Minutes

SPECIAL JOINT WORKSHOP CITY OF DOVER PLANNING COMMISSION CAPITAL SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD OF EDUCATION October 12, 2010 – 6:00 P.M. – North Dover Elementary School 855 College Road, Dover, DE 19904 A Special Joint Workshop meeting of the City of Dover Planning Commission and Capital School District Board of Education was held on Tuesday, October 12, 2010 at 6:00 PM. Members of the Planning Commission present were Mr. Hemmig, Mr. Baldwin, Mr. Tolbert, Mr. Nichols, Mr. Shomo, and Mr. Holt. Mr. Ambruso, Mr. Friedman, and Colonel Welsh were absent. Members present from the Capital School District Board of Education were Mrs. Kiran Clements, Mr. Phillip Martino, Jr., Mrs. Kay Dietz-Sass, Mr. Thomas Keitel and Mr. Raymond Paylor. Staff members present from the City of Dover were Mrs. Townshend, Mrs. Melson-Williams, Mr. Koenig, Ms. Cornwell, Mr. Albert and Ms. Metsch. Also present were Mr. Gregg Moore, Mr. Carl Krienen, Mr. Kevin Lucas, Mr. Ralph Reeb, Mrs. Connie Holland, Mr. David Edgell, Mr. Gregg Callans, Dr. Tina Huff, and Mr. Sean Sokolowski. NEW DOVER HIGH SCHOOL Introductions Mrs. Clements stated that the purpose of tonight’s work session is for the Board to receive presentations by the architects regarding planning this fixed construction project along with dialogue from the Planning Commission. Accordingly, the Board welcomes visitors and citizens; however, will not receive public comment nor engage in discussion with citizens during the meeting. Discussion with the Board will be limited with the architect, the Superintendant, members of the Planning Commission, and identified administrative staff. Dr. Thomas stated that it was his pleasure to welcome the Planning Commission here this evening. The Board has worked on this project for the last five (5) years. At this time, Dr. Thomas provided some introductions (listed above). Mrs. Townshend stated that she would, at this time, list the Staff that was in attendance. (Listed above). This is a unique experience for the Planning Commission in that they have not met formally with an applicant; however, because of the importance of this project and it being a regional public facility, we felt that it was important that before an application is in a public hearing forum before the Planning Commission, that the Board and the Planning Commission have the opportunity to have dialogue because once in public hearing, it is so much more formal with question and answers. High School Project Overview Mr. Kreedan stated that he would hand out an agenda for this evening’s meeting. (At this time the agenda was handed out). This evening’s meeting discussion points will deal with the civil

CITY OF DOVER PLANNING COMMISSION OCTOBER 12, 2010 engineering related aspects for the project and will also present a preliminary concept for massing of the building. Mr. Moore, Becker Morgan Group, Inc., stated that he would like to recognize Mr. Ron Shomo who had one of the best bands in the world at Dover High School. You have given a lot of time to Dover High School and the District. Mr. Moore further stated that they have had a number of meetings with City Staff and State Staff. He has not seen two bodies like this get together and communicate in an attempt to resolve Site Plan issues as the Planning Commission knows can be contentious in a public forum before them. With a plan this large, there are a number of issues that hopefully can be worked out. Mr. Moore further stated that he feels that if they could go through the Power Point, let you see all of what we have, and then answer any questions we can get through this meeting quicker. Mr. Moore further stated that the District has been really good about reaching out to the public. They have held two (2) public meetings both of which were held over the summer. The first public meeting was held at William Henry Middle School where they presented no new plans; however, introduced to the public that they were starting the design process. Mailers were provided to adjoining neighbors of this property as well as a website notice and the newspaper. There were about thirty (30) to forty (40) people at that meeting where we heard a lot of comments and constructive ideas of what the neighbors wanted. About a month later another public meeting was held at the same location and presented was the first Site Plan that we went over with the neighbors. We received a lot of constructive criticism and comments and the plan this evening reflects a lot of those thoughts and ideas. Mr. Moore further stated that they have been before the Board of Adjustment at a meeting held in September. Before the Board of Adjustment, they were able to receive a waiver from a height requirement on this property. The height requirement is only two (2) stories, forty-two (42) feet. The Board saw fit to raise this to three (3) stories and sixty-five (65) feet. Also included was a waiver request for landscaping which gives some authority to the Planning Commission to allow them to do good design to consider some buffers and tree count requirements on the site. Site Analysis Mr. Moore stated that tonight they would not be unveiling the actual final building. They will do that when they are ready to submit for Site Plan process. We will show you some massing so that you get some understanding of the building and how it works. We have listed some site issues in which we will go around the table with them for comment. At this time, Mr. Moore presented a Power Point presentation. Mr. Moore further stated that what you see is a layout of the site which was known as the Carey Farm. You will notice an unusual, what he calls a saw tooth, nature of the property. It has been a farm for a number of years and you will see a blue line stream designation that runs from the back of the Cannon Mill subdivision through the center of the property. We have had a full evaluation of this blue line stream and it has been determined that it is not a “blue line stream” with submissions made through DNREC and Corps of Engineers. This has been removed as a 2

