New Castle County approves $25,000 in private donations for Knollwood park; two council members dissent over Waste Management contribution

The New Castle County Council adopted Ordinance 25,162 on Jan. 13 to amend the FY2026 capital program and appropriate $25,000 in private donations for general parkland improvements in the Knollwood community. The appropriation is listed as $15,000 from the Claymont Lions Club and $10,000 from Waste Management; council members also noted a $125,000 state Outdoor Recreation Parks and Trails grant secured by county Parks staff to supplement the project.

Councilman Cartier described the Knollwood neighborhood’s history and thanked the donors and parks staff. He said county staff and partners sought to minimize the county’s capital commitment by pairing private donations with the state grant and anticipated construction next summer. "...we're gonna be really pairing down the commitment of the county into this in terms of capital dollars," Cartier said.

The measure passed by roll call (11 yes, 2 no). Councilman Street and Councilman Hollins each said they could not support the donation package because it included a contribution from Waste Management. Councilman Street told colleagues he would not be part of "selling my people out" and suggested Waste Management’s objective is to raise the height of a landfill; Councilman Hollins echoed those concerns and said that is why he did not vote for the resolution.

Several public commenters addressed the Knollwood project in support of the improvements and of community cleanup work. Robbie Anstead, speaking online for the Claymont Coalition for Environmental Justice, said volunteers removed roughly 300 tires during a cleanup and highlighted ongoing community-engagement needs. Parks Division Manager Kendall Summers said staff held two public meetings at the Knollwood Community Center to gather resident feedback and that the plan changed as a result. "We did have some community input and held 2 public meetings in the Knollwood Community Center...it actually resulted in changing the plan and coming up with the final plan that we have today," Summers said.

Council members thanked donors and staff; the two dissenting votes left the ordinance adopted with a recorded majority. Implementation steps and construction timing were discussed at the meeting but the projected start date was described inconsistently in remarks (members alternately referred to "this summer" and "next summer"), so the precise start date was not finalized on the floor.