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Bonbright takes over girls’ lacrosse team
Local scouts shine in Ocean View
Local Realtor kicks in to help out CIB
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MARCH 21, 2025
THE LOCAL VOICE OF YOUR COMMUNITY.
Volume 22, Issue 12
FREE
South Bethany talking expenses, possible tax hike By Susan Canfora Staff Reporter Property owners in South Bethany could see the current town property tax rate of $1.30 per $100 of assessed value drop to just 4 or 5 cents per $100 of assessed — due to increased property values under a court-mandated county-
Ocean View cancels council election
wide reassessment. But at a recent town council meeting, one resident begged, instead, for an increase, especially since there hasn’t been one since 2009. “You’ve got to raise taxes, please,” the speaker said during the public comments portion of the Friday, March 14, town council meeting. “Please,
please raise our taxes. We pay nothing compared to other towns. Nobody has talked about beach replenishment. … We have to put in a cost-of-living increase so we can cover our town employees. Please. Please, please just raise our taxes. We pay nothing. We can fix all this stuff by just raising our taxes,” the resident said.
He was referring to the Town needing $14 million during the next few years to pay for long-term capitalneeds projects, including flooding solutions, raising bulkheads, raising the height of certain roadways and canal dredging. See BUDGET page 5
Fair or fowl?
By Susan Canfora Staff Reporter The Town of Ocean View has canceled its planned April 12 election because only two candidates, both incumbents, filed. Town Manager Carol Houck said the Board of Election had met and determined there will not be an election this year. Ocean View Town Councilwoman Colleen Twardzik filed for reelection for a second three-year term representing District 2, and Councilman Stephen Cobb filed for a second term representing District 1. They will both be sworn in to their new terms at the reorganization meeting at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, April 22. “On our council, our greatest accomplishment is that we work together as a team,” Twardzik told the Coastal Point. “One of my goals in my next term is to get more people involved in town committees. Another goal is to walk the trails of Berzin’s Nature Park Trail. The construction is planned to begin in 2026. Things are going well in town, and a lot of things have been done in See ELECTION page 6
Coastal Point • Susan Lyons
Sorry about that headline. Between baseball and softball getting started, and our long-standing love of all things punny, we couldn’t resist. We hope we didn’t ruffle your feathers.
Fenwick committee studying DarkSky movement By Kerin Magill Staff Reporter A Fenwick Island committee has begun its mission of shining a light on the importance of darkness.
The Town’s Ad Hoc DarkSky Committee met this week to map out a strategy for educating the public on the whys of the DarkSky movement. The Fenwick Island town-sponsored group is based on the principles of DarkSky
International, whose 70 chapters around the world focus on restoring the nighttime environment and protecting communities from the effects of light pollution. Light pollution is generally defined
as the impact of manmade alterations of outdoor light levels that alter natural light patterns. According to DarkSky International, light pollution can disrupt See DARKNESS page 5