CITY OF DOVER PLANNING COMMISSION OCTOBER 12, 2010 blue line stream. One of the neighbors stated that her father dug that blue line stream to create good drainage on the property. This was one of our original concerns. Mr. Moore further stated that the building restriction lines surround the property are indicated in red on the proposed map. There is also a purple patch area located on the map which is the proposed relocation of the power line that runs right through the property which is a 69 kV line and ends at the Cannon Mill subdivision. Before we got started, the District negotiated with Delmarva Power and its parent company to bury a piece of that line and then to realign it so that it is more on the edges of their property and not right through the middle of it as we feel this would be a more aesthetically pleasing solution. It gives us better use of the center of the property. It also will add a natural buffer for our neighbors which they seem to like. Mr. Moore further stated that with regards to the neighborhoods behind them of Cannon Mill and the Village of Westover, there are a number of homes that are adjacent. There is a six (6) to eight (8) acre pond located in the rear near the property line that serves Cannon Mill. This pond does not drain to the blue line stream. There are two (2) light signals which they believe to be the two (2) strongest entrances to the property. These signalized intersections would allow people to come both in and out of the property. There is a possibility of a third entrance onto the property as just a right in or right in/right out. There are single family homes located between the two signalized intersections that are mostly all located in Kent County and not in the City of Dover limits. Mr. Moore further stated that there will be a shared access road with the Leander Lakes project for both projects. It also shows a connection from this shared access road back to Tribbitt Street which is located on the back of the site. Shown on the plan are dash lines located on the north and south side of the property where the shared access road becomes a future more regional road that allows people to come from Hazletteville Road to Route 8 and possibly, in the future when it is built, to get from Route 8 to the north towards Chestnut Grove Road. The plan highlighted how this road would run from Hazletteville Road, through the property, and then the north to Chestnut Grove Road. The regional roadway was part of a Traffic Impact Study that was done by the Metropolitan Planning Organization that predicated a lot of the traffic issues that are happening along the road. This road is intended to take a little of the pressure off of Mifflin Road which is a street that is intended mostly for residential use; however, it has become a pass through. Mr. Moore further stated that the map further indicates a couple of different locations where connections or cross connections between neighborhoods and these roads can occur. First, indicated on the map with a black X located in the rear of the property there is a connection that stubs out into the property boundary. The second is an arrow indicated on the map from Cannon Mill that is Tribbitt Street. The third is a side connection that will be connecting to the adjacent neighborhood or to the future roadway and is the location of existing cross connections that are designed into those projects. Mr. Moore further stated that the Site Plan shown tonight is very similar to what was shown to the neighbors with a few differences. They are in negotiations with Delmarva Power and Light Company in hopes that because the ball fields show up a little bit over the line, we are hoping that they allow us to do that. This would give us a little more space. There is a possibility that 3

CITY OF DOVER PLANNING COMMISSION OCTOBER 12, 2010 they will tell us we cannot do that. If they tell us that we cannot do that, we will tighten it up a little and move them in. Mr. Moore further stated that if you look at the main entrance that will go into the service road, that roadway is the roadway that you saw as part of the Leander Lakes project it runs along the property line and extends all the way to the back and then over to Tribbitt Street. This is the main entrance to the school which will be a lighted intersection. (at this time the Site Plan sheet handout was passed around the room.) What we feel will happen is this will become the main entrance to the school with a nice sign. The main entrance will be the main road where the students, visitors, and staff would come in and be able to make a left hand turn onto the new road and go to the front of the school and drop off. If they were going to park as a student, they would come in and go to the parking facility and the main entrance to the school or if they are staff they can park in the staff parking lot. Buses would be routed mostly coming from the east because the majority of Dover is located in that zone. We hope that this would be a lighted intersection with a neighborhood located across the street. Buses could pull in with twenty-eight (28) of them using the school. They would pull in a line allowing students to get off and then go in the back door of the school which is where the majority of students would enter the school. The other front door allows, if you are a driving student, you will be able to park in a park like setting with seating and benches that would allow students to sit with a dining facility that looks out over this small parking area. If you are a parent coming to pick up your child, you would park in front of the school and come in the main entrance. The administration office complex is located in the front of the school. This is how we see the site working in terms of traffic flow. Mr. Moore further stated that you will notice that