[0:09] Good morning everybody. It is Friday, August 24th, 2026. This is a regular

[0:14] meeting of the commissioners of City Roa Beach. We're live in city hall

[0:18] commissioners room, second floor of city hall. Like to call this meeting to order

[0:21] at exactly 2 o'clock p.m. Would you please rise and join me in the pledge of

[0:26] allegiance?

[0:29] I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the

[0:35] republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and

[0:41] justice for all.

[0:52] Uh in l of roll call, we'll uh let the minutes reflect that all seven of the

[0:57] mayor and commissioners are present. Therefore, we have a quorum and are able

[1:01] to formally conduct business today. Uh uh the my u

[1:09] folks aren't here from uh the ovarian uh society, so we're going to do them

[1:15] later. Uh there is no correspondence uh relating to agenda items. Uh with that

[1:22] we're moving on to approval of minutes. Uh we have listed in the agenda 11 sets

[1:27] of minutes. However, we are uh just approving nine sets of minutes today. We

[1:32] are omitting two sets of minutes. Those sets of minutes uh not being voted on

[1:37] tonight are March 15, 2024 and August 16, 2024.

[1:44] With that, there's a slate of nine uh remaining minutes uh for approval. Are

[1:50] there any corrections to those nine sets of minutes? [snorts] Uh if not, I'll

[1:55] take a motion to approve the nine sets of minutes uh that I identified.

[2:01] » I would make a motion to approve the minutes as follows. The executive

[2:06] sessions held on July 30th, 2026 and August 12th, 2026. Regular meetings held

[2:12] on April 19th, 2022, February 16, 2024, April 19th, 2024, and July 17, 2026.

[2:23] Special meetings held on July 30th, 2026, and August 12th, 2026.

[2:30] Workshop meeting held on October 6th, 2025.

[2:36] » Second. We have a motion and a second to approve nine sets of minutes uh noted on

[2:42] the agenda and uh articulated by Commissioner Good.

[2:45] » Oh, Mr. Mayor, a question because I have received all those minutes except I'm

[2:49] worried I never received August 12th, 2026, that special meeting as that and

[2:54] that was sent. I s >> Yes, it was.

[2:57] » Okay. I've seen all the others. >> You can choose to vote or not. Well,

[3:02] » with that, uh, we'll call the, uh, we'll just do a, a group call. Those in favor

[3:07] of approving the nine sets of minutes identified tonight signify by saying I.

[3:12] I. Those opposed >> abstain. I need to look for the August

[3:17] 12th minutes, which I haven't seen. >> So noted. Thank you very much. The, uh,

[3:22] with that, the, uh, nine sets of minutes are approved. Uh, we move on to city

[3:27] manager report. Taylor. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor and commissioners.

[3:30] Good afternoon. And I want to provide a quick update on Grove Park. Yesterday,

[3:34] Save a Tree came out and began pruning and they will be back next week to begin

[3:38] removing the five trees that were identified for immediate removal.

[3:42] Insecticide treatment will also be applied to try to kill and stop the

[3:46] spread of the bacterial leaf scorch. We truly appreciate city arborist Mike Lily

[3:51] and parks and recreation coordinator Tim Bamforth for their quick response and

[3:54] ability to get the work underway so that we can reopen the park as soon as

[3:58] possible. The situation may have thrown us all for a loop, but I do want to take

[4:02] a moment to thank everyone involved in the relocation of the farmers market to

[4:05] the convention center parking lot. Pat Kuzi first for her ability to quickly

[4:10] organize the setup and configuration of the market in an entirely new space. And

[4:14] also to our parking department, police officers, public works department for

[4:18] coverage, signage, setup, and cleanup, and city hall staff for their

[4:21] flexibility when it came to actually parking. It was a great event here on

[4:26] Tuesday, and we look forward to having everyone back next week. and for the

[4:29] foreseeable future until we have a better idea of uh what's happening with

[4:33] Grove Park. Also, speaking of Tim Bamfor, while I was out walking the

[4:37] other day, I was excited to see him watering the trees at Lake Gerard with

[4:40] our newly repaired water tank and pump, uh which will make that job much easier

[4:44] and more efficient. Quick reminder that due to Labor Day, our next mayor and

[4:48] commissioners meeting will take place on Tuesday, September 8th at 9:00 a.m. And

[4:53] finally, we are pleased to announce that earlier this week, the charter changes

[4:56] were approved and signed by the governor. I'm here for any questions you

[4:59] may have. >> Any questions of the city manager?

[5:02] » Mr. Mayor, >> commissioner. Good.

[5:03] » Two questions. Firstly, because um we have never been given a an accurate

[5:10] figure for the Connelly Gallagher uh investigate investigative report that

[5:16] was done on the takeover. You said to uh a reporter that it was more than 25,000,

[5:22] but we never got any sort of real estimate. Um that's my first question.

[5:27] Do you have one? >> Um I don't think we have the final bill

[5:30] from that, but I will check and I'll send it out.

[5:33] » Okay. My second question is one I've asked you by email repeatedly. There was

[5:37] an unusual um 12.5% raise for one of the highest paid employees in city hall um

[5:45] under a contract from May of 2025. I'd like to know the current how that was

[5:50] handled because I've asked you repeatedly and you have refused to

[5:54] answer as to whether that you know you at one point said well it would have to

[5:58] go for a vote before the board and at that point it hadn't and it still

[6:02] hasn't. But I'd like to know the status. >> Yeah, the status is that did not take

[6:06] place. >> Okay. Thank you.

[6:10] » All right. Thank you. Anybody else? Uh we're going to move right along. City uh

[6:15] solicitors report. Lisa, >> no report, mayor.

[6:18] » All righty. With that, we'll move on to the department report. Uh as you can see

[6:24] uh there are uh support documents embedded electronically in the agenda

[6:28] from the alderman's court bullying and licensing police department. Uh so we're

[6:33] going to move right on to the uh [clears throat]

[6:36] » uh yes >> excuse me if I may.

[6:37] » Commissioner Gossip. >> Uh yes since we have the police chief

[6:40] here I was just curious. We've had the installation of the new stop signs along

[6:43] Colombia and State Road. Um could you have any comments on enforcement in that

[6:48] area or what's been going on? I appreciate it.

[6:53] [clears throat]

[6:58] » Yes, since the um stop signs have gone in both locations, the additional um

[7:02] there has been some enforcement. We've had officers sitting there um trying to

[7:06] use a lot of discretion and given a lot of warnings. There was um there's been a

[7:10] few citations um issued. Um, one was from a crash there at stayed in Mson and

[7:16] person was at at fault and um didn't realize there was a stop sign there and

[7:20] and went through it caused an accident and all. Um but so they seem to be going

[7:26] well and um we are getting feedbacks from some um residents and all some

[7:32] positive some negative but um that has to you know that happens and we have red

[7:36] flashing lights for at night and all to make sure um people understand that it's

[7:41] new fourways are always stop signs. So, I think it's going well, but yes, we're

[7:45] we are monitoring that. And I know officers were out there on both streets

[7:49] today, state and Colombia, just um watching the stop signs.

[7:54] » I did notice uh that on the state road there are, as you'd mentioned, the red

[7:59] red blinking [clears throat] lights at night, but I don't see those on

[8:01] Colombia. Is there an opportunity to install those on Colombia or is there a

[8:05] question about that? Uh that'd be up to city manager, but I we certainly can and

[8:10] probably should get in a habit anytime we add something new for at least for

[8:14] temporarily um you know 30 days, 60 days to um let people know that it's it's

[8:20] kind of the trend now. I'm seeing that the municipalities in a state, but city

[8:24] man. >> Yeah, we would have to order them, but

[8:25] we certainly can. Yeah, thank you. Just for consistency sake. Thank you.

[8:29] » Thank you. Uh with that, we'll move on to the departmental briefing of building

[8:34] and licensing. uh it's going to focus on the CDP. Corey,

[8:38] » thank you. Mayor and commissioners, uh I wanted to give more of a process

[8:43] update today rather than a chapter to chapter update on the CDP. Uh the

[8:49] five-year CDP work is ongoing and is moving forward. But a major part of that

[8:54] work right now is making sure that it's coordinated with several other planning

[8:58] efforts that are happening at the same time.

[9:01] Uh currently we really have four interconnected work streams underway. Uh

[9:06] we've got the 5-year CDP update. We have the do colon partners commercial zoning

[9:11] update. We have the chapter 236 um uh subdivision of land site plan

[9:18] review change of zoning uh rewrite. And we also have the new zoning map uh

[9:22] parcelbased GIS work that we're that we're undertaking. Uh and those projects

[9:28] can't be treated independently. So what that means is that a change in

[9:32] one place can ripple through several others. Uh depending on the structure of

[9:36] the new commercial zoning code changes, we could be changing entire zoning

[9:40] districts or how those districts are regulated. That can affect our official

[9:45] zoning map that can affect our future land use map portions of the CDP and

[9:50] some of the site plan review triggers in chapter 236 among other things. So, the

[9:55] goal uh right now is um to get not to get one document out in front of another

[10:01] one uh and then have to go back and redo work. Um we're trying to get these

[10:06] projects operating on the same rhythm so that as decisions are made, we can

[10:10] identify all the places affected by that decision and then update them together.

[10:16] In the meantime, there's plenty of work still to be done in the CDP and and

[10:20] that's what we're working on. That's where our attention is right now. uh

[10:24] reconciling and updating demographic and statistical information, gathering

[10:29] current data, updating existing conditions, and continuing the

[10:33] underlying parcel and GIS work that the later chapters and maps will rely on.

[10:38] The next major coordination point will be the first overall and partner zoning

[10:43] draft, which we're expecting around September 8th. Once we have that draft,

[10:47] we will have a much better understanding of the form of the commercial zoning

[10:50] regulations are taking and we can review that as not just the o ordinance but

[10:56] against the CDP uh and the future land use map, the zoning map, chapter 236 and

[11:02] any other code provisions that depend on existing commercial district structure.

[11:06] We'll have to take a full look at everything that even references C1, C2,

[11:10] C3 and take a holistic look at that. From there, the work should become much

[11:15] more synchronized. Uh, instead of separately reviewing the

[11:19] CDP, the zoning map, um, and development review procedures under 236, we can work

[11:26] across the documents at the same time and make sure they're saying the same

[11:30] thing. So, I would characterize where we're at right now as sequencing rather

[11:34] than as pausing any work. Uh we're continuing the work that can be

[11:38] responsibly done now uh while avoiding locking in portions of the plan that may

[11:42] immediately need to change once the zoning draft arrives. Ultimately, the

[11:46] objective is pretty simple. When the process is finished, the city's policy

[11:51] document, zoning regulations, development procedures,

[11:55] development review procedures, and maps should all work together as one coherent

[11:59] system rather than having conf conflicts between them. Uh with that said, um uh

[12:05] we will be having a brief update on the CDP at next Friday's planning commission

[12:11] meeting. >> That's where we're at right now.

[12:15] » Any questions by the commissioners? Thank you very much. Uh Commissioner

[12:21] Stewart, >> um I just wanted to confirm. So after we

[12:26] get the draft, can you talk about the where it goes then? Does it go to the

[12:30] planning commission and then come back to us or how is that going to work?

[12:35] » So, the uh anticipated sequence right now is we'll get the rough draft

[12:39] September 8th. That gives the city uh city staff at least a few weeks to

[12:44] review it and make internal comments on it. And then we plan on presenting the

[12:49] draft along with our comments uh and sharing that draft as well ahead of time

[12:53] with the members of the planning commission and the board of adjustment

[12:56] to be placed on their agendas at the end of September. The hope is is is after

[13:01] we've collected all of the relevant comments um at that point to give them

[13:07] back to do colon partners as one consolidated set. They then per uh Joe's

[13:12] um July 17th uh excuse me June 17th uh presentation here uh will take those

[13:19] into consideration provide us a second draft which is the one that's

[13:24] anticipated to come before the commissioners

[13:27] » in November >> in if in in a perfect world it would be

[13:30] in November uh with a possible consideration to set a resolution to

[13:35] hold the public hearing in December which would still leave us with the

[13:38] timeline of the end of 2026. 6

[13:43] » Commissioner the >> Thank you. So just clarification for

[13:47] public participation, public comments. So it sounds like just walk through that

[13:51] again. Sounds like end of September you'll be presenting back to

[13:55] commissioners. So that would be an opportunity for the public to comment

[13:59] and then in November there would be another presentation

[14:03] opportunity for the public to comment and then in December the official public

[14:07] hearing is what I think I'm hearing. Correct. Okay. All right. Great. Thank

[14:11] you. >> Anybody else? Thank you, Corey.

[14:14] » Thank you. >> Appreciate it.

[14:17] » Uh we have uh not not received any uh summaries of uh recent board and

[14:23] commission reports. So, we'll move right on. Next item of business, committee

[14:28] reports, including possible consideration of approving future

[14:31] advisory committee agenda topics. Before we uh turn that over to uh uh city

[14:37] streets and safety advisory committee chair Mark Saunders, I would like to say

[14:42] that as we soon offer opportunities for public input, uh please wait to be

[14:48] acknowledged by the chair and given the floor and when a member of the public is

[14:53] recognized, then please come to the center microphone here. Uh state your

[14:57] name and address or relationship to the city. Uh, and uh, please be mindful that

[15:02] everyone gets three minutes so we can hear from as many voices as possible.

[15:07] The countdown clock's on the wall above the monitor. Uh, and we'll beep when uh,

[15:11] time is up. Uh, thank you very much. And, uh, we'll turn it over to

[15:16] Commissioner Chair Mark Saunders. >> Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um,

[15:21] good afternoon everybody. We don't have any official business to present today,

[15:25] but I did want to give everybody a brief update on where the advisory committee

[15:29] is right now. Um in July we participated in the sharetses and we had a good

[15:35] number of our members that actively participated and found them to be

[15:40] beneficial and the some of the uh information that we gleaned from those

[15:45] uh sharetses and the future information is going to be worked into our plans as

[15:49] we go forward with things like the bike path and so forth. So uh just uh kudos

[15:55] to to everybody for putting those together and I think they were

[15:58] beneficial. uh what we're currently working on and we're in the middle of a

[16:02] couple of these items. We of course were asked by the commissioners to look into

[16:07] the uh possibility or the concerns that some folks had with the parking uh the

[16:13] overnight parking being prohibited over on the east end southeast end of the

[16:18] city Prospect Queen and parts of St. Lawrence. And we did have a really good

[16:23] public meeting at our last meeting. We had uh I think we had somewhere around

[16:28] eight or nine speakers. We had numerous letters. I I don't know to count them

[16:32] all, but we had quite a few uh interested people on both sides of the

[16:39] uh the aisle uh discussing that and what we could do to make it work for

[16:43] everybody. And interestingly, right after the meeting, some of the pro

[16:48] people and the con people got together right outside there. And I got some

[16:52] emails from them all later saying that they'd like to come to a compromise that

[16:56] they uh they realized each other's situations and that uh they would like

[17:01] to come to a compromise. I'm going to meet with Mr. Miller before the next

[17:04] meeting where we're going to continue those discussions and see if there might

[17:08] be something in the future that we can look at as a compromise as we get into

[17:12] the electronic hang tags and that might be a possible solution. So just to let

[17:17] you know that the conversation went well. It's continuing and I think

[17:21] everybody was was uh satisfied with with where we are on on stop signs. Patrick

[17:28] talked about fourways. We also talked about some four-ways on First Avenue,

[17:32] particularly first in Baltimore, first in Wilmington. You can picture those

[17:36] corners and you know why we had those conversations. And again, we had uh

[17:41] public comment both for and against. Um we had some good input from the chief.

