Speaker numbers apply only to this recording. Names come from transcript evidence. “Possibly” marks uncertain attribution.
The Milford City Council met on March 23, 2026, to address a range of topics including public comments on group home concentration, two public hearings on conditional use applications, a customer service annual report, approval of an emergency riverwalk repair plan, and an informational presentation on legal constraints governing recovery homes. The meeting began with a 15-minute public comment period, followed by agenda approval, recognitions, and two public hearings. All seven present council members (one absent) voted unanimously on all actions.
Customer service manager Suzanne presented an annual report covering 2025. Key statistics: 38% of payments (43,000 transactions) were over the counter; phone payments are increasing. The city now has nearly 8,000 tax parcels (up from 6,500 in 2017), 1,500 more electric accounts since 2020, and slightly fewer water accounts due to multi-family shared meters. Delinquent notices remained steady at ~15,000/year. Payment plans are decreasing due to new RAVE calls and legislative changes (14-day notice required after August 2025). The office handled 375 new home settlements and about 2,000 rental turnovers. Staff emphasized proactive communication for water leaks (over 100 saved during freezes) and collaboration with Catholic Charities and Delaware State Service Center. Council members praised the team for excellent service.
Brad Denehee (Parks & Recreation) presented three options to address a bulkhead failure east of Washington Street Bridge (closed since a sinkhole appeared after a storm). Options: 1) Sheet pile wall (100 ft) – $342,000; 2) Living shoreline with 89 ft sheet pile and tidal wetland overlook – $339,000 (plus fishing platform $30,000–$45,000); 3) Hybrid sheet pile and riprap (53 ft) – $260,000. Brad recommended option 2 for aesthetic and ecological benefits. Finance Director Lou explained funding: $500,000 approved in FY26 general fund reserves ($35,000 already spent on engineering), with $79,000 proposed for continued engineering. To cover the total estimated $504,700 (including fishing platform and contingency), the administration proposed redirecting funds from the City Hall Plaza project (indefinitely deferred). Council approved option 2 with a motion authorizing up to $504,700 (7–0).
City Planner Rob Pierce presented a slide overview of current zoning definitions, the Fair Housing Act (recovering addicts considered disabled), state code (Title 22, Title 16), and state law HB 114 (certified recovery houses must be treated as permitted single-family use). He noted that Milford’s 2023 code amendments defined two types of group homes: one for disabled/elderly (permitted in residential zones) and one for others (conditional use with 500-ft spacing). However, federal and state law limit municipal authority over recovery homes serving persons with disabilities. The city can still enforce occupancy limits via rental inspections (50 sq ft per person per bedroom). Council clarified that recovery homes cannot be subject to additional restrictions like spacing or caps. Councilmembers thanked Rob for the research and acknowledged public desire for notification, though legal constraints prevent municipal action.
Every council meeting, we start with a 15-minute public comment period, three minutes per person. And I'll hand the sheet to our city solicitor and he can outline some rules. Good evening, Mayor. This is a public comment period before the board for the city council. Um city aside, the city has set aside 15 minutes for public comment. We allow three minutes per person. The mayor feels that Proberty can extend that time. Anyone who has wish to speak should have signed up on the comment pad. We will also check with anyone online. When your name is called, please come to the podium, give your name, address, and a topic which you went to speak. Looks like we have approximately four uh people signed up. Um the first, and again, bear with me because sometimes my ability to read people's names, but the first person is Bob Stacky Starkey. Sorry. So there you go. If you want to come forward, sir, come up to the podium. Just so you understand we have a timer here for three minutes. So yeah, I see that. It's better than a hook. Um, my name's Bob Starkey. I live at 13 West Clark Avenue. Uh been there for about 40 years. I am speaking about the group homes. Um, I want to make sure you understand we're not against group homes per se. We've had group homes on our street for many, many years. We're we want to talk about the number of people that can be in a group home more than anything else. Um in the fall, we came to our attention that um former Gary Simpson's house, which is down at the other end of the street from us, or kind of in the middle of the street. Uh, we found out it got sold to a group home, and it was uh or uh not a group home directly, but into an entity that rents or the group homes or performs group homes and they rent to the people that have the rehab. But um anyway, we found out that they took a house that had four bedrooms and a single family house in a residential neighborhood and converted it somehow into a house that can have nine unreplay or ten unrelated people living there. So my understanding that this is pretty common that they take old houses, they do a little bit of renovations, convert them into homes that have basically nine or ten people in them that are in residential neighborhoods that before had a family of four of five people. This seems to me I couldn't do that to my house, make it into a rental house for that kind of thing. I don't think they should be allowed to do the same thing. Um when we found out about it, we contacted the lady at the state that wrote the bill governing group homes. I know there's a lot of regulations at the state level. We explained the situation to her.