the large structure in the back is the football field which will be the main performance facility for Dover High School and is where the football games will be held with a track that will surround it. There is a stadium located on each side of the field and a building that will allow for concessions and changing areas for the football team. Next to that field is the performance soccer field and it is believed that both of them would be turf because they get heavy use and we can maintain them in high capacity during play. Both fields would be lit so that night games could be held. Next to this is the tennis courts and then some long fields that are located along the edge of the backside of the neighborhood that are practice fields. When you move towards Dover in the saw tooth area of the property, all the baseball and softball fields are located in this area. The baseball field would be in the back corner with a performance field and a parking lot that would serve the ball fields. This would be an area that would set itself up for the community so that they could use a part of these fields. They could come in the back side entrance where the buses come in and those areas could be used by the public whether it be the tennis courts or the fields. They also have a small athletic and small concession building there as well because it is a bit disconnected from the rest of the school and maintenance for these facilities would be in this building and located near that parking lot. Mr. Moore further stated that again notice the relocation of the power line. This will be done probably next spring and they are still talking with Delmarva Power on what their schedule is. You will notice that we have heavy buffers around the neighborhoods. One of the things that they heard from the neighbors was that they wanted to see fencing and good screening. When Delmarva Power did their easement, they gave them twenty-five (25) feet of land that is actually not an easement between the edge of the power line easement and the back of the property. 4

CITY OF DOVER PLANNING COMMISSION OCTOBER 12, 2010 What we have tried to do is landscape this area very heavily and buffer it also with a fence. We have fenced the entire back side of the property from the residences and you will see a gate on the main entrance so that the District can shut this down if they need to control access to this private roadway. Mr. Kreedan stated that part of the site concept that they have had from the beginning for this project is that there was a desire to make the building footprint as small as possible and frankly as tall as possible to reduce the impact on the site. Also, when we first came into the project, it is roughly 108 acres which is rather generous; however, there were a lot of restrictions that you are seeing particularly the electric easement, setbacks, and overall configuration of the site. As you can see, the site is getting filled up very quickly so having a smaller building footprint has benefitted them. Mr. Kreedan further stated as far as the overall concept one of the big things that they have had to do was separate the vehicular traffic from pedestrian traffic on the site. We initially stated that we did not want a building sitting in a sea of parking. Part of the requirement is a large green swath along the front of the building that presents the building. There will be some stormwater management and trees of some type along the front; however, generally it will be a green front. What we are trying to do, since we knew the shared access road would be there, is to contain all of the parking to the west side of the building. We are trying to maintain on the east side, as much as possible, a pedestrian zone so that students and buses coming in would enter the building on that end and not cross the demarcation line. What this will allow for is after school activities where it would be a very walkable site with no conflict between vehicular traffic and pedestrian traffic. This zone is actually where the gymnasium would be located. Between the gymnasium and the main stadiums there would be an athletics plaza with a public area and connection area for games and graduations. Mr. Kreedan further stated that what they are trying along Route 8 to do is provide a real civic presence and to have a three (3) story long academic building that is the main academic wing for much of the core curriculum that they feel will really have a presence on Route 8. Located on the south end of the site will be another building with three (3) main spaces for activities. Located there will be an athletic portion of the building, the main auditorium, the main gymnasium, and an auxiliary gymnasium with higher spaces. Wrapping around those spaces would be a lower support athletic area, dining area, band, and dance areas that are all one story spaces that will help to screen the overall larger spaces. These two (2) main buildings are connected by what would be considered a main street, main connector through the entire school. There are several reasons for this. One of the main reasons is solar orientation to allow for three (3) stories of classrooms that can maximize solar light. One current downside of the current high school is that there are no windows. There will be a preponderance of windows in all spaces even the two gymnasiums will have high windows that will bring in light. By splitting the building into two sections it will allow a lot of solar gain along this façade and will help to attract these welcoming courtyards. All three entrances into the site converge on the dining area of the building. Mr. Moore stated that they had to go before the Board of Adjustment because the back side of the building height for the gymnasium to allow balls to go up in the air and the fly space above the auditorium would have exceeded the height requirement of forty-two (42) feet. The front of 5