[17:46] Thank you, chief. that made us reconsider. And so rather than bring

[17:50] them to you now as a uh possibility, we're looking at further discussions and

[17:56] making sure that we don't have any consequences that we will regret later.

[18:01] So that will be on a future topic, but it will be continued at the next

[18:05] meeting. Several other minor items con uh involving oversized vehicles, we've

[18:11] decided just to hand over to Mr. etc. And the the committee thought that was

[18:15] the best thing to do is is do it inhouse and not uh not necessarily bring any

[18:19] changes to the commission. And lastly today on the ballards um you know the

[18:25] longer they last the better they look that's [laughter]

[18:30] that's sort of what we're getting from people like all right we're used to them

[18:33] now. So, I'm not sure we have asked uh the uh design committee at Main Street

[18:39] to look at them for us, but um the interest in designing them has seemed to

[18:44] wne as they have become more commonplace. So, more on that later

[18:49] perhaps, but that's my report for today. >> Thank you, Commissioner. Any comments up

[18:53] here? Uh with that, I'd like to go to the members of the public. This is your

[18:57] opportunity to uh comment on this particular topic which would be uh uh

[19:03] relating to topics uh brought up by the streets and safety

[19:10] committee. Anybody? If not, good job. Thank you, Mark. Uh

[19:15] with that, uh the next on the agenda is community partner reports. Uh they are

[19:21] all embedded in the agenda, so we don't need to go over that. Mayor

[19:27] [clears throat] >> may not to go over it but just a

[19:28] question gossip. Yes, >> thank you on the uh uh chamber of

[19:33] commerce report included in there. Thank you very much that it seems that we have

[19:36] an increase in occupancy from last year to this year on the outlined dates but

[19:40] also have you included the um beach band stand performance schedule change

[19:44] survey. So I'm just curious is if that will be on a future agenda in the near

[19:49] future so that can be discussed and reviewed so we can prepare for next

[19:52] season. The

[19:54] » answer is yes. Thank you. [laughter] >> Thank you. Thank you for bringing that

[19:58] up because that uh took a lot of effort the survey and again it is embedded

[20:03] electronically in the agenda and uh while Dan from Main Street's here and

[20:07] Kate's from here I want to thank you all because I know it's time consuming to uh

[20:12] put these reports together but uh we're uh we don't want you to think that we uh

[20:16] just merely gloss over them. You know that they are there and available to the

[20:21] public. So thank you very much. Uh with that,

[20:27] the next item of business is uh actually uh new business. A discuss and possible

[20:34] consideration awarding a contract to Mumford and Miller Concrete for the

[20:39] annual street paving and water mane replacement project. Henry,

[20:45] » uh, I was giving the people a little more

[20:49] time to show up, so I'm gonna >> Okay,

[20:52] » we'll do that by by here. >> No, it's not.

[20:58] » Afternoon. Go ahead, Mayor and Mayor and commissioners. So, I'm here to present,

[21:02] as you said, the FY27 annual street paving and water main replacement copy

[21:07] uh project. Uh, have a copy of the bid evaluations. We'll go over the area, the

[21:13] work to be done, answer any questions, and then request uh a motion for

[21:19] approval.

[21:23] [clears throat]

[21:27] We we had 10 contractors asked for the bid package when it was advertised and

[21:34] four uh chose to bid. We actually had the same four as last year. And

[21:44] if you take a look at the engineering estimate, it's uh in between right in

[21:50] the middle of the bids, which which is a good thing. Uh Mumford and Miller was

[21:54] the lowest responsible and responsive bidder for the third year in a in a in a

[21:59] row. Um so, you know, they've been great to work with the last two years. their

[22:06] change orders have been minimal. They've been responsive with things. Uh,

[22:10] example, Commissioner Gossa, I remember last year you asked me to get a sidewalk

[22:14] taken care of quickly and um it put them out a bit. They obviously got paid for

[22:21] it, but they did take care of that right away for us. So,

[22:27] um,

[22:30] here's the areas to be worked on. the it's the green shaded area. It's

[22:36] [snorts] Kent Street between third and fourth. It's going to be water main

[22:39] replacement. Um service lines as well as the paving

[22:44] obviously. Kent uh Sussex between third and fourth, it's the same with the water

[22:49] mane replacement. And Sussex between fourth and fifth, it's the service lines

[22:56] and the and um the paving. And then if you see on the bottom across Silver

[23:02] Lake, Silver Lane is on that that kind of came came as an afterthought where I

[23:08] received a couple calls from residents about it. Went and took a look at it. It

[23:13] was pretty the the the paving index score was actually pretty low on it.

[23:19] Thought we'd be under budget on it. Uh which we were about $200,000 even with

[23:24] that. So, we uh added that and that will just be uh paving and service lines.

[23:34] So, here is the I'm not going to read all the numbers, but there's the

[23:37] engineers estimate uh 922,000 and then uh the two highest bids were George and

[23:43] Lynch and HC. Um Adel was just over 800,000 and

[23:49] Mumford Miller at 724,000. Uh this is the second year in a row HC

[23:57] has bid for this and I think for the past like five years prior four or five

[24:02] years prior it was the three Adel George and Lynch and Mford and Miller.

[24:10] Are there any questions? >> Any questions of Henry?

[24:15] » Nope. >> Okay. Uh so what I'm uh request board

[24:20] action to award the FY27 street paving and water main replacement project to

[24:26] Mumford and Miller in the amount of $724,388.

[24:31] » There is a proposed motion in the agenda item report if anybody wants to use that

[24:36] as a template. >> Mr. Mayor,

[24:38] » any >> Oh, I'm sorry. Commissioner Galante,

[24:42] » I was just going to go ahead and make the motion, but I'm not sure if you

[24:46] wanted to take it back and open up for comments.

[24:49] » No. Do does anybody have any >> comments before a motion's made?

[24:55] » Just um to confirm, in past years when we've been doing this, we've also

[24:58] reached out to the homeowners along those streets for additional repair of

[25:02] their uh laterals and what have you. That be the case again?

[25:05] » Yes. Uh we have have letters ready to go. uh assuming he gets approved, I'll

[25:10] send him out Monday. Um there aren't many there isn't any sidewalks in that

[25:16] area. We will be doing some curb replacement u on that and there are

[25:22] several laterals. We will be also about 10 or so suspect laterals on those three

[25:29] uh three streets and we we will be sending letters to those homeowners.

[25:33] Last year we actually had quite a few take advantage of that on Mson which was

[25:36] great. Are there any other questions?

[25:40] Commissioner Galante. >> Thank [clears throat] you, Mr. Mayor. I

[25:44] make a motion to award the bid for fiscal year 2027 annual street paving

[25:50] and water main replacement to the lowest responsible and responsive bidder,

[25:55] Mumford and Miller, Inc. in the amount of $724,388.

[26:01] » Second. Uh we have a motion and a second to award the bid for uh annual street

[26:07] paving fiscal year 2027 to Mumford and Miller as noted. Is there any further

[26:12] discussion?

[26:20] Hold on. >> Public comment on new business.

[26:25] » Oh, I'm sorry. I'm [clears throat] sorry. I'm sorry. Uh is there any

[26:28] members of the public who would like to comment?

[26:33] If not, we'll come back to the table. Uh, any further discussion? We have a

[26:37] motion in a second. All those in favor signify by saying I. I. Those opposed.

[26:42] And the motion carries unanimously. Thank you very much, Henry.

[26:45] » Thank you. Uh, with that, we'll move into new business item B, discussing

[26:50] possible consideration of an agreement between the city of Rhovitz Beach and IQ

[26:56] Fiber for the installation of a fiber optic broadband network in the city.

[27:02] » Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um, good afternoon. So, I wanted to provide a

[27:05] little bit of background about how um, IQ Fiber has uh, came to us. Um and then

[27:11] Lisa will provide some information and then um the folks from IQ Fiber are here

[27:16] and they'll give you a presentation. Uh so the governor's office uh reached out

[27:21] to me um several months ago um because IQ Fiber was added to by Governor Meyers

[27:28] um um jobs first permitting accelerator on June 11th, 2026. And so that was

[27:35] established via executive order 18. And the permitting accelerator coordinates

[27:40] and expedites state agency review of high priority housing, energy,

[27:44] broadband, and water, sewer projects through a single point of contact and

[27:49] parallel review. So they're part of that um program with Governor Meyer. Um and

[27:55] ultimately they are looking to increase the high-speed and high reliability of

[28:01] fiber in Sussex County, um including Rahobit Beach. Um, so I'll go ahead and

[28:07] turn it over to Lisa. >> Thank you. Um, yes. Um, as Taylor points

[28:12] out, um, IQ Fiber came to us through the governor's office and we've worked with

[28:16] them to, um, negotiate the contract that you have in front of you. The way, um,

[28:22] we have approached this is that, um, IQ Fiber is now working with about 15 to 20

[28:27] different municipalities. And so um we took this contract and looked at it from

[28:32] the perspective of what is uh rights away that are controlled by the city of

[28:37] Rahobit versus those that are controlled by the state of Delaware. At present um

[28:41] IQ Fiber has the authority to go into state rights away which includes roads

[28:46] in in the city of Rahobit. And so we looked at it from the perspective of

[28:49] protecting our rights of way and what we could do um to best make sure that we

[28:54] were protecting what we could from the city. Um, this is a contract that has

[28:58] been negotiated with both parties and we're presenting it to you today for

[29:01] your consideration. >> Thank you very much.

[29:04] » Mark, would you like to continue? >> I would. Hey,

[29:06] » could you introduce yourself if you >> Thank Thank you. U, mayor, council, I'm

[29:11] Mark Wagner. I'm vice president for new markets for IQ Fiber. I'm joined today

[29:15] by our director of operations, David Enley. David Enley runs the entire co uh

[29:20] construction operation for what we call the Chesapeake region, which includes

[29:24] our Delaware project. So he's he's here to answer questions specifically towards

[29:30] um construction and construction uh methodology. Uh again we're IQ Fiber. Um

[29:36] we are a high-speed fiber optic broadband network. We build and operate

[29:41] the network and we are currently located in five states um Georgia, South

[29:47] Carolina, Florida, Maryland and Delaware.

[29:52] We when we look for a new market, we look to be what we call first fiber,

[29:56] which means we look for markets where there is not currently a fiber optic

[30:00] provider in this area. Most of us would recognize for instance like a Verizon

[30:04] FiOS uh maybe specifically to Lewis uh Glow Fiber. These are these are

[30:10] companies that do something similar to what we do. We don't have any interest

[30:14] in overbuilding them. What we look for and what is illustrated in this um image

[30:18] above are cable areas that have predominantly cable infrastructure,

[30:24] predominantly cable infrastructure that is fairly dated. And we see that through

[30:28] the use of upload speeds because that's where cable traditionally

[30:34] um shows a big difference in performance than with a a full fiber optic network

[30:39] which gives the same speeds up and down. We call that symmetrical speed. So, what

[30:43] that image is showing is upload speeds from um uh from Delaware, uh a lot of

[30:51] Sussex County, and you can see the lower sort of the the greens and the blues,

[30:55] and though that represents slower upload speeds. So, that's that's one of the

[30:59] things that we look at when we target new markets and that and we definitely

[31:03] see that here in Sussex County. So we're excited to um to help um you know give

[31:09] these people an option and symmetrical speeds.

[31:13] Uh so I think everybody understands it but fiber optics is speed fiber it is

[31:19] broadband at the speed of light. We we operate on lasers. Um it does provide

[31:23] symmetrical speeds. Symmetrical speeds have become very very important in our

[31:27] lives that that those are the speeds that give us the right reliability when

[31:32] we're doing things like teams meetings where we're working at home. 40% of us

[31:36] now work full or part-time at home. These are your medical devices. These

[31:39] are your connection from your your business or your premise to the

[31:43] internet. Um so those upload speeds are very important. They're increasing at

[31:47] least 18% last year and probably more this year. So our our network our fully

[31:52] fiber network will will provide symmetrical speeds. We have our research

[31:59] shows us that a fiber connection to a premise can have a positive um increase

[32:04] in equity value maybe even up to 3.1%. The uh our our story here in Delaware is

[32:12] uh is a good one. Um, as was mentioned, we were the the initial uh company that

[32:19] uh made it through the priority um priority permitting system. Governor

[32:24] Meyers uh executive order 18. We are the initial company. We had a kickoff with

[32:29] the with the governor [snorts] two months ago and a round table and a press

[32:33] event. And we are very committed to uh this process. We are very committed to

[32:38] Delaware. Our investment in Delaware is between 150 and $160 million. We're

[32:44] going to be building 4,000 miles of brand new fiber optic network, probably

[32:49] twothirds of which here right here in Sussex County. If there is a community

[32:54] of note in Sussex County, we're having a similar conversation with them at the

[32:58] moment from Seafford all the way here all the way down to the Maryland border.

[33:02] So, it's a it's a big comprehensive project. We're extremely excited to be

[33:06] aligned with the governor and his priorities in terms of bringing this

[33:09] type of infrastructure and all of the economic benefits that come with it.

[33:15] Um I'm going to Dave I think this is this is I I'll just start that this is

[33:20] uh cabinet this is an active cabinet when we build our network fiber optics

[33:25] is a pass is mostly a passive medium for transporting internet but there is some

[33:31] electric in it. So this is a big difference with cable which is a which

[33:34] is largely a giant metal antenna with um a lot of electric and repeaters

[33:39] everywhere in it which is means when you have a power failure anywhere in your

[33:43] cable system you have a power failure and everything's down. Uh in our system,

[33:47] we have a a cabinet like that that we're showing right there. That'll uh service

[33:54] approximately 5,000 customers. And that is you can see that that is powered.

[33:59] That will have a generator and battery backup. That feeds passive cabinets,

[34:04] meaning no power. And those can handle two to 500 customers. And then the

[34:09] equipment in the home needs to be plugged in. Um but so from that cabinet

[34:14] to your home um it's it's a passive network.

