Chrzanowski, Gay sworn in as Rehoboth commissioners

Almost six weeks to the day since winning the election, Susan Gay and Edward Chrzanowski were sworn in as Rehoboth Beach commissioners Sept. 20.

In August, Gay and Chrzanowski beat out four other candidates – Mark Betchkal, Charlie Garlow, Gary Glass and Suzanne Good – to take the two seats left open when former Commissioners Stan Mills and Toni Sharp decided not to run for re-election.

In addition to swearing in new commissioners, the board elected of officers – Commissioner Pat Coluzzi, vice president; Commissioner Lisa Schlosser, secretary; City Secretary Ann Womack, vice secretary; Priscilla Smith, treasurer; Paula Simpson, assistant treasurer.

Wayfinding signage discussed

For months, Rehoboth commissioners have been discussing new wayfinding signage for visitors. During the budgeting process they put aside $30,000 for consultant Merje Design to develop wayfinding signage for the city.

At the meeting Sept. 20, the group got a look at what Merje Design has been working on for the past few months. John Bosio, Merje Design partner, said the key to wayfinding signage it to let people know what to expect before they arrive. Pointing to in-season and off-season requirements, Bosio said, one of the challenges for Rehoboth is creating signage that works for different seasons.

Signs are not new, Bosio said, but a sign system would be.

In addition to creating a unified signage system, Bosio suggested turning the coin kiosks in the middle of Rehoboth Avenue into information kiosks, providing parking brochures at information booths and increasing the size of street signs.

“Your street signs are really small,” he said.

Bosio presented commissioners with a signage package that, if implemented in full, would cost approximately $170,000 – $200,000. He said that would include parking signage, pedestrian and trail signage, and gateway signage.

Bosio said to be implemented by Memorial Day 2020, the city would have to award a contract to a sign fabricator by Jan. 1, 2020.

Bosio said Merje has been working with the state to implement a wayfinding system on Route 1, but without funding, there is no timeline for the project. He also said Merje is scheduled to begin working with Lewes on its wayfinding signage in October.

At the end of the discussion, commissioners agreed to move forward to implement the new signage by the beginning of next season, beginning with an overview by Bosio of where all the signage would be placed during a Monday, Oct. 7, workshop.