County: Milton library project ahead of schedule

The rehabilitation project at the Milton library is two weeks ahead of schedule, Milton Town Council learned Aug. 6.

County Engineer Hans Medlarz said if all goes well, the project can be completed and the contractor can demobilize in less than four weeks.

Medlarz said sheet piles continue to be driven and as of yet, contractor JJID Construction of Wilmington has not run into any obstructions. He said if no underground obstructions are encountered, work could get even further ahead of schedule.

Medlarz said the municipal parking lot, which is mostly blocked off, will continue to be used as a staging area. He said several tractor-trailers will remove the equipment once the project is finished. The county asked to close the lot for 90 days; Medlarz said work will be completed and the lot reopened well within that time frame.

The county had planned a detour of Mulberry Street for July 23 to allow the crane to be brought into town and put in the water. Medlarz said the street had to be closed a second time to get steel, which was late arriving, to the contractor. When the contractor demobilizes, Mulberry Street will be closed again as equipment is removed.

The $330,000 project is building a new bulkhead to stop the first floor of the library from sinking into the Broadkill River. The existing bulkhead is compromised, county officials say, allowing soil erosion under the library’s foundation during high tides.

“It has to be done,” Medlarz said.

The library has remained open during construction, although the patio adjacent to the library is closed and may have to be rebuilt, Medlarz said. The oldest section of the library building dates to 1912, with several additions over the years. The library has been operated by Sussex County since 1980.

Although this is a county project, town council, as a quid pro quo for the county paying for construction, waived the building permit fee for construction.