REGULAR COUNCIL MINUTES

REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING The Regular City Council Meeting was held on March 27, 2023, at 6:30 p.m. with Council President Sudler presiding. Council members present were Mr. Anderson, Mr. Boggerty, Mr. Neil, Dr. Pillsbury, Mrs. Arndt, Mr. Rocha, and Mr. Hare. Staff members present were Police Chief Johnson, Ms. Peddicord, Ms. Duca, Mrs. Gray, Mr. Rodriguez, and Ms. Bennett. Mayor Christiansen was absent. OPEN FORUM The Open Forum was held at 6:15 p.m., prior to the commencement of the Official Council Meeting. Council President Sudler declared the Open Forum in session and reminded those present that Council was not in official session and could not take formal action. There was no one present wishing to speak during the Open Forum. INVOCATION The invocation was given by Councilman Anderson PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Councilman Rocha ADOPTION OF AGENDA Mr. Neil moved for the adoption of the agenda, seconded by Mr. Boggerty, and unanimously carried. ADOPTION OF CONSENT AGENDA All Consent Agenda items are considered routine and non-controversial and will be acted upon by a single roll call vote of the Council. There will be no separate discussion of these items unless a member of Council so requests, in which event the matter shall be removed from the Consent Agenda and considered a separate item. Mr. Neil moved for the adoption of the consent agenda, seconded by Mr. Rocha, and carried by a unanimous roll call vote. PROCLAMATION- MONTH OF THE MILITARY CHILD (APRIL) The City Clerk read the following Proclamation into the record: WHEREAS, the United States Department of Defense celebrates military children during the month of April. According to their data, there are 1.6 million military children who face many challenges and unique experiences as a result of their parents’ service; and WHEREAS, while military members are serving around the world, we often forget the challenges faced by their children. Military families move on an average every two to three years, impacting military children through changing schools and their support networks. Leaving friends, schools, and communities behind; and WHEREAS, they say goodbye to deploying family members, not knowing when they will see them again. Some of these young people endure deployments, and separations, and even spend

CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 27, 2023 PAGE 2 months or years away from their beloved parents. Birthdays, holidays, graduations, and other important milestones are celebrated with just a phone call or virtual hug; and WHEREAS, this month we share our gratitude for these children. We recognize the hardships they face and commit to supporting their families' physical, social, and emotional health and safety. NOW, THEREFORE, I, ROBIN R. CHRISTIANSEN, MAYOR OF THE CITY OF DOVER, DELAWARE, do hereby proclaim April 2023 as The Month of the Military Child in the City of Dover and urge all citizens to recognize our military children for their accomplishments and resilience and to focus on supporting them through the struggles they encounter being a part of the military. On behalf of the Mayor and Council, Councilman Anderson, Councilman Boggerty, Councilman Rocha, Councilman Hare, Councilman Neil, and Councilwoman Pillsbury presented the proclamation to Colonel Matthew S. Huseman from the Dover Air Force Base. CERTIFICATE OF APPRECIATION - ST. PATRICK’S DAY PARADE – AGAPE PIERCINGS CERTIFICATE OF APPRECIATION Presented to Codi Canasa and Tabby Proud of AGAPE Body Piercings for holding a successful St. Patrick’s Day Parade and for your enduring commitment as an active member of the community. Your support and encouragement kept the event alive and the City of Dover thanks volunteers like you. The citizens of our city were able to enjoy a day of fun, food, and fellowship, as the theme of the parade was “Brighter Days!” On behalf of the Mayor and Council, Mayor Christiansen presented the Certificate to Ms. Codi Canasa, who accepted on behalf of AGAPE Body Piercings. PRESENTATION- ST. PATRICK’S DAY AWARDS Ms. Codi Canasa of Agape Piercings (St. Patrick’s Day Parade Organizer) and Kay Sass (City of Dover Public Affairs and Emergency Management Coordinator) Presented awards for the City of Dover St. Patrick’s Day Parade as follows: Category Recipient Leprechaun Award (Best Youth Group under 18 Years of Age) Royalty Team ShamROCK Award (Best Performance) Hester Academy of Irish Dance SAINT Patrick Award (Traditional Irish Heritage) Deacon Mullen-Holy Cross Church Pot O’ Gold (Most Spirit) Jen-Mor Florist Luck O’ The Irish (Best Overall Float) Jen-Mor Florist

CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 27, 2023 PAGE 3 WORKFORCE READINESS PRESENTATION – WEST END NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE Ms. Mia Harvey and Ms. Kim Lake, Education, and Employment Directors for West End Neighborhood House, presented a PowerPoint presentation on the Workforce Readiness Programs that are offered by their organization. ADOPTION OF MINUTES – ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE MEETING OF JANUARY 10, 2023 The Minutes of the Regular Council Meeting of January 10, 2023, were unanimously approved by motion of Mr. Neil, seconded by Dr. Pillsbury, and bore the written approval of Mayor Christiansen. ADOPTION OF MINUTES-REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 13, 2023 The Minutes of the Regular Council Meeting of March 13, 2023, were unanimously approved by motion of Mr. Neil, seconded by Mr. Hare, and bore the written approval of Mayor Christiansen. COUNCIL COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE REPORT – MARCH 14, 2023 The Council Committee of the Whole met on March 14, 2023, at 6:00 p.m. with Councilman Hare presiding. Members of Council present were Mr. Anderson, Ms. Arndt, Mr. Boggerty, Mr. Neil, Dr. Pillsbury, and Mr. Rocha. Mr. Sudler was absent. Mayor Christiansen was also present. Civilian members present for their Committee meetings were Mr. Shelton (Utility), Mr. Contant (via WebEx), Mr. Shevock (via WebEx) (Legislative, Finance, and Administration), and Mr. Tholstrup and Mr. Lewis (Parks, Recreation, and Community Enhancement). Mr. McCutcheon (Utility) was absent. UTILITY COMMITTEE The Utility Committee met with Chairman Rocha presiding. Adoption of Agenda Mr. Neil moved for adoption of the agenda, seconded by Mr. Boggerty and unanimously carried. Evaluation of Bids – West Street East Alley Water Main Replacement (Jason Lyon, Water/Wastewater Director) Mr. Jason Lyon, Director of Water and Wastewater reviewed the background and the analysis of the evaluation of bids for the West Street East Alley Water Main Replacement. Staff recommended awarding the contract to Teal Construction for the water main replacement of West Street East Alley, ITB #23-0010WW, for $415,800. Responding to Mr. Boggerty, Mr. Lyon stated that they utilized the State of Delaware’s Disadvantaged Business Enterprise portal. Mr. Lyon stated they have a very large database of contractors that they send these out to. The contractors must be utility contractors and they are not required to attend the pre-bid meeting. So if

CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 27, 2023 PAGE 4 they do not come to the pre-bid meeting, it does not exclude them from submitting their bid. Mr. Neil moved to recommend awarding the contract to Teal Construction for the water main replacement of West Street East Alley, ITB#23-0010WW, for $415,800.00 as recommended by staff. The motion was seconded by Mr. Anderson and unanimously carried. By consent agenda, Mr. Neil moved for approval of the Committee’s recommendation seconded by Mr. Rocha and carried by a unanimous roll call vote. The Energy Authority 2023 Dover Integrated Resource Plan (David Hugg, City Manager) Mr. David Hugg, City Manager reviewed the background and analysis of the Energy Authority 2023 Dover Integrated Resource Plan along with Arline Newton, Client Service Manager, and Greg Labbe, Director of Corporate Analytics, The Energy Authority. Staff recommended accepting the 2023 Dover Integrated Resource Plan as prepared by The Energy Authority and following the recommendations contained therein. Responding to Mr. Neil, Ms. Newton stated that an RFP would have to tell us where you should focus the renewable energy. Responding to Mr. Neil, Mr. Labbe stated that in the study it is assumed that the city hits all of the State of Delaware mandates set by the Renewable Portfolio Standard. Forty percent of demand will be served through renewable energy by 2035. Ten percent of the total demand has to be through solar. This can be done one of two ways; the city can own the generation through a PPA, or Calpine develops the solar farm, and the city buys into a portion of it. Mr. Labbe stated that most of the utilities in the United States are adding solar but that five years ago, it was the wind. The pandemic, Ukraine, and the embargo on Chinese-made solar panels right now, are all things that are holding up solar development in the United States. Hopefully with the IRA, and the Inflation Reduction Act, some of the development moves domestically. Mr. Labbe stated the next technology will likely be long-duration storage. Right now, they use a four-hour lithium battery, and you can stagger them to make a twelve-hour battery. Mr. Labbe stated that they are currently working on some IRPs out on the west coast that will start looking at small modular reactors. Modularized nuclear reactors are similar to what are in submarines. It is just not cost-effective without some kind of subsidy, but that is where solar was five years ago. Responding to Mr. Neil, Ms. Newton stated that the project Mr. Neil is speaking of is also running into the same supply chain issues as mentioned earlier.

CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 27, 2023 PAGE 5 Responding to Mr. Neil, Mr. Labbe stated that the developers signed a deal three years ago, with the thought that they are going to be able to buy solar panels three years from when they signed the deal, at what the costs were then. Now costs are 150 percent of what they thought, and they are locked into this rate. They are willing to walk away from the PPA and pay liquidated damage costs because it is cheaper than doing the twenty-year deal. Therefore, they are talking short-term deals, getting through the short-term capacity needs, and hoping that by 2025 or 2026 everything is back to normal. Responding to Mr. Anderson, Mr. Labbe stated that everyone points to California however, California is only nine percent solar out of their total generation. They are over sixty percent gas, so the PJM market is not much different. The City of Dover does not have to supply all, they just have to supply its piece as a part of the market. The market is transitioning from coal to natural gas which emits about half as much CO2 as a coal plant. The Vansant plant is the local reliability generator. PJM has provided enough transmission to get generation into the peninsula, so the city does not have to have something local for reliability anymore. It is the responsibility of the transmission organization to take care of that. Responding to Mr. Anderson, Mr. Labbe stated that you do have to overbuild when it comes to solar. The capacity factors are the metric used to measure how much generation it makes versus how much it could make. During the peak hours of the day, solar produces close to seventy percent and zero percent at night. What will hopefully supplement it is if you move toward the offshore wind. The wind profile at night is significantly stronger than it is during the day. The idea is that if you add offshore wind at some point, that will be the off-peak generation type. If you need fifty megawatts, then you need to build seventy to eighty megawatts of solar to meet the requirement. Gas does not help with meeting the RPS standard and the city would have to go out and buy credits from someone else. Mr. Labbe stated that they ran a scenario where instead of adding storage and solar, they added the exact amount of nameplate capacity needed to have a gas plan. Over the twenty-year study, it was roughly $25 million more to operate the gas plan rather than to add solar and storage. Responding to Mr. Anderson, Ms. Newton stated that the short answer is that they are overwhelmed with solar capacity projects. There is a low cost of entry to submit projects so vendors are taking a risk and submitting the projects in hopes of finding someone to sell them to. There is a map of interconnection requests that have been received and right now they are three to four years behind. Mr. Labbe added that COVID has also had a huge impact on the markets. It is not just PJM, the queue has everything that has been proposed to be built. If you are a solar developer or a gas developer, you must submit the project to the market. The market has to do transmission studies to see what impact it will have on the market, then say yay or nay, and then you decided if you want to keep moving forward. PJM and some other markets are now working with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to reorganize their queue.

CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 27, 2023 PAGE 6 Responding to Mr. Anderson, Mr. Paul Waddell, Electric Director, stated that the last major upgrade to Vansant was in 2017, which was enough of an upgrade on that unit with its cycles and hours that it should last up until 2042. Mr. Waddell stated that the city collects a good amount of capacity payments from PGM just from having that unit. One of the last times it ran, they were able to get $1,100 per megawatt hour. Forty-two times $1,100, times six hours that it ran. That was a good chunk of money that was made at no additional cost to the city except for the gas. Responding to Mr. Anderson, Ms. Newton stated that there has to be a balance between programmatic and taking advantage of opportunities. The Energy Authority has meetings every month with the RMC to discuss those kinds of questions. When do we stick to our program and have a sense of being open to whatever the opportunities are? If you do not have the programmatic, you would fall into trying to catch the market, and that is not what they want. Mr. Neil moved to recommend accepting the 2023 Dover Integrated Resource Plan as prepared by The Energy Authority and following the recommendation contained therein, as recommended by staff. The motion was seconded by Mr. Anderson and unanimously carried. By consent agenda, Mr. Neil moved for approval of the Committee’s recommendation seconded by Mr. Rocha and carried by a unanimous roll call vote. Mr. Rocha moved for adjournment of the Utility Committee meeting, hearing no objection the meeting adjourned at 6:50 p.m. PARKS, RECREATION, AND COMMUNITY ENHANCEMENT COMMITTEE The Parks, Recreation, and Community Enhancement Committee met with Chairwoman Arndt presiding. Adoption of Agenda Mr. Boggerty moved for adoption of the agenda, seconded by Mr. Neil and unanimously carried. Mayor and Council Reports Council President Council President Sudler was absent. First District Dr. Pillsbury reported she received a call from a citizen regarding a community recreation area and a water retention pond. The citizen wanted to know why some developments are maintained by the city and some developments are responsible for the maintenance, she is looking into that. Dr. Pillsbury reported she participated in the St. Patrick’s Day parade, attended the Police Academy graduation, and the Dover Transformational Leadership training and found them all helpful and interesting.

CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 27, 2023 PAGE 7 Mr. Rocha reported that he would add to what Dr. Pillsbury stated and add that she helped him coordinate along with Mr. Boggerty, at the West Dover Town Hall Meeting on March 2, 2023. At that meeting, there were presentations on the Mosaic Downtown Master Plan, presented by the Downtown Dover Partnership. A DelDOT engineer also talked about the Kenton Road update and a presentation from Code Enforcement. The next meeting will be on July 6, 2023. Mr. Rocha stated they will continue to engage DelDOT about Kenton Road for updates on the construction. Additionally, Mr. Rocha attended the Transformational Leadership training as well. Mr. Rocha reported that he attended the McKee Road/Saulsbury Road public workshop. He also was invited to attend the Green Homeowners Association meeting and participated in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Mr. Rocha also attended Colonel Hampton Green’s funeral and provided him a tribute on behalf of the city. Second District Mr. Hare reported that he participated in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade and was attacked by a dog. Mr. Hare has received several calls about someone on the Public Works truck that picks up leaves. It has been said that they are doing a wonderful job and when they come, they are picking up everything and not leaving behind one twig. Mr. Hare stated that he always hears the bad stuff, but he received two positive calls. Third District Mr. Neil reported that he attended the Police Academy graduation along with Ms. Arndt and Dr. Pillsbury. He attended the St. Patrick’s Day Parade with the Mayor. At the McKee/Saulsbury DelDOT workshop, there is a mile-and-a-half road that they showed at that juncture. Hopefully, there is a six-way stop that will be at Governor’s, Ross, and Bradbury, coming up very soon. Mr. Neil reported that he attended two Special Council sessions, missed the Transformational Leadership Training due to COVID, and testified on behalf of a Kings Cliffe resident in JP Court. Mr. Neil responded to three constituent complaints, sharing those emails and the actions that were taken by staff along with his Third District colleague Ms. Arndt. Ms. Arndt reported that Mr. Neil covered everything she was going