CITY OF DOVER PLANNING COMMISSION OCTOBER 12, 2010 the building will actually be the three story building. The building in terms of scale is similar to the Central Middle School in terms of how it appears. We do not want to give you the impression that this is a tall building because it is not. Mr. Moore stated that he would now go through some of the issues regarding the site and give some background regarding those issues. Connectivity to the neighborhoods, that means connection for both traffic for cars and connectivity for walkers and bikes. We have provided for both on this plan. Requested traffic light locations and site circulation, we talked about site circulation and the District’s desire to have lighted intersections at both locations and we need those for two reasons. First, we want safe passage of the buses and the students as they turn left into the oncoming traffic as they will have to cross that traffic if they are coming from Dover which is where the majority of traffic will come from. We also want there to be lights so that we can have crosswalks for students to walk from Cranberry Run or any other neighborhoods. We need to facilitate a safe passage, safe crossing, and a lighted intersection allows us to do that. Mr. Moore stated that the Leander Lakes development coordination and the shared road is a part of that and he will come back to this issue. Mr. Moore further stated with regards to buffers for residential neighbors, we heard loud and clear from the neighbors that they want fencing and landscaping to keep people from coming into their yards. We will place a fence in this area with landscaping on both sides of the fencing. We might even place a gate at one of the entrances so that they can control access into and out of the school. Mr. Moore further stated that Conditional Use Site Development Master plan is the title of what we will be submitting to the Planning Commission. It is a Conditional Use because this is in a residential zone and it is a Site Development Master Plan because they will be submitting phases of this project because of its scale. We have a number of buildings that we will be building, the main building and the buildings that are associated with the stadium and the building associated with the baseball area that will all be built in phases. Mr. Moore further stated that as part of this project, once students are coming to the new school, the old Dover High School building will be demolished and the school district will retain ownership of the land. All the ball fields and community areas in the back will remain and be useable. At some point in time, the District will decide whether or not a new school goes there or how it will be used. Mr. Moore further stated going back to the Leander Lakes issue, the main roadway that connects Leander Lakes and the Capital School District was part of the public hearing for the Leander Lakes project. There was a lot of discussion on how this roadway would occur. In addition to that, there is a pump station that is to be shared and it was originally located on the Leander Lakes property. Mr. Moore further stated that Dr. Thomas began reaching out to the owners of the Leander Lakes project in early spring to start these plans. What Dr. Thomas was trying to do was to confirm with Leander Lakes that the commitments that they made as part of their approval, mainly building the roadway off of Route 8 and building the pump station, were still going to proceed 6

CITY OF DOVER PLANNING COMMISSION OCTOBER 12, 2010 with these commitments. His hopes were that these things would have already been built before the high school came under construction. As it has turned out, they are not prepared to proceed and we have had a very difficult time getting a hold of them. They do not have a plan to start anytime soon and our plan is to start construction by next year. We plan to start construction of some utility work, pump station, water lines, and major utilities that we need to serve our building and feel that this could be as early as next June and we are working very hard to get to that stage. We are planning to start construction on the school in the late summer/early fall starting with the foundation. The District has spent a lot of time trying to coordinate with Leander Lakes trying to make sure that the commitments that they made were still going to be upheld and at this point, the District has made the decision that they must proceed with building the roadway and pump station to provide access to the school or we cannot proceed with building without the roadway off of Route 8, improving Route 8, and building the pump station. In that regard, there have been much correspondence and many attempts by the District to coordinate with Leander Lakes so that we are working together and we are struggling. Mr. Moore further stated that they will make submission with this plan and bring the pump station on their side and prepare their budgets accordingly. When we started this project, we had a budget for EDIS of the overall project. The budget did not include building the roadway off of Route 8 with related improvements, the pump station, and water line. That was to have been there for us to draw from. We have had to rearrange our ability to design the school so that we can meet our budget. The amount of improvements that we were expecting was around three million dollars. EDIS took the plans from Leander Lakes, did an estimate of what those improvements were for the road, pump station, and water facilities. Dr. Thomas has had conversations with Leander Lakes that the District would be proceeding and that they would expect them to pay their share of these costs that were committed at the Planning Commission meeting. The three million dollars that we had anticipated would have been spent by Leander Lakes will now have to come out of our project from somewhere else. The referendum that was passed does have a timeline; therefore, construction has to begin. Mr. Moore further stated that