Mayor & Council

MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC WILL BE PERMITTED TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS MEETING by teleconference by calling 309-205-3325 and entering Meeting ID number: 83049250510 Passcode: 936239 or by visiting Join Zoom Meeting at: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83049250510?pwd=brTcW3EkVIUwv1mbNXeSWWo5AhHtbS.1 Council Meeting Council Chamber, Smyrna Town Hall 27 S. Market Street Plaza, Smyrna, Delaware May 19, 2025 – 6:45 PM Agenda 1. 6:45 PM Public Hearing a. An Ordinance rezoning 1510 Paddock Road (Tax Map ID: 1502200086) from SR – Suburban Reserve in New Castle County to the zoning designation of CCM – Corridor Commercial in the Town of Smyrna b. A Resolution approving the inclusion of 1510 Paddock Road (Tax Map ID: 1502200086) within the municipal limits of the Town of Smyrna The Public Hearing was called to order at 6:43 PM. Jeremy Rothwell, [Planning Director], presented. He said that the application before Council is for the annexation of a 25.78 acre parcel at 1510 Paddock Rd; near the intersection of US13. The application was introduced to Council back in April and went to the Planning Commission on April 30th, and was given a positive recommendation. This parcel is wedged in between to the north. It’s an enclave that is almost nearly surrounded by the Town of Smyrna municipal boundaries. To the north is the Smyrna Rest Area, owned by the State. To the west is Homestead Gardens and Wawa. To the southeast is the 220 acres which is the Smyrna Business Park, owned by KRM, who also owns this 25.78 acre parcel. They are the ones who have requested annexation into the Town. For annexation to occur, there has to be a few conditions in place. One, it has to be specifically identified in the municipal comprehensive plan for annexation. This parcel was identified in 2020’s comprehensive plan. This was approved by the State and both Newcastle and Kent counties. Second, the parcel to be considered has to be directly adjacent and this parcel is almost completely encircled by the Town; so it meets that State requirement. Lastly, when a parcel is identified and applies for annexation, it has to be annexed under the land use designation outline, specifically outlined, in the comprehensive plan. In this particular instance, the color key has this identified for Corridor Commercial; so there isn’t a choice but to be annexed under the CCM zoning district. The CCM zoning district allows for 59 different uses and there are 3 that KRM is interested in. They own the Duck Creek Business Campus and so they are viewing this as an extension of the business campus. They are looking at potentially putting in a similar type flex building that’s already in the business campus. They are also looking at potentially doing some sort of truck stop  or truck parking yard; which would certainly be a needed amenity given the number of trucks that go through the Town of Smyrna. Jeremy concluded that this is a relatively straightforward application, and he would be happy to answer any questions Council may have. Councilman Drew asked what KRM stands for. Jeremy introduced Jesse Parks, the President of KRM; who joined via Zoom. Jeremy wasn’t sure what KRM stands for but let Council know that they are based in Chestertown, MD, and that they are a manufacturing company and KRM is just one of the entities under that company. He continued by saying that they own about a dozen industrial business park around the country. Jesse Parks said that once upon a time there may have been significance to the letters K R M, but now it’s just KRM Development. They are the real estate arms of Dixon Valve and Coupling that’s based in Chestertown. He said that there’s no significance to the KRM part of KRM Development; not a fun answer, but it is what it is. Jeremy asked if Jesse would like to talk about the plans for the property. Jesse said that one of the big things they are getting from customers and potential users, because they tend to be heavy with truck distribution, is a place to park the trucks. They have some areas they could have designated in the park, but they also feel that this area, being adjacent and away from the buildings, may be a better solution. It’s close enough for the users to feel good, but it’s not front and center. KRM Development wants people to drive in and see the nice buildings, not necessarily a bunch of parks trailers. That’s the concept and it could help to fill that need that they are seeing from different people who are looking to find a place for their trucks and trailers that isn’t at the doors and docks all day. Councilman Olson asked if this entails any cost to Smyrna. Jeremy said that there are utilities already in front of the parcel. The Town would get tax and utility revenue. The big expense is utilities and those are already present. Mayor Gott asked for any more discussion. There was none. The Public hearing closed at 6:51 PM. 2. 7:00 PM – Call to order The Zoom room was muted, but it was confirmed that the meeting was called to order at 7 PM 3. Pledge of Allegiance 4. Roll Call All members of Mayor and Council were present. 5. Additions/deletions to the published agenda Vice Mayor Dr. Upshur motioned to removed item 9b from the agenda as the presenters were unable to make the meeting. Councilman Drew seconded. All were in favor. Motion passed to have 9b removed. 6. Consent agenda a. Organizational meeting minutes of 5/7/2025 b. Council meeting minutes of 5/7/2025 Vice Mayor Dr. Upshur motioned to approve the Consent Agenda. Councilman Johnson seconded. All were in favor. Motion passed. 