Rehoboth Beach has found a new city manager
After months of searching, Rehoboth Beach appears to have found a new city manager.
According to an Oct. 26 notice published by the city for a meeting Wednesday, Nov. 2, the commissioners are set to consider the adoption of a resolution appointing an individual to the position of city manager.
The agenda says the resolution is conditioned upon the individual's execution of an employment agreement and that there could be an executive session, where personnel matters in which the names, competency and abilities of individual employees are discussed.
The city declined to offer any details on the finalist.
“We have a strong candidate whom we’re very excited to introduce to the community and to have help lead the city moving forward. However, in order to maintain the integrity of the hiring process and to honor the finalist’s request, no additional information will be available until following the meeting Nov. 2,” said Mayor Stan Mills in an email Oct. 27.
Lynne Coan, city spokesperson, said the city is not releasing the finalist’s name at this time because the selected candidate has requested that their name not be publicly released until after a favorable vote by commissioners. This would then allow them to submit their resignation to their current employer, she said.
The city did not comment on the expected start date for the new city manager.
Former City Manager Sharon Lynn’s last day was in early May. She was hired in 2013, took over in 2014 and, among other things, oversaw the construction of city hall and the ocean outfall, and navigated the city through the pandemic. Assistant City Manager Evan Miller has been serving as interim city manager since March.
Soon after Lynn left, commissioners and representatives from Raftelis, an executive search firm hired by the city, posted the job and conducted the first round of interviews during an executive session July 19.
According to the hiring pamphlet on the city’s website, the annual salary, depending on experience for the new city manager will range from $140,000 to $175,000. Lynn’s beginning salary was $120,000, but had risen to $141,250 by the time she left.
Outfall permit approval expected in early ’23
In 2018, the city began pumping highly treated effluent from its wastewater treatment plant into the ocean via an outfall pipe that terminates one mile due east of Deauville Beach. As part of operating the outfall, the city must continue to comply with and renew its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit on a regular basis.
The original discharge permit from DNREC expired at the end of June. In an email Oct. 25, Michael Globetti, DNREC spokesperson, said Rehoboth’s permit renewal is currently in draft form and under review. He said there will be subsequent reviews by state and federal agencies prior to the final draft, and there will be a public notice process as part of the permit renewal.
If no public hearings are requested, DNREC anticipates the permit renewal will be issued in early 2023, said Globetti.
While the city waits for approval, the permit is currently administratively extended by DNREC, with no disruption to Rehoboth’s existing wastewater treatment plant operations, said Globetti.
The city’s permit allows for a daily average of 425 pounds each of biological oxygen demand and solids to be discharged from the outfall. During a commissioner discussion in January, a report was given with test results showing less than 50 pounds of each pollutant has been pumped daily since the outfall began working.
A state-mandated biennial inspection conducted this summer reported the outfall pipe, “was intact and showed no signs of deterioration or misalignment.”
