Sports
Learning
Crandell honored for cross country
Leo Club doing its thing at IR
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JANUARY 27, 2023
THE LOCAL VOICE OF YOUR COMMUNITY.
Volume 20, Issue 4
FREE
Millville property owners hear about reassessments By Kerin Magill Staff Reporter “Don’t kill the messenger.” That was how Sussex County Administrator Todd Lawson introduced himself to the crowd at Millville Town Hall on Tuesday, Jan. 24, at the start of a Millville Town Council workshop addressing the County’s property reassessment process. “We are at the point where the
County is engaged in reassessment,” Lawson said. During the one-hour presentation, Lawson sought to allay residents’ fears about what the court-ordered reassessment process will mean for them. Mayor Ronald Belinko introduced Lawson by saying that, since reassessment workers are currently making the rounds in Millville, town officials thought it would be a good idea to bring county of-
ficials to a town council meeting so residents could hear directly from them what to expect as the County’s first assessment of property since 1974 moves forward. Lawson told those gathered in the packed meeting room that the current reassessment is the result of a lawsuit that resulted in the Chancery Court decision in 2020 that property values across the state no longer represented the “true value of money.”The Delaware Supreme Court
has interpreted that term, used in the Delaware state code, to mean present fair market value. The lawsuit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and Community Legal Aid Society, alleged that outdated property assessments were partially to blame for lack of funding for schools serving disadvantaged students in See MILLVILLE page 2
IRSD to appeal to State for more funding for local schools By Mike Smith Staff Reporter At the Indian River School District Board of Education meeting last week, Business Director Tammy Smith and IRSD-retained consultant Mark Dufendach tried to provide guidance on a $25.6 million shortfall in local school construction funds. The IRSD may be responsible for a local match of some $10 million to bridge the gap. The original budget for the new Sussex Central High School was $146 million, as approved in a local tax referendum. But with market pressures and the high cost of materials, the cost has already escalated to $187.6 million. The IRSD has $163 million in hand because of savings from other building funds but will still be $25.6 million short if all 45 of the project “alternates” are built. Groundbreaking took place last year, and the building footprint is See IRSD page 3
Special to the Coastal Point • Marian Dowling
Another example of the serenity and peacefulness that can be found all around us here in our little slice of Heaven by the shore, as shared by our wandering photographer friend.
‘Lights, Camera, Action’: Fire & Ice Festival hits community By Kerin Magill Staff Reporter The announcements of Oscar nominees this week served as a perfect preview “trailer” for a local “main event” — the 2023 Fire & Ice Festival The festival, with its “Lights, Camera, Action” theme, will light up mul-
tiple venues with “showtimes” starting Friday, Jan. 27, and continuing through Sunday, Jan. 29. At least eight different “set locations” will offer entertainment, food and fun. The Bethany-Fenwick Chamber of Commerce sponsors the event, and businesses from Bethany Beach to Dagsboro have come up with creative,
entertaining events to bring this year’s theme to life. In addition to providing a fun outdoor event during an otherwise quiet time of year in local communities, Fire & Ice events benefit several local organizations, including Beebe Healthcare’s South Coastal Emergency Department & Cancer Center in Mil-
lville, the Lord Baltimore Elementary School PTO, the Delaware Center for the Inland Bays, Santa’s Letters and the Millville Volunteer Fire Company. Chamber Executive Director Lauren Weaver said early this week that ticketed events, such as Saturday’s See FESTIVAL page 4