PC Minutes 5-18-20 Session 2

CITY OF DOVER PLANNING COMMISSION MAY 18, 2020 SESSION #2 The Meeting Session 2 of the City of Dover Planning Commission was held on Monday, May 18, 2020 at 7:00 PM as a Virtual Meeting using the phone/videoconferencing system WebEx due to Delaware’s Declaration of the State of Emergency for COVID-19. Applications were previously postponed due to the cancellations of the April 20, 2020 meeting of the Planning Commission. The Meeting Session was conducted with Acting Chair (Vice Chair) Mrs. Maucher presiding. Members present were Mr. Adams, Mr. Roach, Ms. Edwards, Mr. Hartman, Mrs. Welsh, and Mr. Baldwin. Mr. Tolbert and Dr. Jones were absent. Staff members present were Mr. Dave Hugg, Mrs. Dawn Melson-Williams, Mr. Julian Swierczek, Mrs. Samantha Bulkilvish, Mr. Jason Lyon and Mrs. Kristen Mullaney. Also present were Mr. Gregg Moore, Mr. Jim McLaughlin, Mr. Stephen Davies, Mr. Jonathon Falkowski, and Dr. Dan Shelton. Speaking from the public were Mr. Chris Tollinger, Ms. Connie Holland, Mr. John Parker, Ms. Linda Goodnight, Ms. Lorili Semple, Mr. Doug Halverson, Ms. Marie Biggs, Mr. Anthony DePrima, and Mrs. Kari Tollinger. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Mrs. Welsh moved to approve the agenda as submitted, seconded by Mr. Baldwin and the motion was unanimously carried 7-0 with Dr. Jones and Mr. Tolbert absent. COMMUNICATIONS & REPORTS Mr. Hugg stated that the next Planning Commission regular meeting is scheduled for Monday, July 20, 2020 (there will be no June meeting). OPENING REMARKS CONCERNING DEVELOPMENT APPLICATIONS Mrs. Melson-Williams presented the audience information on policies and procedures for the virtual meeting using the WebEx system. OLD BUSINESS 1) Request Extensions of Planning Commission Approval: a. SB-19-01 Minor Subdivision Plan Lands of Kraft Foods Group Inc. at 1250 W. North Street – Request for Extension of Minor Subdivision Plan approval granted by the Planning Commission on April 15, 2019 to permit the subdivision of 105.6689 +/- acres of land into: the new Lot 1 of 16.3949 acres and the Residual of 89.2740 acres. The property is located on the south side of West North Street and west of POW-MIA Parkway. The property is zoned IPM (Industrial Park Manufacturing Zone). The owner of record is General Foods Corp. (Kraft Foods Group, Inc.) Property Address: 1250 West North Street. Tax Parcels: ED-05-076.00-01-12.00-000 and ED-05-076.00-01-10.00-000. Council District 2. Note: On April 17, 2020 as part of the City’s Continuity of Government operations, the Planning Office administratively extended the expiration date of the Plan approval for 30 days after the termination of the Delaware State of Emergency. 1

CITY OF DOVER PLANNING COMMISSION MAY 28, 2020 Representatives: Mr. Gregg Moore, Becker Morgan Group Mrs. Melson-Williams gave a brief overview of the application’s request for a one-year extension. Began recording the meeting. Mr. Moore stated that this application is going ahead, and they have been going back and forth with DelDOT related to road access and they do plan to complete the project. Mr. Adams moved to approve SB-19-01 Minor Subdivision Plan Lands of Kraft Foods Group Inc. at 1250 W. North Street and their request for an extension of the Planning Commission approval, seconded by Mrs. Welsh and the motion as carried 7-0 by roll call vote with Dr. Jones and Mr. Tolbert absent. Mr. Adams voting yes. Mr. Roach voting yes. Ms. Edwards voting yes. Mr. Hartman voting yes. Mr. Baldwin voting yes. Mrs. Welsh voting yes; the extension request is for the final step to obtain approval. Ms. Maucher voting yes; based on Staff’s recommendations. NEW APPLICATIONS 1) AX-20-03 Lands of JACJIM, LLC at 679 Horsepond Road – Public Hearing and Review for Recommendation to City Council of an Annexation Request and Rezoning Request for a parcel of land totaling 2.00 acres +/- located at 679 Horsepond Road, Dover. The property is currently zoned BG (General Business District) in Kent County. The proposed zoning is C-3 (Service Commercial Zone) and AEOZ (Airport Environs Overlay Zone). The property is located on the east side of Horsepond Road and south of but not adjacent to S. Little Creek Road. The annexation category according to Dover’s 2019 Comprehensive Plan is Category 1: High Priority Annexation Areas and the land use designation is Industrial. The owner is JACJIM, LLC. Property Address: 679 Horsepond Road. Tax Parcel: ED-00-078.00-01- 02.02-000. Proposed Council District 2. Ordinance #2020-07. Representatives: Mr. Jim McLaughlin, JACJIM, LLC; Mr. Stephen Davies, Apex Engineering Mrs. Bulkilvish stated that the applicant wishes to annex the two-acre property located at 679 Horsepond Road to anticipate the growth of his business and the need for expansion of the property. The parcel is zoned BG (General Business District) in Kent County. The proposed zoning is C-3 (Service Commercial Zone). The property is also located in the AEOZ (Airport Environs Overlay Zone) because a special concern is given to the permitted uses in this area and also noise reducing building materials and practices. The continued use as a warehouse/wholesaler operation is permitted in both the C-3 (Service Commercial Zone) and the AEOZ (Airport Environs Overlay Zone). According to the City’s 2019 Comprehensive Plan, this parcel is Category 1: High Priority Annexation Area. The land use designation is Industrial and the C-3 (Service Commercial Zone) within this land use classification. On April 13, 2020 City Council did the First Reading of this Annexation request and it is now Planning Commission’s turn to make a recommendation. Mr. McLaughlin stated that they are looking to expand in Dover. Obviously, they have been part 2

CITY OF DOVER PLANNING COMMISSION MAY 28, 2020 of Kent County for a while and they are looking to use this as a distribution facility. They bought the building about five years ago and he thinks that they have been open for almost three years. They also recently purchased a place in Laurel, DE so that is why they want Dover to be their center hub for the State of Delaware. They are intending to have four to five people work out of that office and possibly one warehouse individual. But due to the growth of the company, they didn’t know that they would grow this quickly. Mr. Davies stated that they have worked with Mr. McLaughlin in the past. Union Wholesales is a very good company and he thinks that they will be a great addition to the City of Dover and hopefully you will feel the same way. Obviously, the City surrounds this property entirely and it makes sense to include this parcel in as well. Ms. Maucher opened a public hearing and after hearing no one wishing to speak, closed the public hearing. Mrs. Welsh moved to recommend approval to City Council for AX-20-03 Lands of JACJIM, LLC at 679 Horsepond Road with a zoning of C-3 (Service Commercial Zone) and subject to the AEOZ (Airport Environs Overlay Zone), seconded by Mr. Adams and the motion was carried 7-0 by roll call vote with Dr. Jones and Mr. Tolbert absent. Mrs. Welsh voting yes; as the subject property is in the City’s Annexation Plan for the 2019 Comprehensive Plan as a Category 1: High Priority Annexation Area. Mr. Adams voting yes; for the previously stated reasons. Mr. Roach voting yes; for reasons previously stated. Ms. Edwards voting yes; as it is consistent with the Comprehensive Plan. Mr. Hartman voting yes; based on the consistency with the Comprehensive Plan. Mr. Baldwin voting yes; based on the aforementioned statements. Ms. Maucher voting yes; for the reasons stated in the motion. 2) S-20-02 New Dover Middle Schools at 1 Pat Lynn Drive: Master Plan – Public Hearing and Review of a Site Development Master Plan Application to permit redevelopment of the school property in a series of Phases. Phase 1: construction of a new 238,500 SF middle schools building, parking, and other site improvements; Phase 2: Sports Fields and two associated 2,300 SF buildings; Phase 3: 19,500 SF future building addition; and Phase 4: two 33,800 SF future building additions. The proposal involves a series of land tracts totaling 44.71 acres +/- and are zoned IO (Institutional and Office Zone). The land tracts are located on the north side of Walker Road and east of Schoolhouse Lane. The property is adjacent to Silver Lake. The owner of record is Dover Special School District. Property Address (all parcels): 1 Pat Lynn Drive. Tax Parcel ID (all parcels): ED-05-067.11-01-68.00-000. Council District 4. Waiver Request: Partial Elimination of Curbing. Representatives: Mr. Gregg Moore, Becker Morgan Group; Mr. Jonathon Falkowski, Becker Morgan Group; Dr. Dan Shelton, Capital School District Mr. Roach recused himself due to his contact work with the State placing him in the District’s buildings on a regular basis. Mrs. Melson-Williams stated that this is an application for a Site Development Master Plan for the Dover Middle Schools to be located at 1 Pat Lynn Drive. This application is subject to public 3