[34:21] And Dave, do you want to talk a bit about

[34:25] Yeah. Hello everybody. Um so our construction process typically begins

[34:29] with obtaining all the necessary uh permits from the uh controlling

[34:33] municipality whether it's TEDOT or in this case uh the city of Rhobith. Um

[34:38] once we obtain those permits, our pre-construction process will begin with

[34:43] um our crews will uh deploy pre-construction door hangers to uh

[34:48] notify the uh the residents that we're passing of the construction process. It

[34:52] also um supplies a direct link to us for um for direct communication for any

[34:58] questions or concerns um you know before the construction process or during the

[35:02] construction process as well. So they can reach us directly. We have um a

[35:07] dedicated uh construction coordinator on site that will meet with uh anybody that

[35:12] has any questions or concerns, address their concerns uh directly during the

[35:16] process or or in front of the process as well. Um also a part of that pre

[35:19] pre-construction process is we will enter all uh miss utility notifications.

[35:25] Um once those uh those tickets are complete, we'll review them uh make sure

[35:31] that everything's set and ready for our crews to to deploy at that point. Uh the

[35:36] next step would be the actual construction process. So first step in

[35:39] the construction process will be uh test pitting. Oh, I'm sorry. Here's a

[35:44] screenshot of the pre-construction door hangers. As I just described, you can

[35:48] see it has a um Q QR code that would uh provide that direct communication back

[35:52] to us. Um I think a lot of instances goes straight to our construction

[35:56] coordinator that's local to the location and then come right out and meet with

[35:59] the uh the resident in that regard. Uh

[36:04] here's u more information on the actual construction process as I described

[36:08] pre-construction process um door hangers, mis utility call outs. Once

[36:12] those are complete, our um crews will begin the process with performing test

[36:16] fitting on the existing utilities so that they're protected during our

[36:19] installation methods. Um we try to be um underground as much as possible because

[36:24] it protects our infrastructure um much better than being on the on aerial pole

[36:29] lines. Um so before we can do that we need to test pit protect the existing

[36:34] utilities. Um that way when we uh install our conduit system which our our

[36:39] installation method is with a directional bore or pneumatic missile

[36:42] that'll be subgrade. Um we don't open cut we don't open trench. So the uh the

[36:47] impact to the soft surface is is minimized as much as possible. Um

[36:53] there are certainly a lot of areas within the city that there is no soft

[36:56] space. where we have to utilize aerial infrastructure where where those

[36:59] locations are are necessary. Um

[37:05] so during during that process with the crew placing uh the conduit underground

[37:09] we move it approximately a pace of a couple hundred feet to even a couple

[37:12] thousand feet per day. Kind of depends on uh the cleared miss utility tickets

[37:15] and the amount of utilities that are underground that we need to protect from

[37:18] the process. Uh during that process we'll um we'll install our conduits and

[37:24] our flush grade vaults. Uh Mark described one uh above grade uh cabinet

[37:29] that will service pretty much this entire area. So as far as uh any above

[37:34] ground infrastructure, you really won't see that. Everything's essentially flush

[37:38] to the ground. You'll see um a very small, we call them handholds, but

[37:42] they're um a small lid for us to access to be able to terminate and provide

[37:46] service to uh any customer that that requests service at that time. Um, and

[37:50] you'll see those approximately like every other house in the in the areas

[37:53] where we can perform uh soft space installation. Um, so within those a

[37:58] couple thousand feet a day, the crew moves pretty fast. We'll install the

[38:01] conduit, install the the handholds, we'll move on. So the impact from on a

[38:05] daily perspective is is moving very quickly from street to street very

[38:08] quickly. So you won't see um you shouldn't see repeated u disturbance on

[38:13] a specific street or specific area in multiple days. Usually one day move on

[38:17] in in a very successive manner. Um once that underground infrastructure is in

[38:21] place, the conduit handle instructions in place, the next step is to pull the

[38:24] the fiber cable through those conduit systems. Um that usually takes about a

[38:27] day or so. Um then once the cable is in place, we test it, verify it's

[38:32] sufficient for uh for service deployment and then we'll be able to uh release

[38:37] that for for order taking and uh and service installation for uh subscribers

[38:42] at that point. >> Um is that it? I'll take

[38:48] » um so a couple things that distinguishes IQ Viiber and one in particular we know

[38:53] that we're the only company in our industry at our size and scale that runs

[38:58] our very own customer contact center that means that when you call IQ Fiber

[39:03] with an issue with construction or question about your service um you're

[39:08] experiencing any kind of issue a human being will answer the phone and that

[39:13] human being it exists today in our uh headquarters in Jacksonville, Florida.

[39:18] Um and our average call to answer time is 19 seconds. You can also um contact

[39:26] by text, but same thing. It's not going to you're not having an AI experience

[39:30] anywhere in the mix. It's your it's a real honest to god human being. We do

[39:34] embed AI in the mix, but that only gets involved because it'll allow the person

[39:39] that you're talking to know who they're talking to, where you're located, and if

[39:44] our equipment has noticed any issues, all of that will be on their pane of

[39:48] glass. So, we and we do know that's that is an expensive way to do business um to

[39:53] run a call center. But the the thing that we have decided from day one where

[39:58] and yesterday was our 5-year anniversary uh was that we were going to be um the

[40:03] anti-cable company and from day one till day now that is uh that commitment is

[40:09] held and and obviously we have proven that with and by doing that we now have

[40:14] one of the highest uh customer service ratings in the industry. that's done by

[40:20] um there's a net promoter score which in our industry we have about an 80 which

[40:24] is that's very very good and for Google we mostly we ask for reviews on Google

[40:30] and they're 4.8 to 5.0 you know, so we're very proud of that. We work for

[40:34] that every single day. Um, again, this is, um, back to Dave, you know, and and

[40:40] and this is the I'll just emphasize that, um, as Dave said, uh, we're in and

[40:45] out as quickly as possible. What we disturbed, we will fix. It will be as

[40:49] good as before we came. Um, if it isn't, then, uh, we invite you to call us and

[40:55] we will fix it. And it's an opportunity for us again to prove that we um uh will

[41:00] listen that we do communicate. We listen we need to earn every bit of business

[41:05] that we have. It starts with the construction progress process. If we

[41:08] make emmonities we're not going to make customers, right? So um we uh you have

[41:14] my commitment here. You have Dave's commitment that this will we will work

[41:18] with the community to make sure that we leave things as good as we found them.

[41:23] Um I I think I went through all of this. The you know I started with the contact

[41:27] center. The last thing I'd like you guys to know about what makes us different.

[41:30] Um we don't have any contracts. Um we have transparent pricing. So what you

[41:36] see is what you get. It will be one price. It does include everything. And

[41:39] that includes the Wi-Fi equipment. There is no rental. And the Wi-Fi equipment

[41:44] that we use is state-of-the-art Wi-Fi 7. It does match with our five speeds. what

[41:50] we will build day one to the the residents in Rahobitth will be up to 10

[41:55] gig capacity. We only have a package up to five gigs. That's because we can't

[41:59] Wi-Fi doesn't support anything more than 5 gigs, but when it does, we'll offer a

[42:03] 10 gig pro um package as well to our customers. So, it's it's it's um

[42:09] contract free um and you just pay for it monthto month. If you don't like us, if

[42:14] we haven't earned your business, then that's it.

[42:17] Um, these are our prices today. Um, from $65 to $125 for 5 gigs of bandwidth,

[42:25] which is an enormous amount of bandwidth, but it's it's real. That is

[42:28] the capacity that you'll have in your house. Um,

[42:33] we do businesses. Um, these are what we call our small business prices. These

[42:37] would be, you know, sort of your um, what you see along here on the your mom

[42:41] and pop businesses. We also do and we we support a much much larger businesses

[42:45] and have various products for those DIA and others. But for purposes of your um

[42:51] typical business here in Rahobitth, that's that's what we would we would

[42:55] charge. Um we're uh we we've talked about the

[43:01] Delaware story. Our backing, our main backer is SEC Capital. They are a a a an

[43:07] infrastructure fund, one of the largest in the country. All they all they fund

[43:11] is infrastructure and um we're one of I think three platforms and we're one of

[43:16] their largest platforms. Our banking partners JP Morgan Chase, all of the

[43:21] money for this project and all of Delaware has already been booked

[43:26] and that's it. Any questions? >> Um

[43:32] I believe I heard you indicate that some of the uh lines might be aerial and some

[43:37] underground. Is that is that what you said?

[43:40] » Yeah, that'd be accurate. Where where there's not sufficient uh soft surface

[43:43] space for us to install within the uh the approved rightway. Uh we may need to

[43:47] utilize aerial infrastructure to uh to service those customers along the

[43:51] » I I just want to share I guess with the city manager primarily uh that uh that

[43:58] my my ideal would be that there is no aerial uh lines that are all put

[44:04] underground. Uh and uh also my ideal would be anou or

[44:11] some kind of clause that indicates that if in the future

[44:16] uh we do underground any utilities uh part particularly in the commercial area

[44:22] or something uh that they need to relocate uh um put them underground at

[44:28] their own expense. So, I don't know if that fits in there, but I'm trying to be

[44:33] anticipatory into the future uh and u make sure that uh we accommodate

[44:40] ourselves in first place. Uh is there anybody else? Commissioner Stewart,

[44:46] » I have a couple questions and a comment and I have a question for the solicitor,

[44:50] but um thank you and you seem like nice gentlemen. You know, we had a little

[44:54] hiccup where your crew started on a city street. It happens to be my street and

[44:59] and a a a woman found her right ofway being dug up. So I guess that was a

[45:05] little bit of a you know it was something we didn't ask for we were

[45:09] getting and um >> uh is it correct that the only digging

[45:14] will be on in the right of way? >> Yeah, that's correct. Unless we obtain a

[45:19] road of entry from that specific property owner. Yeah, we would only stay

[45:23] within the the permissible right ofway >> and the handheld is only when they

[45:27] subscribe to the service. >> Uh the the the handholds are a part of

[45:31] the the permanent infrastructure >> in the right of way.

[45:34] » Within the rightway, correct? Um they're set in a way that uh any specific

[45:39] resident who subscribes, >> we would not need to traverse another uh

[45:44] neighbor's property to to access them. >> Okay. And then um I guess lastly just

[45:51] for context, we we as a city don't have a right to say we don't want this. Is

[45:56] that correct? >> That is correct.

[45:58] » Thank you. >> The only thing we can do is govern how

[46:00] it is they exist.

[46:06] » Chris, Commissioner Galani, and then Commissioner Saunders.

[46:10] » Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um a couple of questions for you guys. Um, first of

[46:14] all, um, can you tell us where the hub cabinet location will be?

[46:21] » I I have to look at the engineering to to pinpoint that exactly for it, but I

[46:24] can get you that information. Um, >> it looks like it's a relatively

[46:29] large structure. >> It's approximately Yeah,

[46:33] » like like a bit of a smaller mediumiz. >> I'm sure most of our city residents

[46:37] wouldn't be too happy if it appeared in front of their house. Yeah, it would be

[46:40] it would likely be within a delta out right away location um outside of the

[46:44] the residential area. Certainly >> that that's my point and my hope is that

[46:48] it would be in a commercial district and somewhere that it's not going to be a

[46:51] nuisance for for neighbors. >> Yeah, we typically place it more in like

[46:56] a hightra area. Um >> Okay.

[46:59] » But we'll we can get that specific information for you if you like. Uh

[47:02] » thank you. I I would like that. Um absolutely and appreciate that. Um and

[47:05] then the second question that I have is um how many passive cabinets are there

[47:08] going to be and what are the locations of those?

[47:11] » Uh same thing like one passive cabinet typically uh services approximately 7 to

[47:16] 800 homes. Um I think Mark was a little bit short on on the number there. So

[47:20] once again um that's a pretty pretty dense area. Um so you won't see them a

[47:26] lot of places and those are much smaller. They're they're kind of like uh

[47:29] I think they're about maybe three foot high by like two foot wide,

[47:33] » but those will be in the residential district.

[47:35] » They they would probably be somewhere located within those more centralized to

[47:38] to those areas within the the 700 home groupings. Correct.

[47:41] » I'd appreciate getting the locations of those as well.

[47:43] » Yep. We'll get you those. >> Um great. Next question is what is the

[47:46] trench depth for the for the uh wire? >> We we typically go between two to three

[47:52] foot deep. Um, usually it's dictated by the uh the pering mun uh the peritting

[47:57] entity whether it's Dell DOT or um or the city itself. A lot of public works

[48:02] uh teams like us to be just above the uh the water and sewer infrastructure. So

[48:06] they like us to live somewhere between that two foot range give or take

[48:09] depending on how the services are are run to the houses at that point. So we

[48:13] recently went through um experience with um power line cutting by uh the power

[48:20] company and the a lot of our tree canopy was um negatively impacted. So I'm just

[48:26] concerned about the the roots in the trees and

[48:31] » um it would be you know who who do you contract the work out or is it is it IQ

[48:40] Fiber that's actually doing the installation? you know, we we have

[48:43] contractors that do the work for us under our direct supervision.

[48:46] » Yeah, it would be helpful for us to be able to have an opportunity to

[48:49] communicate with them to make sure that the impact to our trees as well as um

[48:56] things that are in the public right of way. We have um you know neighbors in

[49:01] this community particularly in North Rhobit where they've probably done quite

[49:04] a bit of landscaping that is in the public right of way. So my point is I

[49:08] would like to minimize the impact. >> Absolutely. Yes.

[49:12] » Um the next question that I have is about the and this is maybe more for the

[49:18] city manager and for the city on the communication that we are I saw the door

[49:23] door hangers part part of your presentation but I I feel like we need

[49:28] to do something ourselves um either in lines of the sand or something to give

[49:33] neighbors a heads up. I I'm just trying to be proactive here because it's going

[49:37] to come back to us, right? We're going to have to be triaging a lot of

[49:40] commentary and feedback. And if we're proactive in making sure that our

[49:45] residents know that this is coming and not just waiting for a door hanger, you

[49:49] know, that they may or may not see because we have a lot of part-time

[49:53] residents. Um, I really encourage us to be smart with our communications

[49:57] department and forwardleaning so that people know. Yeah, I'm sure our

[50:02] communications division can definitely um work with IQ Fibers communications

[50:07] team and get information out as you know they're working on certain streets. For

[50:11] sure. >> Thank you.

[50:12] » Um can I so just um because this has come up before um and I should have

[50:17] probably mentioned that we do have a community relations team whose job is

[50:22] specifically that um and so we we would love to be proactive. Here's some things

[50:26] we've done in the past. We've done kickoff events. We've hosted town halls.

[50:31] » Um we enjoy those. We we'll fund them. We'll we'll make them an event that

[50:36] hopefully people want to come to. >> Um all in the um with the goal of making

[50:41] sure that these inquiries come to us um because ultimately that's where they're

[50:46] going to need to be addressed. So we do want to have as many relationships at

[50:50] that people level. And so yes um we will work with with this team to make sure

[50:55] that we're doing that. We will work with a communications cadence um that makes

[51:00] sense. Dave and his team have weekly meetings with various communities today

[51:04] to talk about this thing either at the department uh transportation level or

[51:09] public works level or town manager level. Whatever whatever you guys would

[51:13] prefer, we would prefer as well that we have very open, very robust

[51:18] communication from here until whenever. >> It's good to hear that. um you know,

[51:24] knowing our residents, I'm sure they're going to be reaching out directly to our

[51:29] city government. So, having that cadence of uh communication set up between our

[51:34] two teams and the coordination, I think, is critical. And I'm seeing heads

[51:38] nodding. So, thank you for that, >> Commissioner Saunders. And then,

[51:43] Commissioner, >> to be clear, there will be no new polls.

