Statements by David L. Anderson
833 statements from meeting recordings, newest meeting first.
Machine transcript. Statements are matched to this official by machine and can be wrong. Check the recording.
Oct 27, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole
Uh thank you. Thank you very much, Chairman. I I think that the truck routes, I I hope that it is looked at because that's a uh that's the concern.
Play from 12:00Oct 27, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole
Um, I have a uh a question about First of all, I wanted to say thank you all. It's uh I was reading through through that uh report, and I think it's very well done.
Play from 12:16Oct 27, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole
Um, I did have a minor suggestion, and uh while it's uh definitely should stay and it's important uh an economic route with the uh additional Garrison uh entrance, um is it is also uh we may also be able to pitch a little that it is a safety issue as well, because uh there's all the people coming in. The there's trucks going up and down Acorn Lane, speaking of another uh road that's a that was never intended for that. It's just a little residential road. And and the more we we're successful we are uh if we particularly if we get the up to a billion dollars build-out at Garrison as these uh as the build-out starts occurring,
Play from 12:28Oct 27, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole
uh the more successful we are, the more traffic. And, quite frankly, uh you know, there's driveways that that just coming out uh in a lot of it onto that road. I mean, it it's it was never intended for that, and it's not designed. Um and that's uh faster they they get this happening, the better it is, because it's a it's a real safety issue. We've we've seen it. Every- I think we've all seen it, and we've even had people um come here and uh and testify to it. Their concerns and their concerns are are legitimate. And and that that just may be uh another way to spark it because that that's not uh you know, it it's something that's uh theoretical, it's a very real daily concern. And right now, it it has to be that way, but uh that bypass is desperately needed. Thank you for all the work that that the you all are doing, the whole team is doing on this. I yield, Mr. Chairman.
Play from 13:52Oct 27, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Permission to dialogue?
Play from 34:34Oct 27, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole
Thank you. Um, I want to thank you for the time and and putting this uh, report together. I do have uh, several questions, um, that relate to it. Uh, the 90 days, the City of Dover doesn't have anything different from that, is that correct? We're relying uh, for that definition solely on the state law? That's correct. Okay. Now, uh, back in the not too distant, we used to have, um, yeah, a rotating, it wasn't an issue, we used to have a rotating cycle, um, and then COVID came and interrupted that. Um, uh, the, um, I I guess the first question that I have is, um, if tomorrow were December 1st, and the nighttime temperature was going to be, uh, approximately, uh, 28°, um, what would happen? Where what what would Where would we go from here, what would be the the the plan if tomorrow were December 1st?
Play from 34:38Oct 27, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole
I appreciate that. Thank you.
Play from 36:10Oct 27, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole
And and that you are we we've had conversations, and I know that you're working very diligently. Um, but I know some things are still in play, and that that concerns me greatly, as you can imagine. Um, what is um uh, so my my big concern is we've uh we've uh discouraged uh the existing capability without having in place the expansion, and uh and that that concerns me. I I With the Hope Center, um they were hoping to be open by December 1st. However, um uh things are just getting started and and uh the word I keep getting back is they can't be don't have any guarantees, they're not sure they can. Um, have you heard any What's the latest feedback you've heard from uh Dr. Heckles, Secretary Heckles, and the like and in that crew?
Play from 37:04Oct 27, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole
for it. But with that, now he had recently said that he was going to uh reach out to existing organizations uh to help. Is that part of a a plan um to to try to get uh staffing, volunteers, etcetera, um because it Because you obviously, just having the facilities, well, even if if we get the facility up and running, that's one thing. But it takes more than just having the facility. Uh there's a whole plan that has to go in place uh regarding everything from Well, I don't have to tell you.
Play from 39:19Oct 27, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole
I'll just ask you the question for time.
Play from 39:53Oct 27, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole
And uh now the one of the questions has to do with once um now once they start I think would Correct me if I'm wrong. Is the plan basically to try to start in an emergency capacity and then uh build up to a program For the Hope Center?
