A vote of support to repair the fairways at Hoopers Landing, a postponed vote on an easement request, an update on Nylon Capital Shopping Center redevelopment, and the updated code that eliminates the eight percent Net Energy Metering cap were all agenda actions at last Tuesday’s Seaford City Council meeting.

The Adkins Management group’s head arborist, Mike Pine, and Hoopers Golf professional, Mike Conner, made the presentation to council. The golf course fairways are Bermuda grass, and the recent harsh winter with extended ice and snow amounts, along with a cool spring, impacted the grass coming out of dormancy. The Garrison Lake golf course laid three truckloads of sod for the fairways while Hoopers used a sprigging method, which plants individual sprigs. The golf course is not the only one impacted, and residents with dormant grasses may have seen the grass stay brown. The Adkins Group fronted the $55,000 to sprig five holes on the course. This format is faster than seeding, more cost-effective than sod, and a stronger “Iron Cutter,” a premium-tolerant Bermuda grass. The city council approved using the reserve money to repay Adkins for half the cost of the project in the amount of $27,500.

A second topic was the updating of the Municipal Code Standard Specifications that eliminates the eight percent metering cap. The state of Delaware passed Senate Bill 239 removing the cap, meaning electric utilities can no longer legally stop the purchase of excess solar energy from households due to market limits. The bill supports homeowners who can continue to enroll in net metering without fear of market saturation that removes them. Previously, any unused credits at the end of 12 months were reverted back without financial compensation.

The new bill requires that annual credits are indefinitely carried over to the next billing. Since the state eliminated the cap, physical limits of the equipment will determine if the system can export power. Additionally, the impact on the substation and circuits cannot be overloaded.

Councilman Dan Henderson cautioned, “I think the general public ought to understand that just because the cap is gone doesn’t mean that everybody in Seaford can get net metering. There’s going to have to be some design limitations based on that.”

The Fisher Architecture Group, represented by Heather Morrison, requested a temporary easement on a property located at 106 Spring Street. The group plans are to install a retaining wall and the adjacent property is the former city power plant site. The wall will vary between 12 to 20 feet tall, run along the edge of the property, and the company will construct parking spaces. The workers will possibly infringe on city owned land and the Fisher Group wanted to ensure that the city property is left in the same condition prior to the work. Additionally the work on Spring Street must extend further because of sewer connections. The structural engineer is developing the plan which includes moving storm drain lines. The property owner accepts the incurred cost of moving the lines, remediation process since it is a brown field site.

Henderson questioned the electrical coordination saying, “and at whose expense, I think this is a conversation between ownership and the town.” Henderson noted he supports the easement but wants all the agreements legally binding and the proper procedure completed with the city electric department, public works, city manager involved prior to the easement vote. City Manager Charles Anderson suggested, “city staff, the city engineer can work with the engineering team that Ms. Morrison represents, and then we can come back with all these specific details: the design of the wall, the way we’re going to handle the storm drain that bisects the site, how we’re going to relocate the electric transformer temporarily, reinstall it after construction.” Council agreed to the suggested process by Anderson and the Fisher Group will return to council for a final vote.

The Nylon Capital Center is moving forward with the development and opening of businesses. See the story on the ribbon cutting at The Mill on page 5. The Tidal Health building is moving forward and the outside is completed. Developer Rob Herrera said the final paving is beginning and landscaping is beginning within the weeks. The interior passed the roughening inspections and finishing work is in process.

Bright Bloom, which has been in operation for over a year, received a new roof and Delaware Tech received a certificate of occupancy. The campus education includes phlebotomy, EKG, a dental lab, programming for the for the trades with a welding lab, mechanical, and electrical training.

Herrera said the back portion of the campus is nearing completion, and work has begun to prep for the pickleball courts which will be open to the public. Herrera announced new tenants to the center including China Wok and “Be with Me Playseum”. The pay for service is a place of indoor play with parents, grandparents to connect and grow imagination. The activities are designed with the local interests with activities for children, tweens, teens, and adults.

“We will have things such as a lot of DIY stuff like candle making, resin making, art, and ceramics, and wood projects, a baking component, make their own pizza, we teach them how to do it. We also have a soap making station, it’s our own kind of patented thing where we make soap with children. We teach them how to make bubble bath lotion, lip balm, bars of soap, and we do it all the way up to our older ones,” said owner and founder Gina Seebachan.

Seaford will be the fifth location and Seebachan said she is excited to be part of the future of Seaford. The website for Playseum is www.playseum.com  Herrera told council he will keep returning with updates and encourages anyone with questions or interest may reach him through www.themillspace.com.