[51:46] Is that correct? You'll use existing polls in every case.

[51:49] » Yeah. Yeah. We we're not um we we would only utilize existing pole

[51:55] line infrastructure if need be. We we certainly prefer to be underground. Like

[51:58] I said, it's much more protected. >> Well, that's we're aiming to going

[52:00] underground completely at some time in the future. So,

[52:03] » yeah, you would >> if if that happens, especially the pole

[52:06] owners, be it um I'm not sure if it's >> Can explain to me please, and I I'm

[52:10] ignorant on this. Can you tell me how you get from your wire in the street to

[52:14] my house? you go. >> It would be depending on if it's

[52:18] underground or or aerial, we would um install an underground a direct buried

[52:23] fiber optic drop cable from our termination point, which should be in

[52:26] front of your house or between you and your neighbor directly to the

[52:29] termination point on the side of your house. They would place that either

[52:32] utilizing um a vibratory plow, which is kind of like a more of a heavier unit,

[52:37] or um they would actually use a um a spade shovel, as we kind of call it, to

[52:42] to knife it in at about 10 inches deep. And then do I need to buy any special

[52:46] equipment for it to work inside my house?

[52:48] » You know, we supply everything. >> Okay. Thank you.

[52:50] » Yes, sir. >> Commissioner, good.

[52:53] » Uh, thank you for the presentation. I I need to understand your business model a

[52:58] little better. Just because I'm I'm looking I'll just be honest. We we have

[53:03] been Comcast customers here for many many years and we're long-term customers

[53:10] and um with the exception of the snow storm of well several snowstorms and and

[53:15] then one instance when a FedEx box truck hit a Comcast I believe aerial cable

[53:21] which knocked out internet for about five hours. It's it's generally been

[53:25] reliable, but I'm uh we [clears throat] are paying well our our sort of rack

[53:30] rate is $59.99 a month for extremely uh you know fairly fast internet and we put

[53:36] a lot of demands on the internet. You know, we work from home. Um anyway, that

[53:41] but we because we're we agreed to autodebit some years ago, we actually

[53:46] are paying $49.99 a month. And I'm just wondering, you you show rates beginning

[53:51] at $65 a month for a residential customer. Um Oh, in addition, I know you

[53:56] supply all equipment, but we purchased equipment for about $30 full stop, I

[54:01] think, five or more years ago. So, I don't I'm I'm curious as to whether

[54:06] those, you know, launch rates um are working for you in other markets because

[54:12] of what I see. you know, Comcast and Verizon tends to match Comcast in areas

[54:16] where you have both Comcast and Verizon as you've probably noticed, but you have

[54:20] a little duopoly going on there. And I believe there's a third player, Cox

[54:25] Communication. I have friends to the west in Millsboro who also have the

[54:29] option. So if you if you'd kindly explain

[54:33] how this pricing structure is going to appeal to enough residents in this city

[54:40] or do you have some possibility of lowering your rates to more like $50 a

[54:45] month for you know for the starting um you know the the uh initial or the sort

[54:51] of basic package. >> Yeah. So, um, so I'll start with this.

[54:55] The our our business, we have shown in every single market we've ever been to,

[55:00] we have the situation where there's always an incumbent cable company. Um,

[55:06] and there's always competitive pricing. What we have found that um, within about

[55:11] 24 months, we'll end up with 40% of the customers. Here's why. Um again we we

[55:18] provide a different type of service um symmetrical bandwidth and and what we

[55:24] provide is it's it's priced differently because it is different um fundamentally

[55:30] to people realize that there when you take out all the hidden fees the things

[55:35] that um you don't have to pay for with us for instance um your equipment

[55:40] experience 5 years ago is is I think commissioner good you would find is much

[55:44] different if you go to Best Buy day and look at, for instance, the Wi-Fi unit

[55:48] that we'll put into your home, it's north of $800. So, it's a it's a big

[55:53] uplift in equipment because we're doing much more horsepower. You know, 5 gigs

[55:57] through the air. Um, and if we need a repeater, for instance, if you have a

[56:01] larger house with many walls, we're going to walk around our our technician

[56:05] before they leave and they're going to make sure that that throughput is seen

[56:09] throughout your residence. And if we need to, we'll put a repeater again at

[56:12] our expense. So we do those sorts of things that earn us customers. We're not

[56:16] we're not looking to be the lowest cost. I think the ultimate for your community

[56:20] and all communities really is choice because at the end of the day um that's

[56:25] going to you know if if at the end of the day in order to get the numbers that

[56:28] we need I we I guess we will lower our prices. We haven't had to yet um but

[56:34] maybe we will but that will be because of competition. That's because there'll

[56:37] be uh you know us giving it our best effort, Comcast. And so yeah, [snorts]

[56:42] that's I mean that's our business plan. It's it's been working. Um it's you know

[56:46] our funders like it. Our success has been decent um to to really good and um

[56:52] we we we fully expect to do very well in Rahobit as a potential alternative. So

[56:58] just to follow up, so your market penetration in places like South

[57:01] Carolina, what percentage of the market um have you captured within like five

[57:06] years? >> We well within 24 months were expected

[57:11] to capture between 35 and 40% and we've been tracking to that. Some of our

[57:15] initial cabinets that have been in longer are approaching 60% penetration

[57:19] and more. >> And you haven't been in any markets for

[57:21] 24 continuous months. >> Oh yeah, we have. All of those um

[57:24] markets are in Florida. Those were our initial markets. We haven't been in

[57:28] South Car South Carolina is um less than two years old, right?

[57:31] » Oh, let's worry about let's focus on Florida then. Like what's your market

[57:35] share in Florida after say okay 24 months?

[57:39] » We we we just I was just on a board meeting two days ago and um the average

[57:44] penetration is around 50%. So, >> thank you Suzanne.

[57:48] » Yeah, Commissioner Stewart, >> uh I have one quick question because

[57:52] because our street was all marked up for this. The lines that go on my lawn, the

[57:57] big red line that's been painted on my lawn is not in the right of way. Is that

[58:02] just telling somebody something? It's You're not intending. You told me you're

[58:07] not going to dig on my lawn. >> Yeah.

[58:09] » But [clears throat] I I think this would help because people haven't had the

[58:11] experience. We We've got green lines. We got yellow lines. We got red lines. I've

[58:16] got a manhole cover in my rightway that you've now painted bright blue. Thank

[58:20] you. Um so to that probably saves some time if you tell us how this what these

[58:26] all mean to us. >> Yeah. So so if you're seeing color lines

[58:30] out there after the M those are the existing infrastructure lines. So red

[58:33] being power. Okay. >> Um and a lot of those uh infrastructures

[58:36] were put in place like like uh you know your power and your Verizon typically

[58:41] usually those are the two big things that were installed probably when your

[58:43] development was was done many many years ago. So, they required put in in a

[58:47] public utility rightaway, which is kind which a lot of times falls outside of

[58:51] the the municipal rightway. So, they might be a little bit further in the

[58:54] yard at that point. Um, we'll be installing within the the permissible

[58:57] right away at that point. Um, but if you're seeing

[59:00] » the what I think of as the rightway, not the utility rightway that's in my yard.

[59:04] Is that what you're saying? Okay. >> Yeah.

[59:06] » Um, like I said, if if you're seeing color lines, that's existing

[59:09] infrastructure. Okay. Um when we do our preconstruction uh preparations, you

[59:14] might see us all we call it white lining. So white paint is proposed, but

[59:19] if it's colored, that's that's existing. So you know, your blue is your water,

[59:22] » yellow is going to be your your gas. Uh the two big ones that we try to really

[59:27] protect obviously is the power and the gas.

[59:28] » That' be good because those are the dangerous ones, but you know, everything

[59:31] we we will protect and and test pit and make sure that they don't get damaged

[59:35] during our installation process. >> Okay. Thank you,

[59:38] » Commissioner Gossip. Yes, [clears throat] thank you. Uh, are you

[59:41] currently operating in any other Delaware municipalities?

[59:45] » Yes. Uh, so we are in U Millsboro, right? We've we've begun in Mills.

[59:52] » Well, we're we're beginning construction in Milsboro.

[59:55] » Any any active where you have customers online?

[59:58] » Yes. So, we started in um South Do um those are I mean they're not towns like

[1:00:04] Rahobitis, but they're communities like Magnolia and Highland Acres. And so yes,

[1:00:09] we and we've been we've had lit customers there since what April.

[1:00:14] » Yes, since April. I think we're up to 400 customers. [clears throat]

[1:00:17] » Less less than a year. >> Yeah. Months. Months. And we're up to

[1:00:20] 400. >> And you mentioned also that installation

[1:00:23] will be done by subcontractors. >> Yes. That we directly supervise.

[1:00:27] » Okay. Um and [clears throat] building, you know, prices look

[1:00:31] interesting, whatever. But with like Comcast, which I'm used to, there's

[1:00:34] additional for telephone and TV and streaming and that. Are these all add-on

[1:00:38] aspects to these baseline prices? >> We do we we only provide internet. So if

[1:00:42] you're going to have >> No, there's no TV. No

[1:00:44] » no no. If you're gonna um if if you choose to go with us and you have an

[1:00:48] existing over-the-top streaming process, our technicians will go through before

[1:00:53] they leave. They'll make sure that that's all working on the new system.

[1:00:55] But no, we do not have we don't have any television projects. We don't have any

[1:00:59] like typical cable products. Uh we don't do telephone. um we all we do is what we

[1:01:05] do. And why we do that is because um [snorts]

[1:01:09] we don't want to partner with a company that maybe doesn't have the um the

[1:01:14] commitment to the customer service that we do and and if we did that and and in

[1:01:18] there it was suboptimal then it's going to affect all of us. So we stick to what

[1:01:22] we do and what we know what we build and what we operate.

[1:01:26] And I guess [clears throat] question is this for solicitor city manager is this

[1:01:29] an exclusive agreement that we're signing?

[1:01:33] » No. If you look at the contract it says that um we have the right to contract

[1:01:38] with anyone else as well. >> I but also [clears throat] I just

[1:01:42] question how we came to the terms um uh under 2.2. That's a 15-year contract and

[1:01:48] then an automatic renewal of 15 years. And is that typical for what you're

[1:01:53] negotiating with the rest of the Delaware or do we know or how did we

[1:01:56] arrive at those 15 and 15? >> It's my understanding that it is we are

[1:02:00] atypical. Um they had requested 30 years and we felt that that was far too long.

[1:02:05] So we only great agreed to 15 years. >> And commissioner just one thing on the

[1:02:12] phone and TV aspect. So I know a lot of people like landlines and TV. So, there

[1:02:21] are products out there that residents could get if they did decide to do this,

[1:02:24] like a a VIP phone. Um, and then there are cable. Um,

[1:02:30] » so they would be adding add-on costs. >> They would just have to do that

[1:02:34] themselves. Yeah. >> As we are all technically acknowledged

[1:02:37] of how to do that. Um with that [laughter]

[1:02:42] » and I'm just curious also in our code um we have a fee for utility poles and

[1:02:47] cables of $5 and I know we're [clears throat] um going to update fees

[1:02:53] and uh codes in the in the future but just curious is that defined as $5 one

[1:02:59] time over or $5 for every cable or do we know any details on that? Now, we

[1:03:03] haven't done this in many, many years, but if it's five bucks total, I think we

[1:03:09] need to reinvestigate that. That's the fee charged to the supplier.

[1:03:15] So, >> fair enough.

[1:03:21] » All right. Uh if we go back to the agenda item report,

[1:03:26] uh the action that they're trying to uh get out of us today is uh the proposed

[1:03:33] motion is to approve agreement for the installation of a fiber optic broadband

[1:03:39] network between the city of Rahovit Beach and IQ Fiber. Uh let's take a

[1:03:43] quick break and go to the members of the public. Does anybody have any comments

[1:03:48] they'd like to say? Nancy and then Deb.

[1:03:53] And we'll come back to this table before we vote.

[1:03:57] » Thank you, Chief. Um, two things just both on aesthetics. That bigger box that

[1:04:02] serves seven or 800 people, I wonder if it has a geological

[1:04:08] radius because we're we're diffused. We're spread out. We're not a dense

[1:04:12] population. So, if you see seven or 800, you think, well, most we'd have two of

[1:04:16] those in town. But, can we check on that? is it um I if if if they have to

[1:04:22] be within a certain radius, we might need more of those boxes and we wouldn't

[1:04:27] want a bunch of them there because we really care about aesthetics. So that

[1:04:30] would be my first point and my second point is I do understand that the

[1:04:34] handhole would be flush to the ground. For those of us who have little strips

[1:04:40] of land between the sidewalk and the street that we're required to mow but

[1:04:45] still may be with the city, could the handhold go there or where would the

[1:04:49] handhold go? Does anyone know? >> Thank you, Nancy.

[1:04:55] » Yeah, once again, I mean, I'd have to check the specific engineering for uh

[1:04:59] the location you're describing. Like said, we have to install within the

[1:05:01] permissible rightway. If that's our location within there, then yeah, it

[1:05:05] would go within I always call that the beauty strip, which is definitely

[1:05:08] between the curb and the sidewalk. If uh if that's not a sufficient spacing and

[1:05:12] there's right away on the back side of the sidewalk, that's where we would

[1:05:15] install the uh the flush grade handhole. And as far as for the um your your first

[1:05:20] uh inquiry about the uh the large uh cabinet that was in the picture, that

[1:05:25] that services 5,000 customers. So there's only one with in all of Hobbit

[1:05:30] that would be that the the smaller ones that would that would service

[1:05:34] approximately 700 plus houses. They're like I said about 2 by3 and they located

[1:05:39] usually put them like maybe like um a corner and infrastructure somewhere

[1:05:42] that's as inconspicuous as possible. Um but you would see them like I said

[1:05:46] geolog like you said um within a radius of that those those customers there

[1:05:51] disperses accurately. >> Thank you Deb.

[1:05:56] Identify yourself. Thank you. [laughter]

[1:06:00] » My name is Deb Ward. I'm resident at 339 Hickman Street. I am also a former

[1:06:06] Verizon FiOS employee. Um, so couple questions because I'm familiar with

[1:06:12] that. Um, one thing that we always talked about at

[1:06:16] least at Verizon is the benefit that we were providing with the FiOS um, fiber

[1:06:22] cable is that it's fiber to the home versus sharing bandwidth. And I can

[1:06:27] speak glad you get great con Comcast service because I can tell you I've had

[1:06:32] that's why I'm gray pretty much. Um, I notice I notice a change in service as

[1:06:40] our city um, uh, population expands during the summer. Um, because

[1:06:47] now you got more people that are using that service and now you're you don't

[1:06:50] have as much bandwidth. So, just to confirm, we would have fiber to the home

[1:06:56] and it's not shared bandwidth. Correct. >> Yeah, confirming that. Um, yeah, thank

[1:07:00] you for that. So yeah, what your experience is in an overloaded cable

[1:07:03] node. As you know from your experience at FiOS, yes, it is fiber to the home.

