Rehoboth Beach commissioners have given City Manager Taylour Tedder permission to negotiate a scope of work with Dover Kohl & Partners to facilitate the creation of a city-wide master plan.

The creation of the master plan is an initiative of Mayor-elect Susan Stewart, who will be sworn in Friday, Sept. 18. Months ago, Stewart presented the idea, called Reimagine Rehoboth, that has the city undergoing a master planning effort that will help shape the future. Soon afterward, staff issued a request for information, with responses due in a couple of weeks.

During a commissioner meeting Aug. 21, Tedder said more than two dozen RFIs were sent to planning firms and the city received four responses – Florida-based Dover Kohl; Maryland-based Toole Design Group; and Rossi Group and Wallace Montgomery, which are both based in Dover.

Dover Kohl estimated the work would cost between $250,000 and $600,000, and take up to a year to complete. Toole Design’s estimate was between $100,000 and $240,000, and take up to nine months. Rossi Group and Wallace Montgomery didn’t provide a cost, but both expected it would take about a year.

Dover Kohl and Wallace Montgomery are already working with the city. Dover Kohl is helping the city rewrite code related to the downtown commercial district and recently hosted the weeklong charette. Wallace Montgomery guided the city through the most recent comprehensive development plan process and has served as a general consultant for the city’s Planning Department for years.

After the charette week, and the work that’s been done so far, Tedder said the staff recommendation is to move forward with Dover Kohl. The pricing can vary depending on what's included in the scope of work, he said, adding that initial discussions have it in the $300,000 range, which is an amount budgeted for planning in the current fiscal year.

This work will build upon what Dover Kohl is already doing, said Tedder. 

Prior to the favorable vote, Stewart said the city derives 63% of its revenue from tourism-related activities and 10.9% from property taxes, yet 100% of quality-of-life issues are this disharmony between the commercial and residential.

“We have to plan for the future if we want to preserve what we like about the past,” said Stewart, who then asked for a change to the initiative’s name. “I’ve learned this past summer, in the last month, that the words Reimagine Rehoboth are triggering for some people. So, can we never say it again and call this something else?”

“That’s why I called it master planning services,” said Tedder.

To date, the city has not committed itself to spending any money, said Tedder. When the scope of work has been determined, he said, he would bring a contract back to commissioners for a vote.

It won't take too long, maybe as early as the next meeting, said Tedder.

The next commissioner meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m., Tuesday, Sept. 8. Typically, commissioner meetings are the first Monday of the month, but the meeting was rescheduled because of Labor Day the day before.