CITY OF DOVER PLANNING COMMISSION MAY 28, 2020 hearing tonight and there has been significant correspondence regarding this application as well. It is a plan proposal that consists of four phases. The main initial Phase 1 is the construction of the middle schools building. If you are watching us on the computer, it is the central shaded red area of the plan. It’s approximately in the same footprint area of the old Dover High School that was on the site at one time. The project also includes its parking for the project. Pat Lynn Drive is slightly reconfigured with this new project and leads to what is the bus parking area on the east side of the building, closer to the Senators Lake neighborhood. On the west side of the building, the parking there is for staff. At the front of the building is a drop-off loop with additional parking. To the rear of the building or north of the building, as you move towards Silver Lake is the series of athletic fields. The existing stadium and track remain; however; with the project the softball field is relocated, the baseball field stays where it is and then there are additional practice fields developed where the previous softball field had been located. Those practice fields are also where they are looking to do geo-thermal efforts for this site. The project is adjacent to Silver Lake. It shares a boundary with that water body and as such, there are setbacks from the lake of one hundred feet and they are maintaining that. There are also small portions of floodplain areas in that same location. There is no impact to the floodplain for that site. The project itself, because it is adjacent to Silver Lake, was reviewed by the Silver Lake Commission earlier this month; and they voted in favor to support the application, finding limited impact to the lake as they are maintaining the required setback distance to it. They do encourage stormwater management practices that would be favorable to the lake. There are a number of sidewalk systems that cross this property that ultimately lead to the building. The plan is subject to significant landscaping requirements of the City’s Zoning Ordinance. There are requirements for tree planting. There is a requirement for what is known as an opaque barrier. When a facility such as this is adjacent to residential areas, means that they need an evergreen screen and in this case, they have chosen to do a fence component. This will have to be implemented along the shared property boundary with Senators Lake and also the shared property boundary with the Woodcrest neighborhood. There is an extensive fence component to be implemented. Currently, some of those areas do include a chain link fence. The proposed fence is required to be opaque meaning you can’t see through it, in addition to the tree plantings. There are tree plantings around other existing wooded and wetland areas on the site to meet the tree planting requirements for the project. Also of note, the existing tennis courts are to be removed with this project. Those tennis courts were placed with what we believe was some grant funding that assisted with the project. The applicants will have to work to develop a location for additional outdoor public recreation space in order to compensate for the removal of the tennis courts. Additionally, there is closer to the entrance of this facility at the intersection of Pat Lynn Drive and Woodcrest Drive, a wetland area. This is a federally regulated wetland area. It is part of an overall stormwater management system for the neighborhood area, part of which is piped and part of which is exposed in this wetland facility. There has been significant question about this pond. It is subject to Army Corps of Engineers regulations so making changes to it is not an easy task. There is a very specific process that would need to be approached in order to make any changes to that wetland area. In addition, the City’s Zoning Ordinance prescribes that wetland areas are to remain as natural open spaces and only through proper authorizations could they even be attempted to be filled or changed in their nature. The City’s DAC Report was provided to the Planning Commission members. That includes to 4

CITY OF DOVER PLANNING COMMISSION MAY 28, 2020 comments from various City Departments, including the Electric Department, the Department of Water and Wastewater, the Office of the Fire Marshal, and the Public Works Department which deals with City streets, sanitation and stormwater management for the City. We also have comments from DelDOT. There are no improvements at the intersection of Pat Lynn Drive and Walker Road. This is a signalized intersection that exists. We also have comments from the Dover/Kent County MPO which looks at the abilities for multimodal transportation. There is a sidewalk network that exists along Walker Road and there is a connecting sidewalk that leads from Walker Road into the site. Additionally, there is a neighborhood pathway connection from the Woodcrest neighborhood leading to the old Dover High School’s property. With this Middle Schools project, that pathway connection continues to exist and sidewalk connections are made to the internal site network. With this project, the stormwater management review falls to DNREC and they have been working with DNREC’s Division of Watershed Stewardship regarding what will be the stormwater management for the property. This project did go through the State PLUS Review Process. In the packet are the PLUS letter and the applicant’s response to the PLUS letter. The only waiver request that this application has made was one for the partial elimination of curbing and that is a waiver that the City Planner can grant approval to and we have recommended to do so. The other aspects of recommendations from the Planning Staff note that the loading spaces are sufficiently served by the loading dock area that is part of the rear of the building. The Silver Lake Commission did provide their comments which were given to you verbally and the other items relate to pedestrian connections and we are recognizing the existing sidewalks. We recommend that they make sure that the pathway from the Woodcrest neighborhood is in good repair and that they look at bicycle parking opportunities. She does want to show the architecture briefly for the project. It is a two story building, masonry in nature. There is a lot of glass so there are windows and this building will definitely have light. The building really has two wings with the central core being a very light filled area at the main entrance and then the gym, cafeteria and auditorium spaces are towards the rear of the building. The building has access to/from both parking and bus areas as well as the main entrance. Staff will provide the correspondence received as part of the public hearing. Mr. Moore stated that Mr. Jon Falkowski and Dr. Dan Shelton are here with him. Mr. Brad Hastings, the lead architect is also here in case there are any questions architecturally. Mr. Falkowski is actually going to give the presentation and then he is going to close and Dr. Shelton also has a statement to make as well. (A Powerpoint presentation was utilized to present the project by the design team and School District representatives.) Mr. Falkowski stated that he wanted to point out that this has been a very public project. It has been even before the referendum went out. This has been a very public project with a lot of public outreach meetings. This slide shows that there were 37 meetings held dating back to 2017. This does not include all of the Board meetings as well that are also public. They have had a lot of meetings and a lot of input from local communities and local neighborhoods. In fact, they have had several meetings with just the adjacent neighborhoods themselves, Woodcrest and Senators Lake. We have taken their input, we’ve received their public comment and these plans 5

CITY OF DOVER PLANNING COMMISSION MAY 28, 2020 do address a lot of their feedback that we have received over the past couple years. As Mrs. Melson-Williams mentioned, there is an opaque fence requirement for the project. Several of the meetings that we have had with Woodcrest and Senators Lake were specific meetings to address the fencing requirements and the wetland area in the front. The result of those public meetings, they presented different fence options to the neighbors and we ended up with them wanting a six-foot tall PVC fence. There were updates at more recent Board meetings although they weren’t in person, they were virtual but they were available to the public. Since then, we have put plans together that were bid publicly. They had to be bid on the State website and the bids were just received last week. The update now is that we will be awarding the contract to a contractor and we will begin construction here shortly by submitting a Fence Permit to the office. The thought was that this fence goes in early before construction of the Middle Schools that way it shields the view from the construction. The landscaping would be part of this application and would follow towards the end of the project and those landscape requirements of those twenty foot buffers to be installed at a later date. The fencing is a solid six-foot tall PVC fence that is almond in color. It should be easy to maintain but that will shield the view from construction and hopefully some of the other concerns that the neighbors had. The next slide shows the old Dover High School site prior to 2015. You can see the massive footprint that was the old Dover High School’s as a single story building with lots of pavement and lots of parking along the rear of the Woodcrest development. With these new Middle Schools, the thought was going two stories, reducing the footprint, and eliminating a lot of the pavement and unnecessary parking and providing a greener space for the site. In fact, we will be reducing pavement and hard surfaces on this site by over two acres by removing the paving and doing a smaller footprint. The High School was demolished in 2015 leaving way for the new Middle Schools. In this slide, you can see the grass area where the school was. All of the pavement and drive aisles are still in place and they will be removed as part of this new project. The tennis courts shown will be demolished as well. This slide shows the new Site Plan which takes out the parking. They are in receipt of the numerous correspondences related to the wetland area near the intersection of Pat Lynn Drive and Woodcrest. They are in receipt of the letters and they have received the complaints of the nuisance that the pond is causing as a result of it being there. The District has been pursuing this this for years and has directed them to meet with the Army Corps of Engineers. It is a federally regulated wetland as Mrs. Melson-Williams mentioned. They have had numerous meetings at the District’s direction, with the Army Corps, both in the field and in the office as late as last year and as early as this year. He can tell you three things that they know. One, it definitely is a federally protected wetlands site. It is also regulated by State Wetland Regulations and City Code prohibits the filling of that area. When they met with the Army Corps of Engineers several times, they stated that a Federal Wetland Permit would be required if we needed to fill. They approached the Army Corps trying to fill as a request from the neighbors. The District to do everything that we can to try to fill that area that has been a nuisance to those neighbors. In our last meeting, we presented the project and tried to make application to fill the wetland. He wants to draw attention to the letter that was provided that should be in the packet. It was a two page 6

