Police
Continued from page 8
rank of chief being represented in
one bargaining unit.
Presenting the opposing side
Billy Mendenall, a representative
of the International Brotherhood
of Teamsters countered the argu-
ments of the city, asserting that
sergeants do not have independent
authority to discipline, hire or fire
or change department rules or pol-
icy. The point was also made that
education and experience require-
ments for sergeants is identical
with that of corporals and patrol-
men, and they share work duties.
In issuing her ruling, Murray-
Sheppard found that there is no
compelling reason to conclude
that sergeants and officers of less-
er rank do not share a community
of interest. She cited similarities
of duties, skills and working con-
ditions, and specified that the
sergeant job descriptions differ
only in that it includes the ability
to instruct or train other officers
and police personnel and the abili-
ty to plan and supervise the work
of subordinates.
Appeal must show error
Charles Long, executive direc-
tor of the PERB said that an ap-
peal must state a specific reason
that the appealing party feels that
the decision is in error.
"I don't know the situation yet,"
Long said, "But, the board will
only address information intended
to show an error. The appeal is not
to review the entire case and deci-
sion."
Long said an appeal can consist
of one sentence stating what the
perceived error is in the ruling. If
the appealing party wants to sup-
port their opinion, they may re-
quest to submit additional written
or oral argument. If that request is
honored, the board must also noti-
fy the other party of the nature of
Sussex mulls moratorium extension
By Michael Short
Call it a baptism by fire for Fin-
ley Jones and Lynn Rogers.
On their first day at County
Council, the council took on an
agenda filled with controvey, in-
eluding a development moratori-
um, the size of lots for mobile
homes and strip development.
The tWO new members mostly
sat and watched on their first day
as the council introduced three or-
dinances, all of which deal with
the county land use plan and the
development moratorium which
was put in place until the land use
plan can be finalized. All three or-
dinances were introduced, but will
not be voted on until after hear-
ings are held. The most controver-
sial of the ordinances calls for ex-
tending the temporary moratori-
um. A Jan. 28 public hearing has
been set for County Council to
consider the extension. But there
is a major difference in this ex-
pansion. The expansion would on:
ly impact subdivisions. The mora-
torium is now also on rezonings
and conditional uses, but the
moratorium on those two items
will end on Jan. 31. The county
council does not vote on subdivi-
sions, hence the decision to only
include it in a possible extension.
If approved, the extension will
continue to Feb. 18. One other or-
dinance would allow manufac-
tured or mobile homes to be locat-
ed on one acre of land instead of
the current five acres of land in
AR agricultural residential zones.
But the homes must be at least 20
feet wide and must meet other re-
quirements such as having a cer-
tain roof pitch (not a flat roof) and
a solid or pier foundation system.
The move met with approval from
mobile home representatives.
Phyllis McKinley, executive di-
rector of the First State Manufac-
tured Housing Institute said these
are "very p(;sitive" steps. The oth-
er ordinance would limit strip de-
velopment along roadways to four
lots per landowner. Those could
be approved with no public hear-
ing, but more than four lots would
require landowners to apply for a
subdivision, which requires a pub-
lic hearing. The strip development
and manufactured housing ordi-
nances will be considered by the
Sussex Planning and Zoning
Commission on Feb. 13. Council
will consider both on Feb. 18.
Land use plan
Continued from page U
mary concern is that the proposed
development districts along the
Inland Bays and in Western Sus-
sex are much too large relative to
the expected population growth
during the planning period...Such
large areas encourage very low
density and widely dispersed de-
velopment which can not easily be
sorviced with utilities or trans-
portation systems, reduce the con-
tinued viability of agriculture and
weaken the potential for achieving
the very notable objectives of the
Town Center and Rural Commu-
nities initiatives." The county, at
least in the inland bays area, des-
ignated much of the land as a de-
velopment zone because of the
presence of central sewer. County
consultant Tom Shafer also said
last year that that distinction
doesn't mean the county wants
more people there, but just recog-
nizes that the inland bays is where
people are settling, with or with-
out the land use plan. Still another
potential issue is the idea that the
county take a more active role in
parks and recreation. A county
parks and recreation agency is not
called for in the nine page letter,
but the letter does say that "provi-
sions must be made for open
space, walking and biking trails
and playgrounds near where peo-
ple live. This need can not be a re-
sponsibility of the state alone."
But Bullock also dished out some
praise. "In Summary, the Cabinet
Committee recognize the exten-
sive and thorough work that went
into the Draft Comprehensive
Plan, as revised.
the argument.
"If there is no request for writ-
ten or oral argument, the board
may review the appeal as early as
Jan. 23, and they would most like-
ly make a decision that day,"
Long said. "This is not an oppor-
tunity to present new evidence on
behalf of their argument. And, if
there is a request to present addi-
tional argument to elaborate a
point, the board can say that there
is no further information needed,
and refuse the request."
The PERB consists of three ap-
pointed members. Long and Mur-
ray-Sheppard are employees.
CAPE GAZETTE, Friday, January,, 10 - January 16, 1997- 13
Acting as spokesperson for the All negative comments made
Rehoboth Police Department, Sgt.
Michael Corbin said department
members are very happy with the
PERB decision, and he hopes they
can proceed to a union election
soon.
"Of course, we would like to do
it as soon as possible," he said.
"There is no doubt what we will
do. Of the 17 officers on the force,
16 have agreed that they want to
go with the Teamsters. Little has
changed from before the hearing;
we are very excited and have be-
gun work on a draft for a new con-
tract.
/
[regarding affiliation with the
Teamsters] are without founda-
tion. We have no intent to-do any-
thing drastic in the city when we
are represented by the Teamsters."
Mendenall said he has confi-
dence that the PERB ruling will
stand and Rehoboth officers will
soon have the opportunity to elect
the union as their bargaining rep-
resentative. He said he can think
of no supportive information that
the city can provide that could al-
ter the opinion to allow sergeants
to be included with all other offi-
cers in a single bargaining unit.
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