157372?pwd=FxHriuMAy5OIk3jVoNBwkrB09kmqdU.1 Council Meeting Council Chamber, Smyrna Town Hall 27 S. Market Street Plaza, Smyrna, Delaware March 17, 2025 – 7:00 PM Agenda 1. 7:00 PM – Call to order The meeting was called to order by Mayor Johnson at 7 P.M. 2. Pledge of Allegiance A moment of silence was done afterward. 3. Roll Call Roll call was done by staff liaison Danielle Pope. All members were present. 4. Additions/deletions to the published agenda Councilwoman Dr. Upshur asked for items 8 d, e, f, and h to be consolidated into 8 c. Councilman Pope seconded the motion. Mayor Johnson asked if there was any discussion. Vice Mayor Rasmussen asked Barrett, (Town Solicitor), the reason for this. Barrett said that there’s one resolution that covers it all and they can be addressed under one item. Mayor Johnson called for ‘in favor’ or ‘any oppose’. All were in favor of amending the agenda. 5. Consent agenda a. Council minutes of 3/3/2025 b. Executive Session minutes of 3/3/2025 Council Pope motioned to approve. Councilwoman Dr. Upshur seconded. All were in favor. 6. Non-agenda items a. Mayor and Council Members Mayor Johnson – went to the Richard Allen mural dedication. He said it was a nice event, and he hopes it’ll bring people to look at their history and be identified and brought to light; we are a multi-cultural town. He said that maybe this is the beginning of something that should have happened a long time ago. He thanked staff for their hard work, especially the Town Manager/Police Chief. He said it’s not easy holding down two ships, [jobs]. He moved on to the library. He said it’s looking good. He hopes it does what it’s supposed to do by bringing people to town and provide a good meeting place. He expressed his gratitude and appreciation to Council, [he’s not running in the April election]. He said they had good days, and they had bad days. There were battles and there were peaceful times. He feels that they have been able to accomplish a lot: church and Lake Como, Locust St sinkhole, businesses coming into town; the Industrial Park, more housing, and so forth. He said he’s enjoyed his time and wanted to thank them all. Vice Mayor Rasmussen – thanked everyone who went out to the mural dedication. This was the second of two murals that was funded by a grant for about $30,000 from the T-Mobile Hometown Grant Program. He said the first mural went in last summer on Commerce St featuring Bombay Hook. This mural, on the south facing side of the Stokesbury house, features Richard Allen. He said it was an amazing process from the development of the mural, to the history of the gentleman, his church and all the people he worked with and supported throughout his lifetime. He encouraged everyone to go out and take a look. He thanked those who were monumental in making it happen. Councilman Pressley – did not have anything to discuss. Councilman Pope – mentioned that there is a Finance meeting on Thursday at 6 P.M., downstairs and all are welcome. He said that the VFW will be holding their war memorial dedication ceremony at George C. Wright Jr. memorial park on the 29th at 2 P.M. He plans to be there if he doesn’t get a cold again. He wanted to also thank the staff and Chief for working really hard and keeping the town going. He hears a lot of good things and knows that it can’t be done without them. Councilwoman Gott – Parks and Rec is cancelled for the 19th; there wasn’t enough for an agenda to have a meeting. She elaborated on the VFW war memorial dedication. She said it will be for World War I, World War II, Vietnam War, Cold War, Persian Gulf War, and Global War on Terror, with a rededication of the Korean War memorial; all that the memorial park. She said this was started in 2022. She is asking all to come out and said chairs will be available but suggested that people bring their own. There will only be about 40 chairs, and they are expecting a lot of dignitaries, and some generals are coming in to speak. She said that on the south end of the park will be handicapped parking and the fire police will be there letting people in as needed. She mentioned that  yesterday’s parade, [St. Patrick’s day parade], was great; lots of fun and the crowd was great. Councilman Johnson – thanked town crews for all the hard work their doing out at the Municipal Park, [George C. Wright Jr]; working on the ball fields and repainting the parking lot and curbs. Councilwoman Dr. Upshur – thanked Jeremy, [Town Planner], and Vice Mayor Rasmussen for the Richard Allen mural presentation on Friday. She said it was a beautiful day and the mural is stunning. She spoke with the artist, Michael Rosato, and how he was affected while working on this mura, learning the history of Richard Allen and African American and American history. The turnout was great. The Bethal AME had their convention, so many members from Dover and surrounding areas were there, as were the Masons; Richard Allen was a Mason. She said she had the privilege, thanks to the town, to go to National League of Cities in D.C. for Capital Hill day. She was there from Sunday to Wednesday and had the opportunity to meet directly with our congressional delegation and talk with them on what they were advocating for us. She also got to meet with colleagues from across the country and talk with them about concerns and their