CITY OF DOVER PLANNING COMMISSION MAY 28, 2020 letter from the US Army Corps Philadelphia District that was signed by the Army Corps Wetland Biologist dated April 28, 2020. Essentially what came out of these meetings was basically that they do not meet the criteria for filling those wetlands. Quoted in the letter on the second page, “Based on the current information presented for the former Dover High School wetland site, a need to fill the site other than that of a nuisance has not been established. As such, there is no purpose to scope.” What they told them in the meeting and they understand the nuisance that this area caused but that nuisance does not give purpose and scope for filling the wetland; therefore, their application would be denied if submitted to fill those wetlands. It was just last month that they received that letter from Mr. Michael Yost, a biologist from the District Branch. Other than the wetlands, Mrs. Melson-Williams gave a good synopsis of the site. In the colored Site Plan, you can see all of the landscaping that they are providing. Pat Lynn Drive swoops around a City 100-foot wetland buffer requirement so they are pulling that away from the wetlands, providing more landscaping there. Mrs. Melson-Williams went over the parking but they actually did a Parking Justification Study to get the required amount of parking that will be needed day-to-day so that it is not too much or not enough. You have the bus parking towards the center lakeside and the drop-off in the front. As you can see the dash line with the blue text, that is actually space left for future additions. He thinks that it is called Phase 3 on the plans. Essentially, they want to design the site so that the building can be expanded in the future and they don’t have to look for a new site in order to do the expansion. The mechanical lanes are in the back. The fire lanes are fully around the building and as Mrs. Melson-Williams alluded to, the geo-thermal fields will be constructed where the softball field was and that is it’s need for relocation. All of the other fields are remaining in place. There was some public comment that they received about an update on the field’s orientation and replacement. They did give that update at a more recent (School) Board meeting that was virtual that might not have been attended. The only field changing is the softball field out of necessity for the geo-thermal fields. The first floor plan layout shows the two wings flanking as the instructional units. The right side of the layout shows the drop-off area with a canopy. That will be the central administration area that you will see coming in and there is a media center above that on the second story. The back half of the building shown in yellow and green is a shared facility. That is where they are saving on the footprint as well, being two middle schools, they are able to share the large facilities such as the gymnasium on the bottom. There are several gymnasiums. We have a shared kitchen with split cafeteria seating for the schools and then they have a shared auditorium and band maintenance and drop-off loading areas are all shared on the back half. The second story of the building is the instructional units shown on the plan in purple. Those are all classrooms and then the media center is shown in yellow that is on the second story above the administration area. You can see that there is a courtyard that is in the center of all of this and they will show a rendering of that later. The next slide shows some interior renderings of the school stairs and the shared cafeteria. As mentioned, the kitchen is shared but the two cafeterias, since it is two Middle Schools, are separated by a wall. On the bottom left of the screen shows the auditorium and the bottom right shows the media center which is the second story above the main entrance. 7

CITY OF DOVER PLANNING COMMISSION MAY 28, 2020 The next slide shows a close up of the brick. There is glass where there are classrooms; obviously to get the natural light in but there is a tremendous amount of brick on this building and they wanted to highlight that because it does have that classic Downtown Dover red brick around the entire building. The external views show as you are entering the site on Pat Lynn Drive. You see the one instructional wing on the left and you can see the other one on the right. If you look at the bottom left of the slide, it shows the main entry looking straight on the front of the building with the drop-off loop and the two wings of classrooms on either side. The top right of the slide shows the media center. The bottom right of the slide shows the main canopy and front drop-off that provides safe drop-off and a shielded canopy for the kids to get into the building. The next slide shows a view of the courtyard looking towards the front of that main entry and media center. There will be some raised planter beds and some hardscape. This is a place where the kids are going to be able to break out for classroom spaces and also some outdoor seating area on the back side of the classrooms. The inside is glass and brick and lets a lot of natural light into the classrooms and it will be a great space for the kids. They do agree with all of the Staff DAC comments and they don’t have any issues with those comments and they agree with all of the recommendations and requirements. Mr. Moore stated that the wetland that is very close to the entrance of Pat Lynn Drive that was referred to earlier is clearly a federally protected wetland. As a good steward of our community and as somebody who went to Dover High School at this site, he has been working on Site Plans in the City of Dover for 36 years, he has done wetland delineation and wetland permitting for his entire career and he can assure you that this wetland is federally protected, cannot be filled. The criteria that the Army Corp of Engineers provided us in person with Dr. Dan Shelton present, is unable to be granted because of the way the Site Plan is and the standing of this wetland. He wants to point out that right now, next to that wetland is parking and that parking runs up along the edges of homes of the neighbors and all of that parking is being removed because we do not have the extent of parking that Dover High School once had; they do not have driving students. All of that land will be natural and he is here to assure you that Becker Morgan Group and the District did everything possible to attempt to fill that wetland. The Army Corps of Engineers and its letter dating April 28, 2020 has clearly told us that we cannot. Dr. Dan Shelton stated that he thinks that it’s really important to state that the thirty-seven (37) meetings that they have had so far have been just on this property itself. This all began five years ago with a strategic plan and from that plan, they said we need a long range facility master plan. They spent over a year developing a long range facility master plan. All of those had public meetings and we reported at the Board meeting every month. After the decision was made to build two new middle schools on Pat Lynn Drive, is when the public meetings started. So the number of meetings that we’ve discussed this building and the idea behind what might become of Pat Lynn Drive has gone on for almost five years. He thinks that he would also be remiss if he didn’t point out that unlike probably almost any project that the Planning Commission sees on a regular basis, this isn’t just a private project that they are bringing on. The residents of the City of Dover voted more than 2 to 1 to fund this out of their own money; they raised property taxes in order to fund this project. It was one of the most overwhelming supported referendums that 8

CITY OF DOVER PLANNING COMMISSION MAY 28, 2020 the State has seen in many years. It’s something that the people in Dover want. With that said, he thinks that Becker Morgan Group has done a great job. They have tried their best to be listening to our residents and listening to our community. They actually just had yesterday, two live samples that the residents chose and there was a meeting where the Army Corps actually came out to the wetland area and met with the residents and then they went over to Fairview. They knew at that point that it was a slim chance of them being able to move this which is why we said hey what can we do? They have also hired a group that maintains it and while last summer they didn’t get the results that they wanted, he doesn’t think anybody would argue with the fact that if you look at this site from three years ago when it was brought to their attention that they wanted them to maintain it as opposed to the City of Dover or the Army Corps maintaining it. They (the School District) took on that responsibility. The difference in what it looks like now as opposed to what it looked like 2 or 3 years ago, no one would argue the improvements that have been made and that they will continue to make. They are trying to be really good neighbors. As he said, the bids were open last week so the fence will be able to be installed. There was one public comment that stated “they promised us a fence and they haven’t done it.” Unfortunately with the State’s system, things don’t happen instantly. They had to go through the bid marketplace; they had to publicly publish that they wanted to do the fence. Multiple people were able to come in and there was a question period. They did open them last week and they will be awarding that job very soon. This is a really complex project. Schools are large; they are public. He just can’t state enough to the Commissioners that they have already fell a little behind due to COVID-19 and they are on a really tight timeframe to get this building open. They hope that this evening, the Commission allows them to continue moving forward so that they can get this school open. Our kids deserve this building. As you saw from the renderings, it is going to be an amazing place for our middle school kids. They need a modern facility and this is it. He believes that they have come as close as they possibly can to meeting what our community asked them to do. Ms. Edwards stated that when she first moved to Dover many years ago, about the retention pond that’s in question here at the entrance of Pat Lynn Drive and Woodcrest Drive, she had relatives that lived at the house located at that corner. She seems to remember playing in that as a ditch and she is wondering when it became a pond. Is there any history on that? Responding to Ms. Edwards, Mrs. Melson-Williams stated that there was historically a ditch there that was part of a larger system. The transition from that ditch segment to what you see there today began in a time frame of basically 2002-2005. The ditch used to be a lot bigger; it extended much further to the north. If you look at aerial maps, it’s certainly there parallel to Pat Lynn Drive prior to 2002 and then we see this transition to this wetland area on its west side. Mr. Moore stated that there was a natural wetland that ran along Pat Lynn Drive. It was quite wide and deep and was classified as a wetland. The City of Dover filled that ditch in and when they did that, it required the City of Dover to actually install a mitigation site for the wetlands that were being taken out by the removal of that ditch. The pond that you see there is not primarily a stormwater retention pond; it is a mitigation for the removal of the natural ditch that ran along Pat Lynn Drive. That gives it a special standing, even stronger than a normal federal wetland area. They learned that from their meetings with the Army Corps of Engineers and that is demonstrated in the letter that they have provided them. 9

