Home Care In Ellendale, DE

By Craig Horleman, Delaware State News

ELLENDALE, Del.- The Southern Grill in Ellendale is getting the “Restaurant: Impossible” treatment.

The longtime Food Network show, in which chef Robert Irvine helps out eateries in just two days with only $10,000, will be in town Aug. 28 and 29.

The show’s production company is seeking volunteers to help in the renovation and they are also looking for hungry diners to help the celebrate the grand opening.

Volunteers may be any licensed or certified individuals in painting, crafting, constructing, remodeling, cleaning, decorating etc. (depending on your skill set).

Producers say they are always looking for skilled contractors, electricians, plumbers, upholsters’ and painters to help out and donate their time but they welcome all skill sets and skill levels always.

The volunteer schedule is as follows:

Shift No. 1 – Wednesday, Aug. 28: Noon to 7 p.m.;

Shift No. 2 – Wednesday, Aug. 28: 7 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Shift No. 3 – Thursday, Aug. 29: 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.

• Meals will be provided to all volunteers.

• You must be 18 years or older to volunteer.

• All volunteers must sign an appearance release and volunteer agreement on site.

• Please wear sneakers or boots and work clothing with no logos.

If interested, email [email protected] by Aug. 23 at 3 p.m. with your preferred day(s), full name, email address, cell number and skill set/ related profession (ex: plumber or painter). Please use the following subject line: 1603 DE Volunteer

Anyone who replies to volunteer is guaranteed a spot. Confirmation emails will be sent the day before each day you intend on volunteering.

You can also be one of the first patrons to see the newly renovated space. If you are interested in making a reservation at Southern Grill for their grand re-opening, email the “Restaurant: Impossible’ production at [email protected] by Aug. 23 at 3 p.m.. Please use the following in your subject line: 1603 DE RESERVATIONS.

The hproduction is not covering the cost of your meal – you will be responsible for paying your own bill. This event is first come, first serve by email and they cannot guarantee everyone who responds will get a table. If you are selected, you will receive a confirmation email close to the date of the dinner. No guests under 8 years old are permitted.

Please include your contact information (full name, email address, cell number) your party size (number of people at your table) and the names of the people in your party.

There is no word on when the episode will air.

Thanks to the tenacity of people like Delores Price, some Ellendale residents are finally able to connect to a central water system. It took more than 20 years for the project to become a reality.

Price, who is president of the Ellendale Community Civic Association, took center stage during a Feb. 11 press conference at the Greater Ellendale Water District facility along Old State Road hosted by U.S. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Delaware.

“I'm very happy it has finally happened,” Price said. “There is nothing worse than schoolchildren unable to drink water or take baths and not have clean clothes. Water is life. We are full of thanks.”

The $6 million project is a partnership between Sussex County and Artesian Water Company with funding from the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services Bond Bill allocation. A $4.75 million construction contract was awarded to Pact One with work starting in spring 2021.

The district includes an area outside Ellendale town limits along North Old State Road and South Old State Road. The district was later expanded to include Washington Street with a $500,000 add-on to the contract.

So far, 110 connections have taken place with about another 100 connections planned. The annual water fee is expected to be around $400. Sussex County will operate the system and purchase water from Artesian.

Sussex County Administrator Todd Lawson said for now, residents can connect to the system free of charge thanks to money from the Bond Bill. However, he added, those funds will not be available much longer. Later, connection fees could range from $1,500 to $2,000.

For decades, Ellendale residents had been complaining to county, state and federal officials about contaminated wells. Many residents have been forced to use bottled water.

Starting in the mid-2010s, Sussex County officials met with residents to discuss formation of a water district. However, the first two referendums to establish a district failed.

County engineer Hans Medlarz said as soon as the previous referendum was defeated Nov. 4, 2017, residents approached the county with a new petition. Medlarz said the new district is smaller than the previous one and excludes a large area inside town limits containing land along North Old State Road and South Old State Road.

The third referendum passed 81-12 on Sept. 15, 2018, setting the wheels in motion.

“The Ellendale water project would not have been possible without the stalwart work of the community, including, Mr. Truxton, Bishop Foster, and most especially Delores Price. These leaders and many others who supported the initiative were diligent in gaining enough support to see the water district created. And while it took three referendums and several years in the making, the county is pleased to finally be able to deliver clean drinking water to the Ellendale community,” said Lawson.

The county administrator praised Patrick Brown, the county's head engineer on the project. “He deserves a tremendous amount of credit for seeing it through,” Lawson said.

Vikki Prettyman, representing the Southeastern Rural Community Assistance Project, said work still needs to be done. “The residents need proper infrastructure within their dwellings. We will work with homeowners and renters to make improvements,” she said.

Those improvements will include kitchen and bathroom repairs, and new washers and dryers.

In addition, she said, biweekly deliveries of 5-gallon water jugs will continue for residents who have not connected to the system.

