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Smyrna council adopts election-procedure changes, new special-event rules and approves tax-assessment adjustments
Summary
The Smyrna Town Council on April 6 approved amendments to town election procedures, adopted new special-event permitting rules and approved property tax assessment adjustments and a resolution adopting the final assessment list; one councilor abstained on the election ordinance vote citing concerns about statutory text references.
Smyrna's Town Council on April 6 approved a package of local governance measures, including changes to election procedure, new rules for special events and adjustments to property tax assessments.
The council conducted the second reading of ordinance 002-26, amending chapter 26 to clarify town election procedures. The motion for second reading passed on a roll-call vote with six yes votes and one abstention. A council member who abstained said for the record that the ordinance references Delaware code rather than reproducing statutory language, a concern he raised at a previous meeting.
Separately, the council adopted ordinance 003-26 to replace the town's parade rules with a broader special-event permitting process. The ordinance requires a permit application with specified information, a standard application fee, a typical 21-day lead time (with limited exceptions for urgent events), insurance and indemnification, and a refundable $1,000 cleanup deposit. The measure also includes nondiscrimination language and defers route-safety decisions for parades to the police chief. The council first voted to waive the three-reading rule and then approved the ordinance; both motions passed on recorded votes.
On property-tax matters, the appeals committee reported it had met and recommended deferring assessment increases for two properties (356 Paul Drive and 119 West Cook Avenue) until next year. The council approved the committee's recommendation on a 7-0 roll call and then voted to adopt resolution four-twenty 6, which approves and adopts the final property-tax assessment list incorporating those adjustments.
A separate motion to authorize a $250 donation in support of a Special Olympics fundraising event was moved and approved by voice vote; finance staff confirmed the expenditure had been cleared.
What happens next: the new special-event rules take effect immediately as adopted, and the election-procedure amendments will be recorded as adopted following the council's second-reading vote. Council recessed into executive session on personnel matters at the end of the meeting.