CITY OF DOVER PLANNING COMMISSION MAY 28, 2020 Mr. Hartman stated that his only concern is the wetland area. Dr. Shelton mentioned that they have been having public meetings for five years. It is regrettable in his mind that now with this juncture when everything is getting tight, we don’t have a fence up yet and there still has not been a satisfactory answer for the residents on resolving this issue for the wetlands and that is the most regrettable thing that he sees with this submittal. The school district site does discharge to the wetlands, correct? Responding to Mr. Hartman, Mr. Falkowski stated correct, not the wetlands at the intersection of Pat Lynn Drive. Mr. Moore stated that the school does not discharge to the wetland that the neighbors are concerned about by Pat Lynn Drive. Mr. Hartman questioned if all of the discharge comes from the neighborhood? Responding to Mr. Hartman, Mr. Moore stated that the discharge comes from pipes that are on that other side. Our new design will not introduce water to that system. Mr. Hartman questioned if anything has been considered to reduce the amount of water going into that area? Is that possible in any way? Responding to Mr. Hartman, Mr. Moore stated that without a permit from the Federal Army Corps of Engineers, no. Their design is to seclude that and not to add any water from our new design. Our entire new design will be handled by virtue of new facilities that will not augment that current pond. There won’t be water draining to it and it’s not there as a stormwater pond for this project. Mr. Adams stated that with the upheaval from the neighborhood as it relates to that stormwater, what sway or opportunity exists to have the federal delegation intervene with the Army Corps of Engineers as it relates to finding some potential middle ground or opportunity? Or does that just not happen in those types of instances? Responding to Mr. Adams, Mr. Moore stated that in this case, knowing that this is a mitigation site that replaced a former wetland, this wetland has a higher standing and because this Army Corps of Engineers does not want to see these things continually move location after location. That obviates the reason that the Corps of Engineers believed that they did it to start with. He can assure them that he met with the Corp of Engineers’ representatives on-site and in his office with Dr. Shelton; and we do not meet the criteria to issue a permit the way that the regulations are written. There would need to be a modification to the regulations or some overrule by the Trump Administration for us to be able to fill this. He assures them that that has to happen; it is not procedural here. Mr. Adams stated that his other question relates more towards construction and the timeline. He thought that they did a fantastic job in their design and in the presentation. He is curious as to the timeline with respect to the construction of the different phases. He sees Phase One and Phase Two and understandably that Phase Three and Four are going to be necessitated in the future by future growth but help him understand the timeline. Are Phase One and Phase Two happening simultaneously or in delayed phases? Responding to Mr. Adams, Mr. Moore stated that they submitted this as a Construction Master Plan because they knew that they wanted to build the fence first and they knew thus they would have sequential steps but the main building itself and the fields will be one big construction process that will be phased. In terms of the public, it will be one process. The disconnected component of that are the future additions shown in blue on the rendering. They will not be started at all and will likely be more than five years out or 10

CITY OF DOVER PLANNING COMMISSION MAY 28, 2020 perhaps even ten years out depending upon the growth of the actual district and of the middle schools. Mr. Adams stated that the same would go for Phase three, correct? Responding to Mr. Adams, Mr. Moore stated yes. As it relates to the pond, if the federal delegation would give them the right to fill that pond, it is something that they can do as part of their construction and they do not object to it. They hear the neighbors but the resistance to fill it is not resistance to money or that they aren’t hearing the concerns. They assure you that they cannot legally fill that without somebody going to jail under the current terms. Mr. Hartman stated that it was mentioned that they have been maintaining the pond for the last three years and there has been a remarkable improvement in the appearance. He would like to know if there are procedures going forward, assuming that the pond remains, that will be in place showing what maintenance will be done to the pond. Was that something that will be in the stormwater management plan or will that be a separate document for the benefit of the residents? Responding to Mr. Hartman, Dr. Shelton stated that it is not a stormwater management site; it’s a wetland mitigation site. They have hired a company called Envirotech who specializes in these types of systems and actually the biologist from Envirotech has met with the residents at least twice. They have helped the School District and the residents pick out some plants to add to that wetland area and unfortunately last year they did not take very well. They are hoping that in the spring of the second year they will take better. It’s just like a garden; it takes a few years to get those annuals to take hold. There was a lot of invasive species in that system and that has all been removed. As well as their monitoring of the fish in that wetland mitigation site to make sure that they are healthy because the Department of Natural Resources has gone out a number of times. One of the complaints is mosquito larvae. Both DNREC and Envirotech have said that the wetland itself is very healthy. There are fish in that wetland and there aren’t mosquito larvae because the fish are doing what they are supposed to do by eating it. While they understand that some of their neighbors aren’t happy with that particular area, when they went to the Silver Lake Commission, they (Silver Lake Commission) were actually really happy that they were not going to be disturbing those wetland areas and that they were not going to be bringing anything into Silver Lake. There are also differences in opinion on what should and shouldn’t be done. Mr. Hartman stated that he would just like to understand if there is going to be something in written form that they can go before the residents and show them that the School District is going to continue to maintain this area where the wetland is. Responding to Mr. Hartman, Dr. Shelton stated that at the point in time when they found out and started researching, it was around 2017, they hired someone immediately and got them on it and they will continue to do that. They have been pretty clear that it is their commitment to do that in public meetings and also Board meetings. They are on record saying that they are going to continue to maintain that area to continue to be good neighbors. Ms. Edwards stated that she thanks everyone for updating the wetlands information. It seems like everyone is trying to do the right thing and she really does appreciate that. The nearby neighbors and residents are concerned about the amount of snakes and the amount of snapping turtles that come out of that area. Is that going to be addressed as well? She rode by there today and the chain-link fence that is around that existing area is really an eye sore. Going into this beautiful 11

CITY OF DOVER PLANNING COMMISSION MAY 28, 2020 new facility and the appearance and the upkeep of the adjacent neighborhood, is there something that is going to be put in place there outside of that chain link fence to replace it or to at least give it a better appearance? Responding to Ms. Edwards, Mr. Moore stated that the fence that they showed earlier in the package is the fence that they have bid and will be going up. The chain link fence along the neighbors will actually be removed and they will be putting the new PVC fence that has color along that border. There will be a much more pleasing view and a block because the chain-link fence doesn’t block the school construction. This will be a complete opaque block. Ms. Edwards further questioned about around the wetlands areas. Responding to Ms. Edwards, Mr. Moore stated it would come up by the wetlands and separate the backs of the houses. Ms. Edwards questioned if the chain-link fence as you are riding by on Pat Lynn Drive will remain? Responding to Ms. Edwards, Mr. Moore stated that they are going to fence every back lot of the neighboring location. Ms. Edwards stated that she understands that, but from Pat Lynn Drive looking at the wetlands, that chain-link fence that goes around that area that surrounds the entire wetlands. There is a chain-link fence that surrounds the whole thing right now that is an eye sore. Responding to Ms. Edwards, Mr. Moore stated that they are not going to surround it but they are going to separate the neighbors. Ms. Edwards questioned about the snapping turtles and the snakes that the neighbors and residents are concerned about? Responding to Ms. Edwards, Mr. Moore stated that what we also have to remember is that snapping turtles, snakes and wildlife do come from Silver Lake. Some of this comes from the back of Silver Lake and some of this does come from the ditch. There is a wetland that is near Silver Lake that they are also not able to touch and wildlife does crawl up that section and we can’t stop that so he believes that it is probably not fair to say that that one mitigation wetland is the root of all of this. He thinks that it is a combination of the entire ecosystem. Mr. Adams questioned if there was a reason that the fencing could not be extended around the current wetland area? Just to Ms. Edwards’ point, he spends a lot of time in that area and he knows exactly what she is talking about. He is just trying to understand when there is going to be the investment of tens of millions of dollars to construct this beautiful, brand new school, if there is some measure in place to replace that existing eyesore of a chain-link fence with something that perhaps would be more pleasing to those people who are going in to the new school but also maybe making that left onto Woodcrest Drive and driving past that as well. Responding to Mr. Adams, Mr. Moore stated that along the back, which they are doing and then alongside which would be entering the neighborhood, makes sense but he does have concern that if you completely fence that wetland with an opaque barrier, if some child ever did get in it you would never see what was happening inside. He would be very concerned that it would be a safety issue because of the loss of view from Pat Lynn Drive. They would be agreeable to going three sides and leaving the Pay Lynn Drive side open for safety reasons. Mr. Adams questioned if they would be agreeable to perhaps a lower fence than the six foot 12