Blunt Rochester announced that Delaware will receive $355 million over the next five years under the $1 trillion federal infrastructure bill. She added she is working to get a low-income water and wastewater assistance act passed. “If people can't afford to connect to clean water it's no good,” she said.

Delaware’s Attorney General Kathy Jennings notified the Town of Ellendale that they had violated FOIA regulations

A recent opinion released by the Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings found that the Town of Ellendale’s council violated several sections of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). A FOIA complaint was filed by former Councilwoman Tamara Skis who resigned her seat in March.

“The petition submits two allegations for consideration,” the opinion read. “The January 30, 2023, Planning and Zoning Commission meeting notice failed to include an agenda as required and a quorum of council members met in person and communicated over email to discuss and make decisions about public business outside of a public meeting.”

The opinion continued that Skis submitted various emails involving council members as well as a photograph of the town bulletin board showing the Planning Commission meeting notice without an agenda. On March 14, 2023, council, through the Council President, responded to the allegations, providing affidavits from the three council members that they had never met to discuss town business outside of a duly noticed meeting. The members did admit that between January 2023 and February 2023, they have discussed “mundane town business” through email, acknowledging that this was technically a violation of FOIA. Council was briefed by the Town Solicitor and the “transgression will not be repeated,” the opinion read.

“The public body has the burden of proof to demonstrate compliance with FOIA,” the opinion continued. “For the first claim, you state the town failed to post an agenda for its January 30, 2023, Planning and Zoning Commission meeting and provided a photograph alleged to be taken four days before the meeting, showing that the meeting notice did not include an agenda. The response did not address this claim. As the town failed to demonstrate it posted an agenda for this meeting as required by FOIA, we find that a violation of FOIA occurred in this regard.”

As to the second allegation, the opinion stated that FOIA requires public business to be performed in an open and public manner so that citizens “have the opportunity to observe the performance of public officials and to monitor the decisions that are made by such officials in formulating and executing public policy.” The opinion continues that the burden of proof in this allegation fell to Skis. Because the town had sworn affidavits from the three council members that they had not met in person to discuss town business, that town was found not to have violated FOIA in that allegation.

“The Town Council’s email practices compel a different result,” the opinion read. “The town attests, through affidavit, that those emails involving more than two councilmembers involved “mundane town business.” The provided emails demonstrate the town councilmembers addressed various matters with more than two members on several occasions. In one instance, after a councilmember initially questioned whether a letter regarding a tax increase should be approved at a council meeting, a quorum of councilmembers exchanged their thoughts and reached a consensus on a letter notifying the community of a property tax increase adopted in August 2022, the elected council members, and opportunities for the community to get involved in committees and other efforts to support the town. Accordingly, we find that a quorum of town councilmembers violated FOIA in at least one set of email exchanges by privately discussing and deciding on public business outside of a public meeting.”

As for the penalties for violating FOIA, the opinion explained that the AG’s office lacked the authority to invalidate the actions of the council although they may recommend remediation.

“In these circumstances, the record does not include sufficient information to determine the extent of the affected interests and whether the specific steps may remediate these violations while protecting other legitimate public interests,” the opinion concluded. “The response states that the councilmembers are no longer engaging in this email practice and the councilmember attest they have now been briefed by the Town Solicitor on this topic and the transgression will not be repeated.” We recommend that the town ensures that its agenda postings and email communications comply with FOIA in the future.”

The Town of Ellendale did not respond to several attempts to obtain a response.

It comes as no surprise that traffic along Route 16 is increasing, but what is shocking is the amount of development proposed along the corridor in Ellendale and Milton.

If all proposed housing projects come to fruition, the population of Ellendale will increase from its current 500 to more than 5,500 over the next five to 10 years with more than 1,800 residential units in the planning stages. Ellendale currently has just over 200 dwelling units in town limits.

And in Milton, two proposed projects with more than 2,000 residential units would more than double the current population of 3,428. Milton currently has 1,314 dwelling units.

During a Jan. 9 Delaware Department of Transportation Coastal Corridors Study Committee meeting at Mariner Middle School in Milton, committee members and the public were informed about proposed development along the Route 16 corridor and what its impact will be on the roadway.

State transportation officials have launched the Coastal Corridors Study to compile data and gather input from officials and the public on two of the major east-west roads in Sussex County, Route 16 and Route 404/9, and the local roads connecting to them. Committee members include town officials, emergency services personnel, business people, school officials and other stakeholders.

The two roads are the main east-west routes for travel to the beach resort areas in and around Lewes, Rehoboth Beach and Dewey Beach.

The goals of the study are to identify short-, medium- and long-term traffic solutions for the east-west corridors between Route 113 and Route 1, and to educate and inform local stakeholders on traffic issues and seek feedback and preferences on proposed solutions.

Whitman, Requardt and Associates consultant Steve Harr said road improvement projects could range from big-picture expensive ones such as a grade-separated interchange to smaller projects such as adding turn lanes and four-way stop intersections.

