Sports
Fun
Adventure
Indians wrap up historic regular season
Mele Makers to play at Shorebirds game
Bethany Beach prepping for Poseidon Festival
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MAY 16, 2025
THE LOCAL VOICE OF YOUR COMMUNITY.
County council to start studying impact fees
Volume 22, Issue 20
FREE
Time to burn the mortgage
By Susan Canfora Staff Reporter The Sussex County Council, by a 41 vote, approved directing County staff to “craft legislation in relation to school funding” and “draft a recommendation regarding what an impact fee would look like” to help fund public services, including schools. Councilman Steve McCarron — who had asked that the issue of school funding be placed on the agenda for the Tuesday, May 13, council meeting — said he had served on local school boards for 10 years, was president of one and has perspective of the need for additional school funding, especially since he is a property owner in a growing county. “We are not deciding today,” he emphasized. “There is no enabling legislation today. But the task is are we going See FEES page 3
Kline, Hudson Briggs retain IRSD seats Parsons and Peden have no contest to their spots By Laura Walter Staff Reporter Georgetown voters this week selected two candidates to serve on Indian River School District Board of Education. On May 13, they opted for the two incumbents. Unofficial vote totals were: Lisa Hudson Briggs (87), Kelly Kline (64) and Dereck Booth (31). The Department of Elections also noted 44 undervotes, which means 44 voters only selected one candidate on their ballot instead of the allowable two. That math suggests about 113 people voted this year. See ELECTION page 5
Coastal Point • Kerin Magill
Rev. Dania Griffin stands at the entrance to Antioch A.M.E. Church in Frankford, which celebrates the burning of the mortgage for a 2004 addition this weekend. By Kerin Magill Staff Reporter When officials from Antioch A.M.E. Church in Frankford set their mortgage aflame this weekend, it will represent the turning of a triumphant page in the church’s long history. Last November, the church paid off the $500,000 loan it received in 2004 for construction of an addition. The project took about three years to complete, and added classrooms and offices to the existing building — at least part of which dates back to its reconstruction in 1946, after a fire three years prior. The entire project cost $700,000, and the church members raised $200,000 of that, according to Roy Hall, former church council president and longtime member. The celebratory burning of the mortgage is the congregation’s way of showing appreciation to church leaders, members and the surrounding community for supporting the church. Antioch pastor the Rev. Dania Griffin said that when he
took the post in 2014, the expansion project “was already done.” He said the way the work the congregation did to make the church accessible to all impressed him immediately — particularly since he walks with a cane and his daughter has cerebral palsy. “Most churches, if they were built before 2010, the accessibility of people who are differently abled” was lacking, Griffin said. At Antioch, he said, “When I walked through the front door all the way back to the kitchen, I thought about somebody in a scooter, I thought about somebody in a wheelchair. Once you’re in the building, you can attend any function” easily, he said. That wasn’t the case before the 2004 construction project, according to Hall. “You had to leave the building to use the bathroom” Hall said, because they were in a separate building that housed the kitchen and fellowship hall. Today, the entire complex is under one roof and there are restrooms easily accessible
See ANTIOCH page 7