originally, we had anticipated that the roadway would be a City of Dover dedicated street and we now think that this will more likely be a DelDOT roadway project which is because of the regional nature of this roadway. This roadway will become regional when it connects Hazletteville Road to Chestnut Grove Road. As a result of that, DelDOT will be able to fund and make this road happen so that there are improvements in this area. The District is willing to allow DelDOT to use the property to do that; however, partly because of the issue that we have with the three million dollars and commitments that we did not get from Leander Lakes makes it difficult for us to build all of these improvements and build the best high school for the community. Mr. Nichols stated at the last meeting there was a lot of concern regarding children who would walk to school down Route 8. We know that there are no sidewalks in this area. He understands that there could be money available to put sidewalks in on the north or south side of the road. He understands that Dr. Thomas stated that there would be no buses for children that are within two (2) miles of the school. This will create another issue for you. Walking distance of two (2) miles from the school would probably take you as far back as the railroad tracks. He is not sure if this has been addressed; however, it needs to be brought forward. 7

CITY OF DOVER PLANNING COMMISSION OCTOBER 12, 2010 Mr. Nichols further stated with regards to sewer, he knows that they will have a pumping station; where are you planning to pump to? Responding to Mr. Nichols, Mr. Moore stated that they positioned the pump station where it would give them direct access to the school and designed a stub that would serve the school. The City of Dover Public Utilities Department has requested that they pump the sewage back and dump it into a manhole on Tribbitt Street. We would connect the water system from Tribbitt Street and run around and connect and loop with Route 8. What that does is in the future, if and when Leander Lakes chooses to build, they could use this strategically located pump station position between us and them that would give them and others in this direction, access to this pump station. Mr. Nichols further stated that when the new church is built, they will have to have a pumping station there too and he was wondering where they would also pump to. Responding to Mr. Nichols, Mr. Moore stated that Leander Lakes did the pump design that was sized for their project, the District’s project, the church, and then lands to the west. We are still in talks with the City of Dover Public Utilities Department regarding whether or not we actually invest the money to design this pump station now for all those improvements. From the District’s side, they would rather design the pump station for their needs and make it expandable so that when they (others) needed to come on they could invest and expand into it. Mr. Moore further stated with regards to Mr. Nichols question regarding the sidewalk. We are showing a ten (10) foot wide multi-modal path. Unfortunately, we do not include frontage along the residential properties. To get the multi-modal path in those areas, it would go in their yards and the people who live in these homes were very vocal in the public meetings about staying away from their yards. These homes are located within Kent County and their hope would be that DelDOT could help them with a roadway improvement project or a multi-modal path. We see this as a crossing point to allow students to come from across the street at a light and then walk into the school and not have to walk all the way down to the other entrance. His does not know if there are any plans by the City of Dover or the State for any other walkway improvements along this roadway and at this point, Mr. Reeb is stating that there are none. Also responding to Mr. Nichols, Dr. Thomas stated that with regards to distance and transportation, the State law states that for children who are elementary age who live less than a mile from school, transportation is not provided. At the high school level if you live under two (2) miles from a school, the State will not provide transportation. He does not make the laws and having grown up in Virginia and working in Maryland he has never heard of a student walking at any age more than half a mile from the school. The only way that this Board could do different then that would be to create a few referendums or for citizens to pay an additional tax for us to pick-up outside of those limits and obviously he feels that this would be a difficult issue to pass and we don’t necessarily agree with it. Mr. Tolbert stated that he did not hear how many students this school could accommodate and how many does the current Dover High School accommodate? Responding to Mr. Tolbert, Mr. Kreedan stated that the current high school houses around 1,550 for the past several years. The referendum passed was to design a high school that would have the capacity to house 1,800 students. We anticipate that right after the start of the new high school, there will be an influx of students quickly. 8

