Blades

NO ELECTION on April 2nd, 2018

TOWN OF BLADES ANNUAL ELECTION

The Town of Blades will not hold an election this year.  There was three (3) council seats up for election and three (3) candidates filed for election therefore no election is necessary. Council members will be sworn in on April 9th, 2018.

John Reiss (Incumbent)
Jason Hudson (Incumbent)
Michael Smith

TOWN OF BLADES
Vikki Prettyman
Town Administrator

3/7/2018

Blades Household Flushing Plan

Home Flushing Plan for Town of Blades Residents 02-22-18-Town-of-Blades-Home-Flushing-Plan-Fact-Sheet (3)

The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC), the Division of Public Health (DPH), and the Town of Blades today announced that the town’s new carbon filtration system has significantly lowered perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) in the town’s water system below the US Environmental Protection Agency’s health advisory level for PFCs, and that the town’s water will be safe for drinking and cooking upon completion of residents’ flushing of their home water systems.

Results from testing of the town’s water after carbon filtration returned a PFC level of 3.4 parts per trillion (3.4 ppt) compared to EPA’s health advisory of 70 ppt.

Blades has completed the flushing of municipal water through carbon filtration. As the final step in the process for removing PFCs from the town’s water, residents who are on public water are recommended to begin flushing water through their homes before using it for drinking, cooking, and brushing teeth.

Blades residents should begin flushing their homes by following these steps in order: 

1. Turn on outside faucets for 10 minutes. All faucets can be turned on at once. Shut off faucets after 10 minutes.

1. Turn bathtub faucets/showers on full Hot until the water cools. All bathtub faucets/showers should be turned on at the same time. Shut off bathtub faucets/showers after water from the fixtures starts to cool. 
2. Turn other faucets on one at a time for 5 minutes each (Hot and Cold can be turned on simultaneously). Start on the first floor and continue to the second floor and any additional levels.
3. Showers and tubs should be run a second time until Hot water cools, out of an abundance of caution.
4. Flush all toilets one time.
5. Remove and dispose of all ice from refrigerator ice makers. If you also have a water dispenser on your refrigerator, run three gallons of water through it.
6. Tankless water heaters or point-of-use (e.g. under the sink) water heaters, if in use, should be flushed for 30 minutes.

NOTE: This plan is for single-family residential properties ONLY. Commercial, industrial, institutional, and multi-family units need to be advised on a case-by-case basis. Anyone who has questions can call the DPH Office of Drinking Water at 302-741-8630, Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

ADVISORY: DNREC, DPH and the Town of Blades will hold a public information meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 1 at the Blades Fire Hall, 200 East Fifth Street, Blades, DE 19973. Representatives from both state agencies and the town will present updates on Blades’ area drinking water and answer questions.

Public Information Meeting Tuesday, February 13th, 2018 7PM

Public Information Meeting
Regarding the Town of Blades Drinking Water
7 p.m., Tuesday, February 13th, 2018
Blades Fire Hall (Banquet Hall)
200 East Fifth Street
Held in conjunction with the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, the Division of Public Health, and the Town of Blades.
The meeting will provide updated information to Blades residents about the town’s interim drinking and cooking water while DNREC and DPH investigate the elevated level of PFCs (perfluorinated compounds) in the town’s drinking wells. The meeting will also speak to concerns of nearby residents outside Blades’ town limits who get their water from private wells.
For more information, please contact Vikki Prettyman, Blades Town Administrator, at 302-629-7366, or email vikkiprettyman@townofblades.com.

Public Meeting 2018.02.13

Blades Drinking Water Contamination Issues

Out of an abundance of caution the town of Blades, DNREC, DPH, and EPA, are requesting that no on on our water system consume Blades water.  No drinking and no cooking with it. 

DNREC and DPH are providing our citizens with bottled drinking water and then moving to potable water tanks for distribution Sunday morning.  

The National Guard is assisting with distribution at the Blades Fire Hall, 200 E Fifth Street, until 10pm Friday, February 9th, from 7am to 10pm for the remainder of this week and next week, and maybe longer, until a temporary filtration system can be installed. 

Any questions please call town hall at 302-629-7366 or Vikki Prettyman at 302-853-0997. 

Mayor and Council would like to thank Blades Volunteer Fire Company for all their hardwork and dedication to the town and its’ citizens! 

