Sports
Fun
Volleyball team on the way up
Gallery One starting new exhibit
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Page 39
SEPTEMBER 29, 2023
Fenwick planners get look at bridge
THE LOCAL VOICE OF YOUR COMMUNITY.
Volume 20, Issue 39
FREE
Mum’s the word
By Kerin Magill Staff Reporter Plans to upgrade the bridge across the Little Assawoman Bay on Route 54 got another look last week when project managers presented the latest version of what the bridge might look like to the Fenwick Island Planning & Zoning Commission. Nick Dean, DelDOT engineer, and Jonathan Eberle, project manager for AECOM, the engineering firm overseeing the project, offered another look at the bridge project. Construction is set to begin in October 2024 and end in May 2026. The existing bridge is about 40 feet wide, while the new bridge will be almost 60 feet wide, with a center turn lane added to the span. The center lane will be able to be used as a second westbound lane in the event of an evacuation of the beach areas, they said. “Another big benefit” of the center lane is that it can be used by emergency vehicles, making it easier for them to traverse the bridge during high-traffic periods.
Special to the Coastal Point • Marian Dowling
See BRIDGE page 2
Don’t blame us for the headline — that was all on our roaming photographer friend (though we wish we would have thought of it first).
Taylor appointed to fill IRSD’s District 5 seat By Mike Smith Staff Reporter Kimberly Taylor — a retired 40-year veteran educator and school counselor, who served as a first-grade teacher at Phillip C. Showell Elementary School for her first 14 years in the profession — was appointed on Monday night to serve on the Indian River School District board of education, starting immediately. She will serve in a seat representing District 5 until June 30, 2024, when the remaining nine months of the seat’s term expires. She said she has not decided yet whether she will stand for a public election to a full term on the board. With the resignation of board mem-
ber W. Scott Collins from his District 5 seat this summer, the remaining board members were able to appoint someone to fill the remaining portion of his term. The appointment process hit a roadblock in August, when the board deadlocked on which candiKimberly Taylor date to appoint — Taylor or Samuel Clark. But this week, after the two candidates returned to state their cases, Taylor received the six votes required to fill the vacant position. IRSD Board Chairwoman Leolga Wright, and
Members Donald Hattier and Gerald Peden voted against appointment, while the remaining board members voted in Taylor’s favor. “I am in shock,” said Taylor after her selection by fellow board members. “This was unexpected because my opponent had so much community backing, too.” Taylor said her experience as a teacher and then student counselor led her to wanting to serve on the board. “I worked at Showell as a teacher, then East Millsboro Elementary School, where I was able to get into student counseling,” said Taylor. “Then I was at Frankford Elementary School and Long Neck Elementary in Millsboro, where I was involved in gifted-
and-talented education. I want to give this board of education work my very best, because I feel led to now help the IRSD as a board member. We will see where God leads me once I have been in this position for nine months,” she said before declaring for a school board election. Clark told the board of education on Monday that his life experiences and his role as a father provided him with the background to serve the IRSD. “The IRSD has a lot on its doorstep right now,” said Clark. “I see your hesitancy in hiring somebody without experience. My life experience gives me that background. My own background with See TAYLOR page 3