Shining a light on Rehoboth canal dock
I would like to clarify some erroneous statements which have been put forth in recent weeks about the Grove Park canal boat dock.
The dock project was approved by the Rehoboth Beach Mayor and Commissioners in 2019 contingent on no taxpayer funds being used. Instead, the nonprofit and the development advocates on the Rehoboth board used pressure tactics to push the project forward in February 2020 before the LRCIA nonprofit had the requisite funds.
Those pressure tactics included dire predictions that the $1.3 million bid price expired in 15 days (even though construction prices likely would have dropped in the early months of the pandemic), and predictions that some local and state government transportation grants would expire in June 2020 (even though governments are usually understanding about extensions - see recent IRS 2020 late filing deadline of October 2021). The City of Rehoboth drew up a Memorandum of Understanding to address the missing $280,000 of the nearly $1.3 million contract. The city signed, with a vague narrative that somehow the debt would be re-paid by the nonprofit.
Ahead of the vote in city hall, several residents, including myself pointed out that the nonprofit’s incentive to fundraise had just been removed since someone else is responsible for the residual. And no surprise, since February 2020, the nonprofit has ignored the IOU promised to the city, and has only fundraised toward an additional feature of the dock they desired which was not part of the original specs: a small kayak launch ramp. One attempt to speak to the nonprofit head revealed that it’s as though the Memorandum of Understanding is no longer relevant. Drive it like you stole it, as the meme goes!
Worse, the contractor installed substandard fencing so the city’s insurance needs that redressed, at taxpayer expense. Anyone who saw the fencing upon completion in late 2020 knew that a toddler could just meander around the gate and under the ramp. And security cameras are also going to be installed at taxpayer expense in the coming weeks, as required by the city’s insurance carrier after viewing the completed project. The tab to be picked up by taxpayers: additional security fencing $23,276.81; security cameras, $13,595. Just like that, the board agreed to fund this unforeseen cost overrun.
Furthermore, the city removed maintenance from the contract to keep the cost down. But in the end, taxpayers will be hiring power washing companies and landscapers for the steep bank. In a tree-friendly town (at least according to its professed goals), the city paid over $50,000 to remove dozens of healthy trees from the embankment ahead of this project in September 2019. Citizens were told these were invasive species. Yet the trees taken down had been on that bank for over a century providing oxygen and foliage, and were no different than trees toward the north or the south in the vicinity of the embankment. So the bank was cleaned up at taxpayer expense, as this was kept separate from the $1.3 million project.
So much about this project screams lack of accountability in the city. The dock should remain shuttered until the nonprofit re-pays a good portion of what it owes. The current delayed opening stems from more taxpayer money being spent to fix mistakes. That alone is a reason to keep the dock closed until the funding snafu is addressed. The business climate is booming in the resort area, so earnest fundraising should go well for the nonprofit. The Lewes-Rehoboth Canal Improvement Association needs to do the right thing by Rehoboth Beach taxpayers.