7. Non-agenda items a. Mayor and Council Members Mayor Gott – welcomed and thanked everyone for coming. She said that they’re going to start something a little bit different. Danielle Pope, who is beyond a valuable resource, has always served as Council secretary. She is the recording secretary and is upstairs running everything from behind the scenes, and they will forever and ever be thankful for that. Alvin Pope, as Council Secretary, will serve that position and actually read through the meeting. She thanked him for that. She continued by saying that the last 2 weeks have been busy. She had 9 different stops on Saturday to get out into the community and visit with the community and different organizations and some of her peers have reports on those. Hickory Hollow is having a yard sale on the 24th. There is a Memorial Day parade and Ceremony at the monument, [at the park], on the 26th; everyone is encouraged to attend. She then addressed Council and let them know that DEMEC is having their Annual Meeting from 5 PM to 7 PM on June 3rd. She addressed Town Manager, Torrie James, and asked if a meeting was settled for the 28th? He nodded. She said that on May 28th, [next Wednesday], they are going to send out an invitation for Council members, Chair-people, and staff liaisons to come together for the committees so that they can establish what each role is, as well as set some measurable goals, so they know what they’re doing, where they’re going, and how they’re going to get there. Everyone will receive an invitation. Committee members are welcome to attend if they’d like to, but primarily this meeting is so that when they walk away, they’ll know what their goal is. Councilman Drew – said it was a fun week, he went out into the community. It is amazing to hear and listen to those who come up and have true concerns. He was at the AME Church health fair. They had a podium, and he was able to speak a little. He met a lot of wonderful people: Miss King and some other vendors. He went to another event and the vendor that are on grass is different than the ones at Smyrna High School. He said it was fun to talk to them and it’s fun to get to know the people and especially when they have their businesses. He said it was awesome. Councilman Johnson – he thanked the Town Crew for all the hard work they’ve done, especially the guys that came in Saturday over to Central, at the School District, and got the power turned back on. He had drawn the short stick, and he didn’t have to be there half the day. Councilman Pope – he said thank you and that he didn’t have anything to discuss at this time. Councilman Olson – said that Council needs to make sure that it has transparency in its decision making and it needs to always have room for questions, always room for discussion, and always room for even disagreement. Vice Mayor Dr. Upshur – she thanked Town staff for all that they are doing. She appreciates all their hard work. She shared that the 4th annual Juneteenth Celebration will be on Thursday, June 19th, 11 AM to 4 PM at George C. Wright Municipal Park. The Lt. Governor will be stopping by and she encourages others to stop by also. She said it’s going to be a wonderful event, free and open to the public; as they celebrate American history. Mayor Gott – mentioned that if anyone was interested, before moving on, there is a list of students from Smyrna High School, that went to the Business Professionals Association Nationals in Florida and come home with 2nd, 14th, 9th, 5th, and 7th place. There were a lot of nervous kids leaving Delaware to go. She said that Councilman Olson, Vice Mayor Upshur, and her went to Delaware League Day on Tuesday; so Smyrna had a decent representation there. They went through the Lt. Governor’s office, ended up on the Senate side, the House side, and was recognized across the board. It was really nice. b. Police Chief Captain Donner – he said that they are actively hiring for both dispatch and officers. The dispatch process is in the background investigation phase. They have two candidates for one position. On the police side, the process is still open. They are hiring certified and non-certified, so they are looking to put recruits through the Police Academy in the fall. They have a potential 5 vacancies as of July. He said it’s a struggle nationwide, but they have some good looking applicants and hopefully they can get at least 3 of the 5 positions filled and then possibly run another process later on. He said that application is open until May 30th. c. Town Manager Torrie James – talked about the breakdown of outages for the month. He felt it was important because they continue to get questions about it. A majority of the outages are caused by Mother Nature, trees falling, limbs falling, and such, or squirrels and/or birds. The Town crew has done a great job getting out and getting the outages fixed within an hour to an hour and a half. Staff is working on a notification process; they had a staff meeting today about it. They talked about what they can do to minimize and get more information out to the public. He then talked about the return of the 24-months of good payment history credit and that people will start seeing that. It is a program that puts deposits back on people’s accounts who have good payment history. That was started a few months ago. The street restoration program is underway. They did Belmont St over in Sunnyside. That was one of the ones that had complaints. Mayor Gott – asked about the refunds and if there is a plan to communicate with the residents about it. Torrie James said yes, there’s a plan, but they wanted to start the process and get it out early; it’s been about a month now.  