Sussex takeover of Rehoboth wastewater on hold

For at least the immediate future, it appears Rehoboth property owners will not be paying Sussex County for wastewater service.

During a meeting Jan. 18, after some prodding by Commissioner Lisa Schlosser, Mayor Paul Kuhns said discussions with county officials were on hold.

“I would say that was accurate,” said Kuhns.

After being approached by Kuhns, the county first presented a takeover scenario in late November. After a four-hour-long town hall meeting in January, during which not one member of the public spoke in favor of the move, the message was clear that a county takeover was not something property owners wanted.

During the Jan. 8 meeting, Kuhns said his takeaway from the town hall meeting was that people wanted to a working group discuss and further analyze data from the Abrahams Group, as well as discuss options related to a new rate schedule for wastewater and water. Kuhns said he contacted a number of property owners to be on the working group, it had been formed and it would provide him with suggestions that he could then pass along to the commissioners.

“We’ve got to reset our rates in April, and that’s the primary task of the working group – to look at the rate schedule and determine a new rate schedule,” said Kuhns.

Commissioner Stan Mills asked if the working group would also be looking at the pros and cons of transferring the system to the county. He said if that happens, he would like the working group to meet with the commissioners so input from all commissioners could be included.

“My push would be to have those discussions in public,” said Mills.

Kuhns said the group may do that in the future, but at this point, it would not.

Working group members include City Manager Sharon Lynn, Public Works Director Kevin Williams, Finance Director Burt Dukes and four Rehoboth property owners – Roger Truitt, Bruce Williams, Deb Ward and Michael Strange. Representatives from the Abrahams Group are also participating in the working group.

Williams briefed the commissioners and public during the commissioners’ meeting. He said the committee’s first meeting was Jan. 14, with a time frame to complete their work by the commissioners’ workshop Monday, March 4. He said the first meeting was to bring everyone up to a speed on the report, and conditions of the plant and other buildings.

Williams said the working group was assigned to research the rate structures of other communities to see if any information could be gleaned from them.

He said the group’s work stops at developing a rate. “We’re not looking at who’s better to own it or who’s better to operate it. We’re just looking at the best way to come up with a fair and equitable rate structure in order to implement the rate increases recommended by the Abrahams Group,” said Williams.

Mills said he is not happy with how the county was approached and then how the working group was formed. “My nose is out of joint a little bit,” he said. “I feel I’m being relegated to being an observer, whereas I’m a duly elected commissioner that should be participatory.”

Kuhns said the intention is to have as much information as possible for the workshop discussion, and then vote on it March 15 because it needs to be in place for implementation April 1.

Williams said the working group’s next meeting was set for Tuesday, Jan. 22.

Mills asked if that meeting was public. Williams said no.

In a Jan. 17 email, city solicitor Glenn Mandalas said the working group does not constitute a public body under the Freedom of Information Act. He said the Department of Justice has determined that when a group such as this – consisting of city staff, citizen participants and a participating consultant – is assembled and no public funds are to be expended, the group is not a public body under FOIA.

To support his argument, Mandalas said a Delaware Attorney General opinion from 1999 found, “It is inconceivable that the salutary goal of letting the ‘sunshine’ in on meetings of ‘public governmental bodies’ envisioned the elimination of all intermediate layers of ozone to the extent of crippling or impeding the day-to-day efficiency of purely administrative functions.”

Mandalas said the formation of this group is in response to the public’s expressed interest. “Anything the group develops will be publicly presented and publicly considered by the commissioners – none of whom participate on this administratively functioning group,” said Mandalas.

In another section of the same opinion, the Attorney General says, that does not mean, however, every “joint” meeting of public officials from different public bodies is outside the scope of FOIA. “The issue can only be decided on a case-by-case basis, depending on the facts presented,” reads the opinion.

Mills isn’t the only person questioning the formation of the group and its private meetings.

Former Planning Commissioner Jan Konesy said she and a group of others have filed a joint complaint with the Attorney General’s Office. In an email Jan. 23, she declined to provide a copy of the complaint.

In an email Jan. 23, Carl Kanefsky, spokesman for the Attorney General's Office, confirmed a complaint had been filed, but also declined to provide a copy because, he said, it is considered by the office to be part of an investigatory process.