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: 895 1899 8299 Passcode: 733752 or by visiting Join Zoom Meeting at: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89518998299?pwd=NRp9ozA1rslHgEL1nplgFryxOIImOa.1 Council Meeting Council Chamber, Smyrna Town Hall 27 S. Market Street Plaza, Smyrna, Delaware August 4, 2025 – 7:00 PM Agenda 1. 7:00 PM – Call to order Meeting was called to order at 6:57 PM by Mayor Gott 2. Pledge of Allegiance 3. Roll Call All members of Council were present except Councilman Drew. 4. Additions/deletions to the published agenda 5. Consent agenda a. Special Council meeting minutes of 7/21/2025 b. Special Executive Session minutes of 7/21/2025 c. Council meeting minutes of 7/21/2025 d. Executive Session minutes of 7/21/2025 Vice Mayor Dr. Upshur motioned to approve the Consent Agenda. Councilman Johnson seconded the motion. All were in favor. Motion passed. 6. Non-agenda items a. Mayor and Council Members Vice Mayor Upshur • talked about being united as Council and read about unity and commitment • August 8 and 9: Mid-Atlantic Black Farmers Caucus presents the Delaware Farm Crawl o Huck and Buck Farm is participating o August 8 ▪ tours of the farms  ▪ showcase of local businesses o August 9 ▪ Volunteer day ▪ Learning exchange • The Town is registered through National Legion of Cities with Just Serve, so volunteerism will be recognized nationally • August 22 o 6 PM – 8 PM, school supply giveaway at Bethel AME Church • September 6 o 11 AM – 3 PM, Powerhouse Ministries is having a Community Day Councilman Pope • On 7/30 Congresswoman Sarah McBride visited Smyrna and Clayton • On 8/2 there was a ribbon cutting at Sayers Jewelers for their 75th Anniversary • On 8/2 he attended the health fair at the Boys and Girls Club • Attended one of the jazz series concerts sponsored by Delaware State University at the Schwartz Center o Some attendees were from Smyrna and liked the idea of having concerts in town • 8/16 fundraiser at Endzone has been cancelled • Thanked Town Staff for their hard work Councilman Johnson • Thanked staff for their hard work, specifically those who work outside because July’s heat was brutal Councilman Olson • Council should no longer approval of large developments or annexations until the budget problems are in line Councilman Miles • Thanked staff for their hard work and also thanked Council for their work and participation Mayor Gott • Clarified a Facebook post regarding tomorrow’s power outage • Spoke about another Facebook post from someone who praised K-9 Ofc. Barlow, who stopped in a neighborhood and spoke with girls, explained about her dog, and handed out popsicles • Mentioned Sayers Jewelers celebration • Mentioned Focus Pharmacy’s 6th Anniversary celebration • September 6 o Lady’s Tea fundraiser at Duck Creek Regional Library to support the Library o Tickets are $25/person • Thanked everyone who participated in Congresswoman McBride’s visit and talked about where they went and who they spoke to o Thanked Amanda for making the visit what it was and thanked Jason and Captain Donner for their time  b. Police Chief Captain Donner • Hiring process is moving quickly o Have 2 non-certified candidates in the investigation background phase ▪ A final interview scheduled with one of them tomorrow o Most likely will be using Wilmington’s Academy, (staff’s consensus), which starts in late September and goes for six months and then they’ll have the graduates back • Spoke about filling the position that was Amanda’s • New dispatcher is in week three and doing well • He and Mayor Gott talked about training the trainer through DATAC: Delaware Anti Trafficking Action Council c. Town Manager Torrie James • Talked about his report that includes updates from each of the departments • Thanked Jeremy for all his work on getting the Town this far with the Lindens property • The sale of the other property is on-going • The 2023 audit is 95-98% done but the auditor is out of the country right now o When he returns, it’ll be presented to Council • Working hard on updating SOPs and getting items to Barrett for the Charter Mayor Gott thanked Torrie for working with staff and getting notifications out to the public. 