Bethany council considers capital priorities
By M. Patricia Titus
News Editor
Bethany Beach Town Council members met on Monday, Nov. 17, to consider a number of pending issues, with likely the
most important among them being how they wish to prioritize the town’s capital funds in the coming year or more. With
recommendations from Town Manager Cliff Graviet, the council appeared to be putting higher priority on preliminary stages
of its long-running but scaled-back Streetscape project, with a proposed boardwalk widening placed on the back burner and
drainage improvements to Pennsylvania Avenue being considered once again.
The
latter project is estimated to cost the town at least $1.8 million in its most basic and simple form: a gravity-fed system
that would aim to tackle a 1.7-inch rainfall, which happens in the town every three to four months. Using flap gates and localized
regarding, it wouldn’t stand up to heavy rains such as those seen last weekend.
According to Jack Dolan of Kercher Engineering Inc., $2 million could get the town an improved system with pumps
able to push 1,600 gallons of water per minute into the Loop Canal, but still handle only about a 1.7-inch rainfall. The removal
of the water to the Loop Canal with the pumps would require the construction of berms along one or two properties adjacent
to the canal in this basic form.
Dolan labeled this least of three possible
options for pump-supported systems as “more feasible” to construct, since it would not require the 15- or 26-foot-deep
wells required by systems utilizing 2,500 gpm or 10,000 gpm pumps or the full-length berm required at 10,000 gpm.
The cost for the largest of those systems would run about $2.5 million and could potentially
handle a 3.5-inch rainfall – a two-year storm. But Dolan said the 26-foot well depth to house the pump “is not
constructable” due to the high water table in that area.
If one of
the pump systems were to be constructed, the pump system would be located in Centennial Park at the bend of the Loop Canal
– the only piece of town property where it could be placed.
Dolan
said the 1,600 gpm system would be “an enhancement of the existing system, in that it would be functional and maintainable,
which the current system is not. But council members expressed some concerns as to whether the steep price for the most feasible
of the systems would be worth the price, since it could only handle 1.7 inches of rain at a time and would not be able to
remove water associated with a tidal storm that would bring water rising in the Loop Canal – the most frequent cause
of substantial flooding in the area.
Graviet also noted that the town’s
once-proposed inflatable dam is no longer being considered, due to the increased likelihood of flooding in adjacent communities
if it were used. Dolan said such a use would never be permitted by authorities, since one community would benefit at the risk
to another. The same goes for any notion of pumping water to the Salt Pond.
Further,
he said that while state agencies had declared a Pennsylvania Avenue drainage project to not be eligible for state grants,
the proposal had garnered some interest from federal funding sources last session and would be requested again in the next
legislative term.
Councilman Bob Parsons said optimistically, “$1.7
million is a lot to us, but it’s not to them.”
Graviet noted
that the request was being couched to federal authorities in terms of being a partial remedy to a problem caused by federal
dollars, since the construction of Coastal Highway created a de facto dam at that section of the Loop Canal, preventing waters
from flowing inland and away from the town’s east side.
Council members
also pointed the finger at the Delaware Department of Transportation, which oversaw that construction and deeded Pennsylvania
Avenue to the town once the new highway was completed.
“One of the
first things we can do is rename Coastal Highway to the DelDot Dam,” said Parsons.
“Or Dam DelDOT,” added Mayor Tony McClenny.
Boardwalk widening on hold, Streetscape moves ahead
Placed
along with the Pennsylvania Avenue project, other major drainage projects and improvements to the former Christian Church
and Neff properties on Monday as “projects that require more analysis or classification” was the proposed widening
of the town’s boardwalk.
Bidding for construction of the expanded
boardwalk was opened last month, but the general economic forecast and opposition from some citizens have stalled the project.
In fact, the Bethany Beach Landowners Association (BBLA) voted at a special meeting on Saturday,
Nov. 15, to oppose the project.
Graviet, meanwhile, suggested Monday that
the town advertise and hold a public meeting on the subject in June or July of 2009, at which time the town could request
an extension of a state permit for the project, if it is deemed by the council as desirable.
That stands in sharp contrast to potential forward momentum on the proposed Streetscape project, after
years of delay. The project, which was scaled back to an “as is” design that would remove utility poles in the
100 block of Garfield Parkway, is currently awaiting word from Verizon officials as to how much relocating those poles will
cost the town.
Delmarva Power officials have estimated their costs for
the move to cap at a maximum of $200,000 and have indicated that Verizon’s costs should be no higher than that, but
Verizon requires the town to spend $14,000 in engineering costs for a project plan and analysis before it will give the town
an official cost estimate.
The council appeared ready on Monday to consider
spending at least that much to get the Streetscape project moving forward, after it languished in the design stages. They
suggested consideration of voting on approving that cost, and perhaps the full $400,000 potential cost of the entire utility
relocation project, might be considered as early as December – possibly at a special meeting early in the month, if
they elect not to hold their regular monthly meeting that month.
The utility
relocation would remove electrical and telephone lines in the 100 block of Garfield Parkway to buried locations in the nearby
alleyway, allowing the removal of utility poles and increasing usable space on sidewalks and visual openness in the area.
Utilities in the 200 block of the street cannot be removed without prohibitive costs, since
they carry major service lines for fiber-optic service.
“It seems
like I’m the only one dragging his feet,” put in McClenny on Monday. McClenny has said he doesn’t consider
the impact of the removal of the poles in the one block to justify the anticipated expense.
Lake Bethany help recommended
Getting Graviet’s
recommendation for expenditures in the near future were planned improvements to pedestrian and bicycle facilities on Collins
Avenue and Atlantic Avenue, as well as Central Boulevard and Oceanview Parkway.
The town anticipates noticing property owners on Collins in the coming months about plans to reclaim its right-of-way
for those improvements. Central Boulevard is expected to gain a sidewalk or demarcated pedestrian path on one side.
The council tabled major renovations of the pedestrian facilities on Oceanview Parkway, taking
into account Parsons’ recommendation that they simply add signage encouraging pedestrians to avail themselves of the
street’s grassy median for a safe walk to and from the beach. The council supported trying the idea for the summer of
2009, to see how the area weathered the change and whether it improves safety.
Graviet
said he believes the council should also look at spending engineering funds to begin potential improvements to sidewalks along
Atlantic Avenue, though whether that would be the east or west side would likely be decided through such an engineering study.
Abandoned sidewalks there have mostly been covered with sand and grass for decades.
Finally, Graviet recommended $100,000 be allocated for reconstruction of and building of new swales in the area of
Lake Bethany to Westwood. That drainage project was originally to be done in-house but turned out to be more complicated than
what town staff can manage. Instead, it would be contracted out, with funding under the 2010 fiscal year.
Graviet noted that DelDOT has refused to take on any responsibility for the drainage issue
there as well, even though it is one that did not exist prior to the construction of Route 26.
Councilman Lew Killmer said he expected the project to be one that would have a dramatic, visible impact.
