Sussex County Council Honors 2 Long-Time Former BOA Members & Announces Reassessment Town Hall Meetings
The Sussex County Council was back in Georgetown after a week off for the Labor Day holiday. The Council began the morning recognizing two former Board of Adjustment members – Jeff Hudson and Brent Workman. Hudson was a member of the BOA from 1998 to 2017 and Workman from 2002 to 2021. Also on hand for the recognition, former Planning and Zoning Director, Lawrence Lank.
County Administrator Todd Lawson told the Council there will be 5 Town Hall meetings for the reassessment. They will be throughout the county – there will also be one virtual meeting.
The public meetings scheduled for the reassessment process include:
– Thursday, Sept. 23, 2021, from 2 to 4 p.m., at Milton Fire Department, 116 Front St., Milton;
– Thursday, Sept. 23, 2021, from 6 to 8 p.m., at Delaware Technical Community College-Owen Campus, 21179 College Drive, Georgetown;
– Monday, Sept. 27, 2021, from 6 to 8 p.m., at the Delaware National Guard-Bethany Beach Training Site, 163 Scannell Boulevard, Bethany Beach;
– Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2021, from 6 to 8 p.m., at Millsboro Town Center, 322 Wilson Highway, Millsboro;
– Thursday, Sept. 30, 2021, from 6 to 8 p.m., at Seaford Volunteer Fire Department, 302 King St., Seaford.
All meetings are open to the public; masks and social distancing are required by some venues, so the public should prepare in advance to observe COVID-19 measures. County officials will be on hand, and representatives from Tyler Technologies will make a presentation at each meeting to explain the various components of a general reassessment.
In addition to the in-person sessions, one virtual session featuring the same presentation will be conducted, as well. That meeting will be held:
– Monday, Sept. 27, 2021, from 2 to 4 p.m., available on any computer or mobile device at https://bit.ly/3tCDel5.
As part of the Sussex County project, all properties will be evaluated and re-calculated based on current industry-accepted methodologies to produce new assessments that will reflect their true value in money, a requirement under Delaware law.
Director of Utility Planning and Design Review, John Ashman updated the Council on the North Georgetown Area of the Sussex County Unified Sanitary Sewer District. There was a mail-in referendum for three properties that had been left off the initial revision of the boundary to create the sewer area. All three voted in favor and the Council voted to approve the finalized sewer district.
Public hearings were held for the Marlin Cove Expansion near Fenwick Island and the Scenic Manor Expansion, Mulberry Knoll area, of the Sussex County Unified Sanitary Sewer District. There was no comment for or against either project and both were approved with votes of 5 to 0.
In Old Business, the Council approved a zoning application for the former Twin Cedars property south of Roxana. The application, which is a redesign of a previously approved RPC and commercial project, requests a change in zone from a C-1 General Commercial, CR-1 Commercial Residential and GR General Residential District to a General Residential District-Residential Planned Community(RPC) for over 64 acres, which is currently unimproved. The Council amended the landscape conditions and approved the application with a 5 to 0 vote.
The Council heard a presentation from Sussex County Health Coalition Executive Director, Peggy Geisler, who requested a grant of $5000 for Delaware Goes Purple. This is the 4th year that this grant request has been made. The group works to erase the stigma of addiction and to support individuals who need it the most. She told the Council that their past grants have been stretched to bring the most good to the most people possible and that over 150,000 Delawareans have been reached in past years – mostly in Sussex and Kent Counties. The Council approved a $5000 countywide youth grant for Delaware Goes Purple as well as a $250 grant for the Laurel Women’s Civic Club for the Wreaths Across America Project.
There were 5 public hearings during the afternoon session. All were conditional use applications. CU No. 2255, CU No. 2257, CU No. 2261 and CU No 2289 were each approved by the Council with a 5 to 0 vote. The final application, CU No 2278, for an events venue west of Georgetown, was recommended by the Planning Commission for denial. The Council voted 4 to 1 to deny. Councilman John Rieley was the sole vote in favor, saying that people should be able to do what they want with their property and that with the proper conditions it might be more palatable to the neighbors.
REMINDER: Sussex County property tax bills are due at the end of this month. Each August, Sussex County government issues tens of thousands of tax bills for the more than 186,000 parcels in the county, with revenue collected funding a variety of local public services. Bills can be viewed online, at https://munis.sussexcountyde.gov/MSS/citizens/RealEstate/
For property owners without mortgage escrow accounts, paper copies will be mailed throughout August, with payment due by Sept. 30, the deadline established by Delaware Code.
Annual tax bills include County property taxes, and County sewer and water, tax ditch and street lighting fees, where applicable. Additionally, tax bills include local school district taxes, which are set by and vary among the eight independent school districts.
Click here for more information on County Taxes
