The Millville Town Council voted at its Tuesday, Dec. 12, meeting to hire a new finance director, four months after the departure of former finance director Lisa Wynn.
The council voted during their public meeting to approve the hiring of Will Mumford, a move they had agreed on earlier in the evening during a closed executive session.
Town Manager Deborah Botchie announced at the Dec. 12 meeting that the Town’s auditor will be at the council’s Jan. 9 meeting to review its yearly audit of the Town’s finances. Mayor Ronald Belinko said Mumford will be giving monthly reports on the Town’s finances at future town council meetings.
The council also unanimously approved the hiring of Raymond Loveland for a part-time maintenance and groundskeeping position.
Also at the Jan. 9 meeting, Botchie said, Code & Building Official Eric Evans will bring a discussion of the Town’s talks with the state Department of Transportation about the Town’s potential purchase of Dukes Drive and the stormwater pond on Route 26 across from the town hall, currently owned by the State but maintained by the Town.
Botchie also announced that the Town’s effort to secure its own ZIP code is being delayed by problems within the U.S. Postal Service — specifically difficulties finding up-to-date maps of existing ZIP codes.
The subject of the stormwater pond came up again when Deputy Mayor Sharon Brienza asked whether there was an update on when the fence around it would be repaired, following a recent accident in which a car ended up on its side in the pond.
“The State of Delaware owns that land. The State of Delaware notified us that we were to fix that fence,” Botchie said.
“Excuse me?” Brienza said.
“Yeah — that’s why I didn’t want to get you upset,” Botchie responded.
“Why would we have to?” Brienza asked.
“Well,” Botchie said, “it’s just like we have to buy all the signs — stop signs, speed limit signs — because even though the State owns the roads, we still have to buy them and install them.”
Botchie said the accident report had been sent to DelDOT a week and half prior.
“They reached out to us and said it was our responsibility,” Botchie said.
When Brienza asked whether the Town could file a claim with its insurance company, Botchie responded, “Well, I think we’re pretty adamant that we’re not going to fix it because it’s not ours.”
“I’m good with that,” Brienza said.
Belinko announced that the latest report to the Town from the Delaware State Police, which provides police protection for the town, showed that of 90 traffic stops in the recent report period, 34 of which were for cell phone violations.
Also at the Dec. 12 meeting, Parks & Recreation Director Liz Kain-Bolen listed a number of events scheduled in Evans Park for 2024:
• Easter egg hunt, Saturday, March 23;
• Three concerts, on the second Wednesdays in May, June and July, featuring Lowercase Blues, The Funsters and On the Edge;
• Music bingo in June, July, August and September;
• Heroes Day, Sept. 14;
• Oktoberfest, Saturday, Oct. 5.;
• Trail of Treats, Saturday, Oct. 26; and
• Christmas Tree lighting, Tuesday, Dec. 3.
The Town will again hold the Artisan Fair that was held this year in connection with the tree-lighting, but the fair will be held on a Saturday morning in December.
Three concerts sponsored by the Millville Volunteer Fire Company will also be held on the fourth Wednesday of each month during the summer months.
Kain-Bolen told the council that the dates for the events are tentative at this point. She said the tree-lighting has been moved to a weeknight because the feeling was that there are already many other events on Saturdays in December and that the town’s tree-lighting events “have not been very well attended.”
Kain-Bolen said the Easter Egg hunt would be “scaled back a lot” from last year’s event because the Community Center will be in use for early voting on that day.
She said the town’s Parks & Recreation Committee will be breaking down into subcommittees to work on individual events.
Also in the planning stages are some summer programs for youth, as well as adult programs, such as CPR classes and paint-nights, Kain-Bolen said.
Council Member Robert Wisgirda asked for clarification on the bingo prizes, since the State gaming commission prohibits cash prizes. Kain-Bolen said the prizes will be donated by area businesses.