CITY OF DOVER PLANNING COMMISSION OCTOBER 12, 2010 Also responding, Dr. Thomas stated that the State generally builds in increments of 400, 1,200, 1,600 and 2,000 and generally do not allow building larger than what you have at hand. We requested 1,800 because if you look at the elementary enrollment currently, those children will matriculate up through the twelfth grade which is a study that was done four (4) years ago so those kids are currently in fourth grade now. With schools that are four years out from opening, we anticipate probably within two to three years after the school opens, that it would be at about 1,800. We would almost like to build the school larger now; however, had to negotiate hard with the State to approve more than a 1,600 block increment so we felt positive about that. Mr. Hemmig stated that obviously along the same lines you are saying that in four to five years after the school is built, you will hit the capacity of the school. What are your long term plans as obviously there will be no room for expansion? How will you meet the needs five years after that, will the school be obsolete that quick? Responding to Mr. Hemmig, Dr. Thomas stated no they do not believe that. The best that they can do is project out for around ten (10) years. When we did projections back with the Facilities Master Plan of 2006, we got every number that we could and we went to three (3) different sources. Obviously, the State does planning through the Department of Education. They have someone who does planning with regard to projecting out what the population is going to look like in ten (10) years. We also work a great deal with the hospital. The hospital did extensive planning going back eight (8) or nine (9) years when they started their expansion and also looking at the future. We also did our own based on matriculation and historical data and things of that nature. The State did not predict, at the time, that we would be at 1,800 in a decade from today; however, we feel confident that we are when you look at the State’s growth rates and matriculate them out. What factors may differ from that or how fast we go from what is the current give or take 200 kids, since the school is four years out we feel that we will be close to 1,800 with kids matriculating through the system. We don’t have, given the projections, to go more than that right now. If indeed this school becomes over populated in ten to fifteen years, there will be two options. Would we want to expand on the school or would we look to build a second high school in addition to this one. This is a long ways out of maybe fifteen or twenty years before we are discussing this even when the housing boom comes back, we still believe that we are going to be safe a decade or two down the road; however, it is still a little unpredictable. Mr. Moore stated in terms of the building and this site, we actually looked at closing off the courtyard and being able to attach the three story building all the way over enclosing the courtyard. We are looking at how we could expand. We will not identify that on the plans that we submit because the assurity is not there; however, this is what we have been thinking about if we want to expand the building. Mr. Moore stated that one thing that he did not expand on is that DNREC has been changing their rules on stormwater management and getting away from pure ponds as the only stormwater approach. What we will have is a mixture of ponds and infiltration areas. We do believe that because the site is so large and we have water coming from such distant areas that we will need to go deeper and they are likely to have a wet pond. They have already met with DNREC and talked about it and it will drain into the tax ditch across the road. The plan that you see before you is accurate in that they have met with the landscape architects and what is shown is the required 1,500 trees per normal calculation and the planting is greater than that because we are only allowed to count about half of those trees toward the buffer. We have in excess of 2,000 9

CITY OF DOVER PLANNING COMMISSION OCTOBER 12, 2010 trees on the site and that is why you see these areas that are dense. This is not an artist’s rendition, they are actual individual trees. We have a little concern with regards to the density in these certain areas regarding safety and maintenance and what we do with them. We are in the process of working that out. Mr. Moore further stated with regard to easements, we are hoping that we will be given permission to put the ball fields where we would like to place them with no structures in that area. We show a fence across the back of the property and will be cutting off at the power line so we are hoping that they will allow us to do that because we see no reason to place a fence all the way around the property with this break in the fence. Mr. Martino questioned if at the back point are the lines above ground? Responding to Mr. Martino, Mr. Moore stated that the power lines will come across the road above ground and then go down and be buried and then come back above ground once again then off of the property. Placing a fence in this area should not be a problem as the lines would be above ground at that point. The fence would be there because the neighbors wanted a heavy buffer. There are a number of houses in that area that are not yet occupied. Mr. Tolbert questioned since Dover High School is planning to move a significant distance from where it is located now, do you anticipate any difference in where kids will come from? Responding to Mr. Tolbert, Dr. Thomas stated that this should not change because it would still serve the same community that it serves now. The only change would be who would fall inside and outside at the high school level of the two (2) mile zone that the State funds transportation for it may shift a little bit. Mr. Nichols questioned with regards to the old school location, will this property be surplused when you tear the old school down or are you anticipating more construction on that property? Responding to Mr. Nichols, Dr. Thomas stated that they will be demolishing the building at which time the doors to the new school open. This was not necessarily by choice. The Board in its Facility Management Plan had initially indicated that they would like to keep this building as possibly a swing space for several years as by that time we should be back in the housing market boom. It became very clear to us that if we continued to argue the point of keeping the building that getting the State to issue us a Certificate of Necessity to go to referendum was going to be in jeopardy. We do anticipate keeping the property. The fields are still in good working order and not costing