Mayor & Council

Council Meeting Council Chamber, Smyrna Town Hall 27 S. Market Street Plaza, Smyrna, Delaware September 2, 2025 – 7:00 PM Agenda 1. 7:00 PM – Call to order of the regular meeting Meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM by Mayor Gott 2. Pledge of Allegiance 3. Roll Call All members of Mayor and Council were present: Mayor Gott, Vice Mayor Dr. Upshur, and Councilmen Drew, Johnson, Miles, Olson, and Pope. 4. Additions/deletions to the published agenda Vice Mayor Upshur motioned to approve the agenda as published. Councilman Johnson seconded the motion. All were in favor. Motion passed. 5. Consent agenda a. Executive Session meeting minutes from 8/18/2025 b. Council meeting minutes from 8/18/2025 Councilman Johnson motioned to approve the Consent agenda. Councilman Drew seconded. All were in favor. Motion passed. 6. Non-agenda items a. Mayor and Council Members Vice Mayor Upshur • Suicide awareness month o check on family and friends and the strong people in your group o 988 is the hotline number • 9/6 – Powerhouse Ministries will be hosting a community day; all are welcome o Backpack giveaways, hot dogs, hamburgers, moon bounce, free haircuts, health screenings, and more Councilman Pope • Went to the Chartering ceremony for the National Council of Negro Women where Vice Mayor Dr. Upshur was honored o He’s excited for the new chapter for southern New Castle and feels they will do great things  • Citizen Hose Company will have their annual 9/11 ceremony in front of the fire house at 7 PM on 9/11. Councilman Johnson • Thanked the Electric crew for their hard work and working over the holiday weekend Councilman Olson • Thanked those from Smyrna who went to the Touch-a-Truck event at the library Councilman Drew • Thanked teachers • Went to a couple of businesses on Main St and heard their comments and concerns Councilman Miles • Didn’t have anything to discuss Mayor Gott • Thanked everyone for being at the meeting • Invited people and organizations to join Parks and Recreation during their meetings • The large Town Hall discussion originally set for 9/16 is being rescheduled for a later date • Veterans’ Day forms will be distributed soon to Councilmembers, return date is the next meeting, 9/15 • On 9/31 she joined in a prayer with the Ministerium and Bethal Church for the 2025- 2026 school year b. Police Chief Captain Donner • 2 recruits going into Wilmington Academy on September 29th • An offer has been made to a certified officer and he’s hoping to hear from her soon • There’s an interview with another certified officer next week • Opened the police job back up, as they would like two more, totaling 6, and Dover announced they’ll have an Academy in January c. Town Manager Torrie James • Talked about his Manager’s report • Provided a conditional job offer to the person for Media and Public Affairs Coordinator o Hoping to have her start at the end of September, beginning of October o She’ll handle media communications, update the website, rebrand, and be part of the Community Engagement team • Working with HR on updating staff evaluations o Looking to make the evaluation more job/departmental based • Working on negotiations o Electric department is looking to move from AFSCME to IBEW • Working on the 2026 budget and hoping to have that in front of the Finance Committee soon • Departments are working within and under budget • The 2023 Audit is almost complete o The Town has to send back rebuttals, if any, and then have the auditors present  Mayor Gott asked if the 2026 budget will meet November’s goal. Torrie James said that he is hopeful, but there has been a delay because of negotiations. Mayor Gott said per Charter, a decision has to be made by the first meeting in December. 7. Old business, including discussion and possible action on the following items: a. Second reading of Ordinance 012-25, an ordinance to amend Chapter 46 (Parks and Recreation) to update the closing time for certain Town of Smyrna Municipal Parks Mayor Gott asked what ‘certain’ meant in this context. Town Solicitor, Barrett Edwards, said that it included George C. Wright Jr Municipal Park, Little Lass Park, Green Meadows Park, and Sunnyside Village Park, and using ‘certain’ was a way to include them without having them written out. Vice Mayor Dr. Upshur motioned to approve the second reading of Ord. 012-25. Councilman Miles seconded the motion. All were in favor. Motion passed. 8. New business, including discussion and possible action on the following items: a. Adding member(s) to committee(s)* Mayor Gott would like to appoint the following people to the following committees; • RDA – Denise King • Parks and Recreation – Jessica Sayers • Public Safety – Michael Carrigan Councilman Drew motioned to approve the people added to the committees. Councilman Johnson seconded the motion. All were in favor. Motion passed. 9. Presentation and public comments (3 minutes) This was open to the public at 7:22 PM Elizabeth Brown introduced herself as being part of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and the Just Serve Program. She is a Just Serve Specialist for the Dover State. She introduced Brother Ted Davenport, who was with her. He is also a part of Just Serve. She had an award for the City Council and the Town, and in speaking with Vice Mayor Dr. Upshur, they wanted to introduce the Just Serve Hero program. It helps in recognizing a volunteer of the year. She has some swag for the Council and would like to present a certificate at the next meeting. Vice Mayor Dr. Upshur gave a brief background on how Smyrna became part of the Just Serve community. It happened while Mayor Gott and she were at a National League of Cities conference, and they talked with representatives at a Just Serve table. The Vice Mayor said that she’ll share the information on Thursday’s Tidbits, as well as the video Ms. Brown sent to her earlier. Irene Strozeski asked for clarification on the closing date of the parks. Mayor Gott said it was the closing time of the parks; it is being changed from 10 PM to 9 PM. Irene also talked about the increase in developments and the need for schools and that the developers really need to pay for some of the expenses; schools, teachers, fire and emergency equipment, etc.. She asked if the police pension deficit was up to date. Town Manager, Torrie James, talked briefly about it. There are 3 officers on the Town Pension plan and said that money is put in that fund yearly. It’ll be a 4 to 5 year plan. She said that it’s important the Town take care of their own.  10. Executive session to discuss a personnel matter in which the names, competency, and abilities of an individual employee will be discussed. 29 Del. C. Sec. 10004(b)(9) Councilman Johnson motioned to enter into Executive Session. Councilman Drew seconded the motion. All were in favor. Motion passed. Executive Session began at 7:22 PM. 11. Discussion and possible action on a matter discussed in executive session Mayor and Council came out of Executive Session at 8:13 PM. Room was muted, so not sure who motioned and who seconded. Later on, Recorder, Danielle Pope, asked Town Manager Torrie James if he knew who motioned and who seconded. He said that Councilman Miles motioned, but he wasn’t sure who seconded. Councilman Pope motioned to move forward as discussed in Executive Session. Councilman Johnson seconded the motion. All were in favor. Motion passed. 12. Adjournment Councilman Pope motioned to adjourn. Councilman Johnson seconded. All were in favor. Motion passed. Meeting ended at 8:14 PM. Posted 8/26/2025 by 4:30 PM (#1) Posted 8/26/2025 by 4:30 PM (#2) *item added when topic arose after publication 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.