The assistance from neighboring municipalities, county council, our State Representative Danny Short, DNREC, DPH, is very much appreciated! We are working with all the state agencies and EPA to find out more information regarding these contaminates but, most importantly, find the solution to resolve it.  

Link to PFOS/PFOA EPA Fact Sheet

Link to Governor Carney’s Executive Order

Town-of-Blades-drinking-water-factsheet Updated 2/15/2018

private wells outlying blades

For those living outside the town limits but inside the red line, please call Rick Galloway at 302-395-2600 with DNREC Site Investigation & Restoration Section. Sampling could start on Thursday, February 15th, 2018. Hours of sampling are 9am to 3pm. Owner will need to sign access agreement. Samler will need to access to inside tap. Sampling typically takes 30 minutes complete. 

 

Planning Fees and Impact Fees Discounted till December 2018

To encourage new construction in town, the council has approved a reduction in fees! 

R04 430A 2017.12.11 Fee Resolution for PZ Fees Building Permits Impact Fees New Construction

2017 Christmas Light Contest

Decorate your home for the Holidays and you could win our Holiday Lights Contest! 

Judging will take place the evening of December 22nd, 2017. The winner will be announced on our Facebook page on Tuesday, December 26th, 2017. 

Frank O’Day Jr. 10th Anniversary

At the town council meeting on October 9th, 2017 we honored Frank O’Day Jr., will his 10th Anniversary Award and Certificate.  Congratulations Frank on 10 years with the town.  

Blades CCR 2016

Please click on the link below for the Blades 2016 CCR.

2016 Consumer Confidence Report for Water Quality

Earth Day Coloring Contest

Earth Day Coloring Contest! First Prize will be a youth mini gardening kit! Second and Third place ribbons will be awarded also. Please have all entries submitted to town hall by April 21st, 2017. Winners will be posted on our website and Facebook. Please write your name, age, and phone number on the back. Print from here or pick up copies at town hall 830am to 430pm. Thank you and Good Luck!

Propose Ordinance: Alcohol Sales Times in town limits

TOWN OF BLADES
ORDINANCE 434
RESTAURANTS: APPLICATION, PERMIT OF COMPLIANCE, AND
ALCOHOL SALES RESTRICTIONS
 
 ARTICLE I.  Restaurant application and permit of compliance

Any person or entity with an existing restaurant or desires of opening a new restaurant must file with the Town Administrator an application for and, if approved, receive a permit of compliance for the operation of the restaurant business.  The application shall be on a form to be furnished by the Town and shall be accompanied by the requisite application fee, as such may be established by the Town Council from time to time. The following information must be provided as part of the application process.

1. The type of ownership of the business, i.e., whether individual, partnership, corporation, or otherwise.
2. The name, style, and designation under which the business is to be conducted.
3. The business address and all telephone numbers where the business is to be conducted.
4. The plan of the proposed or existing restaurant and/or proposed expansion of an existing restaurant. Said plan shall show the following information.

• The location of the restaurant.
• The location’s zoning classification.
• The number and sizes of bar areas or cocktails lounges in the restaurant.
• The restaurant’s floor plan.
• The restaurant’s seating capacity.
• The designated areas for storage and for preparation of food service.
• The distance to the nearest property line of the nearest church, public park, and/or lot zoned residential from the proposed restaurant or existing restaurant property.

1. A statement that the establishment’s primary purpose shall be that of a restaurant by definition is: Any establishment where food and drink are prepared, served and consumed and whose design or principal method of operation is characterized by customers being provided with an individual menu and being served food and drink by a restaurant employee at the same table or counter at which said items are consumed. A minimum of 51% of gross sales must be created by the sale of food. A restaurant must have suitable kitchen facilities for cooking an assortment of foods under the charge of a chef or cook. A restaurant may have a cocktail lounge, as such is defined above.
2. A statement containing an approximate percentage of projected revenue to be derived from the sale of alcoholic beverages as compared to the percentage of projected revenue to be derived from the sale of food.
3. An authorization for the Town, its agents and employees to seek information and conduct an investigation as to the truth of the statements set forth in the application.
4. A written and dated declaration by the applicant, under verification, oath or affidavit that the foregoing information contained in the application is true and correct, with said declaration being duly dated and signed in the Town.

Article II.  Sale & Consumption of alcoholic beverages.