CITY OF DOVER PLANNING COMMISSION MAY 28, 2020 fence? Responding to Mr. Adams, Dr. Shelton stated that not only would there be the dangerous issue but it is their hope that based on what they talked about last year that this area is not going to be an eyesore. That area is going to be a natural wetland. They are actually hoping that it is something that their kids will be able to see and understand how the ecosystem works. It’s an appropriate thing for our middle schoolers so it is not something that they would even want to fully enclose. It’s their goal to have it be something that’s pleasing that when people come in, they see. They are looking at plant life that would not flower all year long but would look nice as the year goes on. Mr. Adams stated that he understands that and perhaps there is a way to do that by removing the chain-link fence that is in disrepair and perhaps replacing it with a split rail vinyl fence or something to provide the sight lines into the area to take advantage of the natural beauty that you are intending for and also to mitigate the safety risk as well. To Ms. Edwards’ point earlier, that chain-link fence is definitely in a state of disrepair where it doesn’t present as nicely as he would think that we would want to for a new Middle School of this size and scope. Ms. Maucher opened a public hearing. Mrs. Melson-Williams stated that she would be reading a number of public comments that they have received and have already distributed to the Planning Commission. In Exhibit Set 1: Item #7, was an email received from Councilman Anderson and attached to that was a Petition from Woodcrest neighborhood from 2018. It includes names that are listed as well as their addresses and they redacted their phone numbers. That list included what appears to be sixty-three lots. It has a total of sixty-nine signatures. The statement that they were attesting to reads, “We the constituents of Woodcrest community respectfully and insistently request that the retention pond located on the property of the Capital School District existing near the front entrance of Woodcrest community to be filled in with top soil and seeded instantly.” This is a Petition that was signed in 2018. This afternoon, Staff provided the Planning Commission what is known as Exhibit Set 2. It was public comments that had been received by the Planning Office as of noon today (5/18/2020). She will reference those by title. A number of these individuals are listening or may be ready to participate this evening. The first is an email dated May 13, 2020 from Connie Holland who resides at 438 Wilson Drive. She expresses her concerns as a resident of Woodcrest and some of the issues with the wetland area and the opportunities for improvements that should be considered at this point. The second email that entered by reference is the email of May 15, 2020 with a memo attachment that is titled Woodcrest Community’s Position on the Matter. It was an email received from Chris and Kari Tollinger of 813 Schoolhouse Lane. It is addressed specifically to the Planning Commission and again, it references the concerns of the Woodcrest residents and their opposition to the Planning Commission granting approval to construct the middle school. They request that the Commission denies their application or delay their plans until mutually agreed upon promises and responsibilities made between the Woodcrest community and the Capital School District have been achieved and agreed upon by both parties. It goes on to reference information about the retention pond and drainage system and the concerns there and 13

CITY OF DOVER PLANNING COMMISSION MAY 28, 2020 the various conversations about that pond over time. They also request the school board to be good neighbors and then try to address this issue. This is a letter that is referenced to the mosquitoes, animals and other pests as well that are specifically related to that retention pond. The next email is dated May 16, 2020. It is a letter with an attachment from Marie and Nelson Biggs of 837 Schoolhouse Lane. They have concerns regarding the development of Pat Lynn Drive. Likewise, it is a letter that makes reference to concerns with the vacant property that is the school site like issues with long grass, overgrowth and garbage. They have concerns with potential illegal activity that may have been happening there. There is also discussion of their concerns with the retention pond. They note their attendance at several School Board meetings. They also express concerns about the positioning of the baseball and softball fields at the site and some mentions of budget implications in their letter. They are very concerned that the residents at Woodcrest are being given the run-around and constantly being sent back and forth as their try to make their homes and neighborhood livable. The next email is dated May 17, 2020. It is an email with a letter attachment responding to the Biggs’ letter. It is an annotated copy of the Biggs’ letter with red line responses from Sean Christiansen, Capital School District Board of Education member. He responds to a number of their items regarding the wetlands site. He does make note as mentioned at this meeting, the proof that Envirotech has been working related to that wetland area and a number of the public meetings related to the Dover High as they develop the Dover High School site or the baseball and softball fields which is a shared situation with some of the fields throughout the District and the cost of the Dover High School project that was funded to support it. The next email is several questions and is also dated May 17, 2020. These questions come from Linda Shock. The first question is related to cutting of the grass specifically in the median strip area at the entrance to the school. She wants to know who is responsible for this. The second question that she asked is related to the gate that is through the neighborhood. Would that be reopened and maintained? Mrs. Melson-Williams stated that she believes that is the connecting pathway from the Woodcrest neighborhood onto the school site. The third question is related to traffic concerns. She has concerns that getting out of their neighborhood is a nightmare when the school traffic blocks their ability to access onto Woodcrest Drive and how is that going to be resolved. The next email included in this packet is an email series from today that is a response series that includes email correspondence from Mr. Gregg Moore of the Becker Morgan Group, Dr. Dan Shelton of the School District, and Representative Sean Lynn again as a follow up to the Biggs’ letter. This conversation relates to the wetland area and the involvement of the Army Corps of Engineers in that regard. These emails were received before noon today. She can tell them that additional emails continued to come in to the Planning Office throughout the afternoon. She will give highlights of those emails as they have not been provided to the Planning Commissioners. There was response from Sean Christiansen again with the Capital School District Board that was replying to Representative Lynn about continuing the discussion about any kind of coordination necessary for the wetland mitigation site. There is an email from Ms. Lorili Semple who resides with other 14

CITY OF DOVER PLANNING COMMISSION MAY 28, 2020 family members at 891 Schoolhouse Lane. Her concerns are expressed in regards to the retention pond. Again, the concerns with mosquitoes in the area and the general eyesore of the property. She expressed concerns about the ability to use their back yard and sit outside. There are some concerns in the current situation, which means people will likely be home more, the ability of them to enjoy their back yard is low because of pests related to the retention pond. She expresses that they are fed up with the problem and want to be able to move forward to some type of resolution for it. The next email was received at 2:43PM from Representative Lynn. Again, discussing options for the pond and if the involvement of our Federal delegation could assist at working with the Army Corps of Engineers. The next email is from 3:41PM from John and Cindy Parker which reside at 909 Wilson Drive. Again, they ask the Planning Commission to deny the application thinking that these plans on the site near Woodcrest development, that they continue to have concerns with the retention pond and concerns with the drain pipe and whether that is the appropriate size. They ask if they can install a drain pipe in this area and then be rated like the area between Woodcrest and Walker Road. The last email to reference was received at 3:49PM from Representative Sean Lynn and it is addressed to Mrs. Mitchell who is the City Manager, Mr. Dave Hugg who is the City Planner and members of the Planning Commission. Again, it relates the concerns with the wetlands area and the nuisance that it appears to be creating for the Woodcrest neighborhood. He emphasizes the opportunity with the construction of the school site, that there may be an opportunity to address the nuisance of this wetlands area and he is disappointed in the years of meetings and the ongoing complaints from Woodcrest with not an opportunity to make changes here. There are a number of people on the line that she thinks will want to speak. Mr. & Mrs. Chris and Kari Tollinger – 813 Schoolhouse Lane Dover, DE 19904 They asked Mrs. Melson-Williams to read the bullet points in their submission into the record. They stated that “specific school board members along with the Superintendent pledged to secure an application from Army Corps to fill the blighted retention pond; however, in a recent community meeting between the Woodcrest community and the school board at Fairview Elementary School, it was discovered that they never retrieved the application nor did they provide us the courtesy to give them an update on the matter or an explanation.” The second bullet point says “additionally, the school board was tasked and in agreement with providing a monetary assessment of what it would cost to fill the whole to the 31st House of Representative, Mr. Sean Lynn. Once again it was discovered during the same community meeting mentioned above, that they failed to achieve that task as well as a justifiable reason in doing so to our community members.” Mr. Tollinger stated he can appreciate everything that they are talking about. They have had several meetings on this over the last couple of years and from a maintenance aspect, it hasn’t been maintained. Yes, it looks better today than it did three years ago but again it is not maintained on a regular basis. Everything grows back. We don’t get any kind of maintenance or grass cutting or clipping unless they call. It has been very inconsistent over the last three years and he doesn’t see it getting any better moving forward because it has been since May 11, 2020 that they have been trying to get somebody over here to cut the grass and they can’t get an answer. He understands that there are things going on with COVID-19 but if they leave messages, they should get a return call. He lives at 813 Schoolhouse Lane and this pond is directly behind his property. When he moved here in 2003 it was just a field with a little ditch 15