[1:07:07] We we build right now our minimum backbone speed is 100 gigabits and

[1:07:12] that's drilled two different directions to Equinex and then a data center in

[1:07:17] Baltimore and then it's TIG gig capacity to the home but 100 gig, you know, right

[1:07:23] on on the laterals. So yeah, we we build and then we monitor that very quickly in

[1:07:28] the industry usually like you know they they act as you know like if it gets

[1:07:32] over 60% utilization we're way below that. So we will just add capacity to

[1:07:38] make sure that we always want to be able to brag about the capacity that we're

[1:07:42] able to give our customers. And then if I may follow up. So again back in those

[1:07:49] days when Verizon was looking to expand FiOS this was not seen as a desirable

[1:07:56] area because of the influx of population. So I just want to confirm

[1:08:01] but because of what the governor is initiating that's what's really kind of

[1:08:06] bringing you to us to say as all of Delaware we want to we want to make this

[1:08:11] available and Rahobit is just one area that we

[1:08:15] also think is going to benefit. >> Yeah. in part. Um, yes, the governor, so

[1:08:19] Delaware, I will say, um, in all honesty, has been extremely good to work

[1:08:24] with and was a a factor in okaying this, um, immense amount of money that we're

[1:08:33] spending. Yes. Um, been in the industry long enough to know, I remember those

[1:08:37] days. Yes. When you were looking for contracts and you were doing different

[1:08:40] things. Um it's even, you know, um our ROI is is uh dependent on our customer

[1:08:46] service. We don't even have contracts. So, yeah, we're making a big commitment

[1:08:50] to >> to to Delaware. Um we understand that

[1:08:53] some of the the um >> you know, the cost of doing business

[1:08:57] here are there are a lot of HOA communities, there are a lot of um

[1:09:01] smaller communities, there are a lot of these conversations that need to be

[1:09:05] have. So we had to in terms of not only just the money but the resources to

[1:09:09] commit to the entire project because that's really what it's going to take.

[1:09:13] » Yeah. Don't underestimate the impact of the cost of what building this

[1:09:19] infrastructure is. Um two maybe two more questions. So for the equipment um I

[1:09:25] know there's we had a box on the outside of the house kind of similar a little

[1:09:30] bit bigger than what you may have now with a Comcast box. Is there something

[1:09:34] on the outside of the house as well as on the inside?

[1:09:37] » Yeah, we we'll typ typically place a net on the exterior of the home. Um I think

[1:09:40] Verizon Fires a lot of times used an active box on the exterior that they

[1:09:44] transition to Ethernet into the home. >> We don't we just use a very small

[1:09:49] passive demark uh nid on the outside. So it transitions from our exterior drop

[1:09:53] cable to the in interior uh drop line that goes into your home to your uh to

[1:09:58] your router and switch >> and then

[1:10:01] » but it's it's very small. It's like a probably like that big. Like it's

[1:10:04] extremely small and inconspicuous. >> And then again with the technology, you

[1:10:08] know, the router as as time goes on, the technology in improves. You're you're

[1:10:14] offering this equipment as part of the contract price. Correct.

[1:10:18] » Does that also include down the road upgrades to equipment if necessary?

[1:10:24] » Yeah, it is. And there there's no contract that just um we we own and

[1:10:27] maintain that. We do the firmware upgrades remotely and then we're always

[1:10:31] looking for opportunities to upgrade the speed. As I said, we want to match as

[1:10:35] soon as possible >> um from 5 to 10 and and and get into

[1:10:38] that. So, yeah, we will we we we will monitor that and upgrade that would we

[1:10:43] would just send it. That's a plug-and-play that the customer can do

[1:10:46] » and and does does that equipment box that's in the home have a battery

[1:10:50] backup? >> It doesn't. It doesn't. But um it can

[1:10:53] live on your really your less expensive battery backup um because it's it

[1:10:59] doesn't draw that much electricity. So even a smaller battery backup would run

[1:11:02] at probably 24 hours, >> right?

[1:11:05] » Yeah. Okay. >> Thank you, Dev.

[1:11:08] » Will we get an idea of timing of when this is happening?

[1:11:12] » Of course. Yes. >> Yes. But we can't do anything until the

[1:11:16] contract is approved, which is why we're waiting to see.

[1:11:21] » Anybody else? >> We'll bring it back up here. Uh Taylor,

[1:11:26] do you want to or Lisa, do you want to uh

[1:11:34] » say anything further? >> No.

[1:11:36] » No. >> Okay. So, uh again, the uh the motion

[1:11:40] the the agreement is a support document. Uh, Commissioner Stewart, you had uh

[1:11:45] » I was going to move >> else you wanted to say

[1:11:47] » I had another question, >> Mr. Mayor.

[1:11:53] » Uh, Commissioner Good. >> So, I'm worried about jumping into this

[1:11:58] until we have a better better idea of comparable um options. My my issue is

[1:12:06] that, you know, I'm I'm I'm looking at your pricing and it seems to be the

[1:12:12] older business model of Comcast and Verizon where people would rent

[1:12:16] equipment through Comcast and Verizon each month and everyone wanted to get

[1:12:21] away from that because the the net cost the monthly cost kept rising because the

[1:12:26] rental and then you know the federal taxes. So whereas you know you are

[1:12:30] giving this all-inclusive price that includes the equipment and includes you

[1:12:34] know eventually you're saying you'll state-of-the-art equipment upgrades. I'm

[1:12:38] nervous about that pricing model because it's it's a little bit outdated now in

[1:12:44] in terms of what the you know the big players in this market Verizon and

[1:12:47] Comcast are um are have been using for probably almost a decade now. So I I

[1:12:54] just I I'm not you know I I think rushing into this today [snorts] would

[1:12:59] be premature but you know others obviously have you know different

[1:13:03] opinions. >> Thank you Suzanne. Susan

[1:13:05] » mayor I'd like to make a motion to approve the agreement for the

[1:13:09] installation of a fiber optic broadband network between the city of Rahobath and

[1:13:14] IQ Fiber um LLC.

[1:13:18] » Second it. Uh we have a motion and a second to approve the agreement uh here

[1:13:22] in for the installation of a fiber optic broadband network between city ro beach

[1:13:27] and IQ Fiber LLC. Um uh all those in favor signify by saying I

[1:13:35] » I >> I those opposed.

[1:13:37] » Mayor I abstain. I don't feel as if we have enough information to make an

[1:13:40] informed decision on this. Thank you. >> Okay.

[1:13:44] » I'll I'll abstain as well. But we uh and the record will show that uh all the

[1:13:49] commissioners voted yes uh but for Commissioner Gossit and Commissioner

[1:13:54] [snorts] Good who abstained. >> Very good. Gentlemen, thank you for

[1:13:59] coming here today. >> Uh no, I'm going to do the proclamation

[1:14:04] now.

[1:14:09] » Well, let's

[1:14:14] do this.

[1:14:33] » [clears throat]

[1:14:36] » You're not going to come. You're good. >> Up here. Okay. Uh my uh

[1:14:43] my group was supposed to come here to represent the uh ovarian cancer

[1:14:48] survivors and I don't know where they are. They're stuck on Highway Route One.

[1:14:53] So uh I've asked the uh mayor elect Susan Stewart to to join me today. This

[1:15:00] is a proclamation for ovarian cancer awareness month September 20 26. Whereas

[1:15:07] ovarian cancer is the deadliest of all female reproductive system cancers.

[1:15:12] And whereas the American Cancer Society estimates that in 2026

[1:15:18] over 21,10 women will be newly diagnosed with

[1:15:22] ovarian cancer. And whereas in 2025 it is estimated that approximately 12,450

[1:15:30] women will die in the United States from ovarian cancer.

[1:15:35] Many women are not diagnosed until the disease has begun to spread. But if the

[1:15:40] disease is detected at its earliest state, stage one, the 5year survival

[1:15:46] rate is more than 92%. Symptoms of ovarian cancer are often

[1:15:51] subtle and easily confused with other ailments. And whereas one in 91 women

[1:15:58] will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer during their lifetime.

[1:16:03] Whereas during ovarian cancer awareness month, we honor the loved ones we have

[1:16:08] lost to this disease and all those who battle it today. And we continue our

[1:16:14] work to improve care and raise awareness about ovarian cancer. And whereas that

[1:16:20] is why it is important for all women to pay attention to their bodies and know

[1:16:24] what is normal for them. Women who experience unexplained changes including

[1:16:29] abdominal pain, pressure and swelling should talk with their health care

[1:16:34] providers. And whereas ovarian cancer and the hardship it brings have affected

[1:16:39] too many lives. This September we stand with everyone who has been touched by

[1:16:44] this disease and we recognize all those committed to advancing the fight against

[1:16:49] the cancer through research, advocacy and quality care. And now therefore we

[1:16:55] mayor Mills board vice president Patrick >> Gosset and President-elect

[1:17:02] » mayor

[1:17:05] [laughter] >> mayor

[1:17:07] Stewart hereby proclaim September 2026 as

[1:17:13] ovarian cancer awareness month. Together let us renew our commitment to reducing

[1:17:18] the impact of ovarian cancer and to a future free from cancer in all form

[1:17:24] proclaimed as 21st day of August 2026. Stan Mills and Patrick Gosset. So, thank

[1:17:30] you. >> Thank you, Mayor.

[1:17:32] [applause]

[1:17:38] » Thank you. Thank you for joining me up here.

[1:18:04] Who knows the presiding officer? >> I think you're in charge for the

[1:18:09] » president can do it. [laughter]

[1:18:14] » All right, Mr. Tedar, if you'd like to begin your report.

[1:18:19] Thank you. This item is the uh review and discuss

[1:18:24] the request for information submissions received for our potential master

[1:18:27] planning initiative. As you know, earlier this year, the city released a

[1:18:32] request for information um looking for master planning services.

[1:18:37] And so the RFI really is a information gathering session. So, for those of you

[1:18:42] that have looked at the packet, um I included the actual RFI itself that the

[1:18:47] city um authored and sent out to over two dozen uh planning firms. And then we

[1:18:55] received four responses uh one from Dover Colon Partners, one from Rossi

[1:19:01] Group, Tool Design, and Wallace Montgomery. Um, and then I also included

[1:19:07] the uh zoning code update presentation that Dover Cole did for the city um not

[1:19:13] too long ago. So ultimately really what we're looking for is to try to come up

[1:19:20] with a scope of work and after the sharet week and the work that Do Cole

[1:19:25] has done so far, um staff's recommendation is to move forward with

[1:19:30] Dover Cole. What I'd like to do is have the board of commissioners um authorize

[1:19:34] me to go back to do coal and try to come up with a scope of work um for us uh

[1:19:40] with a specific price because the the pricing really can vary depending on

[1:19:45] what components are in the actual master planning efforts. Um the city's never

[1:19:51] had an economic development um analysis performed on our commercial corridor.

[1:19:57] Um, but we've had a lot of other studies done such as parking and transportation

[1:20:02] and those are already being they've already been reviewed and used by Dover

[1:20:07] Cole. So those are things that we wouldn't need um to do again. Um, so

[1:20:12] ultimately, um, in speaking with Joe Cole, it does sound like we could land

[1:20:17] in the 2 to 300 range, under 300,000, um, which we did budget for planning

[1:20:25] services, um, in the budget. But, um, ultimately, if you do authorize me to go

[1:20:31] back to do Cole and ask for a formalized scope of work to really show all of the

[1:20:36] pieces of what this would entail, I would bring that back to you for your

[1:20:39] approval. Mr. Tedar, am I correct that

[1:20:43] Commissioner Saunders, >> I'm sorry. Am I correct that that would

[1:20:47] dovetail with what do Cole is currently doing for us?

[1:20:51] » Yes. So, it would build upon that for a greater vision of what our what our

[1:20:56] downtown. >> You would not be paying twice for the

[1:20:59] same product. >> Correct.

[1:21:00] » Very good. >> Because right now they're only focused

[1:21:03] on our commercial zoning code. >> Thank you,

[1:21:06] » Mr. Mayor. >> Commissioner Good.

[1:21:10] So, um, those of you, uh, I think all of us here did see the July 17th

[1:21:15] presentation which culminated over Kohl's, uh, spending, I think, four

[1:21:20] working days in the city with the Cherrettes. And that 150,000 in the end,

[1:21:26] well, it brought four consultants up from Florida, you know, that we had to

[1:21:29] fund. Um, had exactly two recommendations. One of which seemed um

[1:21:36] which was one was to obviate the two parking space requirement for mix for

[1:21:41] new mixeduse um properties which seemed odd because those properties typically

[1:21:46] do do need off- streetet parking. And the other one was to tweak the 42

[1:21:53] foot height maximum if if they if the um renovation or the new construction

[1:22:01] had a more aesthetically aesthetically superior way to maybe sort of have part

[1:22:07] of the roof be a little above 42 feet, but most of it comply with the 42 feet,

[1:22:13] which seemed like a maybe a reasonable thing to consider. I I felt city staff

[1:22:18] and and citizens would be able to make that decision without a a consultant.

[1:22:23] What concerns me is that a lot of this master planning, it's it's government

[1:22:28] spending. government spending, which means the taxpayers and the rateayers

[1:22:32] here are funding this, which normally the board of commissioners were tasked

[1:22:37] with police, fire, and infrastructure. And the all these consultancies end up

[1:22:43] being a lot of sessions with getting feedback from mostly amateurs in my

[1:22:49] view. And it seems redundant with the CDP, which were mandated to do every 10

[1:22:55] years. So, I'm very concerned that someone for some reason is enamored of

[1:23:02] Dover Cole in spite of very minimal, underwhelming

[1:23:07] uh output from their $150,000 consultancy, which we saw, if you watch

[1:23:14] the July 17th 2M meeting, see for yourself if that is how we should be

[1:23:21] spending the public's money. I think not. So I will obviously be voting

[1:23:26] against uh the STRA staff recommendation. No surprise of the four

[1:23:30] contractors is continue with do coal. Yeah, maybe it segways better than the

[1:23:35] other three being, you know, newbies on the block for us. But um I'm very

[1:23:40] concerned about this. I don't know why we need more guidance than, you know,

[1:23:46] than other 1.2 two uh square mile towns in Delaware which you know rely on the

[1:23:53] CDP for for most of this work. >> Thank you Suzanne. Uh

[1:23:58] did Commissioner Stewart? >> Thank you mayor. Um I think we have a

[1:24:04] very distinct and and narrow question here and that is do we authorize the

[1:24:09] city manager to go back and get no do called to narrow their scope. Number

[1:24:14] one, we have not seen the output yet from the zoning code rewrite. Number

[1:24:20] two. Number three, we derived 63% of our revenue from tourism

[1:24:26] related activity, 10.9 from property taxes and yet 100% of our quality of

[1:24:34] life issues are this disharmony between the commercial existence and our

[1:24:40] existence. We have to plan for the future if we want to preserve what we

[1:24:45] like about the past. And then lastly, um I've learned this past summer in the

[1:24:51] last month that the words reimagine Rahobitth are triggering for some

[1:24:55] people. So, can we never say it again and call this something else?

