Why Should Delaware Care?
Government works best when its citizens are knowledgeable and engaged. Delaware’s government has scores of commissions, working groups, agencies and legislative committees. All must hold meetings that are open to the public. Below we highlight a few of those meetings that are happening this week.
Below are some of the most important or interesting public meetings happening around the state this week.
- New Castle County Council to reconsider the long-litigated warehousing complex near Middletown
- Sussex County Council to consider approvals for controversial housing and retail developments
- Wilmington City Council to discuss new electoral terms
- Delaware nuclear energy taskforce to continue discussion of modular reactors
- Dover to consider plans for massive hospital expansion
A long road to warehousing in Middletown
A massive Middletown warehousing plan may finally get a green light from New Castle County.
Two years ago, suburban pushback against warehouses planned south of the C&D Canal emerged as the biggest political controversy in northern Delaware.
In response, the New Castle County Council reexamined and then ultimately denied approvals for a 2.4 million-square-foot warehousing complex proposed by Dermody Properties – a developer that had previously built distribution centers for Amazon and Walmart.
Litigation followed, and in November a judge issued an opinion that admonished the county, calling its key argument for denying the proposal “legally indefensible.”
New Castle County is appealing the decision to the Delaware Supreme Court.
But until then, the New Castle County Council is again set to consider the plans, which Dermody originally submitted in 2021. To begin the process, the council’s land use committee will review a resolution on Tuesday to approve the project. The full council will issue any final approval at a later date.
If New Castle County’s appeal of the judge’s decision is successful, any council approval will be rescinded, according to county documents.
📍 The New Castle County Council’s land use committee will meet at 3 p.m. Tuesday at the Louis L. Redding City County Building, located at 800 N. French St. in Wilmington. For more information, including about virtual attendance, click here.
Sussex County to consider next set of divisive developments
The Sussex County Council is scheduled to meet this week to close the record on two of southern Delaware’s most hotly disputed developments; a plan for a big-box store complex near Lewes, and a housing and retail proposal east of Georgetown that would be larger than many neighboring towns.
The meeting will occur one month after the council approved separate plans for another controversial development called Belle Mead, which will remake a horse farm into a housing and retail complex, near Lewes.
For months, area residents have pushed back against all three projects, making it the latest in years of tensions over what should be built and where in the booming satellite communities that sit around the Delaware Beaches.
Still, there also have been supporters of the projects, particularly the major retail center, called Atlantic Fields, which has promised a Costco, Target and Whole Foods for the once rural area outside of Lewes.
📍 The Sussex County Council will meet at 10 a.m. Tuesday for its weekly meeting to discuss a range of topics, including closing the record on the two development plans. The meeting will take place at the Sussex County Administrative Office Building, located at 2 The Circle in Georgetown. Information about virtual attendance can be found at the bottom of the meeting agenda document here.
How should Wilmington elect its council?
Wilmington City Councilwoman Shané Darby has introduced several resolutions that collectively ask state lawmakers to change how the City Council is elected.
Among the proposals is one that would limit council members’ tenure in the body to three terms – or 12 years.
Darby — a progressive politician who frequently spars with the Wilmington’s establishment –also is calling for staggering council elections, so that members are not all up for a vote on the same election day every four years.
She also is proposing a lowering of the minimum age for council members and the mayor to serve, from 25 to 18 years old.
📍 The Wilmington City Council Intergovernmental Committee will meet Wednesday at from 5 p.m. to discuss Darby’s resolutions. The City Council calls it a virtual meeting with an anchor location on the first floor of the Louis L. Redding City County Building. To attend the meeting virtually, click here. Sign up here to make a public comment during the meeting.
Should Delaware embrace nuclear?
A Delaware task force examining the feasibility of installing small nuclear reactors in locations across Delaware will meet this week.
Lawmakers created the task force last year, just as some in the industry were asserting that modular nuclear power plants could help ease an electricity supply crunch facing the mid-Atlantic region.
Lobbying in favor of the legislative resolution to create the taskforce was Delmarva Power and PSEG, an energy company that owns the nuclear power plants in Salem, N.J.
An agenda for this week’s taskforce meeting states that its members submitted an interim report to the state last month.
No such report is publicly available, but a concept paper from one member of the taskforce, Andrew Cottone, asserts that small, modular nuclear reactors “could play a strategic role in achieving decarbonization and energy resilience goals” in Delaware.
Cottone also is founder of the hydrogen production startup, Aternium. The company, which received a $1 million venture capital investment from federal funds last year, needs electricity in order to produce hydrogen fuel.
📍 The Delaware Nuclear Energy Feasibility Task Force will meet at 9 a.m. Tuesday at Legislative Hall in Dover. For virtual attendance information, click here.
Dover to discuss details of hospital expansion
Last fall, Delaware’s second largest hospital system announced it would pursue a $250 million expansion of its Dover facility in anticipation of a “heavily aging” and “sicker” population.
According to the hospital system, Bayhealth, the expanded facility would provide “primary care, women’s health, behavioral health, oncology, cardiovascular care, imaging and laboratory services.”
This week, officials from the Dover Development Advisory Committee will review and comment on the plans submitted for the expansion, including its five-story parking garage.
The Dover Planning Commission will then meet later this month to continue the review.
📍 The Dover Development Advisory Committee will meet at 10 a.m. Wednesday at City Hall in Dover, located at 15 Loockerman Plaza. Click here to watch the meeting virtually.
Correction: This story originally reported that Aternium had received a $1 million grant from the state. It actually received $1 million in venture capital through the State Small Business Credit Initiative, a federal fund administered by states.
This story also originally reported that Cool Spring Crossing was located west of Georgetown, but is is proposed to be located east of the county seat.
We regret the errors.