Play from 40:37Oct 27, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole
Yes.
Play from 40:56Oct 27, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole
So, um do they have have they anyone thought have they thought about the transportation issues? Uh Or has that been discussed?
Play from 41:32Oct 27, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole
Still Still working on it though, right?
Play from 41:43Oct 27, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole
Ex- exactly. Cuz sometimes uh uh the state government It's always well-intentioned. Um I don't knock that at all. But uh sometimes they will sort of big-foot things. And uh And sometimes, under the big foot, things get crushed that that already exist, and that's uh that's a definite concern that I have that when it comes to transitions, etcetera.
Play from 42:46Oct 27, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole
Uh uh, you know, would it be easier if I just uh wrote you a check for $10 million?
Play from 45:06Oct 27, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole
Even if it's Even if it's Sim Sim dollars, you know, from uh
Play from 45:13Oct 27, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole
Right, Sim money, right? Uh that's it's about the $10 million I have. It's all in Sim money. Um the um Well, I it it is a concern uh because uh we may you know, I if we get information uh uh can we please you know, we utilize the newsletter and other avenues to keep us informed uh as more solid information come because the community is desperately concerned. I remember about over a dozen years ago back when before we had the Code Purple situation and, you know, how hard it was uh and how many people were literally dying in the streets uh from the cold. And uh those aren't days I want to see us return to, and neither do you nor does anyone else here. And so um uh you know, so, you know, please forgive uh that uh going to keep inquiring, keep checking, keep coming whatever because uh because uh that that concern uh really comes from the heart, and I yeah, there's people There's names that we know, you know, from from those times, and uh I know uh my my wife could tell you about people that she uh worked with who didn't make it because of the cold, and and um you know, and it's uh yeah, and anyway, I that it's just uh very it it's you know, that deadline is just ticking, and it just uh bothers me because now we're we're only uh what it What are we, about 34 days away?
Play from 45:17Oct 27, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole
And that
Play from 47:35Oct 27, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole
that time just goes so quickly. I have uh I'm fair, so I'm going to yield the floor. And um And if there's time, I may come back. Thank you.
Play from 47:37Oct 27, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole
Thank you, Mr. Mr. Chairman. I One of the problems I'm glad that the state is finally uh taking the Kent County problems seriously, because uh one of the problems has been the money from the federal government for housing, for homelessness, and sheltering uh goes to the state of Delaware to distribute. And one of the problems is uh the state of Delaware has not been equitably distributing it based upon the served population of the homeless served.
Play from 1:28:45Oct 27, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole
And that's been a huge problem. For instance, uh they look at Dover and they say 5% of the population. And uh you get 5% of the money, but they don't recognize that we're serving the folks who lose their homes in Felton, the folks who lose their homes in Harrington, in Smyrna, and and even in Townsend, et cetera, and even parts of Maryland. And we literally have um we're we're literally serving people uh equal to around 20 to 23% of the state's homeless population.
Play from 1:29:19Oct 27, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole
So we should be getting at least We should be getting that much of the uh of the funding. And you know, it should be based upon the homeless population served. Um Just because most of the homeless people aren't actually from Dover doesn't mean we can ignore them, because they end up on our streets. So that's the um So I I think we definitely need to keep advocating, and I thank you, and I yield.
Play from 1:29:58Oct 27, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole
Uh thank you, Mr. President. The Legislative, Finance, and Administration Committee is now called to order. Is there a motion for the adoption of the agenda?
Play from 1:30:54Oct 27, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole
Councilwoman Arndt has moved for the adoption of the agenda, seconded by Councilman Rocha. Is there discussion or amendment? Seeing none, uh all those in favor?
Play from 1:31:06Oct 27, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole
Any opposed? Motion carried. Good.
Play from 1:31:18Oct 27, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole
All right. Welcome, uh Councilwoman Dr. Pillsbury, to uh to the meeting, who's joined us. And uh of course Councilwoman Hall's uh been there, as well. Um And uh let's get started.
Play from 1:31:25Oct 27, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole
Uh the first item on the agenda is discussion and report update on Capital Area Municipal Sustainability Act. And uh I'd like to uh uh City Manager Duca, if you would like to come forward, because you've gotten a lot of information. And uh of course, Dr. Sudler, it's his uh initiative, and we have his cosponsor uh Councilman Lewis, and so anytime you gentlemen uh wish to um add some things, uh please feel free. Uh We've been doing uh a lot of work on on this, and uh as Dr. Sudler knows, we've been uh doing a lot of research on it, and I want to thank uh Ms. Duca for and and not just you, of course [laughter] whole supporting staff, which you've done a a lot on on some very important issues. When There were I'll give a quick summary of of where we are, and then I'm going to turn it over to you to to re-summarize that, and, of course, Dr. Sudler.
Play from 1:31:44Oct 27, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole
Um one of the um We fir- The first step we had was getting a legal opinion, because it we didn't make sense to waste our time and put a lot of effort into a path that wasn't legal, wouldn't be legally sustainable. Uh And uh and all of you have, of course, the uh the legal opinion by our solicitors, very well written, very comprehensive. And uh and uh the proposals um been adjusted to accommodate some of the uh strengths and weaknesses of the that was in the legal opinion. That was step one.
Play from 1:32:39Oct 27, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole
Uh step two is, to make sure that we can accommodate this, uh we we have to have a basis, a cost basis uh to even talk about it in reality, because we have to know how much uh our infrastructure costs us, how much it costs to service, how much it costs to add um certain things. And uh that's also an issue that we have with the data center.
Play from 1:33:22Oct 27, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole
Uh when we pass the uh the data center pause, um I don't want to say the uh M-word, because I don't want Linda Parkowski to be upset with me, [laughter] data center pause, um we we had in it um a a infrastructure cost study.
Play from 1:33:57Oct 27, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole
And one of the important things with CAMSA is an infrastructure cost study, and so that we can understand Because one of the We We have some under- you know, that from our but some of it, um understandably so, it's hard to understand like you If somebody were to build a a facility, how much would it cost to add? How much would that add to our infrastructure cost? That varies. Varies by location, by how much is added, how it's broken down. Uh So So coming up with a a a number
Play from 1:34:29Oct 27, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole
that you can uh defend in court, it's an average, or or whatever, is uh a very important issue. Um And in both cases. So um
Play from 1:35:07Oct 27, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole
one of the things we're looking at was an RFP regarding that. Um And so that we Because that will help us in so many other areas. It will help us in our priority-based budgeting, it will help us in when we're uh looking at uh economic incentive and and those type of credits, um uh because we we need to grow, and we need to encourage growth, but we also need to make sure that we don't inadvertently encourage growth that negatively affects um other the people who are already here and the businesses that are already here.
Play from 1:35:25Oct 27, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole
So it has to As Dr. Sudler says, growth has to pay for growth. Um Now, that in that say um But But how can you do that without that? Yeah, and so, um that's something that we looked at.
Play from 1:36:01Oct 27, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole
So, uh at this point, I'm going to yield to uh City Manager Duca.
Play from 1:36:15Oct 27, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole
Dr. Sudler, and then Councilman Rocha.
Play from 1:40:51Oct 27, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole
Councilman Rocha, then uh Councilman Lewis.
Play from 1:47:24Oct 27, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole
Permission to Dr. Sudler?
Play from 1:50:56Oct 27, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole
And I would add that that um I can't see this it at all. It's a lot of moving parts and we actually uh get possible numbers, we're going to have to invite the stakeholders to the table, and there's going to have to be a a discussion or else if you think the uh the sprinkler uh debate came is something, wait until you try uh um, you know, something uh this different because uh you know, it So it there's going to have to be a a whole community discussion to uh is where, but um, but anyway, uh Councilman Lewis.
Play from 1:51:39