Dewey moves ahead on bayside referendum

Dewey has a beach replenishment tax to protect its ocean edge, and now town commissioners are exploring the need for a tax to protect its bayside edge.

During a May 13 meeting, town commissioners voted in favor of moving forward with a process that would bring a referendum to town property owners during the town election in September. As proposed, the referendum would have two questions – are property owners in favor of the town playing a financial role in mitigating bayside flooding and sea level rise, and, if yes, how much money should the town raise?

Mayor Dale Cooke said the town needs to let its property owners know what it’s going to do. Cooke lives in the north end of town, away from ocean and bayside flooding issues.

Dewey’s bayside flooding problem is not new.

Town Manager Marc Appelbaum said during Hurricane Sandy he received calls from property owners asking how their houses looked. He said he told them the house is probably fine if it’s located on the ocean block, but there might be problems if it’s located on the bayside.

The town needs to set up a funding mechanism to help those bayside property owners, said Appelbaum, who owns a bayside condo.

Commissioner Mike Dunmyer, who also owns a bayside condo, said supports a tax. As sea levels rise, it’s only going to get to be a more challenging issue to address, he said.

“I think it’s a no brainer,” he said.

Dunmyer pointed to the money the town has committed to resiliency projects on Read and McKinley avenues. In February, town council unanimously approved contributing $35,000 toward a Delaware Community Water Quality Improvement grant application for $173,209. The town is still awaiting the funding decision from the grant program.

Dunmyer said the tax will prepare the town for future scenarios where matching funds are needed. The town will never have enough on its own, he said.

“The town has to have some skin in the game,” he said.

Commissioner Gary Persinger, an oceanside owner on the southern end of town, said a survey distributed as part of the town’ comprehensive plan update shows sea level rise tops the list of concerns facing town property owners.

“We all recognize this is a real issue,” he said.

At the beginning of the conversation, Commissioner Courtney Riordan, who lives in the north end of town, said he was strongly opposed to the referendum because no leg work has been done to see if property owners think there’s a need. This should be a much more deliberative process, he said, suggesting the town set up a series of public hearings before any referendum is set.

The problem with waiting, Cooke said to Riordan, is the timeline for getting a referendum on September’s ballot.

Diane Hanson, who owns several oceanside properties, pointed out that to be part of the September election, the referendum question needs to be prepared 60 days in advance.

Diane Tenhoopen, property owner and audit committee member, said she would like council to specify how the money would be spent once collected. Pointing to the growing beach replenishment tax fund, which now sits at more than $3 million, Tenhoopen said she doesn’t want to see another vaguely described account just growing.

Cooke said the beach replenishment tax is growing because the state and federal government have so far picked up the bill for replenishment projects, but he said, that may not always be the case.

“That won’t last, and it will only cover our share of one replenishment,” he said.

Riordan reluctantly ended up agreeing to move forward with beginning the referendum process as long as community input is sought in the coming months.

Dunmyer said he would be responsible for gathering information for the town’s property owners to look at.

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to show the correct amount for the Delaware Community Water Quality Improvement grant.