7. Old business, including discussion and possible action on the following items: a. n/a 8. New business, including discussion and possible action on the following items: a. Consideration of an annexation request for 5214 DuPont Pkwy Jeremy Rothwell, Town Planner, presented and explained that this was for discussion only. The applicant would like to gauge the Council’s views before deciding to either move forward or do something else. • Location is north by the signal for Rt. 1 and is 11.28 acres • Meets the prerequisites for annexation o Par of the future land use map from the 2020 Comprehensive Plan o The State’s Contiguous Plan o Has to keep with the land use designation ▪ R1, R1A, R2, and R2A ▪ Explained the difference, what’s permitted, lot sizes, and more • In 2019 there were two meetings, the realtor and property owner wanted this zone for Commercial use, but the Planning Commission asked for it to be Residential since it’s surrounded by residential areas • First concept was 62 townhouse lots at R2A zoning • Planning Commission’s feedback was no • Second concept was under R2 designation: 41 single family units at about 6500 sq ft per lot • Emphasized that o This is for discussion only and for the current developers to gauge Council o Town utilities do not extend that far and it would be at the developer’s expense to get utilities to the area Ray Blakeney, Plitko Engineering, spoke and introduced Travis Martin, who is the contract purchaser and developer. • Property is in the Level 4 State Investment area • Currently under SR – Suburban Reserve – in New Castle County o Proposed zoning if annexed would be R2. ▪ Minimum lot size of 5200 sq ft • Current draft includes o 41 units with average lot size of 7174 sq ft o More public space: walking path, pocket park with a gazebo, and a small tot-lot o Single access cul-de-sac with entry access on Rt 13 o Utilities would be through the town o Stormwater management through retention basins • Emphasize that this is a draft and would have to meet all State and Town requirements There were discussions about the walking path, why the smaller lots compared to Village of Savannah which this will back up to, traffic studies, infrastructure, concerns from the Police and Fire Company’s standpoints, and flooding that occurs in the area. Jeremy concluded that the applicant will make their decision on whether or not to move forward for annexation and what that process will look like. b. Discussion and possible action on an ordinance to repeal school impact fees * c. Discussion and possible action on an ordinance to revise Article 11 – Use of Town Parks, Sect. 46-30 – Hours of operation Captain Donner explained that there have been recent issues at the parks. There was a meeting a few weeks ago with the Mayor, Vice Mayor, Assistant Town Manager, and himself and they tossed around several ideas. • Increase signage on rules, expectations, closing time, and more • Security camera infrastructure o Sunnyside park’s is up and running now • Closing parks at 9 P.M. • Collaborate with the community to encourage positive held events The dispatchers now have live feeds on their monitors, but cameras are not a solution. Barrett said that there will be an updated ordinance that will go through the three reading process.  9. Presentation and public comments (3 minutes) Kathryn Risley – she spoke about her concerns regarding the audit: tracking of spending, lack of written policies, untimely bank reconciliations and had questions about the price and upkeep of the Lindens property, saying it is a money pit. She was told that most of the audit issues have already been addressed prior to the publication of the report. She was also told that the State is gifting the Lindens property, there’s a different property that the Town is selling. Gary Fralin – lives in Hickory Hollow and presented pictures of the curb and sidewalk. He said that it’s been falling apart for a while now and didn’t know who’s responsible for fixing these. Jason McNatt said that the sidewalk is the homeowner’s responsibility, and the curb is the Town’s responsibility. Vicky Blair – asked about the price and schedule of the new trash company. Torrie answered that the price would be increasing to about $3 more a month. This includes two 96 gallon containers, bulk pick up, and the two annual large pick-ups. The schedule will remain the same. Yard waste will still be done by the Town. George Coates – talked about the school impact fees, how the claim from the last presentation wasn’t correct, how the Town is unique in many ways and went over those, and that the Town should keep its autonomy. Local government is important, and the Town shouldn’t allow the State to take control of the school impact fees. Irene Strozeski – talked about the new developer and having a 55 and older area. Unfortunately, during Irene’s public comment, someone from Zoom tried to share their screen. To avoid potential video or picture scams, IT Manager, Walt Ruth, removed Council Chambers from the Zoom room. This was done at 7:52 P.M. Recorder, Danielle, worked to close out Zoom for everyone else. If there were other public comments, those were not noted down. 10. Adjournment Danielle was advised that the meeting ended at 7:56 P.M. Councilman Pope motioned first. Vice Mayor Upshur seconded. All were in favor. Posted 7/28/2025 at 4:30 PM (#1) *Posted 7/31/2025 at 11:45 AM (#2) item being removed from agenda as all information has not been received. 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.