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 are some of the most important or interesting public meetings happening around the state this week.
- Georgetown to reconsider tiny homes
- Energy regulators finalize Delmarva rate increase
- Port of Wilmington leaders talk finances
- Colonial school officials to discuss feeder patterns
Georgetown to reconsider tiny home rules
Georgetown leaders on Monday will discuss changing, or even repealing, the town’s recently enacted tiny home ordinance.
The policy, and broader possibility of allowing tiny home developments in the Sussex County seat, became a flashpoint over the past year as residents and elected officials debated how best to address a growing homeless population.
Newly-elected Mayor Angie Townsend is proposing the discussion. Townsend was backed during her campaign by a citizens’ Facebook group known as “Make Georgetown Great Again,” which established a political foothold in response to growing resident frustrations about town leaders’ response to homelessness.
It is unclear what exactly Townsend hopes to change about Georgetown’s regulations, but current code allows for 12 tiny homes per acre, among other rules.
After Townsend’s victory, an organizer of Make Georgetown Great Again told Spotlight Delaware he hopes town leaders will work with local nonprofits implement more homelessness programs that are faith-based and focused on accountability.
📍 The Georgetown Town Council will meet at 7 p.m. Monday inside council chambers, located at 39 The Circle in Georgetown. For more information, including on virtual attendance, click here.
Regulators finalize Delmarva rate hike
Delaware energy regulators will finalize a $34.3 million Delmarva Power rate increase request on Wednesday, rebuffing the utility by approving only part of its already scaled-back request.
By approving the rate increase request, the Public Service Commission will allow Delmarva Power to increase electricity bills for the average Delaware home by just less than a dollar. However, there could be additional increases in the coming months.
The diminished electricity rate increase comes as energy costs have been at the forefront of Delaware’s political conversation over the past year.
Gov. Matt Meyer has publicly pressured energy regulators to freeze electricity rates. Lawmakers also passed a bill last month limiting the amount of infrastructure spending that Delmarva Power — the state’s largest utility company — could pass on to customers.
The increase will be voted on as part of the Public Service Commission’s consent agenda, meaning there will not be debate about the specific Delmarva increase. Instead, it will be voted on along with a slew of other proposals in a single vote.
📍 The Public Service Commission will meet at 1 p.m. Wednesday inside the Cannon Building, located at 861 Silver Lake Blvd in Dover. For more information, including on virtual attendance, click here.
Port leaders to talk finances
The Diamond State Port Corporation’s finance committee will meet Wednesday to discuss the Port of Wilmington’s financial position, including its budget for the 2027 fiscal year.
The discussion comes weeks after state lawmakers voted to use a controversial pot of money to fund the port’s Edgemoor expansion. For a decade, the port expansion has been a goal of state officials who said a new container facility could bring in thousands of new jobs to the Wilmington area.
But plans for the development had been beset by obstacles and blunders committed by port officials in the past. They also faced opposition from regional ports in Pennsylvania and New Jersey and from Edgemoor residents concerned about environmental impacts.
Wednesday’s committee meeting is slated to include discussions about construction projects at the port, the allocation of federal funding and more.
📍 The Diamond State Port Corporation’s Finance Committee will meet at 10 a.m. Wednesday inside the Carvel State Building, located at 820 N French St. in Wilmington. For more information, including on virtual attendance, click here.
Will Colonial send kids to new schools?
Colonial School District families may send their children to a different elementary school than expected for the 2027-28 school year.
On Tuesday, Colonial Board of Education members will discuss changes to their elementary schools’ feeder pattern, according to an action item on the board’s agenda. Details about which schools may be impacted are not readily available on the board’s agenda. If implemented, the district would likely use the coming school year as a planning year for future changes.
📍 The Colonial Board of Education will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday at its district board room, located at 318 E. Basin Road in New Castle. For more information, including about virtual attendance, click here.
Karl Baker, Olivia Marble and Maggie Reynolds contributed to this report.