CITY OF DOVER PLANNING COMMISSION MAY 28, 2020 like everyone is saying. His kids used to play ball back there and he used to hit golf balls back there and now it has become what he calls a marsh. It’s interesting to him that through all of our meetings and initially when we first started, it was really hard pressed for them to determine what it actually was and who owned it and who was actually responsible for it. It just became meeting after meeting and now it’s become a federally protected wetland. It’s been called several names and now it’s a federally protected wetland. He is interested to know how that actually came about. It wasn’t there in 2003. It was installed between 2004 and 2005. That can all be seen via Google Earth if you go back in time. He doesn’t know what area was filled in that said this area has to compensate for it when there was another wetlands area already across the street. Their understanding was that it was going to be difficult for the Army Corps of Engineers to approve anything to do with this but it could be done provided that they had a space large enough to accommodate the same kind of area. There is equal space on the other side of the road and if it was on the other side of the road, nobody would probably have anything to say. It is directly behind his property and he has two trees that are falling into it as we speak because the ground is not supporting it. He understands that the trees are probably going to come out because of the fence but they are just very inconsistent to this point. At meetings they have been nice and we have talked but that doesn’t really solve the problem. He doesn’t know exactly what the answer is but there are people out there who are smarter than him that can come up with an answer. Ms. Connie Holland – 834 Wilson Drive Dover, DE 19904 Ms. Holland stated that she is the Director for the Office of State Planning. She knows that she signed the PLUS Letter that went in for this application but she is speaking as a resident and a homeowner for 30-35 years. This is a huge concern; she has worked with a lot of people that she has heard from this evening and she has a few things that she would like to say. For anyone on the Planning Commission that thinks the stormwater drainage is just for Woodcrest that we have in this pond and that it’s not a stormwater pond, she has been told that it’s a wetland and she has her issues with that too but it is not. Water is coming from another area that wouldn’t take a pond like that. There is a lot of history to this as to why that pond is there. We don’t have time tonight to get into that but someone should. This is the only chance that the residents of Woodcrest will have to get anything straight. If in fact it was presented to the Army Corps of Engineers that this is just a nuisance, no wonder they said no. She called the Army Corps of Engineers a year ago for a meeting because they had several our representatives there, the School Board there and a representative from the Corps of Engineers. She was pretty disgusted. He didn’t even look at the pond; he just said no. She’s worked in the planning profession for almost fifty years. You can get waivers, you can get variances and if anybody looks at this and thinks that it’s pretty wetland, they are crazy. She doesn’t know if you would want to live in the development where you are afraid when you get up in the morning that you are going to have a snake on your roof, in your basement, or underneath your dining room table. That’s what we live with. We are not living in the country. She knows that they will have animals and critters and she actually loves them but this is totally different. She thinks that if you walk a half a mile in their shoes you would see what the difference is. It’s a health, safety and welfare issue; it is not just a nuisance. This is why we have zoning and go through this and she is absolutely offended the way the Capital School District has treated us. If all of this stuff happened, we had no idea that it was happening. She does hope that a delegation can go and have somebody maybe higher than the powers that they talked to and look at this because it is devaluing their homes. She moved here because of Dover High School. She had two children that graduated from Dover High School and she loves to see 16

CITY OF DOVER PLANNING COMMISSION MAY 28, 2020 this land reused for schools. She doesn’t really approve of schools being out in the outer lands and not being within our neighborhoods. Take some of that money that you say is going to be a beautiful brick building and give us some peace in our development. She thinks that a lot more research could be done and she hopes that something can be done to alleviate their living experiences that they are having here. Mr. John Parker – 909 Wilson Drive Dover, DE 19904 Mr. Parker stated that he would like to call the attention to the second paragraph of his email. It sounds like it’s going to be a lot of work to close this pond. His first reaction to that is let’s get started and do the work; it doesn’t need to be there because it serves no useful purpose. If they can’t do that then he would suggest that they relocate that pond to the other side of Pat Lynn Drive between the tennis courts and the Pension Office where the stream empties into Silver Lake. That will put it away from the neighborhood and get it out of the area and then Capital School District can deal with it over there. Ms. Linda Goodnight – 805 Schoolhouse Lane Dover, DE 19904 Ms. Goodnight stated that the retention pond is her back yard. She agrees with Mr. Chris Tollinger that the trees there have nowhere else to go so they are coming over into our yards. One of her beloved bushes got ruined because of the trees. She and her husband have to make sure that the trees are trimmed because they are coming through the fence. The groundhogs that like to visit us frequently have dug a 3x6 hole under their shed. They spend the weekend filling it up and trying to blockade it’s so that their property doesn’t continue to get destroyed. Their garden last year got destroyed. Did they complain to the City to do anything about it? No, because their representatives acted like they wanted to hear what we have to say about the retention pond, our properties and our safety here. They then want to become argumentative with us and not listen to us where it almost makes it feel like why say anything at all. The fear of even going out in the backyard to your shed or to check on your flowers, you watch where you walk to make sure that you don’t step on a snake. When are the trees going to come down? They were promised some many different things and nothing ever happens until the School Board or the City wants to do something. That’s the only time that they hear any communication. Everybody that has spoken tonight from the neighborhood, she agrees with 150% and she hopes that someone listens to them. Ms. Lauralie Simple – 891 Schoolhouse Lane Dover, DE 19904 Ms. Simple stated that she has lived here since 1982 and along with the others, the wetlands were not there and they did not have the mosquito problem. She fortunately does not live right behind it like the other people have mentioned who have the critter problems but the mosquitoes problem became a huge nuisance ever since that has been created there. At least with taking care of the mosquitoes, how about the City or Capital School District pays for companies to come out and spray their yards with mosquito treatment since you don’t want to cover it up or make a ruckus in trying to get it filled. They have been trying for years and nothing gets done. Mr. Doug Halverson_- 805 Schoolhouse Lane Dover, DE 19904 Mr. Halverson stated that his concern is that it sounds like everyone is set in their ways concerning this retention pond as far as the City of Dover and the Corps of Engineers goes. His concern is his back yard is the back wall of that wetland. The trees are starting to fall down and 17

CITY OF DOVER PLANNING COMMISSION MAY 28, 2020 with those trees falling down, it concerns him that they are going to lose the back part of his yard. Maybe they can look at doing some hardscaping to re-enforce that wall so that he doesn’t lose his property and maybe do some hardscaping on the outside where it was brought up before about the fence. If they are going to try to make it look nice, let’s do a good job with it and hardscape is the way to go about it. He is also concerned about the groundhogs digging through there and weakening that wall also. Ms. Marie Biggs – 837 Schoolhouse Lane Dover, DE 19904 Ms. Biggs stated that pretty much everything that she wanted to say has been said, especially by Ms. Holland. Her statements were phenomenal. The biggest thing besides the eyesore is the mosquitoes. Everyone has stated that you cannot even enjoy their properties or have people over because of the mosquitoes. She gardened last summer for ten minutes pulling weeds and she had twenty-four mosquito bites on her legs. Who wants to go outside and enjoy their property with this happening? How is this good for our health? Besides the eyesore, there are critters and mosquitoes. It used to be a ditch and then it went to a retention pond and now it’s a federally regulated wetland. She needs to see the history on this and when it became this because all that they want is it gone so that they can enjoy their properties and not have to fear infections. Mr. Anthony DePrima – 575 Westwood Drive Dover DE 19901 Mr. DePrima stated he is a current member of the Capital School Board for the past year. He has also been a member of the Construction Committee and has been attending these meetings for the past year. There has been a very strong effort to include all kinds of stakeholders in this meeting and try to listen to what they have to say. It seems like tonight we are focused on the pond issue. He has had the unenviable position of being the City Manager at the time that this was constructed so he could go into the history of it and he will try to do so very briefly. The City of Dover actually constructed the pipe in the pond at the request of the School District. At the time, the School District was trying to do one of two things, one is what people are referring to as the ditch that was there before. It was fairly deep and it was seen as a safety hazard being next to the parking lot that was there. The other motivation is that the School District wanted to expand the parking lot and to do that they had to fill in the ditch with a pipe. One of the reasons for expanding the parking lot was to try to relieve the concerns that the neighborhood has about parking in the neighborhood. The money of the project was actually funded through State funds through the City of Dover. We actually started the construction project by starting to pipe it and we were stopped because that’s when we learned that it was a protected wetland and we were starting to fill it in. They were put under a Stop Work Order; they had to submit permits and as a result of the desire to fill in the ditch that pond had to be constructed. There actually was wetlands there before; it was considered wetlands before we unfortunately went in there and started construction work without the permits. They were stopped; they had to get the permits and part of the permitting was to create the pond. The intent back then was to again create some more parking. It was not an easy project for us; it was a very, very difficult time. Now twenty years later and he is still reliving this project. He really wants to focus on a couple things. You have heard from tonight, both from the administration and from the representatives 18

