Milton moving forward with land deal
Milton Town Council unanimously approved moving forward with a deal to acquire 2 acres of land between Magnolia and Broad streets with the ultimate goal of building a new municipal complex for the police department and town meetings.
Settlement on the $1.6 million purchase is expected to come in early May, with council expected to get updates at its Monday, May 5 meeting.
Once the town acquires the property, the hard work will begin, as a years-long process is expected to plan and finance a new municipal building.
Engineer Carlton Savage of Rehoboth Beach-based Scaled Engineering gave council a presentation April 28. He detailed results of soil testing, boundary surveying, floodplain information and preliminary site plans for the proposed building. Under the first set of plans, which Savage said are likely to undergo some changes over time, the municipal building would be located on the side of the parcel closest to Mulberry Street, which soil and floodplain testing dictated is the highest ground on the property. The two-story building is proposed as anywhere from 22,000 to 25,000 square feet. The first floor would have the police department, while the second would have a meeting room for town council, additional meeting space and room for future expansion, possibly for code enforcement. The complex would also include a parking lot with 60 spaces and an option for a public basketball court in the rear of the property closest to Broad Street.
Savage said the lot does present challenges due to its steep grade.
“It is an odd site for topography in Delaware. You don’t find sites with 20 feet of gradient. What it allows, though, is the building can be elevated and the access points can be what they need to be,” he said. He added that the building could be elevated 2 feet and would clear the seasonal high water table. The current house, formerly owned by late Councilwoman Leah Betts, would be demolished.
Savage said the price tag right now would be about $1,000 per square foot, or about $26 million, but Town Manager Kristy Rogers said the more likely price is about $18 million. However, that cost could go up the longer it takes the town to build it as the cost of materials rises. Savage said the town is looking at a two-year process to draw up plans and get the requisite approvals to begin moving forward.
“There’s still a whole period of public input before you build a building. There are still a lot more steps. But this should give the council the ability to understand the size of the building, potential costs. There are no red flags on the property as far as I see,” he said.
The land purchase includes buying two parcels on Broad Street, but council does not intend to maintain the houses currently on those parcels and plans to eventually sell them.
Council liked Savage’s first pass at the building, particularly the fact that there are ample rear setbacks, and most of the main building functions are out of the flood area.
At this point, how the town would fund the project is still up in the air. Still, Rogers and Mayor John Collier supported moving ahead with purchasing the properties. The land purchase will be paid for through the town’s realty transfer tax revenue.
“I still look at a 30,000-foot vision of our downtown and I think the town should highly consider investing in our downtown,” Rogers said. “We’ve not had a scope of a project like this on our plates before. I know it's scary to think of $25 million. It’s huge. We have our town hall that is constrained. We’re not able to add more staff. The police department is already at their property boundaries and cannot add on. We’re at the mercy of others for town meetings. I think the town needs to be an anchor in its own downtown.”
She added that if the town doesn’t purchase the properties, any commercial buyer could come in and put anything they want on that parcel.
“I think this is a very unique opportunity for the town,” Collier said. “They purchased that town hall 20 years ago and they outgrew it almost from Day 1.”