Councilman Drew – asked if it was a credit not a check. Torrie said that it’s not monetary in that sense, but they get money back and the resident’s bill will be less for that month. Vice Mayor Dr. Upshur – asked how they are going about the process. Torrie said that that if the resident has 24 months of good payments, they are good. She clarified by asking if they are going in alphabetical order or another way. Kathleen, [Finance Director], spoke up and said that it’s by the routes set up in the billing system. Mayor Gott – asked how this affects the people that have been here for a long time and have put a deposit down. How far back are they going? Kathleen let them know that it’s for anyone who had a deposit on their account and as long as they have 24 months of good payment history. 8. Old business, including discussion and possible action on the following items: 9. New business, including discussion and possible action on the following items: a. DEMEC Presentation Torrie introduced Stephanie Dove, the DEMEC Chief Financial Officer. Stephanie thanked them for allowing her some time this evening. She said that as Mayor Gott has pointed out, DEMEC will be hosting their joint Council Briefing on Tuesday, June 3rd, and she’s at the meeting to personally invite all of them. She said it’s a really great networking opportunity. They can meet other council members from other communities. Kimberly Schlichting, their CEO and President, will be giving an overview of some regulations that are affecting them and some bills that they’ve been working on in the State. She said that there’s already been 23 that are related to you, [Town of Smyrna], so it’s been an very active legislative session. She said that she hopes they can all join and that Torrie has been given the invitation copies to give to them. Councilman Drew – asked about the time. Stephanie said that it’s 5-7, invitation only and will be at their administrative office. b. Commerce Street TAP Streetscape Project Final Report Removed at the request of Vice Mayor Dr. Upshur, seconded by Councilman Drew. Motion was approved by all. The presenters ended up unavailable during this time. The presentation will be reschedule for one of the meetings in June. c. Resolution 005-25 – a resolution proposing the annexation of 1271 S. DuPont Boulevard and adjacent roadways into the municipal limits of the Town of Smyrna; designating the proposed zoning classification; scheduling a public hearing; and referring the proposal to the town planning commission Jeremy presented. He said that they had another application for annexation and the first step in the process is the annexation resolution has to be introduced to Council. This parcel is one acre and is adjacent to Firestone, along US13. It’s currently a house and a garage. Parkview RV was storing RVs and campers there. It was previously Alexander’s RV Sales. Once introduced, this will go to the Planning Commission and then it’ll come back to Council for a final adoption in about a month and a half or so. This is just to introduce the process. Councilman Olson – asked why they want to annex? Jeremy – said that will be carried forth as part of the hearing. That’s not discussed at the introduction. At the introduction level, it has to be eligible and it meets all the criteria to be considered for annexation. Councilman Pope – asked Barrett, [Town Solicitor], if they can move on from this. Barrett said that they need to vote on it. Vice Mayor Dr. Upshur made a motion to vote. Councilman Johnson seconded the motion. All were in favor. Motion passed. d. Ordinance 010-25 rezoning 1510 Paddock Road (Tax Map ID: 1502200086) from SR – Suburban Reserve in New Castle County to the zoning designation of CCM – Corridor Commercial in the Town of Smyrna Jeremy – said that D & E are considered together and is 2 actions. When they annex a property into incorporated town limits, they are also rezoning the property. It’s currently zone SR, Suburban Reserve, which essentially is a low density suburban residential zoning district and it’s being annexed under the CCM or Corridor Commercial zoning district. He said that he’d be happy to answer any questions, as well as Jesse Parks, who was still on via Zoom. Councilman Pope said he wanted to read E before they moved any further. Councilman Drew – asked about zoning and how far is the parameter? Jeremy – with this particular parcel, it is a single parcel, 25.78 acres, and will be zoned CCM, Corridor Commercial, which essentially is all, or almost all, the parcels that directly front US13; from the North Smyrna on-ramp to the South Smyrna on-ramp. Essentially all those parcels are zoned CCM. That is a mixed-use zoning district. It permits everything from retail commercial and restaurants, office, high density residential like apartments or mixed-use buildings, and in this particular instance, it also allows a small number of industrial and warehouse type uses. Councilman Drew – asked if anyone can build their business on the land. Jeremy said that if they go through the site plan process. Once annexed, if someone wants to develop the property, that’s a separate process that would have to be applied for and depending on what they choose, they may have to go to the Planning Commission. If they do anything more than 50,000 sq ft of non-residential or 50 dwelling units, it actually has to go to Town Council for approval. If it is less than that, it just goes to the Planning Commission. Barrett – mentioned that as a reminder, on the annexation portion, they have to vote yay or nay on the rezoning ordinance and they need to state their reasons for the rezoning