News Briefs

LWV to present forum on land-use planning

As the issues of land use and growth rapidly increase for citizens of Sussex County, the League of Women Voters, Sus­sex County, is sponsoring a free public forum on these issues, Enhancing Citizen Engagement in the Participatory Planning Process.

The forum will be held Tues­day, March 11, from 1 to 3 p.m., in the conference room of the Bee­be Medical Arts Building on John Williams Highway, Rehoboth.

The speaker will be Ed Le­wandowski, coastal communities specialist for the University of Delaware’s Sustainable Seacoast Community Initiative. In this role, he is responsible for help­ing communities define their own regional plans - whether to grow, how to grow, how much to grow. Following the presentation, Lewandowski will be available to answer questions.

To learn more about upcom­ing events and how to become a member of the League of Women Voters of Sussex County, go to www.sussexlwv.org.

Sussex County Council off next two weeks

Sussex County Council will not meet Tuesday, March 4, or Tuesday, March 11, to allow members to attend the National Association of Counties Legisla­tive Conference in Washington, D.C. and also for a winter break. The next regularly scheduled council meeting is at 10 a.m., Tuesday, March 18, in the county administration building on The Circle in Georgetown.

Sussex council awards grants to nonprofits

Sussex County Council presented the following coun­cilmanic grants during its Feb. 25 meeting: $1,000 to Sussex Acad­emy for the 22nd annual Sussex County Science Fair and $200 to Improved Order of Red Men for its chronic obstructive pulmo­nary disease fundraiser. Council awards grants to nonprofit agen­cies and organizations providing services and hosting events for county residents.

Rehoboth budget set at $17.3 million

A second draft of the 2014-15 Rehoboth Beach budget was unveiled Feb. 21 by City Manager Sharon Lynn.

The $17.3 million budget is balanced and features no tax or parking increases. The budget was prepared by now-retired City Manager Greg Ferrese and has seen little change under his successor. The first draft pre­sented by Lynn was not balanced at first but was still at $17 million.

The only major addition to the budget was $20,000 for a part-time webmaster for the city website. This position would also assist City Secretary Ann Womack. Originally, the com­missioners had envisioned the position as full-time with a $40,000 salary, but Lynn said at the Feb. 21 commissioners’ meet­ing that the position would only require a part-time employee.

The commissioners are likely to approve the budget at their Friday, March 21 meeting. The budget is due to take effect Tues­day, April 1.

Live fire training set on Lewes’s Savannah Road

The Lewes Fire Department is hosting a two-day live fire training session at a structure at the entrance to Covey Creek on Savannah Road. Firefighters from Sussex and New Castle counties will begin at 8:30 a.m., Satur­day and Sunday, March 1 and 2. Crews are expected to be on site most of both days working on a variety of training exercises. No roads will be closed, but fire department apparatus will be on scene. For more information, call the department at 302-645-6556.

Lewes BPW budget workshop Feb. 28

The Lewes Board of Public Works will hold a budget work­shop at 8:30 a.m., Friday, Feb. 28, at the BPW building at 107 Frank­lin Ave. Board members will discuss the 2014-15 operations and maintenance budget and the 2014-15 to 2018-19 capital budget. For more information, call the BPW office at 302-645-6228.

Lewes council budget workshop Feb. 28

Lewes Mayor and City Council will hold a budget workshop at 10 a.m., Friday, Feb. 28, at city hall. Council will receive a presenta­tion regarding street inventory from the city’s engineer, receive public comment on the proposed 2015 budget and continue budget discussions. For more informa­tion, call city hall at 302-645-7700.

Justice Ridgely speaks In The Netherlands

Justice Henry duPont Ridgely was a speaker in The Nether­lands at the Annual Meeting of P.R.I.M.E. Finance Foundation at the Peace Palace in The Hague. He also lectured on Delaware corporate law at Lieden Uni­versity and Rotterdam University during this visit.

P.R.I.M.E. Finance provides an international facility for resolv­ing complex financial disputes, educational opportunities for judges about financial market products, and a database of rel­evant international precedents and source materials.

Ridgely discussed financial de­rivatives in the courts on a panel at the Peace Palace that included U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Elizabeth Stong, Justice VK Rajah of the Supreme Court of Singapore, and Judge Natalia Pavlova of the Russian Supreme Commercial Court. His lectures at the uni­versities addressed Delaware corporate law and the charter­ing of corporations in Delaware, which are matters of significant international interest.

For more information, contact Stephen D. Taylor, court admin­istrator of the Delaware Supreme Court, at 302-577-8742.

Rep. Ron Gray to hold coffee March 25

State Rep. Ron Gray, R-Sel­byville, is inviting residents of the 38th District to a coffee meeting in March, giving them a chance to discuss any legislative or dis­trict issues that may be on their mind. The constituent meeting will be held Tuesday, March 25, at 8:30 a.m. at the Countryside Café on Route 54 in the Bayville Shopping Center. Gray holds regular meetings with constitu­ents, who are invited to stop by, join in the conversation or just listen to some of the issues being discussed.

Nominate and vote for senior volunteers

Salute to Senior Service recog­nizes the contributions of adults 65 and older who give at least 15 hours a month of volunteer service.

Members of the community are asked to nominate and vote for these everyday heroes by Saturday, March 1, at SalutetoSe­niorService. com. State winners will be determined by popular vote. A panel of senior care ex­perts will select a national Salute to Senior Service winner.

Contest sponsor Home In­stead Inc. will donate $500 to the state winners’ designated and ap­proved nonprofit organizations, and their personal stories will be shared online. Also, $5,000 will be donated to the national win­ner’s approved nonprofit charity.

To complete and submit an online nomination form for a se­nior 65 or older who volunteers at least 15 hours a month, go to SalutetoSeniorService.com.

For more information about Salute to Senior Service or the Home Instead Senior Care net­work’s services, call 302-697-6435.

Sussex EMS finishes fourth in competition

The Sussex County Emer­gency Medical Services competition team came home with a fourth-place finish from the international games held in Washington, D.C. The Sussex County team has finished fifth or better in all 10 years of com­petition and has won six medals. This year’s team was made up of Drew Vickers, Kevin Erb, Jason Hanson and Brandon Rogers.

DSP partner with amateur radio group

Delaware State Police and the Sussex County Amateur Radio Emergency Service have estab­lished a relationship whereby ARES will provide emergency backup communications for the state police. This innovative pro­gram will give state police in Sussex County the time-tested resources of ham radio as a back­up in the event that their primary communications system is dis­rupted. According to Maj. Robert Hawkins, operations officer for Sussex County, “Delaware must always be aware of the threats of hurricanes, nor’easters, se­vere snow, and other disasters. Thankfully, we don’t get hit often, but when we do, communica­tion is absolutely essential, and having amateur radio operators available to fill in gaps will be a real asset.” In this relationship, ARES will set up communica­tions at locations defined by DSP and relay essential messages between these various nodes. The program will initiate in Sus­sex County with the potential to expand across the state.

ARES is a volunteer organiza­tion of amateur radio operators who train and deploy to assist in times of emergencies when regular channels of communica­tion may become compromised or inoperative. It is a field oper­ating element of the American Radio Relay League, the national organization for amateur radio.