processes. She said they talked about their successes and struggles and to bring that back home is important, so she appreciates that opportunity. She said “I Love Smyrna School District day” was a really good turnout. She then mentioned about participating in the St. Patrick’s day parade. Her dad enjoyed it because he got to hang out with the corvette club. Her name was called out and she got to see so many people she knew. She expressed how both events make her feel Smyrna proud. She thanked the staff and the Town Manager/Chief of Police for all the work they do. She said they are doing a phenomenal and the town couldn’t run without them. b. Police Chief c. Town Manager Chief James – the town is working with Moody’s to make sure our rating is maintained. He said that we were hiring in our Finance dept. There are some great candidates coming through so interviews should be happening in the next couple of weeks. He talked about some of the changes happening in Council Chambers. Walt, [IT Manager], is on top of things. He has installed two large screens behind Council for the audience to see and for those who can’t see distance, have something closer. He said the finance report is available for them to see, [this was uploaded prior to the meeting on the agenda software, OnBoard]. Mayor Johnson commented that it was good that the room will be more user friendly. 7. Old business, including discussion and possible action on the following items: a. Second reading of Ordinance No. 005-25 to amend Chapter 32, (Impact Fees), to update school construction impact fees based on dwelling type, which shall be  adjusted annually for inflation, and to clarify the classification of dwelling types for calculating impact fees Vice Mayor Rasmussen motioned to approve the second reading. Councilman Pope seconded the motion. Mayor Johnson said that he would be recusing himself from this vote because his wife is running for school board. All were in favor. Motion passed. b. Second reading of Ordinance No. 007-25 to amend Chapter 18, (Buildings and Building Regulations), Article XI, (Rental Properties), to establish new regulations for rental properties in the Town of Smyrna Councilman Pope motioned to approve the second reading. Vice Mayor Rasmussen seconded the motion. All were in favor. Motion passed. 8. New business, including discussion and possible action on the following items: a. Certify list of Candidates for the April 29th election Chief James presented Council with the list of Candidates. For Mayor: Tabitha Gott, George Coates. At-Large: Michael Rasmussen, Ken Olson, Ayonne Miles, and Deborah Camaratta. District 1 will be Nelson Drew. Mayor Johnson asked for a motion to approve or oppose. He let Councilwoman Gott and Vice Mayor Rasmussen know that they would have to recuse themselves since they are on the list. Councilman Pope motioned to approved the list of Candidates. Councilman Johnson seconded. All were in favor. Motion passed. b. Set location, date, and time for “Meet the Candidates” night There was discussion on when this occurred last year; the majority were saying that it was about two weeks prior to the election. Councilwoman Gott thought it was a Monday and Councilwoman Dr. Upshur agreed. Vice Mayor Rasmussen said that makes sense because he was in New York last year for the solar eclipse, which happened on the same evening. Councilman Pope mentioned the 7th or the 14th. Councilwoman Gott said that the 7th is a Council meeting. Councilman Pope said the 14th then. Mayor Johnson asked for a motion. Councilman Pope motioned to set the date, time, and location of ‘Meet the Candidates’ night for Monday, April 14th, 6 P.M. to 8 P.M., at Town Hall in Council Chambers. Councilwoman Dr. Upshur seconded the motion. All were in favor. Motion passed.  c. 2025 addition to tax bills resolution, to approve the posting of the assessment list and to set a date and time for tax assessment appeals Town Solicitor, Barrett, started by saying that three Council members needed to serve on the Assessment Review Committee, [Appeals Committee]. They do not make decisions, but they come a half hour before the meeting to listen to anyone who comes to plead their case and then they make recommendations to Council. Council makes the ultimate decision. Vice Mayor Rasmussen, Councilwoman Gott, and Councilman Pope volunteered to be on the committee. There was discussion that in the past no one has shown up. Barrett said that as part of the resolution, their names will be added, also as part of the resolution they are setting the date and time of the appeals to be for April 7th at 6:30 P.M., and as part of the resolution they are approving the posting of the assessment list plus the additions to the tax bills. Vice Mayor Rasmussen motioned to approve the resolution as explained. Councilman Pope seconded. Mayor Johnson asked if there was anything to discuss. Vice Mayor Rasmussen had a question regarding a property under the Council Tax Exemption, (the same question he said he had in previous years). The address is 5543 S. DuPont Pkwy. It is a commercial property that houses a mortgage company. No one knows why it’s listed, but it’s been on the list for a long, long time. He was wondering if it could be removed and that they could approve the lists minus this address so that it could be investigated into