CITY OF DOVER PLANNING COMMISSION MAY 28, 2020 and the architects. The School District stands ready to fix this problem as soon as we can see a way through it. If we can get our Federal delegation to step in and work with the Engineers, they are ready to do that. He thinks that you have heard that and they are committed to that. He can only speak for himself; he can’t speak for the whole Board. He as a School Board member, and as long as he is a School Board member, he will commit to diligently trying to find a solution to this problem but he asks that we not hold up this very important construction project to do that. He would also commit as a Board member, again he can’t commit the whole Board, but he can commit himself as long as he is on the School Board, to see that this pond is properly maintained and is improved. When there is a school there, he wants to go beyond something that the children can observe. He would love to see this pond, if it’s there, become part of a laboratory for environmental education. He thinks that what you are hearing tonight from him and from the administration is that they are committed. This is not about the dollars. This is not about the desire to not see this pond filled in. They feel like that are at a dead end. They think that the law is pretty clear. If somebody can help them find a way through it in the future, he thinks the District is committed to solving the problem. In the meantime, we solve the problem by some of the things that we had heard tonight which is maintenance; clean it up, make it look good and let’s get the stuff out of there that is an eyesore. Let’s maintain mosquito control if we have to in the whole community. There are ways to control mosquitos; so, let’s do as much as we can in the interim to go forward to approve this project and for the Planning Commission to move it forward. We can all kind of work together towards a solution. He can’t commit anything but his own desire to solve this problem, but he doesn’t think that we solve it by holding up this very important construction project. He agrees with a lot of the Commissioners and the things that they are saying things that we need to do; and he thinks that they can get it done. Mr. Gregg Moore stated that one answer to the question that has been asked a couple of times about when was this considered a federally protected wetland. The answer goes back to Mr. DePrima’s statement which dates back to 2000’s. This was built as a federally protected wetland as part of mitigation to the closure of what was then a wetland which was the ditch located alongside the road. That was then re-assessed by the Army Corps of Engineers and the State of Delaware when Becker Morgan Group and the District started this project. They actually had it re-evaluated by the Army Corps of Engineers through a professional wetland delineator so there is no question that that is the intent and use of this land as a federally protected wetland. Mrs. Kari Tollinger – 813 Schoolhouse Lane Dover, DE 19904 Mrs. Tollinger stated that she just wanted to add to statements from Mr. DePrima and other members of the School Board regarding the maintenance. Chris did touch on the fact that she texted Mr. Elliot Harding, the Grounds Manager, on May 11, 2020 to get the high grass cut back here because that is where the mosquitoes lay. It’s been a constant battle to get this stuff back here mowed. Every time that it’s done, she or her neighbor next door has to call. She thinks that it is ridiculous that they have to call to have this grass cut. Not only the grass, but then there is the ivy that is growing up onto their properties. Dr. Shelton said last year that he was going to have someone come in the fall and have someone cut all of the vines and growth back here down after it was dead. Nobody ever showed up and the growth is still there. She has poison on the fence, her neighbor has poison on her fence, they have groundhogs, there are trees falling down 19

CITY OF DOVER PLANNING COMMISSION MAY 28, 2020 and like Doug said, there is a good possibility that their properties are going to end up in that thing. She wants to know who wants to buy her property. As far as she is concerned, it has devalued their properties. They cannot even sit on their brick patio out back. She has a hot tub that she can’t even use. Does she sound bitter because she is? She has been dealing with this since 2006 with Mr. Sean Lynn and nobody wants to listen. She pleads that somebody listen and takes care of what has to be done back there so that they can live their lives normal. Mrs. Melson-Williams stated that there were a couple of questions submitted through the chat option that she is going to try to address. One of the questions was whether the Woodcrest community members still have environmental and nuisance complaints. She believes that from the testimony tonight that the answer is yes. There is a question about whether the City’s Zoning Ordinance prohibits the filling of wetlands. In Article 5, Section 11.22 deals with wetlands in the City of Dover. There are provisions that suggest that they should be maintained as open and natural space; however, there is the ability for conversion if it is approved by the Army Corps of Engineers and DNREC. There is a setback for wetlands that are at least a quarter acre in size that are part of the City’s provisions as well. The property where the wetlands mitigation area is located is on Capital School District property; it is not City of Dover property. She thinks that they have heard testimony that there have been ongoing and multiple meetings over the years with Capital School District and the Army Corps of Engineers related to the wetland mitigation. Mr. John Parker – 909 Wilson Drive Dover, DE 19901 Mr. Parker questioned if the pond cannot be closed and filled in, can it be relocated? Responding to Mr. Parker, Mrs. Melson-Williams stated that she thinks it would be all part of any kind of changes. They would be subject to permit review and design processes. It is in line with an existing system so that may have other impacts beyond just where the pond is located that limits relocation of the pond. Mr. Moore stated that they asked that question to the Army Corps of Engineers and they considered relocation the filling of this wetland and as a result, requires a permit to do that. The answer to that is controlled by the Army Corps of Engineers and they are telling us no. Mr. Parker stated that he thought that Mr. Moore just said that a permit was needed. Responding to Parker, Mr. Moore stated that what they have told us in meetings is that it does not meet the criteria that the Corps of Engineers has set forth to allow it to be relocated. Because it is actually a filling of a wetland to allow for the relocation and because it is a mitigation site, it has a different standing. They do not want it moved unless it is an actual facility that is water dependent that needs to go there, and we cannot meet that criteria. He has committed here tonight from Becker Morgan and the Capital School District that if the federal delegation can intervene and allow us to fill that, they can do that as part of the construction project, and they do not object to that. They do not object to filling in the pond; they just cannot get the permit under the normal course of this action and the regulations that stand. Mr. Parker questioned who we get started? Responding to Mr. Parker, Mrs. Melson-Williams stated that certainly with the testimony of this meeting, there has been a lot of information relating the concerns of the neighborhood. It has been heard at various levels that there are potentially other avenues for pursuing options for the wetland mitigation area and it’s future 20

CITY OF DOVER PLANNING COMMISSION MAY 28, 2020 should be explored. She thinks that you have heard the commitment of the School District and their engineer to continue to pursue that. Certainly, there is interest by at least one State Representative who has also mentioned the potential interaction with our federal delegation on this matter. She thinks that is certainly put out there in a variety of ways tonight as a comment. Ms. Connie Holland – 834 Wilson Drive Dover, DE 19904 Ms. Holland stated that she wanted to add one more thing that she was remiss in saying. She was really involved in the Route 1 Project when they had to do a lot with wetland mitigation. In fact, she does know that they had difficulty in one area where we had built a road and had wetland mitigation and then they did have to change it. They did have to change one pond; retro fit it and then go back to another one; so, it’s not unprecedented. She thinks that if it’s presented that it is a nuisance, that what they should work on it because she thinks that it’s health, safety and welfare. She just thinks that this is the only chance that they will ever have as residents in this development to do something different. She is for the school; she thinks that it is a good site and it was a good site when it was Dover High but she really hopes that they investigate every avenue. Dr. Shelton stated that there was a lot of comment about maintenance of the area and he has to admit that that’s been a struggle for them. This site doesn’t have a building so it earns no maintenance staff. So, it’s been a struggle not just here because of this site. Throughout our entire District, it’s been hard to keep up with grass cutting for example. The comment was made that when they call they come out. It’s actually a rotation and they move around the District and when it gets tall, it gets tall here a couple days before it was tall somewhere else and that is where they were. They are just about two days behind where they should probably be to cut. Once we put a school on this site, the will earn more maintenance because they will have a school there again and they will be able to do a much better job district wide, not just on this site, with things like grass cutting. As far as the trees go, that is part of our bid. They are going to remove those trees as part of putting in the new fence. He thinks that two or three people mentioned the trees on the back side of that pond and those will be removed as part of the new fence. As far as the mosquitoes go, he has heard over and over that this pond as a part to play in the mosquito issue. The biologist from DNREC and the biologist from the company that they hired, both say that pond is really healthy. He lives in Dover on the other side of town and they have a lot of mosquitoes there too. He thinks Dover just has a lot of mosquitoes. The last thing, and he thinks this is the commitment that people are really looking for, they have done all of our due diligence to try to get something done with the Army Corps of Engineers. He thinks what has been heard from Becker Morgan Group, what you have heard from Dr. DePrima and now from him is, if there is someone out there that knows how to get this done and wants to go do it and get the permit, that is fantastic and they will take care of it. They have just hit a dead end with all of the paths that they have. Ms. Maucher closed the public hearing. Mr. Hartman stated that there has been some talk about having the Congressional delegation involved with this. In order to get this off of the ground, shouldn’t the permit be applied for to fill in this area to get the work started like Mr. Parker has been asking to actually get something done? So they can put something before the Congressional delegation to say that we are trying to 21