[1:25:00] » That's why I called it master planning services.

[1:25:03] » Okay, cool. Thanks. It's and it's off the website. That little

[1:25:07] » We'll be changing. >> Okay. Thank you, Mayor.

[1:25:11] Commissioner Saunders, >> I just want to respond to uh

[1:25:13] Commissioner Good. If you had been there to the Cherrettes, I think you would

[1:25:18] have found that we that that we got a lot more than just two suggestions for

[1:25:22] the $157,000. First of all, the $157,000

[1:25:27] is for the next two years that they will be working on our updates with us.

[1:25:32] » Mark, address Address us. >> Oh, I'm sorry. So, at any rate, I don't

[1:25:36] want the public to be misled into Commissioner Good's comments because

[1:25:40] they were false. >> Mr. Mayor, no,

[1:25:43] » I'm aware that not all the work has been affected by Dover Cole under the 100%.

[1:25:49] » You do not have I would like the floor, please.

[1:25:52] » Do not have the floor. Chris, did you have something?

[1:25:55] » Uh, sure. So, a a couple of things. Thanks, Mr. Mayor. Um, first of all, I

[1:26:00] uh thank you for putting this um report together. Um, I really enjoyed the

[1:26:06] sharetses and um I thought the RFI responses were really helpful to to

[1:26:13] have. Um, to me the um breadth of experience um that is outlined in the

[1:26:22] Dover Cole response is is notable. um it far surpasses the um input from the

[1:26:31] others. There there were interesting ideas in in the other responses and I'm

[1:26:34] grateful that those companies took the time to to put those um responses

[1:26:40] together. Um you know, a point that I made when we had our meeting in July

[1:26:44] after the Cherrettes was that I think doing nothing is a dereliction of duty

[1:26:48] and I stand by that comment. Um, I think we have to be intentional in planning

[1:26:53] for the future and I think that that's what this work does. So, I am um excited

[1:26:59] about it and I'm supportive. >> Mr. Mayor, can clarify just

[1:27:05] » Taylor, can you uh uh uh reiterate what you're hoping to get out of this

[1:27:10] conversation? >> Mr. Mayor, can I just clarify? I No, you

[1:27:13] can't. I think I wasn't there. I was in Montana until

[1:27:19] Thursday night the 16th on a vacation that had been qualifies as not there.

[1:27:23] » Yeah, but I mean you act as though somehow I deliberately wasn't there. I

[1:27:27] had a planned vacation in April and the cheret dates were announced in May. So I

[1:27:32] had no ability to be present. I was here for the 2:00 meeting on July 17th though

[1:27:37] which had was on the calendar. There's a proposed motion question right on the

[1:27:41] last page of the agenda item report um >> directing the city manager to negotiate

[1:27:47] a scope of work and fee proposal with Dover Cole and partners for downtown

[1:27:51] master planning services structured as the next phase of the city's existing

[1:27:54] engagement with the firm on the zoning code update

[1:27:56] » and and if we do that and there's a favorable outcome what is our commitment

[1:28:01] to them are we >> there is no commitment until I bring

[1:28:05] that proposal back to you for approval So, I think we can get it done fairly

[1:28:10] quickly. Um, perhaps as soon as the next meeting. Um, but that's where you would

[1:28:16] commit. Right now, you're not committing to anything. Just directing me to go

[1:28:20] back to them and get a scope of work. >> Okay. So, what it is, what our motion

[1:28:25] today would be >> directing directing you, but but to do

[1:28:32] Cole and and excluding the other three. >> Yes, sir. And I don't know if you want

[1:28:37] to do public comment. >> That's next. Yes,

[1:28:40] » Mr. What is the rush to do the second

[1:28:44] contract? Mr. >> You do not have the floor. Contract has

[1:28:47] » My name is Nancy Doyle and I live at 202 Country Club Drive. Um, I uh like the

[1:28:53] comments of uh Mark Saunders and also Commissioner Glante and uh

[1:29:00] [clears throat] Commissioner Mark Saunders and Commissioner Glanti and

[1:29:03] having attended a lot of the week of shits because it happened to be

[1:29:07] convenient for my schedule. I know it wasn't for others. There was such broad

[1:29:12] community support. We really needed to do this. The citizens the business

[1:29:16] people came in skeptical. It's the singular. It's popular thing. I can only

[1:29:21] think of one person I've ever met who's trying to throw water on this. So, it's,

[1:29:27] you know, we really shouldn't because I saw a lot of deep community consensus on

[1:29:32] this and I was impressed with them and I was willing not to be, but it's exactly

[1:29:37] what Chris says. They know a lot. So, I I'm strongly in favor of this and I like

[1:29:43] the idea of saying um change not chance. It's not that we're doing social

[1:29:48] engineering or autocratically telling people what to do. It's that we're

[1:29:52] listening to our businesses and residents who are all saying, "Yes, we

[1:29:57] need this." And and and I I am certain there is a huge amount of community

[1:30:03] support behind this project and I I I I've been in touch with people. I live

[1:30:07] through that week. I know it's there. So, it's just I stand on that certainty

[1:30:12] and I convey it to you. >> Thank you, Nancy. Susan Gay.

[1:30:20] » Thanks, Susan Gay, Country Club Drive. Um, my comments actually go back a

[1:30:24] little bit in time. Um, when I was a newly appointed planning commissioner

[1:30:28] almost 10 years ago, um, I remember the then chairman David Melon talking

[1:30:33] frequently about the need for a master plan. In fact, I realize now that there

[1:30:37] are two others were with me in that time. Joyce Lucer Barry were on the

[1:30:42] planning commission then as well. And when we started working on the 2020 CDP,

[1:30:47] we had agenda items on mixed use and um and some new projects were starting to

[1:30:53] come in then. Some of the big new development projects came to us then.

[1:30:56] And of course, that process got a little changed by the by the pandemic. This was

[1:31:00] pre- pandemic. But nevertheless, I want to just make quote a couple of things

[1:31:04] that Chairman Melon said at the time because uh they resonate very much

[1:31:09] today. He said, 'We don't have mixeduse housing in the commercial district

[1:31:14] conceptually in the way most people would think of mixeduse housing. If the

[1:31:18] city were to decide that's where we want to go, it will result in a different

[1:31:22] looking downtown ultimately. Rather than let that happen haphazardly on a one-off

[1:31:28] basis, there should be a master plan. Then when asked what's a master plan, he

[1:31:33] said, this is again chairman Mill, not me. You take a look at the whole

[1:31:37] downtown area. You take a look at it holistically. What do we want the town

[1:31:41] to look like in the future? Then you develop a master plan with a concept of

[1:31:46] how people will use it and where you want to go in the future. We have not

[1:31:49] done that as a city unfortunately and it penalizes each group that comes before

[1:31:54] us. So I could not be happier given given my

[1:31:59] experience over the years with planning commission. I could not be happier that

[1:32:02] we're at that point today and I feel very positive about it and I certainly

[1:32:06] hope we move ahead with it. The other thing I would say just as a comment

[1:32:09] about because I read the do coal uh and I expected it to be good because I had

[1:32:13] been very impressed with the sheretses um and every how all that transpired.

[1:32:18] But one of the things that impressed me the most about that was the way they

[1:32:22] took out the architectural review guide which had not been looked at in a very

[1:32:25] long time and they used that as a to to inform some of the recommendations they

[1:32:32] were making and some of the questions they asked. And I would hope there there

[1:32:35] are other reports, there are parking reports, there are transportation

[1:32:38] reports, there's some good stuff there. And I have this feeling that Do Cole

[1:32:42] will be the one group that will be able to take all of that information and use

[1:32:46] it for good going forward. And it will not have been a waste. So, thank you.

[1:32:49] » Thank you, Susan. Anybody else? Michael,

[1:32:56] » Mike Vanzy, Above the Dunes. Uh I would just like to say as a business owner for

[1:33:00] many many years here in this community um that is one of the first times in the

[1:33:04] shs and I'm obviously very busy in July and August. Um still made time to be I

[1:33:09] think at five sessions. Um the first time I've noticed the business community

[1:33:14] and the residential community coming together and having discussions about

[1:33:18] one topic. Uh, I think it was incredibly beneficial and I think it's something we

[1:33:22] need to continue to do because planning based on just the business needs or

[1:33:27] planning just on the residents needs really misses the boat as to what we

[1:33:30] have to do to grow and move forward. So, it's my thought. [applause and cheering]

[1:33:36] Uh, if there's nobody else, I'm going to bring it back to the table here. Does

[1:33:41] anybody have further discussion or want to make a motion?

[1:33:46] Mayor, if I make a motion to direct [clears throat] the city manager to

[1:33:49] negotiate a scope of work and fee proposal with Dover Cole and Partners

[1:33:53] for downtown master planning services structured as the next phase of the

[1:33:57] city's existing engagement with the firm on the zoning code update.

[1:34:02] » Second. >> Uh we have a motion and a second to

[1:34:06] direct city manager to negotiate a scope of work and fee proposal with Dover Cole

[1:34:11] Partners for downtown master planning services. Uh, as noted, uh, all those in

[1:34:17] favor signify by saying I. I. >> I.

[1:34:20] » Those opposed? >> No. Especially because we're already in

[1:34:25] the in the middle of their first contract. This seems premature to me.

[1:34:29] » We have your uh the record will show that six commissioners voted yes and one

[1:34:34] voted no. >> Uh, thank you very much.

[1:34:38] With that, give us a minute.

[1:34:43] Is this going to set up here? Okay. [cough and clears throat]

[1:34:53] [snorts]

[1:35:11] Thank you.

[1:35:38] I don't know what I did, but you're going to look at cheats or whatever.

[1:35:42] whatever it is. [laughter]

[1:35:48] Uh the next item on our agenda is discuss and possible consideration of

[1:35:52] action on confidential report regarding commissioner conduct. Uh joining us for

[1:35:58] this agenda topic is attorney Lisa Hatfield of Connelly Gallagher LLP.

[1:36:03] Welcome. Thank you for coming today. By way of background, the city through our

[1:36:09] director of human resources received several complaints concerning the

[1:36:13] conduct of a commissioner directed towards city staff.

[1:36:17] These complaints were exacerbated during the month of June

[1:36:22] and the city retained an independent attorney, Miss Molly Debianca,

[1:36:27] to investigate the matter. Miss Debianca and her firm DBianca Law

[1:36:33] conducted an independent investigation and prepared a confidential report

[1:36:38] containing her findings and recommendations.

[1:36:41] The personnel committee composed of commissioners uh Gosset who is the chair

[1:36:48] and commissioners the Galante received and reviewed the report and thereafter

[1:36:54] forwarded the matter for consideration by the mayor and commissioners.

[1:36:59] Before we proceed, I want to explain the process the board will follow.

[1:37:04] The independent investigative report concerns the conduct of Commissioner

[1:37:08] Suzanne Good. Because Commissioner Good is the subject of the report, she did

[1:37:14] not participate in the personnel committee's consideration of this

[1:37:18] matter. Commissioner Good, like other

[1:37:22] commissioners, however, was provided a copy of the report before this meeting,

[1:37:28] and the report was provided to her on the same confidential basis applicable

[1:37:33] to the other members of the board of commissioners

[1:37:37] and remains confidential pending action by the board. Thus, if she or any

[1:37:43] commissioner were to have shared the report with anyone, they would be in

[1:37:47] violation of breach of confidentiality.

[1:37:52] I want to be clear about the nature of today's proceeding. This is not a

[1:37:56] hearing. The board is not sitting as an

[1:38:00] adjudicatory body taking testimony, receiving evidence, determining the

[1:38:05] admissibility of evidence, or conducting a trial concerning the matters addressed

[1:38:12] in the report.

[1:38:15] As Commissioner Good is the subject of the report, she will be afforded an

[1:38:19] opportunity to make a statement. This will recur after

[1:38:24] the public comment period and following commissioner discussion of the report

[1:38:28] and its recommendations. That opportunity is not a reopening of

[1:38:36] the investigation and is not an evidentiary rebuttal of

[1:38:42] the investigator's findings. There will be no presentation of witnesses,

[1:38:47] cross-examination, questioning of the investigator, or pointby-point

[1:38:52] adjudication of the report.

[1:38:56] Now, the first order of business is that the board must first determine whether

[1:38:59] to wave any applicable privilege and then to authorize public release of the

[1:39:05] report. Because the report remains confidential

[1:39:09] until and unless the board acts, the public cannot presently be provided the

[1:39:15] report or its confidential comment contents. Uh I would now entertain a

[1:39:21] motion to wave the attorney client privilege to the extent applicable with

[1:39:26] respect to the independent investigative report and authorize the report to be

[1:39:32] released publicly without exhibits. Do I have a motion?

[1:39:37] » I I need to speak. >> Do I have a motion?

[1:39:39] » No. Foyer, >> you do not have You do not have the

[1:39:43] floor. >> You can't make a motion to release a

[1:39:47] report before I've had a chance to defend myself.

[1:39:51] » You do not have the floor was written by an attorney who insulted me. I wasn't

[1:39:57] given the report until yesterday. >> All the all the We have a motion.

[1:40:03] government going >> Evan

[1:40:06] » I wasn't even informed about the existence of the court

[1:40:10] days ago >> I can't Are you silencing her phone her

[1:40:14] microphone >> it is muted [laughter]

[1:40:18] » mayor just to be clear the motion is to wave confidentiality that's that's all

[1:40:24] we're talking about right now is that correct

[1:40:26] » well the specifics yes wave attorney client privilege to the extent

[1:40:31] applicable with respect to the independent investigative report that

[1:40:35] were referred to and authorize the report to be released publicly without

[1:40:40] exhibits. We have a motion and a second in in that vein. Uh and uh we'll just do

[1:40:46] a group vote. All those in favor signify by saying I

[1:40:50] » I >> I those opposed

[1:40:53] » nay. And we have one nay from commissioner good and the rest remainder

[1:40:58] of the commissioners have voted in favor of releasing it. Uh so the board with a

[1:41:04] favorable vote just now has waved privilege to the extent applicable and

[1:41:09] authorized public release of the report without its exhibits by way of embedment

[1:41:15] of the report into this meeting agenda following adjournment of the meeting.

[1:41:20] Again, after this meeting, the report will be embedded into the agenda. Uh, I

[1:41:27] will now recognize Commissioner Gossit, chair of the personnel committee, to

[1:41:33] provide an overview of the investigation,

[1:41:36] the report, its findings, and its recommendations.