for why they’re voting yay or nay. Councilman Pope asked if they have to have 2 separate motions. Barrett said yes. Mayor Gott asked if Barrett could give an example, for the new members of council, what reasons could be for voting in favor of something. Barrett said that, as they’ve heard from Mr. Rothwell, they’ve heard evidence or testimony today that most of the parcels between that northern on-ramp and the southern on-ramp along 13 are zoned similarly for this mixed-use. So one of the reasons perhaps for this would be that it would fit in with the zoning and surrounding area, with the uses of the surrounding area. They could discuss how it is in compliance with the comprehensive plan that also contemplates this property being rezoned for those purposes. That’s for voting for. If they’re voting against, they can state their reasons why. He joked that if they wanted to cheat a little bit and if someone ahead of them has done a really good job stating their reasons, they can always say for the reasons articulated by my esteemed colleague. Mayor Gott asked what if it’s at the recommendation of staff. Barrett said they can say that also. Vice Mayor Dr. Upshur motioned to accept this as according to the comprehensive plan of 2020. Councilman Drew seconded the motion. Councilman Pope called for individual votes. Councilman Drew – voted in favor; it’s the best fit. Vice Mayor Dr. Upshur – voted in favor; in accordance with recommendation by staff. Councilman Johnon – voted yes, with the recommendation from staff. Councilman Olson – voted yes, because it’s a good use for that property. Councilman Pope – voted yes, in accordance by the recommendation of staff. e. Resolution 006-25 approving the inclusion of 1510 Paddock Road (Tax Map ID: 1502200086) within the municipal limits of the Town of Smyrna Councilman Pope motion to approve Resolution 006-25. Councilman Johnson seconded. Councilman Pope called for individual vote, but Barrett let him know that this wasn’t needed for this item. All were in favor. Motion passed. f. Filling the one-year term At-Large vacancy Mayor Gott – she would like to have a vote to fill the one-term vacancy for At-Large with the candidate who got the second highest votes, with is Nick; she asked him for his first name. He said it is Ayonne. She said she would like to fill the vacancy by nominating Ayonne Miles. Councilman Pope – spoke up and said that before they move forward he wanted to provide clarity, that the At-Large position was opened up due to the resignation of Councilman Pressley and it is only for one-term/one-year. Councilman pope made a motion to take a vote to fill the vacancy. Vice Mayor Dr. Upshur seconded the motion. All were in favor. Mayor Gott – said that she would like to swear Ayonne Miles in at this time. He was sworn in and congratulated by Council members.  10. Presentation and public comments (3 minutes) Councilman Pope opened the floor for public comment. Mayor Gott reminded everyone that going to the podium is for the public to share their thoughts, it is not a time for Council to give them responses. They will follow up with the concern at a later time. She also congratulated Pam Anderson, who was just recently installed as Commander of the VFW 8801. Pam Anderson – she talked about the upcoming Memorial Day opportunities and tributes happening on Monday. She said to please take the time to honor and celebrate the lives of individuals who gave up their lives to ensure people have freedom. She said that there’s an event at Lake Como at 8 a.m., a parade at 10 a.m., and at 11-ish an event at the Memorial Park. After that, there will be something at the VFW; they’ll have food. David Edwards – he said that he was born and raised in Smyrna; graduated Smyrna High in 2003. He bought an end-unit townhouse and was very excited. He brought his family here; his husband and adopted child. However, he is now a single dad of a senior, struggling to pay his mortgage; it was from 1103 to 1410 because of taxes. His electric bill went from 230 to 320. The taxes doubled and he wants to do improvements to his house, things are starting to fall apart. He was wondering if he could have some help with the double edged sword. He talked about spending $500 to fix steps and other things that are falling apart, but you can’t afford it because a permit is required. The steps are fixed and then people are coming out to take pictures; they’re doing their job, so he isn’t angry at them. But if they don’t fix the house and it’s falling apart and dilapidated, then they come out and start handing out fines for things wrong with the house. He wants to know what do they do? Do they fix the house or get fines? He’s cutting into his mortgage because he has to have his steps fixed because someone fell through them. He asked again, what do they do? His a single father and it’s hard to fix stuff. He’s asking for a little bit of leniency from the Town for things of this nature. He talked about being a be Facebook advocate and that Smyrna used to be a great community; said it still is. He’s been here his whole life, 39 years, but it’s getting to the point where he cannot wait to sell and move to the country where it’s cheaper. All he is asking is for some help, some guidance, or something, because it’s getting out of hand. [It was hard to hear, but someone from the audience said that they can provide their contact]. Vice Mayor Dr. Upshur said that she can provide her card also. 11. Adjournment Councilman Johnson motioned to adjourn. Councilman Drew seconded. All were in favor. Meeting adjourned at 7:32 P.M. Posted 5/12/2025 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.