SLC June 19 2019 minute

Silver Lake Commission June 19, 2019 5:30 PM, Conference Room Dover City Hall ** Approved in September 2019 ** Members Present Others In Attendance Trisha Arndt Carolyn Courtney, Parks & Recreation Staff Zach Carter Sharon Duca, Public Works Director Kirby Hudson Fran Riddle, Bicycle & Pedestrian Subcommittee Marie Kozel James Stubbs, Dover Police Lyle Jones Mike Lewis WELCOME & CALL TO ORDER: 5:30 P M INTRODUCTIONS The chair noted we have new people and started off with introductions. APPROVAL OF MARCH 2019 MINUTES The Chair accepted a motion to approve the minutes from March of 2019. Ms. Courtney made a note to add Roger Ridgeway, Jr. as an attendee. Mr. Carter motioned to approve with a second from Ms. Kozel seconded, the motion passed without objection. SECURITY UPGRADES Officer Stubbs reported we are waiting the electric department to work on installing new cameras. I don’t have a timeline tonight. The question of how many and where would they be placed was asked? I believe the Criminal Investigative Unit is working on placement. The gates at each entrance, they are monitored by the patrol unit, we are not perfect by we do our best. Ms. Kozel noticed after our last meeting it did get a little better. Officer Stubbs noted they are not always closed at dusk, it may be later in the evening. And the same for the am, not always at dawn, but they are opened later in the morning. Ms. Kozel they are being attended to more consistently. Mr. Kirby noted he had not heard of any problems lately. Mr. Jones noted the homeless are sleeping in heavy brush area. Brief discussion about homeless and recent findings. Officer Stubbs said he would share our concerns and continue to keep in touch. Mrs. Arndt asked if could get updates such as monthly incident reports for the park? Officer Stubbs agreed to pull information that is available. MAYOR’S CANOE/KAYAK EVENT/PADDLES, SNEAKERS & DISCOVERIES Ms. Riddle shared a handout regarding the event. (Ask Fran for attachment). She thanked this group for having her present the event. We are looking to make Dover a more walkable friendly community on the subcommittee, then Open Streets has a healthy community focus and then with the Mayor’s Kayak event, they all seem to fit together. This event was developed as event from the Mayor’s Kayak event with the intent to add a walking piece. We are looking for volunteers to help with the walking tours. We are hoping we have all the right information and tour guides can talk about some of the stops along the walk. Mr. Jones noted he was familiar with the rain gardens and could possibly help there. Ms. Kozel asked if there was a flyer or information she could put on bulletin boards, etc. She would be happy to post and share according. She noted working with Debbie Smith, possibly Chesapeake Utilities may have staff that would want to volunteer. Ms. Riddle noted she had reached out to Wesley and DSU. Mrs. Arndt liked the buskers at the different locations, that is a nice touch. Brief discussion of the “in the park” activities. We are tying to focus on the walks and the kayaking. We will probably have a dj in the park just to keep it lively. We want this to be pretty kid friendly, so we may be trying to label the trees, etc. Volunteers can reach out to Ms. Courtney or anyone listed on the sheet provided. PUBLIC WORKS UPDATES Mrs. Duca has verbal updates and by September the report will be downsized. The Silver Lake Dam annual inspection is being completed next week. I will have a detailed report when we meet in September. The sidewalk drainage issues under discussion, are being addressed. New sidewalk was poured last week. Hopefully with the revised grade on the sidewalk it will help with drainage issues in this area. One thing to confirm, on the draw down, that I normally coordinate with Ms. Courtney, I wanted confirm the dates of Oct. 7 – 18 (modified slightly