To enhance safe travel and improve traffic flow, DelDOT officials have proposed two major projects, including a grade-separated interchange at the Route 113-Route 16 intersection in Ellendale and a roundabout at the Route 16-Route 30 intersection near Milton, with preliminary engineering underway and construction proposed in 2025. There is no timeline yet for the Route 113 interchange project.

About Route 16

Harr said the average daily traffic along Route 16 varies between 5,000 and 8,000 vehicles, with an increase to more than 10,000 vehicles per day during the summer season. He said it's estimated those traffic counts will increase to 15,000 vehicles per day by 2050.

Harr said 60% of all Route 16 traffic is pass-through, with 30% turning off Route 30 heading to Route 9 and the Long Neck area. The other 10% turns off on other side roads and into the Town of Milton.

WRA consultant Leah Kacanda said the corridor can't remain as it is and handle the proposed growth. “Safety and capacity are our goals here. Whereas the Five Points Working Group is dealing with existing issues, we are ahead of the game a little bit,” she said.

The consultants were asked about widening Route 16 to four lanes. Harr said typically the traffic count for four-lane roads is 20,000 vehicles per day. “Here, 15,000 is the worst-case scenario, so we are near the borderline. Four lanes are not needed, but we will study all options, and with so much development planned, it might add up to tell a different story,” he said.

Jennifer Cinelli-Miller, DelDOT's planner for Sussex County, said this year begins another cycle in DelDOT's capital transportation program. Proposed projects throughout the state are ranked and placed in order in the CTP. “And every two years, they move up the line,” she said.

Ellendale-area projects

All seeking annexation or already annexed into Ellendale:

• The Enclave at Starwood, 192 acres along Route 113, with 697 housing units and 367,350 square feet of commercial space. Status: Through state's Preliminary Land Use Service process.

• Newdale Acres, 141 acres in south Ellendale, with 296 units. Status: Annexation is approved and construction scheduled to begin soon.

• Garey Farm, North Old State Road, with 491 units, including 119 single-family homes, 264 multifamily units and 108 duplexes/townhomes. Status: Through the PLUS process and under Sussex County review.

• Ingram Village, north of Route 16, ongoing construction with a total of 373 housing units.

Milton-area projects

• Milton Village, 138 acres at the Route 16-Route 30 intersection, with 696 residential units, a 35,000-square-foot assisted-living facility, an 80,000-square-foot medical office building and a 210,000-square-foot shopping center. Status: Phase 1, including 269 apartments, has been approved by Sussex County.

• The Granary at Draper Farm, 452 acres off Sand Hill Road and Route 30, with 1,350 residential units, including 875 single-family homes, 475 multifamily units and a 60,000-square-foot shopping center built over 20 years. Status: Master plan approved by Milton Town Council.

• Not mentioned during the meeting is another project that is underway on a 26-acre parcel at the Route 16-Country Road intersection in town limits. The subdivision called Cypress Grove will have 240 units – 144 multifamily units and 96 townhomes – in 14 apartment-style buildings.

For more information or to make comments, go to deldot.gov/projects/Studies.

For years, Ellendale resident Betty Joe Sampson has endured smelly, discolored water from her private well in Delaware.

When she uses the water to wash her clothes, streaks of rust stripe her whites — and the laundry is often damaged by the bleach she uses to clean it. So Sampson usually travels to a laundromat.

She also adds bleach to the water when she washed dishes to prevent them from turning yellow.

And she spends about $30 a month on bottled water because the well water is not safe to drink in the town, which is not connected to a public water system.

The discolored well water has high levels of nitrates and iron, and some of the shallow wells may have bacterial contamination, Sussex County officials have said.

Having to deal with risky well water has been yet another hardship for Sampson. The former day care center owner now has lung disease and, along with her husband, is on disability.

But, after years of trying to get a public water system in Ellendale, residents approved a referendum Saturday by a vote of 81-21.

“I feel elated — I’m so happy,” Sampson said Monday. “It’s a blessing.”

A long road

Years of community advocacy work led the county to propose purchasing water from Artesian Water and then supplying residents, who would be charged about $430 a year — or $6 per 1,000 gallons consumed.

But the idea still faced roadblocks because state code requires a referendum on the matter. In November, a referendum failed 120-107. Those against public water said they didn’t want another bill to pay.

In response, the county proposed supplying a smaller area that affects fewer residents. That plan won approval.

Jean Holloway of the Southeast Rural Community Assistance Project, a regional nonprofit that has supported Ellendale residents, said the community will now have a “reliable supply of decent, safe, and sanitary water, instead of not knowing what’s going to come out of the tap when they turn it on.”

Those who have been buying bottled water will be saving some money, she said.

It will take about 30 months to get the water system in place.

As soon as the water supply system is up and running, Sampson said she will buy a washing machine.

“This is 2018, and I just want everyone in this area to be blessed with a water system,” she said. “So they can put their children in the bathtub and they can play in bubbles. They can hang their clothes on the washing line.”

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