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James Farm set for major upgrade

Sussex officials fund project's design phase
December 8, 2016

Story Location:
Cedar Neck Road
Ocean View, DE
United States

With a 3-1 vote, Sussex County Council approved a nearly $75,000 agreement with Century Engineering for engineering and design costs for work at the James Farm Ecological Preserve on Cedar Neck Road near Ocean View. The land is owned by the county and leased to the Delaware Center for the Inland Bays, which will oversee the project as part of the 2014 James Farm master plan.

Bob Collins, CIB program manager, said the scope of work includes an improved entrance and new parking area, new signs, a 15,000-square-foot open lawn area and repair or replacement of the existing Red Trail boardwalk.

The county received a matching grant of $37,500 from the Delaware Land and Water Conservation Trust Fund to help fund preliminary work. Sussex County Finance Director Gina Jennings said the county will fund only the design phase; the CIB will be responsible for construction costs.

At the Nov. 28 meeting, Councilman Sam Wilson, R-Georgetown, who voted against the agreement, said the county should save taxpayers' money by having the county engineering staff do the work. In addition, he said, perhaps a user's fee should be charged to support the project.

The 150-acre James Farm property along Indian River Bay was a gift to Sussex County from the late Mary Lighthipe, a descendant of the James family who had farmed the land for generations. She gave it in memory of her son, Harold, who died in an automobile accident. She gave it with the condition that the property be used for environmental education and recreational activities.

In the fall of 1998, the center was asked by Sussex County officials to manage the property. The preserve features more than three miles of hiking trails, three observation platforms, a boardwalk beach crossing, wildflower gardens, an amphitheater, an informational kiosk, rest areas and more than 4,000 trees planted in a reforestation effort.

 

 

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