1. Selling or dispensing prohibited certain hours. No holder of a license issued by the Delaware Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission for the sale of alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises shall sell or dispense such beverages on the premises to which the license pertains between the hours of 11:00 pm and 9:00 am within the corporate limits of the Town of Blades.
2. Consumption prohibited certain hours. No holder of a license issued by the Delaware Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission for the sale of alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premise shall permit the consumption of any alcoholic beverage on the premises to which the license pertains between the hours of 11:30 pm and 9:00 am.
3. Stand-up consumption of alcoholic beverages in prohibited at all times in all restaurants and other types of establishments in the Town of Blades, unless a restaurant or other type of establishment qualifies for nonconforming status as set forth in. The foregoing prohibition shall not apply to restaurant patrons who are waiting to be seated at a dining table in the restaurant and who are required to temporarily stand in the cocktail lounge due to an insufficient amount of available seating in the cocktail lounge defined as a room or other limited portion of a restaurant where patrons may sit and wait for their table, which serves alcoholic beverages and is accessory to the principal use as a restaurant. The temporary stand-up consumption of alcoholic beverages shall be permitted in a cocktail lounge, but only when there is insufficient seating in the cocktail lounge for restaurant patrons who are waiting to be seated at a dining table in the restaurant.
4. Restaurants wishing to sell past 11:00 pm must apply with for the permit with the Town Administrator. The permit application will be considered at the next Town Council meeting.

 

Article III. Nonconforming restaurants and other establishments.

1. Restaurants and any other type of establishment in existence prior to the date this ordinance was adopted to prohibit the stand-up consumption of alcoholic beverages shall be entitled to continue licensed operations with the same floor plan, configuration and patron area (including the areas for seated dining and stand-up consumption of alcoholic beverages) as were in existence prior to the date this ordinance was adopted to prohibit the stand-up consumption of alcoholic beverages, subject to the conditions set out in Subsection B hereafter.
2. Requirements to establish nonconforming status; alterations, modifications, rearrangements and changes to internal floor plan.

• In order to establish its nonconforming status, any restaurant or other type of establishment qualifying for such status shall have on file with the Town Administrator’s office a scaled floor plan, architectural drawings or other suitable documentation sufficient to establish the preexisting floor plan, configuration and patron area (including the areas designated for seated dining and stand-up consumption of alcoholic beverages).
• The owner/operator shall be permitted to alter, modify, rearrange or otherwise change the internal floor plan, configuration and patron area (including the areas designated for seated dining and stand-up consumption of alcoholic beverages), provided that:

(a) The percentage of patron area devoted to seated dining is not decreased.

(b) The percentage of patron area devoted to stand-up consumption of alcoholic beverages is not increased.

(c) The total amount of floor space devoted to stand-up consumption of alcoholic beverages is not increased.

1. Except as provided in Subsection B above, no license shall be issued for a restaurant or any other type of establishment which is expanded, enlarged, altered, modified, rearranged or otherwise changed unless such establishment conforms to the standards set out in the definition of a “restaurant” contained in Article I. Section E.

Article IV. Enforcement and penalties.

1. In the event that the Town Administrator determines, at any time, that an establishment engaged in the sale of alcoholic beverages for on-premises consumption violates any of the provisions of this Article III, he or she shall notify the owner/operator of such premises of that determination, in writing, and order such owner/operator to show cause why the business license for such premises should not be revoked at a hearing before the Town Administrator to be held at a specified date and time not less than five and no more than 10 business days subsequent to the date of such notice. In the event that the Town Administrator determines, at such hearing, that the owner/operator has failed to show just cause why the license should not be revoked, he or she shall notify the owner/operator, in writing, of such determination and the reasons therefor and shall revoke the license and issue a cease-and-desist order, which shall be effective from the time it is delivered to the owner/operator. The owner/operator of such establishment may thereafter appeal the Town Administrator’s decision to the Town Council at a de novo hearing to be held at the next Town Council meeting. No such appeal shall act to stay the license revocation or the cease-and-desist order unless the owner/operator posts an appeal bond in the penal sum of $1,000 (in cash or certified check) with the Town, which amount shall be forfeited to the Town in the event that the Town Council affirms the Town Administrator’s action to revoke the license and issue a cease-and-desist order.
2. The Town may proceed to enforce any such license revocation or cease-and-desist order by any or all of the following remedies: imposition of civil penalties pursuant to Town Code; injunctive relief in the Court of Chancery; or complaint to the Delaware Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission.