Sussex County commissioners OK $13.2M for capital projects

The Sussex County Board of County Commissioners approved spending about $6.9 million for capital improvements at its meeting April 26.

About $4.6 million of that will be used for construction and maintenance of county roads and bridges, road sealing, guide-rail replacement, sign upgrades, bridge rehabilitation, and engineering/project management costs.

About $1.5 million will be used to replace emergency generators at county garages; roof replacement at Administrative Center; parking deck rehabilitation at Judicial Center; paving of parking lots, sidewalks and driveways; concrete improvements and/or replacement; acquisition and installation of fire alarms and monitoring systems at county locations; replacement of doors and roofing at county buildings; and replacement of sanitary sewer lines.

The board also approved a bond ordinance of about $4.1 million to finance more capital improvements and another bond ordinance of about $2.2 million to finance improvements of Sussex County Community College facilities.

The projects include:

• Acquisition of technology, radio and communication equipment for the Sheriff’s Office for $360,891.

• Library improvements, including roof replacement, parking lot resurfacing and painting at Dorothy Henry Library; parking lot resurfacing at Main Library; rehabilitation of amphitheater and parking lot repairs at Sussex Wantage Library; and painting and carpet replacement at Louise Childs Library.

The commissioners approved resolutions:

• Awarding a contract for roofing and waterproofing of county buildings to Mak Group for an amount not to exceed $200,000.

• Awarding a contract for plumbing work at county buildings to AERO Plumbing and Heating Co. for an amount not to exceed $100,000.

• To spend $100,000 in federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds for a homeless prevention program.

• To buy a Medstat MS 500 emergency vehicle for $78,371 from Campbell Supply Co. The money is from ARPA.

• To buy a 2024 crew cab and chassis for the Division of Public Works for $66,250 from Pellegrino Chevrolet. The money is from ARPA.

Budget introduced

At the board’s meeting April 12, commissioners introduced a proposed 2023 county budget totaling about $122.8 million. The tax levy would be $101.3 million.

The 2022 budget was about $134.9 million with a tax levy of $99.7 million.

The 2023 tax rate would be 0.478 cents per $100 of assessed property valuation, or $478 per $100,000 of assessed valuation, compared with a 2022 tax rate of 0.522 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, or $522 per $100,000 of assessed valuation.

The county’s ratables grew to $21.2 billion in 2023 from $19.1 billion a year earlier.

A public hearing and final vote on the budget is scheduled Wednesday, May 10.

Commissioner Jill Space was absent from that meeting.

The board approved resolutions to use ARPA funds for a number of purchases. They include:

• Three dump trucks for $455,934.

• A mobile medical clinic for $353,580.

• A book mobile for $294,905.

• A bucket truck cab and chassis for $118,426 and a bucket truck body for $159,269.

• A tandem axle truck cab and chassis for $147,037.

• An automated sign-cutting table for $66,205.

• A one-year contract for public relations services to Niki Jones Agency for an amount not to exceed $37,170.

The board also approved a 20-year extension of its contract with Morris County to house adult inmates from Sussex County in its jail.

The contract began in 2019 and was extended for two years in 2021. The new extension goes through March 31, 2043.

The daily cost for each housed inmate is $111.42, with an annual increase of 2 percent. Sussex County is required to pay no less than $1,830,073 a year under the contract, which may be renegotiated if the average daily population of the Sussex County inmates drops below 45 a day for 45 consecutive days or more.