[1:41:41] » Thank you, mayor. [clears throat] Um, if I may, the report begins with a scope of

[1:41:45] investigation. On or about June 29th, 2026, Debianca Law LLC was retained by

[1:41:51] the city of Verhobit Beach to investigate allegations of harassment

[1:41:56] and abusive behavior by Commissioner Suzanne Good targeting two city

[1:42:00] employees. The evidence considered by the investigator includes one,

[1:42:04] approximately 90 emails sent by Commissioner Good in June 2026 to

[1:42:10] certain employees and elected officials. [clears throat]

[1:42:14] Two, certain emails sent by Commissioner Good to employee number two during the

[1:42:19] month of July 2026. [clears throat] July emails targeted

[1:42:24] with the June emails with reviewed emails. three, interviews of the

[1:42:29] targeted employees, and four, correspondence relating to prior efforts

[1:42:34] of the city to deter abusive behavior by Commissioner Good. It is the

[1:42:39] understanding of the investigator that Commissioner Good sent nearly 2,000

[1:42:43] emails to the targeted employees since 2024 and continues to send more on a

[1:42:49] daily near daily basis. However, this report is limited to to the reviewed

[1:42:54] emails as a representative and current sample of the communications.

[1:43:00] The report in summary states the questions presented to the investigator

[1:43:04] include one, whether there are reasonable grounds to conclude that

[1:43:08] Commissioner Good engaged in harassment and or abuse in violation of any city

[1:43:13] policy, rule, or ordinance? and two, if yes, what steps are available to remedy,

[1:43:20] stop, and/or prevent future violations from occurring.

[1:43:24] The investigator determines that there are reasonable grounds to conclude that

[1:43:29] Commissioner Good engaged in conduct that violates the city civil civil

[1:43:34] civility code and recommends that the city take immediate action to stop the

[1:43:39] conduct and ensure it does not happen in the future as outlined in the

[1:43:43] recommendations. >> [clears throat]

[1:43:45] » Legal background outlined in the report. There are several laws to the present

[1:43:50] analysis. They [clears throat] are described below. Anti-harassment and

[1:43:55] anti-retaliation laws, the civility code, and the ethics code.

[1:44:00] The nature of the abusive behavior is persistent despite repeated

[1:44:04] interventions and continued escalations and is calculated circumvention of

[1:44:09] directives established conduct so far outside the norms of acceptable

[1:44:15] professional behavior and the obligations set forth in the civility

[1:44:19] code as to warrant serious and immediate remedial action by the city to prevent

[1:44:25] legal liability under state and federal employment and workplace safety laws.

[1:44:29] cause and to avoid the high cost and associated negative impacts that prolong

[1:44:35] abusive behavior that have an an on employee morale, workplace productivity,

[1:44:41] and the city's ability to operate efficiently of the city.

[1:44:47] The report makes the following recommendations.

[1:44:50] The [clears throat] city board of commissioners is recommended to consider

[1:44:53] the following remedial steps to address the ongoing abuse of city employees by

[1:44:58] Commissioner Good. One, prohibit Commissioner Good from communicating

[1:45:03] directly or indirectly with the city employees electronically, in person, via

[1:45:08] phone, or other channel or method. To effectuate this, the city should create

[1:45:14] and apply a system by which all emails received from accounts associated with

[1:45:18] Commissioner Good are automatically redelected to a special purpose and

[1:45:23] sequestered email account, which should be checked at regular intervals by the

[1:45:28] mayor or their design. Additionally, city employees should be permitted to

[1:45:33] block Commissioner Good's associated phone numbers from their personal and

[1:45:37] city phones to prevent them from receiving further text messages and

[1:45:41] phone calls from Commissioner Good. Two, prohibit Commissioner Good from

[1:45:46] accessing the city's administrative offices and deactivate her key cards,

[1:45:51] fobs, andor keys to ensure compliance. Three, formerly request that

[1:45:57] Commissioner Good produce to the city all communications involving city

[1:46:02] business sent and/or received via a personal platform, including but not

[1:46:07] limited to via Gmail, text messages, and Facebook and other social media. four

[1:46:14] formally requests that Commissioner Good issue unqualified [laughter] written

[1:46:18] apologies to employee number one and employee number two within two weeks in

[1:46:23] a form and which substantiates approved by the board and that such apologies, if

[1:46:28] any, be made public. Five, formally request that Commissioner Good promptly

[1:46:34] complete city approved training on the subject of respectful workplace and

[1:46:39] civility and FOYA and public records laws and obligations.

[1:46:44] Six, review compliance with a remedial measures on a date certain between 60

[1:46:49] and 90 days. Additionally, the board is recommended to consider issuing a formal

[1:46:55] censure for the conduct that has occurred and/or if the conduct continues

[1:47:00] following the adoption of some or all of the above remedial measures.

[1:47:04] Respectfully submitted, Margaret Dybanka Esquire, Dybanka Law LLC.

[1:47:10] Thank you. >> Thank you, Commissioner. Uh next,

[1:47:14] the members of the board who participated in consideration of this

[1:47:18] matter will make comments or have the opportunity to make comments they wish

[1:47:23] just concerning the report and the actions to be taken. Commissioner Good,

[1:47:29] you will be granted an opportunity to speak following public comment on this

[1:47:33] matter. Uh Commissioner Stewart, you wanted to

[1:47:36] » That's not the usual order. >> Thank you, Mayor.

[1:47:39] » Public comment comes back. You don't have the floor.

[1:47:43] » Today's report documents repeated violations of federal and state

[1:47:47] workplace safety laws as well as the city charter. We take no satisfaction in

[1:47:52] this. We want nothing more than to move on, but we have no choice. Re releasing

[1:47:58] this report and implementing its recommendation, however inadequate to

[1:48:03] the harm caused, is necessary. In most workplaces, the documented conduct would

[1:48:09] warrant ter termination. Our laws provide no such path for an elected

[1:48:14] official. To simply move on would mean keeping this conduct secret, leaving the

[1:48:20] victims to shoulder the burdens themselves without institutional

[1:48:24] support. That is unacceptable. This report focuses on two victims,

[1:48:30] employee one and employee number two, and just two months of emails. But the

[1:48:35] record is larger than that. There are many more months of abusive emails and

[1:48:42] social media posts that violates these very same laws. And the commissioner

[1:48:47] targeted other city employees as well. That is why this report and its release

[1:48:53] is necessary. These are real people with real professional reputations and real

[1:49:00] careers. And the city needed to use what limited power it has to say, "We hear

[1:49:06] you. We see you. We wish we could do more." Does the city want to move on?

[1:49:13] Absolutely. Does it have the power to? It does not. The power lies squarely

[1:49:20] with the commissioner. This behavior must stop now.

[1:49:25] » Thank you, Mayor. >> Any other commissioners?

[1:49:29] » Yes. Thank you, >> Commissioner Gossip.

[1:49:31] » Yes, Commissioner [clears throat] Good. Your words and actions have brought us

[1:49:34] to this moment. You have never denied that you have said or done these things.

[1:49:39] Words and actions have consequences. The gridlock you have created with your

[1:49:44] pattern of conduct designated to intimidate, demean, and harass rather

[1:49:49] than to advance legitimate city business is unacceptable, inconsistent with the

[1:49:55] standard expected of an elected official, and disruptive to the

[1:49:58] effective operation of city government. The city as an employer has an

[1:50:03] obligation to maintain a safe workplace free from harassment and abuse. The

[1:50:09] pattern of overt aggression targeting employees represents a serious breach of

[1:50:14] the most basic professional standards expected in any work environment and has

[1:50:19] rendered this workplace inhospitable and potentially unsafe for all city staff.

[1:50:24] It is my expectation that the city and commissioner good will implement the

[1:50:29] recommendations in the report and that the result will be more effective and

[1:50:33] civil operation of civ civic government. Thank you. Anybody else? Any

[1:50:39] commissioners? Uh I'll reserve my statement uh to a

[1:50:44] later time.

[1:50:47] So as the board has now acted to wave privilege,

[1:50:51] the report has been authorized for public release and the personnel

[1:50:56] committee has explained its findings and recommendations of the report and will

[1:51:01] provide an uh we will now provide an opportunity for public comment.

[1:51:06] Now that the substance of the matter has been publicly presented,

[1:51:10] uh, is there anybody that would like to comment on the substance

[1:51:15] of the report? Nancy Doyle.

[1:51:22] My name is Nancy Doyle and I live at 202 Country Club Drive and I am a resident

[1:51:29] and I was well met as a federal prosecutor because I'm from New England

[1:51:34] and people from where I am in Vermont, New England are pretty moralistic, often

[1:51:39] annoyingly so and I I was built that way. So I could speak with real

[1:51:45] credibility to juries. But one of my great honors as a

[1:51:50] prosecutor was dealing with the victims of crime

[1:51:54] as a part I hadn't really experienced in my childhood in New England was bonding

[1:51:59] with them sort of really being their helper and their theorist therapist when

[1:52:04] I look back in those years be standing tough with those victims of crime and

[1:52:09] standing with them and saying this isn't right and this has to stop to bullies

[1:52:13] bullies of all sorts serial rapists double homicides

[1:52:18] and simple misdemeanors that could cause life-changing emotional harm to victims.

[1:52:23] To be there with them was in the moment, not afterwards, not after a lawsuit, but

[1:52:28] in the moment was so important to them. And it made me so useful. It was as

[1:52:34] important as anything I did in my in the courtroom. And though I went on to do

[1:52:39] international financial policy and derivatives and other things, if you ask

[1:52:44] me the most useful I ever was in my career, it was how I took care of those

[1:52:48] victims in the moment. Bullying has no place in the workforce is not a little

[1:52:55] civil thing. I have been present in this room and I have seen the bullying. It

[1:53:00] has to be it has to be dealt with. Being quiet

[1:53:04] doesn't work with bullies. And I'm not saying anyone person is just a bully or

[1:53:09] that's just one thing. People are complex, but bullying

[1:53:13] behavior, I should be saying, not bullies. Bullying behavior has to be

[1:53:18] confronted. And you guys are doing the right thing. And I know it's hard, but

[1:53:23] what has been happening and what I've heard is very wrong. I can't help but

[1:53:29] judge it morally, but I'm happy my tax dollars are being spent to try to stop

[1:53:35] it. and to protect these city employees. >> Thank you, Nancy. Is there any other

[1:53:42] member of the public that would like to comment on the substance of the report

[1:53:46] as uh articulated by uh Commissioner Gossip?

[1:53:53] Mr. Perry,

[1:53:58] uh Richard Perry, resident of the city. Uh, I can't say how

[1:54:04] much I agree with what Nancy said. It all it almost doesn't need anyone else

[1:54:09] to comment, but I do want to say that having been an owner of many

[1:54:16] businesses over the years in my career, nothing was more disturbing as as a

[1:54:22] senior executive, as a general counsel, as chief operating officer, than to

[1:54:28] learn that an employee was being harassed by anyone within the

[1:54:32] organization. That is totally inappropriate.

[1:54:36] As as you have said, it damages the efficiency of of the business and the

[1:54:43] city is a business and it is not immune from uh having to abide by the statutes

[1:54:52] that apply to harassment in the workplace. And so I commend you for what

[1:54:57] you have done. And although the public hasn't yet seen the report based on what

[1:55:02] we heard here today, I believe that you are doing exactly the right thing to

[1:55:07] correct this situation. >> Thank you, Mr. Perry. Anybody else?

[1:55:11] Members of the public commenting on substance of the report.

[1:55:16] Uh if not,

[1:55:21] uh I'm going to close public comment right now, right at this moment. Uh and

[1:55:25] Commissioner Good, you will now be given the opportunity to speak to be followed

[1:55:30] by a vote to by these commissioners uh by all commissioners to uh vote to

[1:55:37] accept the findings of the report and adopt and implement the recommendations

[1:55:42] contained therein. That vote would follow your thing. You are now

[1:55:46] recognized to speak. You do not have an infinite amount of time. Uh I do uh have

[1:55:53] the power to uh uh stop you at certain point. Go ahead.

[1:55:58] » Okay. Well, as per usual, I've been blindsided by a number of things. I was

[1:56:05] not informed in in late June that this had gone under contract. Normally, that

[1:56:13] would have should have gone to a vote of the board of commissioners whether to

[1:56:17] investigate one commissioner. I only learned of the existence of this report

[1:56:23] when the agenda for today's meeting was published a week ago on August 14th.

[1:56:28] Maybe one of the reasons I've sent multiple emails is when I asked I said

[1:56:33] you're not going to pub this is this report may I may I see it? Well, I got

[1:56:38] no response. And [clears throat] then once I finally was told on Wednesday

[1:56:42] afternoon, August 19th, that I could pick up my co copy on Thursday morning

[1:56:48] the 20th um at that point when I once I saw it

[1:56:53] because it's riddled with inaccuracies, misrepresentations, and everything else.

[1:56:58] Um I never got a response as to whether it I said this can't release this to the

[1:57:04] public. Well, lo and behold, behind closed doors, they had made arrangements

[1:57:09] already to do that. The overarching problem here, and these two employees

[1:57:14] are the top two administrators in the city. Uh the there's sort of this this

[1:57:20] implication that I somehow was abusing other employees. But first of all, I

[1:57:25] wasn't abusing those two employees. I never I didn't get answers. I had one

[1:57:31] refusing to reveal settlement terms. terms of what I was trying to bring a an

[1:57:36] end to the to to bring or get negotiations going for the city manager

[1:57:42] report. And then weeks later, she finally relented when she realized it

[1:57:46] was illegal to withhold those terms from from the entire board. They just those

[1:57:52] terms had only been shared with a select number of commissioners. Foyer was meant

[1:57:56] to protect citizens from government overreach and to assure transparency.

[1:58:02] FOYA which has been you weaponized here against me was not designed to to to use

[1:58:08] information against elected officials and yet that is what the Rahobath beach

[1:58:12] government has done with Foya. They have weaponized it. Um selected officials

[1:58:19] went ahead and contracted for this investigation in June of 2026. I had no

[1:58:24] idea because apparently they they decided we're allowed to just use this.

[1:58:29] It seems like a misuse of taxpayer money not to have sought the approval of

[1:58:34] people to conduct an investigation. And when an investigation is an attorney up

[1:58:40] in Wilmington looking at emails who never dains to contact me, who never

[1:58:45] contacts me, obviously it's a one-sided investigation. Let me give you one

[1:58:50] example. You're going to read this salacious report tonight. Maybe one of

[1:58:55] them, Mr. Tedar talks about a December 2024 phone conversation he and I had. I

[1:59:02] happened to be in San Francisco. He I believe was was here in Rahobit. And he

[1:59:07] alleges that I said a number of things, but he omits the fact that I said that

[1:59:13] someone on next door said these things. That is not equivalent. My words have

[1:59:18] been twisted. That's just one example. Um and so there was no due diligence to

[1:59:24] a report. This seems like the investigating attorney never never got

[1:59:30] my side of anything. I was never given the opportunity to defend myself. I'm

[1:59:35] just sort of gobsmacked by this whole thing. Some commissioners had access to

[1:59:39] this report before I did. I was not allowed. I was told on late Wednesday

[1:59:43] afternoon I could pick it up Thursday morning. So the um I can't the the the

[1:59:50] the in that case the city manager claims in the report that he's paraphrasing my

[1:59:56] words but he does so so inaccurately that he imputes uh ill intentions to me

[2:00:02] or that he imputes that I'm t talking about

[2:00:06] » that's so good. Would you listen for a minute? Would you just listen for a

[2:00:09] minute? uh gave an introduction at the beginning of this meeting that we're not

[2:00:13] relitigating this. Uh we're not reoping the best.

