Sports
Fun
Benders shows talents in multiple sports
Bethany announces photography winners
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MARCH 17, 2023
THE LOCAL VOICE OF YOUR COMMUNITY.
Volume 20, Issue 11
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DNREC: White Creek dredge to stop March 31 Project expected to be f inished in the fall By Susan Canfora Staff Reporter State Sen. Gerald Hocker (R-20th) and state Rep. Ron Gray (R-38th) have asked DNREC officials to meet with them concerning a change in plans that will prevent about 700 feet of White Creek in the eastern prong from being
dredged, as originally planned. James Bew, who lives on the part of the eastern prong not scheduled to be dredged, said this week that the change — as well as DNREC’s recent announcement that the entire $4.7 million dredging project will end on March 31 and not resume until September, which officials have said is because the dredging company got off to a slow start — are examples of poor DNREC management and unfair assignment of blame. “It’s an epic failure, a colossal failure,
on many, many levels. It’s unfair to blame the dredging company for DNREC’s mismanagement, lack of transparency and operating contrary to public interest. We pay our taxes, and we’re concerned about our property values if this doesn’t get dredged,” said Bew, who learned of the change in dredging plans after reading bid contract specifications on the DNREC website. Bew said a DNREC official told him the prong was being left out because
there is no documentation it has ever been dredged before, so it would have to be done not as maintenance, as the rest of the dredging is being done, but as a separate, future project. But Bew said five eyewitnesses who live near him testified that they recalled previous dredging and described it in detail, and residents on his street, Cristy Lane in Ocean View “uncovered the official navigation charts from 2002 statSee DREDGE page 4
Court dismisses suit against Fenwick over former DQ property By Kerin Magill Staff Reporter Last week, a Delaware Superior Court judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed against the Town of Fenwick Island by the owner of the former Dairy Queen property. Balsamo Real Estate LLC had filed a petition for writ of mandamus and a motion for summary judgment against the Town following a dispute over the company’s efforts to renovate the former Dairy Queen site, adding a second floor, for a larger restaurant. The decision by Superior Court Judge Mark H. Conner, filed on March 7, granted a motion to dismiss originally filed by the Town on Sept. 27, 2022. In the months between those two actions, the Town has been embroiled in a drawn-out fight over the town council’s efforts to pass stricter parking regulaSpecial to the Coastal Point • Marian Dowling
See SUIT page 3
A ‘moonset’ in Bethany Beach created an aesthetic wonderland in Bethany Beach last week.
Pfaff discusses how quality of life lures jobs, employers By Mike Smith Staff Reporter Bill Pfaff has been the economic development director of Sussex County for nearly six years. Prior to taking the helm as the chief driver of
business development in the county, he spent 25 years as executive director of the Small Business Development Center associated with University of Delaware — an incubator for new companies and growth ideas. “Jobs are only a part of the equa-
tion,” said Pfaff at a Sussex County Conservation District awards lunch in Millsboro this month. “Here in Sussex County, we are focused on the attraction, retention and expansion of business, and to create an entrepreneurial culture.”
The County is taking some innovative approaches to business attraction including creation of pop-up office parks, reconfiguring existing space for remote work and pivoting to the new See JOBS page 6