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Four candidates seek two seats in March 6 Milton election

Candidates make last pitch at chamber forum
March 5, 2021

Milton voters will go to the polls starting at 8 a.m., Saturday, March 6, to pick from among four candidates for two town council seats.

In-person voting will be held at Goshen Hall until 6 p.m. 

The candidates – former councilman and town project manager John Collier, former Councilman Emory West, board of adjustment member Allen Sangree and Milton Historic Preservation Committee member Lee Revis-Plank – made their final pitch to voters at a Feb. 27 candidates’ forum hosted by the Milton Chamber of Commerce and moderated by the League of Women Voters of Sussex County. 

The first question asked was also the most popular: whether any of the candidates favored the proposal by Verizon to build a 140-foot-tall cell phone tower near the town’s public works garage on Front Street. 

Sangree said he opposes the tower. He said it was the right idea but the wrong location, and there are issues with the proposal’s compatibility with the town zoning code and comprehensive development plan.

Revis-Plank also said she opposed the tower, reasoning that Verizon has not explored all other locations and the tower will ruin the streetscape of the town’s historic district.

West said he was not for or against the tower, but the town did research with Verizon on the best location for it, and the spot on Front Street was preferred. He said he did not want to see Verizon use the water towers for a cell site, and added that the town needs to weigh its options before moving forward. 

Finally, Collier said he opposed the location of the tower because it’s within the town’s floodplain and puts the town in a risky position, since town code prevents placement of private utilities in a flood hazard area. 

One thing all the candidates agreed on was that Milton’s comprehensive plan is the roadmap for future development. Revis-Plank said the plan established the town’s strategic direction and should be followed, with amendments when necessary. She said the plan could be amended to provide more workable and specific goals, instead of the broader, more vague goals spelled out in the document. West said the plan serves as a way to make the town better, while Collier said it was well thought out and has a vision of where the town should go. Collier added that he believed an addition to the plan is to come up with a community design manual that would help influence the overall look of the town. 

Sangree said he viewed the plan as part of a three-legged stool, with the plan as one leg and the charter and code as the other legs. He said the plan was a big factor in his and other homeowners’ opposition to the proposed medical office complex on Mulberry Street. Sangree said the plan would be a guidebook for every decision he makes, and every project must conform to the plan. 

A big issue within town is the issue of traffic; the town has not one but two town committees examining traffic. West said the Delaware Department of Transportation has a lot of say over the town’s roadways because many are state owned and maintained. He said while DelDOT has tried to limit the number of large trucks that come into town, it cannot stop every truck that comes through. 

Collier said the town could do more to promote truckers using alternate ways around town, following a model like Georgetown, which uses signs to point trucks around the downtown area. Sangree said the town could do a better job of enforcing its traffic laws to prevent trucks and cars from speeding through downtown. 

Finally, Revis-Plank said the town needs to address parking, as she thinks there is not enough parking in the downtown area. However, she said there are not many opportunities to expand parking, so the town should look at ways to incentivize more walking, biking and mass transportation to ease up the burden on the town’s parking system. She said the town could also get creative by pointing people toward parking on side streets rather than in the downtown center. 

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