Millsboro moves forward on three major projects

At its Feb. 4 regular meeting, the Millsboro Town Council formally approved a downtown improvement plan and authorized Town Manager Sheldon P. Hudson to request that the town’s consultants, Davis, Bowen & Friedel and George, Miles & Buhr, begin the bid solicitation processes for three major projects: the Main Street improvements project, the downtown demolition project, and the West State Street sidewalk project.

The town is in the process of purchasing the former Millsboro Auto Supply property and has begun the planning process to possibly have a new civic building constructed there as part of the town’s push to further revitalize the area and create a more attractive gateway for those entering Millsboro from the east. 

A stunning 48 building permits for new homes were issued by the Town of Millsboro in January alone. This likely equates to well over 100 new town residents in a single month alone. Millsboro ranks No. 1 out of the 25 cities in Sussex County, Delaware’s fastest-growing county, for number of residential building permits issued. 

In its latest effort to make the Town of Millsboro even more business friendly, council voted unanimously to immediately significantly ease the bonding requirements for developers. Specifically, developers will now be allowed to make certain improvements to property without having to secure a bond as long as the property is not sold or transferred. In some cases, this will result in an up-front cost avoidance amount in the tens of thousands of dollars or more. 

In cases where a bond is still required, a coverage amount equal to only 125 percent of the estimated cost of the work to be performed is needed versus the previous 150 percent. 

In annexation news, the owner of land located along Dupont Boulevard/US 113 behind the former VFW property is applying to have the land annexed into the Town of Millsboro. This is the latest in a series of annexation requests that have been received by the town since Millsboro lowered impact fees by about 25 percent. 

The town is considering building two new parks on the west side of Millsboro, a dog park along Hardscrabble Road and a multipurpose park along Laurel Road. 

Council formally requested that Rep. Richard Collins, R-Millsboro, ask the Delaware Department of Transportation to conduct a study to determine the feasibility of constructing an additional bridge over the Indian River. The State of Delaware owns many of the roads located in and near the Town of Millsboro. 

In other news, Officer Christopher Ebke of the Millsboro Police Department was promoted to the rank of patrolman first class.