from last year to start on a Monday.) Ms. Courtney stated she will send out the routine mailings, to the lake residents and boaters. The first mailing will go in August with a reminder in the September. Mrs. Arndt the other drainage issue, closer to Division Street/near the man whole that has been an issue all winter will that be addressed. Mr. Hudson stated staff had recently went out with shovels to remove the mud from the pathway. With discussion, there is some concern that this settling is new and possibly something with construction of the shopping center on Kings Highway. Mr. Jones says he has video from the 80’s on this area from DelDOT. It was reported this became worse with the construction starting, it’s more like a sludge build up. Possibly Public Works could look into it more in depth to see if there is a problem. BUDGET UPDATE/SL MASTER PLAN FUNDING Mr. Hudson shared due to the current two Master Plans for Schutte Park and Dover Park, at this time, the Master Plan for Silver Lake has been slated for FY21. We had some grading/seeding plans for Schutte that were delayed due to the extreme costs compared to what our cost consultant prepared for us. Currently Donna did not put money in the CIP budget this year for Silver Lake as we are working on the Dover Park and Schutte Park Master Plans. We are really working hard to bring Dover Park back to life. We are dealing with a lot of demands and possibly even a new building at Dover Park, being proposed by an outside group. The plans we have, staff wise and pulling from the Master Plan, we were thinking a Splash Pad and Can Do Park. We are up to about seven organizations helping us with the Splash Pad. We are waiting for council to give us direction on what they want as we have new organizations coming on board trying to get their own building, skate and dogs parks. It was discussed we have no dog parks in Dover. Mrs. Courtney we have applied for the ORPT grant from DNREC for a kayak launch area at Silver Lake Park. This was one of two applications we submitted for this year. This would go at the beach/swimming area. We would put something there to launch easier and possibly turn the sand into a grassy area and make it more aesthetically appealing. Mr. Hudson shared the information received from Mr. Cegar who is mad about the location of the porta johns, he has threatened to make this a bigger issue. He does not care about our rational for keeping them in this location. After discussion, it was noted to leave the porta johns where they are at this time. Mr. Hudson stated he just wanted to ensure the members knew about this topic. Mr. Jones noted the EPA contacted him about the spraying too close the water. The guy from EPA supposedly questions the staff member doing the spraying and he did not know the answer to the EPA’s questions. Mr. Jones said a special permit is needed by the EPA to spray near the water. Mr. Hudson stated we understand the person spaying was licensed and we are covered. Mrs. Arndt feels Silver Lake is past due for a refresh. I would advocate that we at least start on the planning process to make improvements. With discussion, it was agreed Silver Lake needs attention. Mr. Carter stated talk to your council member and then they can help lead the charge. Members felt they may call the council members to get their attention to being funding Silver Lake needs. This would help bring Silver Lake up on the priority list. With the money we do get, we are jumping on projects to keep from losing funding. A ranking system would assist and that comes from council. Mr. Carter noted that would help but those get changed too. Mrs. Duca asked to consider the road/Lewis Mill Drive is falling apart, redoing the asphalt lane and parking area on the east side should be a part of the plan. As we are having issues with the street cleaners and citizen complaints. COORDINATION WITH PARKS & RECREATION COMMITTEE AS A WHOLE Mrs. Arndt shared our resolution from 1990 that formed this body. This pretty much is our creed. With seven members, missing one per Ms. Arndt. We can make recommendations to the Mayor. That may work. Mrs. Arndt did but has not heard much back on this. Ms. Courtney will look into this. Relating to the resolution, item number 3: is this something we can think about and discuss at our next meeting. Previously, when I was on the commission we did see development review, although that does not come through this body any longer. Mr. Carter recanted that we did review, more so to ensure buffers were adhered to and the lake was considered. At one time, a group wanted to dredge the lake, however we would stir up sealed sediment and then you need a site to take the dredged material. We found dredging was not a feasible option. The 4th item, act as advisory body… I wanted to get your thoughts. Mr. Carter noted that goes back to improvements, such as capital improvements. This is the part that we gives us merit to contact council to advocate for master plan funding. Mrs. Arndt noted we do not need to go back to over seeing planning / developments as the city and DNREC has a planning department and process. Mr. Carter noted the development (shopping center) is causing our flooding,

etc. Is that tied into the problems were are seeing now. Mr. Jones noted all stormwater drains are supposed to have collar’s on them to prevent water from coming in and stays on the street and he reported none of the drains have the collars on them. I think as a commission is our duty to make sure trees are not cut down within Silver Lake. Mrs. Arndt stated she just wanted to visit this and ensure we are helping the city and we are advocating for the park and city. Maybe at our next meeting lets come up with some thoughts on this and formalize them a bit more. SENATOR BIKEWAY Ms. Courtney reported the Senator Bike way has begun. The work being doing on the railroad tracks is part of the trail. Phase 1 goes from Saulsbury Road over to Silver Lake park. The trail will turn left onto West Street, turn right onto Cecil Street and then cross State Street at the little alley way. The turn left on the alley then running north to Washington Street (crossing Hazel). The original plan that went through Central Middle to the Park was stopped due to wetlands in the park area. There will be sharrows and signage along the trail. Some brief discussion on the trail and proposed construction timelines. The next phase will go from Saulsbury to the new Dover High School. NEW BUSINESS Mr. Lewis noted he attended the meeting held by the Councilman who wanted to close the park, due to the unfortunate incident. It turned out that the meeting to “close the park” was more about suicide prevention and no support to close the park. At this meeting, the then chief noted the funding had been approved for the cameras. I was thinking the movement on the cameras would have been a little more quick. A brief discussion on how the response has been so far. And he was glad the park did not close as it was evident no one supported the Councilman’s statements. It was a very unfortunate statement that was made, but I was happy to see the community stand up for the park. Mr. Carter noted we have to close many parks as we have had suicides in Dover Park, Schutte Park and others. Closing parks is the answer Mrs. Arndt noted that is another reason why we are hear and they can bounce ideas with us and we can possibly help. NEXT MEETING DATE September 11 and December 11 were chosen for the next meeting dates. ADJOURNMENT With no further business, the meeting adjourned at 6:40 PM.