[2:00:17] » This is my opportunity to defend myself because you have done this behind closed

[2:00:23] doors. I you hire an attorney who never speaks to me when I can you imagine if

[2:00:29] an investigator was investigating something and never spoke to the person

[2:00:34] whom they were investigating. That is a complete

[2:00:37] » You have two two more minutes. So use wisely.

[2:00:40] » Words have been attributed to me which aren't mine. Emails are taken out of

[2:00:46] context completely. And there's uh Mr. Teder uses one particular email from

[2:00:52] February 2025 repeatedly in which I wrote to a constituent and and said in

[2:00:59] the subjunctive tense that some people would say that and he needs they need to

[2:01:04] rely on one email from February 2025 as somehow proof that I that I would speak

[2:01:12] using that language and I rarely curse or or use any vulgar words in emails.

[2:01:17] So, it's sort of they're building a narrative that is inconsistent with how

[2:01:22] I behaved. Let me give you an example of my attempts to move the news stands and

[2:01:27] then just a couple days ago asking why the pagod on the boardwalk we where

[2:01:34] we were supposed to put the news stands hasn't been returned but instead rocks

[2:01:37] are being placed by the ballards and I get no response. That was 48 or 72 hours

[2:01:44] ago. So obviously my job has gotten gotten very frustrating and when I

[2:01:48] received no answers from either Mr. Tedar or the city solicitor, I have had

[2:01:53] to email them repeatedly. For them to say that's abuse is a stretch. I'm not

[2:01:59] done. >> Um more generally by by any questions of

[2:02:04] accountability >> Commissioner Good, the mayor has called

[2:02:08] time. Um I I'm I'm left uh you know shocked and obviously um the way this

[2:02:15] has been handled is commissioners feel that I'm being forced

[2:02:20] to I have spoken to a lawyer or I spoke commissioner good

[2:02:25] » the city is bringing along onto itself by their please discontin

[2:02:31] » thank you commissioner good >> I will now entertain a motion

[2:02:36] » mayor I'd like to accept the to accept the findings of the report and adopt and

[2:02:41] implement the recommendations contained therein with a date to review compliance

[2:02:47] at the board of commissioners meeting on October 16th.

[2:02:51] » So moved. >> No. Do we have a second?

[2:02:55] » Second. Uh we have a motion and a second to uh uh accept the accept the findings

[2:03:02] of the report and adopt and implement the recommendations contained therein

[2:03:07] with a date to review compliance at the board of commissioners uh meeting on

[2:03:12] October 16th >> uh

[2:03:17] no who who said that

[2:03:23] » 20 October 23rd at a at a future meeting date to be determined.

[2:03:32] Is it the 23rd? >> I believe it's the 16th. Let's see here.

[2:03:39] » 16th.

[2:03:43] » It's the third Friday is the 16th of October.

[2:03:47] » October. >> October. The original motion stands. Uh

[2:03:51] all those in favor signify by saying I. I.

[2:03:54] » I. Those opposed, we'll let the record show that uh that Commissioner Good left

[2:04:01] the room at uh 4:04

[2:04:05] p.m. uh and did not vote. Uh with that, the results of the vote were uh six

[2:04:12] present commissioners voting yes in favor uh and one absent.

[2:04:18] » Uh state may I make a statement? >> Yes. Thank you. May I

[2:04:23] » Yeah. Are you >> point of order, mayor? Um I we voted to

[2:04:29] release this without the exhibits and the exhibits are all redacted. I don't

[2:04:35] understand since um Commissioner Good has raised an issue that she wasn't

[2:04:40] interviewed, but these are all her own words. Why wouldn't we be releasing this

[2:04:46] with a report? I'm confused.

[2:04:54] I I know that was discussion between them. That's why I'm looking at Lisa.

[2:04:57] Are you okay with Okay. >> So, I would enterain May I make make a

[2:05:02] motion that we release the report. >> We have a motion on the floor first.

[2:05:07] Sorry. >> Don't we need to do procedure? Let's

[2:05:10] Let's do this. >> Actually, we've already voted.

[2:05:14] [laughter] >> I thought we voted.

[2:05:16] » We already voted. Now,

[2:05:18] » may I make a motion to release along with the report the exhibits that came

[2:05:23] with the report? >> Seconded.

[2:05:25] » We have a motion in a second to uh to release the uh exhibits as part of the

[2:05:32] uh public uh release. What? Help me with wording.

[2:05:37] [laughter] >> Take a vote to be able to to release

[2:05:41] with the exhibits. You've already motioned to release the report. So, it's

[2:05:44] a motion to include the exhibits with the prior approved release of the

[2:05:48] report. >> You got that. Can you restate that?

[2:05:54] » You [clears throat] do it. >> I think m point of order. I think that

[2:05:56] the original uh motion was, if I may repeat it, I would like to make a motion

[2:06:01] to accept the findings of the report and adopt and implement the recommendations

[2:06:04] contained therein. The new added aspects of uh to be reflected or reviewed on

[2:06:09] October 16th. So the findings of the report generally include the exhibits.

[2:06:14] So I don't think that the motion excluded the exhibits. It spoke of

[2:06:18] finding of the report. >> The original did

[2:06:22] » motion to wave attorney client privilege.

[2:06:24] » Correct. >> Excluded the exhibits. So now we're

[2:06:29] undoing that. >> Just adding the exhibits.

[2:06:33] » You don't need to undo it. Just a motion to

[2:06:34] » I think just call the question. So we have a motion and a second to release

[2:06:40] the exhibits as part of the waved attorney client privilege.

[2:06:43] » So moved. >> Seconded again.

[2:06:47] » It's all [laughter] >> okay.

[2:06:48] » Okay. All those in favor uh signify by saying I

[2:06:52] » I. Those opposed. And uh the motion carries uh unanimously. 6 to zero.

[2:07:00] » Um [clears throat] make a statement

[2:07:01] » with that. Uh I'd like to >> Can I make a statement real quick? Yes.

[2:07:05] Just just for the public, I I wanted to make a statement. The the exhibits in

[2:07:08] the report are redacted. Um the information here today is employee one

[2:07:12] and employee 2. I just want to be clear that any statements made by uh

[2:07:18] Commissioner Good or her assumptions as to who they are. That may be able to be

[2:07:22] figured out at your own. Um but uh that was not uh anything that the

[2:07:27] commissioners here included in their report and the copies that you received

[2:07:30] will be redacted. Um and so I just want to make that announcement. I also wanted

[2:07:34] to encourage everybody to look at the civility code. Um it does say that these

[2:07:39] proceedings will be public. Um and in addition, the commissioners uh looked

[2:07:44] into the foyer rules regarding this um that mandate this sort of situation be

[2:07:48] in public. Um so I just want to make that clear for the public as to why that

[2:07:52] was done here today in this manner. Thank you all.

[2:07:56] » Uh thank you. Now, I'd like to make uh make my statement and hi Suzanne who

[2:08:01] will be watching this at some point, I hope. Uh uh I have been caught up in all

[2:08:08] this nastiness for almost two years dating back to the election of Suzanne

[2:08:13] Good to a commissioner seat. I am wrapped up in this disturbance likely

[2:08:18] more than the other commissioners because of my role as mayor and because

[2:08:22] I too have been the recipient of commissioner goods univil behaviors

[2:08:27] both direct and by being copied on emails or texts or voicemails sent to

[2:08:33] the city manager or sent to the city solicitor

[2:08:38] or sent to staff commissioners even other constituents.

[2:08:43] I've been the author of multiple cease and assist directives directed to

[2:08:48] Commissioner Good which have attempted to abate her univil uh abate her univil

[2:08:55] behaviors and to suggest she seek self's restraint and remediation but to no

[2:09:02] avail. In fact, her intensity of belligerance

[2:09:06] only escalated and is at an unacceptable level which can no longer be tolerated

[2:09:13] and should never have been tolerated from the beginning.

[2:09:18] And so I believe we have come to the point where we must take the most severe

[2:09:22] action we can take at this time to end Commissioner Good's intentional lies

[2:09:28] in harassment with the facts and recommendations

[2:09:33] contained in this report before us. What we are doing is putting up barriers to

[2:09:38] protect our employees from continuing harassment. almost two years worth of

[2:09:45] verifiable, documentable, and hurtful incivility

[2:09:50] generated by Commissioner Good. Her vitriolic actions have been directed at

[2:09:56] city staff, including the multiple people in building and licensing,

[2:10:02] our HR director, our communications specialist,

[2:10:08] our city manager, our city solicitor, our interim city solicitor, our

[2:10:13] commissioners, and our mayor. All the while, she knows her actions are

[2:10:18] wrongful. multiple adminitions and cease and

[2:10:23] desist directives authored not just by me as mayor but also by the city manager

[2:10:29] and by the city solicitor have not gotten through to her.

[2:10:35] If we were an HOA board, there would likely be a bylaw establishing commiss

[2:10:40] conditions for expelling a board member. Unfortunately for us, removal of an

[2:10:46] elected official is not that easy. And so we have to resort to hiring an

[2:10:52] outside lawyer at additional expense to examine the behaviors of commissioner

[2:10:58] good and then to provide recommendations for how to remediate such uncivil

[2:11:03] behaviors. I want to note that this has never been

[2:11:08] about differences of opinion on issue, but rather it is solely about univil

[2:11:13] behaviors with much of the time can be characterized as mean-spirited and nasty

[2:11:21] and which again in the case of Commissioner Good are well documented in

[2:11:25] emails, next door postings, videos, texts,

[2:11:30] voicemails as the reference report attests. to

[2:11:35] all municipal elected officials in Delaware take the same oath.

[2:11:40] It is so important that it is embedded in the Delaware Constitution.

[2:11:46] Article 14 section one. When elected, she stated, "I,

[2:11:53] Suzanne Good, do proudly swear or affirm to carry out the responsibilities of the

[2:11:58] office of commissioner of the city of Rahit Beach to the best of my ability,

[2:12:03] freely acknowledging that the powers of this office flow from the people I am

[2:12:08] privileged to represent. I further swear or affirm always to place the public

[2:12:13] interests above any special or personal interests and to respect the right of

[2:12:19] future generations to share the rich historic and natural heritage of

[2:12:24] Delaware. Continuing in doing so, I will always

[2:12:29] uphold and defend the constitutions of my country and my state. So help me God.

[2:12:35] This oath is the basis upon which we carry out our duties. Serving is a

[2:12:41] privilege. The public interests are paramount.

[2:12:45] But most importantly, the responsibilities of a commissioner

[2:12:49] require fidelity to our own municipal code

[2:12:54] which mandates civility and courteous behavior and prohibits harassment.

[2:13:00] The perspective of the I'm sorry, the peververate

[2:13:05] univil, discourteous, and harassing behavior must cease. By code, the city

[2:13:11] mandates that applicants for business licenses

[2:13:15] have a reputation for operating their business in an honest manner.

[2:13:20] City code section 125A, 120-5A.

[2:13:27] How can we demand businesses act honestly yet tolerate mistruths

[2:13:32] from a sitting commissioner through her lies and ill treatment of

[2:13:37] city staff and well most everyone that who contradicts her.

[2:13:44] Commissioner Good has violated her oath of office and has disgraced the position

[2:13:48] of commissioner and she should resign. But as we the board of commissioners

[2:13:55] lack the power to force resignation, I support the recommendations of the

[2:14:01] report in front of us. I have supported it

[2:14:04] and believe the public should witness the report content and judge for

[2:14:10] themselves. And so I voted in favor of waving

[2:14:14] attorney client privilege, releasing the report to the public with exhibits, and

[2:14:21] adopting and implementing the report recommendations.

[2:14:25] Frankly, I think tonight's behavior should be a good demonstration to

[2:14:30] everybody of what we've had to go through and deal

[2:14:35] with for the past two years. So to conclude,

[2:14:43] the board has retained an independent investigator to review the complaints

[2:14:47] that were presented to the city. The investigation has been completed.

[2:14:52] Personnel committee has reviewed the resulting report and the mayor and

[2:14:56] commissioners have now acted upon it. the city manager will ensure that the

[2:15:01] report without uh without exhibits now with exhibits is made available to the

[2:15:06] public consistent with the action taken by the board. So again uh by

[2:15:13] the next hour or so uh the now public report will be uh embedded

[2:15:23] into the agenda.

[2:15:27] Um, did you have

[2:15:32] I don't read lips from 20 ft. [laughter]

[2:15:42] » Um,

[2:15:47] thank you all. Thank members of the for of the public. Uh we

[2:15:55] we conclude that uh section of the agenda. We move on to future agenda

[2:16:00] topics. Uh if anybody uh you know they're embedded in the agenda if

[2:16:05] anybody has any questions or wants to uh uh add something to the agenda certainly

[2:16:10] see Taylor Tedar. Uh with that uh review future meeting dates. uh Taylor uh

[2:16:17] indicated at the beginning of the meeting uh that because of Labor Day on

[2:16:21] a Monday uh our meeting will be switched to Tuesday, September 8th. That's a

[2:16:28] commissioner's m meeting. That's at 9:00 a.m. Subsequent to that, uh please note

[2:16:33] that uh Friday, September 18th is our regular meeting and that's our

[2:16:38] installation of our newly elected uh uh commissioners and mayor. Uh and that

[2:16:44] meeting begins at uh two o'clock. With that uh is there any additional citizen

[2:16:49] comment uh that anybody would like to make.

[2:16:55] [laughter] >> Nancy Doyle 202 Country Club Drive. This

[2:16:59] is a yellow and chocolate cake from Pascalini Bakery. It's not a celebratory

[2:17:05] cake. I saw the agenda in advance, but I think like food is a important bonding

[2:17:11] experience. And yes, I should be bringing vegetables, too. I'm working on

[2:17:14] it. But this is a great piece of cake, and I was hoping every commissioner

[2:17:19] could be here to have a piece of it, but it's I would have shared it with all of

[2:17:24] them. Um, so a little bit of a sad day that this had to happen, but a good

[2:17:30] cake. So, a healing cake I present to you.

[2:17:34] » Thank you, Nancy. Anybody else members of the public comment? Uh if not, uh are

[2:17:42] there any commissioner announcements? Uh very good. Uh with that, there being

[2:17:47] no further business, I adjourn this meeting at 4:17 p.m. Thank you

[2:17:52] everybody.

Mayor & Commissioners Regular Meeting - 21 Aug 2026

Transcript