Agenda for Regular Meeting

Synopsis:  This Resolution is being presented by City Council for Council’s review and approval.  This Resolution expresses support for Senate Substitute No. 1 for Senate Bill No. 1 (SS No. 1 for SB No. 1), An Act to Amend Title 25 of the Delaware Code Relating to Residential Landlord-Tenant Code, which establishes a right to representation for evictions and other landlord-tenant actions for Delawareans with household incomes below 200% of the federal poverty guidelines. Section 2 of the bill authorizes the creation of a residential eviction  diversion program, modeled after the Superior Court’s Residential Mortgage Foreclosure Mediation Program, to mediate post-filing eviction disputes and mitigate the disruptions of evictions on the lives of both landlords and tenants. 

Synopsis:  This Resolution is being presented by City Council for Council’s review and approval.  This Resolution expresses support for House Substitute No. 1 for House Bill No. 55 (HS No. 1 for HB No. 55), An Act to Amend Title 6 and Title 31 of the Delaware Code Relating to Individuals Who Are Homeless. HS No. 1 for HB No. 55 sets forth the rights of individuals experiencing homelessness and creates a process by which the State Human and Civil Rights Commission and the Division of Human Relations may accept and investigate complaints of discriminatory treatment, attempt conciliation, and refer enforcement actions to the Department of Justice where necessary. It is the position of the Wilmington City Council that HS No. 1 for HB No. 55 is necessary to ensure that all individuals, regardless of housing status, have equal opportunity to live in decent, safe, sanitary, and healthful accommodations and enjoy equality of opportunities.

Synopsis:  This Resolution is being presented by Administration for Council’s review and approval. This Resolution authorizes the  Department of Public Works’ six grant applications to the federal government in the total amount of Ninety-Two Million Dollars ($92,000,000.00).  The grant funds will be used to perform numerous water and wastewater infrastructure projects. 

Synopsis:  This Resolution is being presented by the Administration for Council’s review and approval. This Resolution authorizes the Department of Public Works’ grant application to the United States Office of State and Community Energy Programs for a grant from the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program in the amount of $135,280. The proposed grant funds would be used to fund customized technical expertise to support the City’s efforts to reduce municipal energy use and greenhouse gas emissions in line with state and federal goals. No local matching funds are required. 

Synopsis:  This Resolution is being presented by the City Council for Council’s review and approval. This Resolution expresses support for House Bill No. 114 (HB No. 114), An Act to Amend Titles 16 and 25 of the Delaware Code Relating to Recovery Housing, proposes the certification of recovery residences according to nationally recognized evidence-based standards. This important provision ensures that Delawareans suffering from substance use disorders have access to a healthy and supportive environment that is suited to address the needs of their recovery. 

Synopsis:  This Resolution is being presented by the City Council for Council’s review and approval. On August 1, 2022, new policies were enacted by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that effectively require OPOs to compete against one another to serve their Donation Service Areas (DSA). At present, these policies fail to take into account the congressionally-funded 2022 National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) report, which was conducted to evaluate the fairness, transparency and cost-effectiveness of legislation and policies guiding the organ procurement network, including the CMS final rule for coverage of organ transplantation. The Wilmington City Council urges the U.S. Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and the Administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to give full consideration to the guidance set forth by the 2022 NASEM report prevent inequities and racial disparities in the procurement, donation, and transplantation of organs.       

Synopsis:  This Ordinance is being presented by the Administration for Council’s review and approval. This Ordinance authorizes the issuance of a General Obligation Bond (Clearwell/Storage Improvements Design Phase 1 Project), Series of 2023- DWSRF, in an amount not to exceed $1,200,000 (the “2023 Bond”), which will be sold to the Delaware Drinking Water State Revolving Fund in order to (i) finance the design and construction, in phases, of a new Clearwell that eliminates all water quality risks, including miscellaneous upgrades to the adjacent 35 MG settling basin which include the lining of the basin, baffle wall restoration, and various structural, mechanical, electrical, and treatment related upgrades, as set forth in the City’s capital budgets for its Fiscal Years ending June 30, 2020, June 30, 2022, and June 30, 2024, (ii) pay administrative costs relating to such capital projects, and (iii) pay the costs of issuing the 2023 Bond. 

Synopsis:  This Ordinance is being presented by the Administration for Council’s review and approval. This Ordinance authorizes the issuance of a General Obligation Bond (Reliability Improvements Project), Series of 2023-DWSRF, in an amount not to exceed $11,000,000 (the “2023 Bond”), which will be sold to the Delaware Drinking Water State Revolving Fund in order to (i) undertake a project in the City consisting of Water Plant electrical improvements that will include new conduit/cabling, enhancing switching capabilities, new MCCs, breakers, and additional improvements, all tied into the City’s SCADA systems for comprehensive power-use oversight, as set forth in the City’s capital budgets for its Fiscal Years ending June 30, 2020, June 30, 2022, and June 30, 2024, (ii) pay administrative costs relating to such capital projects, and (iii) pay the costs of issuing the 2023 Bond. 

Synopsis:  This Ordinance is being presented by the Administration for Council’s review and approval. This Ordinance authorizes the issuance of a General Obligation Bond (PFAS Removal Design Phase 1 Project), Series of 2023-DWSRF, in an amount not to exceed $4,787,405 (the “2023 Bond”), which will be sold to the Delaware Drinking Water State Revolving Fund in order to (i) implement the most cost- efficient means of removing Per- and Polyfluorinated Substances from the City’s drinking water to gain compliance with impending changes to the Safe Drinking Water Act Water Quality Regulations, (ii) add UV to elevate the log removal capabilities at the Porter Filter Plant to match the log removal capabilities at the Brandywine Membrane Plant, (iii) pay administrative costs relating to such capital projects, and (iv) pay the costs of issuing the 2023 Bond.

Synopsis:  This Ordinance is being presented by the Administration for Council’s review and approval. This Ordinance authorizes the issuance of a General Obligation Bond (Water Distribution & Transmission Improvements – Lead Removal Project), Series of 2023-DWSRF, in an amount not to exceed $18,501,872 (the “2023 Bond”), which will be sold to the Delaware Drinking Water State Revolving Fund in order to (i) complete both large and small diameter transmission and distribution projects across multiple service zones to improve water quality, fire flow, and to elevate the overall level of service to the City’s water customers with an emphasis on disadvantaged communities, as set forth in the City’s capital budgets for its Fiscal Years ending June 30, 2020, June 30, 2022, and June 30, 2024, (ii) pay administrative costs relating to such capital projects, and (iii) pay the costs of issuing the 2023 Bond. 

Synopsis:  This Resolution is being presented by the Administration for City Council’s review and approval. This Resolution authorizes the Department of Parks and Recreation’s four grant applications to the federal government in the total amount of Ten Million Nine Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($10,950,000.00). The grant funds will be used to make improvements in Tilton Park, Kirkwood Park, Holloway Park, Woodlawn Park, Kosciuszko Park, Christina Park, and Canby Park. 

Synopsis:  This Resolution is being presented by City Council for Council’s review and approval. This Resolution requests the Delaware General Assembly to amend Section 2-101 of the City Charter to allow the citizens of Wilmington to fill a vacancy arising on City Council through a special election.