Construction of new Troop 7 scheduled to begin in August

Almost three years behind the anticipated schedule, plans for a new Delaware State Police Troop 7 are finally moving forward. The troop will be built on Mulberry Knoll Road, off Route 24 near Lewes.

In a May 31 letter to county officials, engineer Jon Falkowski with Becker Morgan Group, said construction was supposed to start in the fall of 2015, but full funding from the General Assembly held up the project. He said full funding will be available July 1, and construction is expected to begin Aug. 16 with a completion date of March 2020.

At its June 12 meeting, Sussex County Council granted a six-month time extension to the Delaware Division of Facility Management on a conditional-use application that was set to expire Saturday, June 16. The county planning and zoning commission was scheduled to review the site plan for the project at its June 14 meeting.

Sussex County Planning and Zoning Director Janelle Cornwell said all agency approvals have been received. Once the final site plan is approved, the state will have until Dec. 16 to start construction.

In late 2017, with partial funding, the state awarded a bid to Dixie Construction to install a 2,000-foot pipe to connect to a water main along Route 24. That project is awaiting a notice to proceed from Delaware Department of Transportation and Tidewater Utilities.

The new troop facility will replace an aging 6,000-square-foot building. The new troop will have a 25,000-square-foot troop building and a 7,000-square-foot maintenance facility.

The troop will be adjacent to Love Creek Elementary School. A gated access road is proposed between the two parcels for use in an emergency and for essential personnel.