Although new arrivals in Sussex County, and residents who love much about the area, and particularly the development we chose, my wife and I were somewhat disconcerted to learn (after we moved in) of the problems in the county and the propensity of local officials to look the other way on matters of overdevelopment and commercial overuse, and questionable exploitation of the water in the community.
In speaking with many of our neighbors in a number of developments in the Milton area, we are learning that matters like these are the dirty secrets of the otherwise idyllic retirement and second-home mecca that Sussex County is becoming.
No one we’ve spoken with seems to have received any inkling of the scope of these matters from anyone associated with selling them their property here. Now this is understandable, as developers and real estate agents are in their businesses to make money. As are the chicken processors and other commercial businesses.
But many people I have heard from believe, in 20/20 hindsight, that we were not given enough significant information to make truly informed decisions when it came to buying a residence in Sussex County.
For example, we and several others in our development were led or allowed to believe that the wastewater treatment facility adjacent to the property was a dedicated facility for our 150-residence community, when in fact, it is a regional processing station.
Is this fact a deal breaker? None of us believe it is. Did it prevent us from having a complete picture of the realities of the local infrastructure? Absolutely.
Everyone is quite aware that Delmarva has a long, prosperous history as an agrarian triumvirate: Farming, animal raising and food processing. And while it is unrealistic, and not desirable to believe that this should necessarily change, it seems that matters are still being decided on the basis of 19th century rural farming principles without taking into account that there are 21st century commercial realities in play.
I am not opposed to the chicken industry or any other commercial venture/operation, and appreciate what they help create here in Sussex County for us to have and enjoy. But I think we have a right to expect them to be good neighbors.
It seems that the only recourse we have is to educate ourselves on what is actually going on in the state and county, learn about government activity in addressing these problems and become involved in forcing the powers that be to end years of looking the other way. We don’t need to wait for the cancer clusters to start appearing before we take action. “An ounce of prevention” comes to mind.
I am not a crusader, nor a political zealot. I am a guy who resents being taken advantage of, which I believe many of us were in this instance. I don’t wish to influence anyone’s political choices beyond getting them to learn more about our local government, getting involved and holding officials, developers and the real estate industry accountable to those of us already here and the thousands they are in the process of luring to Sussex County.
We all get our drinking water from the same water table, and it will be easier to keep it clean, healthy and safe than try to reclaim it from abuse and overuse down the road.
Jeff Horn
Milton
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