The Lewes City Council voted unanimously to annex Donovan Smith Mobile Home Park on Thursday night, bringing residents one step closer to connecting to city water and sewer.
Despite failing septic systems that have been leaking for years and the state managing to come up with $5.6 million to fund the connection, park owner Kenneth Burnham refused to move forward without the annexation, which will lower his sewer and water fees.
“It has been estimated by the owner’s attorney that the additional costs, if added together, would be roughly $25,000 a year,” Councilman Andrew Williams said, “which, I’m guessing, is a fraction of what it costs on legal fees associated with this property.”
Burnham, of Pittsford, New York, owns or co-owns numerous properties on the East Coast and in the Midwest. He has a history of environmental violations in multiple states and was issued two last year in relation to Donovan Smith, the first for surfacing sewage and the second for failing to comply with the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control’s demands.
His annexation ultimatum put the Lewes City Council between a rock and a hard place. As Councilman Tim Ritzert pointed out, there is no plan (or dedicated funding source) for environmental remediation or stormwater management.
“The city of Lewes is expected to manage a recalcitrant property owner that the county and the state failed miserably to manage,” Ritzert said.
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It was “the humans that live in Donovan Smith,” as Williams put it, who caused the five council members to vote for annexation, as well as, as Councilwoman Carolyn Jones stated, the threat to aquifers and waterways.
Donovan Smith is located along a branch of Canary Creek, which connects to Roosevelt Inlet and the waters of Lewes Beach.
Ritzert’s vote came with a caveat: The memorandum of understanding between Burnham and state agencies finalizing financing must be signed by all parties within 30 days.
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, residents can expect to be connected to the Lewes sewer system within 12-16 months, according to Board of Public Works General Manager Austin Bennett Calaman.
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