why it’s on the tax exemption list. Mayor Johnson said the list could be approved and the address can be removed at a later time after it’s looked into. Councilman Pope asked if a revised motion was needed. Barrett was in the process of saying no when hecklers joined the Zoom. At that time, Zoom was ended for all attendees. This occurrence happened around 7:22 P.M. The remaining meeting was held only in- person. Staff liaison Danielle worked to report the hecklers to Zoom. The meeting continued without her until she was able to join in Council Chambers during the ending comments for 8j – acquisition of the library property. d. Approve the posting of the 2025 assessment list Was voted to be consolidated into 8c during item 4: additions/deletions e. Confirming appeals hearing day set for Monday, April 7th, 6:30 P.M. Was voted to be consolidated into 8c during item 4: additions/deletions f. Members for the Appeals Committee Was voted to be consolidated into 8c during item 4: additions/deletions g. Approval of the 2025 Senior Tax Exemptions  h. 2025 additions to property tax bills resolution, and to include penalties from March, April, and May Was voted to be consolidated into 8c during item 4: additions/deletions i. Hiring of the Town Manager j. Acquisition of the Library property Staff liaison Danielle came into Council Chambers, after the Zoom incident, to discussions that were already happening. Vice Mayor Rasmussen was talking about having better specifics because the Town Code has broad language. Councilwoman Gott said that she spoke with Joanne about some things. Vice Mayor Rasmussen said that the language still isn’t clear. Mayor Johnson said that they will have to figure out how to fund for the future. Councilwoman Gott said that discussing the budget would be a good workshop. Mayor Johnson mentioned that there’s a $3 million cap and rhetorically asked what the point was for that. He agreed that it needs to be cleaned up. 9. Presentation and public comments (3 minutes) Mayor Johnson opened the floor up for public comment. Seven people spoke. Larry Strozeski – spoke about the library, stating that the Town does not need to, and should not, provide funds to the library. He asked if there was any resolution from last time regarding the asbestos removal. There was. He asked about Resolution 001-25 and if it was complete. His concern is that the property that will become part of the Town is a dump site and asked again if anyone has check it. Town Solicitor Barrett informed him that the property has not been acquired yet. Town Planner Jeremy let him know that the property used to be part of a former farm and a lot of items for the property have gone through DNREC first. Pam Anderson – spoke about the VFW memorial. She is excited and reminded everyone that it is at 2 P.M. on March 29th. She asked that anyone coming to please RSVP. Councilwoman Gott chimed in and said that the RSVP date has passed, so anyone wanting to RSVP will need to call. Pam said that the RSVPs will determine how many chairs they’ll need. Ayonne Miles – spoke about a Zoom feature for small government that will help prevent issues like with what happened earlier. Charlotte Middleton – she thanked people for supporting her husband, Mayor Johnson, during his time on Council.  Kathy Messer – she is the President of the Duck Creek Regional Library. She hopes that it’ll be open in May thanks to the time and funding put into the project. She told Council that she hopes they would consider being a contributor, even a partner. She was sure that with the library removed from the Town, it opened the budget and asked Council to consider donating. Evie Zerefos – let everyone know that she will be stepping down at the Finance Committee chairperson. With her husband running in the election, she doesn’t want to have a conflict of interest or access to Town items. She said she’ll be at Thursday’s meeting to pass things along to the next chairperson, or vice-chairperson, but as of Friday, she’ll have no access to anything Town related. She handed each Councilmember her resignation letter. Rick Horsey – he wished everyone a Happy St. Patrick’s Day. He then spoke about the Duck Creek Regional Library. He asked Council to consider having the town become a partner. They received $550,000 from partners and donations and they are okay for the FY25 budget, but as they grow, so will their finances. They are also looking into collaborating with businesses. Mayor Johnson asked if there was anyone else who wanted to speak. There was no one. He said that the Execute Session should have also been removed during the additions/deletions section earlier because it is no longer needed. Vice Mayor Rasmussen said that they could go into the Executive Session and then come right back up. Barrett said that wasn’t necessary and they can just end the meeting. 10. Executive Session to discuss personnel matters in which the names, competency, and abilities of individual employees will be discussed. 29 Del. C. Sec. 10004(b)(9) No longer needed 11. Possible action on matters discussed in Executive Session regarding personnel matters 12. Adjournment Councilman Pope motioned to adjourn. Councilwoman Gott seconded. All were in favor. The meeting ended at 7:51 P.M. Posted 3/10/2025 at 5:30 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.