CITY OF DOVER PLANNING COMMISSION MAY 28, 2020 do this, we have people’s yards falling in and it is more than just a nuisance. He is a little dismayed here at the Performance Standard that an IO has to make in Article 5, Section 8. You could read that as “an other condition or element objectionable” making people’s yard inhabitable and it could make this whole project unsuitable. So it is more than just a nuisance. If it causes this project to fail to meet the Performance Standard in Article 5, Section 8, then it’s more than a nuisance. He believes Mr. Parker’s suggestion about getting something started is a reasonable suggestion and if not, then he doesn’t know what to suggest. He still suggests that if it can’t be filled, we should at least have something in formal writing showing what the maintenance is going to be on this area to give some assurance to the residents. He is on the line of voting nay. Ms. Edwards stated that if we are talking about involving the Congressional delegation in this, waiting until the new school is built years from now to get regular maintenance for the health, safety and welfare, then these people aren’t getting to use their back yards. If we vote to move ahead with this application this evening, what assurances do the residents have that the Capital School District is going to continue to provide regular maintenance and improve that site? Responding to Ms. Edwards, Mrs. Melson-Williams stated that she has to remind the Commission that this is a Site Development Master Plan so the use is a permitted use. The school is a first permitted use; however, she thinks that certainly in any motion that you craft this evening, you could express your concerns about documentation of long term maintenance as well as pursing options to deal with this wetland mitigation area to put some notice back on them to continue to explore options and opportunities for that which would strive to address those health, safety and welfare issues that the neighbors have expressed this evening. You could, as part of a motion, ask for the applicant to report back to you at a certain time, but from a Site Plan perspective, their project is in compliance with the Zoning Ordinance provisions for site development. They are not proposing any changes to the wetland mitigation area but she offers those as potential options to keep this moving forward while also striving to address concerns that have been expressed through the extensive public testimony this evening. Ms. Maucher questioned if there is a dedicated line to fund maintenance of this structure by the School District? Responding to Ms. Maucher, Dr. Shelton stated that there is not a dedicated fund for this specific school. They do have a contract for this wetland mitigation site as well as a couple of other similar and dissimilar ponds that are owned and/or on our properties. He doesn’t know that it is a specific line for this but they do have a contract that is global and takes care of each of them. Ms. Maucher further questioned the length of that contract? Responding to Ms. Maucher, Dr. Shelton stated that he doesn’t know that answer. Ms. Maucher questioned if it is operated on its own or does the District have to direct the contactor to go to the property? Responding to Ms. Maucher, Dr. Shelton stated both. There is an annual plan to remove any invasive species. For example in our area, its phragmites and there are a lot of ponds in areas like this that grow those and they are not healthy so they remove those and other similar invasive species. There are also the one times. For example, when they asked them to come in last year and plant some specific flowers. They are going to do that again this year but they had to wait until it got a little warmer. He is not sure that it happened this week or if it will 22

CITY OF DOVER PLANNING COMMISSION MAY 28, 2020 be next week. There were some trees that needed to come down two or three years ago and that was a separate contract. So, it’s a combination of the two. Ms. Maucher stated that she was trying to see if there was a way to have the School District fund maintenance of the pond without having to direct it because it seems that there has been some lack of responsiveness on behalf of the School District to the complaints of the residents and if the School District can fund it but be divorced from the actual direction of work to be taken. That’s why she asked about a separate fund. She is not sure if the City has ordinances regarding Homeowners Associations and maintenance of retention ponds. Responding to Ms. Maucher, Mrs. Melson-Williams stated that the Dover Code of Ordinances has prohibitions on letting your grass grow too tall. It becomes a Code Enforcement matter when it reaches eight inch height. There is also some other provisions related to leaving natural areas as natural areas and that being recognized as well. So there are some homeowners associations and other maintenance organizations that are typically related to residential development but certainly a similar approach could be taken with commercial or institutional type facilities to ensure long term maintenance. Mr. Hartman moved to approve S-20-02 New Dover Middle Schools at 1 Pat Lynn Drive: Master Plan with conditions and including the recommendation for the waiver request for the partial elimination of curbing. The condition would be that in the next thirty days, the applicant submits plans for maintenance of the wetland area which will include erosion control specifically along the boundary of the neighborhood, seconded by Mr. Adams; he agrees that there is a need to continue the dialogue between the District and the residents of Woodcrest. He wants to note that he does feel as though that there have been well-intended, strong efforts made through transparency and other means to find some good balance here and to try to work with the residents of Woodcrest. He thinks that there is some opportunity to continue that dialogue to make sure that we continue to move in a positive direction. But he does see that this is a tremendous asset for the City of Dover for this site and for the residents so he does second this motion and would like to see us move forward with giving the green light to get this project moving forward. The motion was carried 6-0 by roll call vote with Mr. Roach recused and Dr. Jones and Mr. Tolbert absent. Mr. Hartman voting yes; he thanks Mr. Adams for putting it so well. Mr. Baldwin voting yes; he hopes that they get that maintenance contract in place. Mrs. Welsh voting yes; she commends Becker Morgan Group and Dr. Shelton and members of the School Board as well for providing so much information to us. It was quite enlightening and she thinks that it’s a good project. She thinks that they all agree that they want the site to be an improvement overall, which she thinks the construction of the school will do for the entire site and move everything along in a positive fashion for the schools of Dover. She hopes that everything can be address satisfactorily as far as the wetlands area. The comments from Ms. Holland and Mr. DePrima shed some light on how people can proceed to work out these issues. Ms. Edwards voting yes; based on all of the reasons previously stated. She does want to thank the Becker Morgan Group and Capital School District for all of the information given by them. She also wants to thank the residents of the neighborhood for just showing up and participating and really expressing their concerns. She does believe that with the addition to require documentation for the long term maintenance that everyone can work together here to better the entire area. Ms. Maucher voting yes; she does have some reservations. She is a little bit dismayed at the commitment of the Capital School District but she thinks that it is a good project 23

CITY OF DOVER PLANNING COMMISSION MAY 28, 2020 and with this condition that they come forward with a long term maintenance plan of that area on their property and should be responsible for maintaining it Staff recommendations and DAC comments are also part of her overall approval. Mrs. Melson-Williams stated that the Planning Commission approval tonight allows them to move forward on a Site Plan to finalize that with all agencies. They have a reporting requirement back to the Planning Commission on the long term maintenance of the wetland area so that will be brought forward to the Commission at a future meeting. Giving them thirty days likely would be a July meeting of the Planning Commission. She also believes that there are significant efforts presented here this evening regarding how to explore options for that wetland area. NEW BUSINESS Mrs. Melson-Williams stated that Staff included the Bylaws for the Commission which allows for a special election to fill any office vacancies. At the present time, there is the vacancy of the Chair. Ms. Maucher is currently the Vice-Chair of the Commission. We are coming up on the end of what is a term for Planning Commissioners. There are four members whose terms expire within the next month which then potentially could mean turnover in people on the Commission. The Commission may want to defer filling this Chair position until what is normally the annual meeting after any new or returning Planning Commissioners are reseated. Typically, that happens in the July or August timeframe. It may depend on how quickly the term re- appointments or new appointments take place at City Council. She does offer that as a potential option but you can take the step to fill the vacancy tonight. Mr. Adams asked what terms are expiring. Responding to Mr. Adams, Mrs. Melson-Williams stated that the At-Large position that is Dr. Jones. The First District position of Ms. Edwards and the Third District position of Mr. Tolbert are also expiring in June. Mr. Adams move to defer action of the appointment for the Chair position unless there is a member who expresses a burning desire to serve in the position, until we have confirmation on who our members are going to be at the July or August meeting, seconded by Mrs. Welsh and the motion was carried 7-0 by voice vote with Dr. Jones and Mr. Tolbert absent. Meeting adjourned at 10:30 PM. Sincerely, Kristen Mullaney Secretary 24