the District a great deal to maintain. We would anticipate these fields being used by the middle schools and cooperative programs with the City of Dover. If at some time the fields would start to become costly for the District, we would have to reconsider maintaining these fields. If we were to sell the land, the State would automatically receive seventy (70) percent of the sale of the land and the school district would only receive thirty (30) percent. Mr. Hemmig questioned with regards to improvements along Route 8, will we see those when you bring the project in for Site Plan on what those improvements will be and will there be a set time that they will all be in place regarding traffic lights and so forth? Responding to Mr. Hemmig, Mr. Moore stated that Leander Lakes has submitted for alignment for their entrance designed to co-join the high school and their project in terms of Route 8. The study of the MPO does not call for a massive widening of Route 8. The plan calls for two (2) travel lanes and two shoulders pretty much like what is already there. What has been designed so far by Leander 10

CITY OF DOVER PLANNING COMMISSION OCTOBER 12, 2010 Lakes and the improvements on Route 8 is the widening allowing for turning lanes and the provision for a traffic light. It is our hope and desire as a District to have this light installed when the school opens. It will be the school district that makes the improvements along Route 8 such as the widening and turn lanes to access this roadway and is part of the 2.9 million dollar improvements. The District will want both lights in at the same time not only for car and bus turning; however, for kids walking to school. The District does not have any say in when the lights are installed; this is a function of DelDOT as they will install and design the lights. Mr. Reeb stated that the topic of signal warrants is always a challenge because even though we know that in this case that a signal should be there at some point, there is a set of analysis that are done to make sure that the signal actually makes sense. They will do the design and by the time we get to that point, we will have done the signal warrants. All of the work that we have done here has been in close partnership with the City, State, County and the school district so we know where everything will be and will have everything figured out in detail. Mr. Hemmig stated that his concern would be placing a major intersection on a curve that is probably the worst place to put one. Responding to Mr. Hemmig, Mr. Reeb stated that when they were working on the regional study where to cross, there was a challenge because of the water features and other things that are already in place on the property. Also responding, Mr. Moore stated that the alignment is what was on the Leander Lakes plans. The alignment on the plan is a part of that so the designers inherited this roadway that then dictated the rest of the site and it was part of the study that predicated two entrances to the high school. What you will see is a wider road that will allow for a center turn lane. Mr. Koenig stated that interconnectivity has been the issue of a big contention between the Staff of the City of Dover and the District in that this is the District’s proposal regarding this road. The Staff recommendation is intended to treat this like any other development project in the sense that we have planned for interconnectivity among a number of sites going back almost two (2) decades in this area. The Staff recommendation is going to include the interconnectivity to Tribbitt Street from the day the school opens. This will be the recommendation that comes from Staff to the Planning Commission as it would if this were any other project. We do support the overall regional project; however, at the moment, we have no timeline or guarantee when that overall regional project will be constructed. Responding to Mr. Koenig, Mr. Moore stated that this presents a budget issue in that we are already 2.9 million dollars short. What we can save on good infrastructure for what we can spend on a good school for our students is the mission of the school board and therein lies the reason we are here. City Council this past Monday approved this roadway as the third priority. The first priority was the West Dover Connector and the second was the Garrison connector road. This will be the newest road on this list. Mrs. Townshend stated that she believes that the Department (DelDOT) is taking comments on the Capital Transportation Plan through the end of this week which would be thirty (30) days after the public hearing. The issue is that the City is very supportive of the concept of the regional road; however, knowing that it is a new project and that money is scarce, the concern is that if the high school opens in 2014 and the roadway is not in place until 2020. For a number of 11

CITY OF DOVER PLANNING COMMISSION OCTOBER 12, 2010 years, you would have an issue where you will have directly south of the high school site approximately 950 residential units that now, if they are going to drive to the high school, would have to use Hazelettville Road, Mifflin Road, Artis Drive, and Route 8. The issue is that we have heard from people on these roads that on a number of occasions, Artis Drive in particular, regarding traffic in this area. We hear from people on Route 8 from Cranberry Run, Heatherfield and Heatherfield East that have only one way in and out, they wait sometimes fifteen (15) minutes to make a left hand turn onto Route 8. If we do not provide any access when the school opens for cars other than Route 8, we are only going to exacerbate the problem that already exists now. Mr. Moore stated that money is tight in the District and the budget is a big concern. This is a very large project. The District is trying to design a LEED certified building and will design into the building a geo-thermal well system that will allow them to maximize the benefits for long term to the residents and to the taxpayers. LEED certification brings with it two things. First, it facilitates walking paths to the school and bike racks. Second, it does not allow us to over park the facility. This will permit students to be able to drive to the school. We are not against the connection; however it is a budget issue. Mr. Reeb stated that the Secretary of Transportation is very aware of the timeline of this project and we do have very serious budget shortfalls. From our perspective, we want to work very closely with the City and the school district to figure out what kind of improvements need to be made on what schedule and using what mix of money. We know the connection needs to happen. As it is currently drawn, part of that is drawn on land that the school district does not own. Part of this land is protected under the Agriculture Land Preservation Program so there is a variety of things that we need to do and continue to do that are all details of the money issues that are very real. Path Forward Mr. Moore stated that they have had a pre-application meeting with Staff and will be taking the project to the Development Advisory Committee on December 9th and then Planning Commission public hearing on December 20, 2010. We hope to start construction of utilities in June 2011 as the first package and then start foundation construction as the second package sometime in the fall of 2011. We are working to open the school in 2013 and realize that this time table is very tight so publicly, we are showing September 2014 as the opening of the school. Mr. Hemmig questioned Mrs. Townshend if there were any other issues that Staff was thinking of that you wanted us to be aware of that we have not thought of? Responding to Mr. Hemmig, Mrs. Townshend stated that the biggest issue is the interconnection. With regards to the landscaping issue, we were able to get the Board of Adjustment to give the Planning Commission and Planning Staff the ability to work with the applicant. The issue regarding landscaping is that we have on a Site Plan where it will abut residential property. There is a landscape buffer that needs to happen between the non-commercial use which would be the school and the residential uses. When you look at the saw tooth layout of the property, this gives them a very long border that abuts residential. In addition to that, the City Ordinance has a tree planting requirement that requires one tree for every 3,000 square feet of lot area. It also specifically states that the trees used in the buffer cannot count toward the tree density calculation. Essentially, strict application of code would have them place an evergreen screen 12

CITY OF DOVER PLANNING COMMISSION OCTOBER 12, 2010 along most of their border and then plant 1,529 trees. Part of the application for Board of Adjustment was because of the shape of this property and the long boarder to not lock them into that; however, give the Planning Commission discretion in counting up to 50% of the buffer trees as part of the tree planting requirement. When you see this from a landscape plan perspective, we will be counting a portion of those buffer trees as part of the tree planting requirement. Mrs. Townshend further stated that with regards to fencing, has the District come to a sense of what you are looking at with regards to fencing such as plastic type, chain link, or board-on- board? Responding to Mrs. Townshend, Mr. Moore stated that they have not. What we have decided is that we will landscape on both sides as it will look better. We have plenty of trees to use. Whether it is board on board or whatever type it is, this is something that we will need to solve and may be asking for a waiver for that we are not really sure. If we can show a continued screening of trees, he believes that they can request a waiver from the fence requirement. Responding to Mr. Moore, Mrs. Townshend started that in a lot of cases Staff will recommend this because we have fences that get damaged because people want to cut through. In this case, we specifically heard from neighbors that they want fences because they are worried about cut through the other way. Mr. Moore stated that we have a unique issue from other properties in that we have about seventeen (17) acres of area that we cannot plant in because of the roadway and utility easement. It is actually a little more worse because we have the ball fields and a lot of that area will have to remain open which is why we have a little struggle in densifying areas that we don’t want to have dense such as in front of the building. Mrs. Townshend stated that because the landscape buffer requirement comes in when your abutting a residential use and there are portions of the residential property that are not a residential use, this is one of the things that we will be looking at between now and when they submit. What portion of that is really considered a landscape buffer that cannot be counted along the stormwater management pond and along the woodlands? One of the issues with a project like this is that a high school is built in the City of Dover every fifty (50) years so Code is not written for something of this size. Mr. Moore stated that we do not like using the trees to screen the ball fields and screening the building so that is a couple of things that we will probably ask relief from so that we have a well landscaped plan, but not one that would dictate something that may not be good for the school. Mrs. Clements expressed her thanks for everyone coming this evening. This has been a momentous meeting for all of us in that we can talk openly and candidly on the issues that we have to resolve. She believes that compromise will lead to resolution. At this time, the Capital School District Board of Education adjourned the meeting at 7:34 PM. 13

CITY OF DOVER PLANNING COMMISSION OCTOBER 12, 2010 Meeting adjourned at 7:34 PM Sincerely, Diane Metsch Secretary 14