to report on. Fourth District Mr. Anderson reported that he would like to thank the staff for the resolution of past concerns. Mr. Anderson was talking to someone about a familiar complaint of not having trash cans on the west part of Loockerman Street. While he was talking, he looked over and there were new trash cans. Mr. Anderson reported that constituents over at Woodcrest are requesting at Buttner and Woodcrest Drive, that yellow paint be applied to the curb where it is supposed to be fifteen feet because cars park there. Mr. Anderson stated that it is a safety hazard because it blocks your view of where the houses are. They have also requested a look into the idea of extending the sidewalk when the new school comes, so that Pay Lynn Drive, Schoolhouse Lane, and the sidewalk area are connected. Mr. Anderson stated that there is a gap between them and it may have to do with the right of way, or the wetlands, however, they would like it to be explored because the kids end up walking on the

CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 27, 2023 PAGE 8 street. Finally, Mr. Anderson reported people are still anxious about the streetlights south of Division Street running to full capacity. At- Large Mr. Boggerty reported that he attended the Capital School District’s strategic planning session alongside the Mayor. He also attended and sat on the panel at Delaware State University’s University Pathway to Success Program. The program had to turn away one hundred students, so they are going to plan it again. Mr. Boggerty reported that he coordinated a meeting with the Chief of Police and DSU personnel to establish an internship program for the cadets. The meeting went well, and he looks forward to hearing how the cadet program can be turned into an internship to increase interest. Mr. Boggerty reported that he addressed a constituent concern regarding traffic on Reed Street and he would like to thank Mr. Nowak for responding. Mr. Boggerty attended the Black History Program at the Modern Maturity Center with Councilwoman Dr. Pillsbury, and they were able to address them on behalf of the Mayor and Council. They were able to welcome them and tell them that they hear their concerns with the electric rates. Mr. Boggerty also appeared on a podcast that had over 1,700 views with a lot of positive responses. Mr. Boggerty attended the Faith and Trauma Mental Health Symposium at Delaware State University. He was able to talk to Wilmington’s Chief of Police and get some ideas on how they managed the Rodney Square issue with their unhoused population. Mr. Boggerty also congratulated the Dover High School cheerleaders for winning the National Cheerleading Championship held in Virginia. Mr. Boggerty participated in the St. Patrick’s Day parade and also called a constituent regarding an electric company concern that was quickly resolved. Mayor Christiansen Mayor Christiansen stated that he will submit his report electronically at a later date. Review of Cash-in-lieu Amount for Active Recreation Plan – Dover Apartments at Leipsic Road (Mary Ellen Gray, Planning and Community Development Director) Ms. Mary Ellen Gray, Planning and Community Development Director reviewed the background and analysis regarding the Review of the Cash-in-lieu Amount for Active Recreation Plan – Dover Apartments at Leipsic Road. Mr. Neil stated that there has been a discussion of DelDOT doing a traffic study before. He has no objection to the 216 apartments, perhaps as many as 500 people or more are going to be in those apartments. However, this is a very crucial part of the city at Route 13 and as you go east coming down Leipsic, you can see the Speedway where it is located. At certain times of the year the Speedway, Firefly, and the Gifts of Lights, all will impact traffic tremendously and there is no escape. Once you hit the area, when these people move into the apartments and traffic is blocked off crossing the bridge to go down Leipsic into Persimmon Tree, it is going to be a disaster. Mr. Neil stated that DelDOT is going to have to take a look at that area for whatever enlargement is going to be called for as these things are going to be built because there is no escape. There is a small one, in which you can cut out and wind up back at Route 13 again by the old E-Z Pass building. There is Home

CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 27, 2023 PAGE 9 Depot and a Citizens Bank where the old Pizza Hut was, and it is going to be a problem. Mr. Neil recommended that staff recommends getting ahead of the traffic before the apartments are built. Responding to Mr. Rocha, Ms. Gray stated that it is a math problem. 216 units were proposed and the total required active recreation area was 59,400 square feet. 53,463 square feet was proposed, so there was a deficit of 5,937 square feet. The appraisal value was $130,000 per acre and the calculation was $2.98 per square foot. So that gives you $17,718.31. Responding to Mr. Rocha, Ms. Dawn Melson-Williams, Principal Planner stated that the calculation for the active recreation area, the requirement for the plan is 275 square feet per dwelling unit. There is a minimum of a half-acre. Responding to Mayor Christiansen, Ms. Melson-Williams stated that this was for the apartment complex itself and that Bank of America was not on the parcel. There was a connectivity to the other parcel that is fronting 13 but that is on a separate calculation. Responding to Ms. Arndt, Ms. Melson-Williams stated that anytime there is a cash- in-lieu payment made that payment goes into a parks and recreation reserve fund. It is specifically earmarked for park improvements citywide; it is not delegated to a particular area of the city. In the past, they have drawn from that to help fund some of the smaller improvements in some of the smaller parks. Mr. Neil moved to recommend the acceptance of the staff recommendation of the Cash-in-lieu Amount for Active Recreation Plan – Dover Apartments at Leipsic Road. The motion was seconded by Mr. Anderson and unanimously carried. By consent agenda, Mr. Neil moved for approval of the Committee’s recommendation seconded by Mr. Rocha and carried by a unanimous roll call vote. Review of Active Recreation Plan – College Road Apartments at Railroad Avenue/Grove Street (Mary Ellen Gray, Planning and Community Development Director) Ms. Mary Ellen Gray, Planning and Community Development Director reviewed the background and analysis regarding the Review of the Active Recreation Plan – College Road Apartments at Railroad Avenue/Grove Street. Responding to Mr. Hare, Ms. Gray stated that she only knows the plan as presented, she was not present if it was proposed as another plan of 150 units. Responding to Mr. Rocha, Ms. Gray stated that part of the process is that the committee reviews the recreation plan and makes a recommendation to the Planning Commission. The recommendation is then reported to the Planning Commission so that they can make their review and include that in their recommendation or their review of the plan. This plan does meet the criteria for the square footage of the property.

CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 27, 2023 PAGE 10 Responding to Mr. Rocha, Ms. Gray stated that there is a request for a waiver for parking, which is in the Planning Commission’s purview, so they will be reviewing that. Mr. Anderson stated that there are different areas of responsibility and as Ms. Arndt stated council looks at the recreation plan. If the Planning Commission looks at the recreation plan and says, “It looks good but taking into account everything, it will need to be adjusted because we are not going to approve the parking waiver,” then the recreation plan has to be reworked. The new plan would then come back to council with the recommendations from Planning Commission. The Planning Commission needs to know that the recreation plan that is being submitted, is an acceptable alternative because if not, they would have wasted their time. If the Planning Commission sent council the recreation plan, instead of it going to council, the recreation plan would still have to be approved by council. It just happened to be chosen that it is easier for the Planning Commission to be the one with the final input that has the recreation plan, the staff site plan, and the full picture. Responding to Mr. Hare, Mr. Rocha stated that the number required for 385 units is 867 parking spaces, and the waiver is allowing 683 parking spaces. Responding to Mr. Tholstrup, Ms. Gray stated that there is no playground, but there was a multi-sport court, a volleyball court, a paved walking trail, fitness stations, and a yoga studio inside. Responding to Mr. Boggerty, Ms. Gray stated that the walking paths have to be accessible and each floor has to be ADA accessible. Responding to Mr. Boggerty, Mr. Greg Rishel, Pennoni Associates, stated that he is the applicant’s engineer and that the walking trail will be paved ADA compliant, and will be accessible. There are fitness rooms, yoga rooms, and activity rooms in each building. The other facilities, such as the sports court and the picnic pavilion, would have paved walkways to them. Picnic tables could be made to be ADA-compliant so that someone who is disabled or in a wheelchair could pull up to them. As for the fitness stations, multiple manufacturers make equipment specifically geared toward someone with physical disabilities. Responding to Mr. Anderson, Mr. Rishel stated that they are predominantly one- bedroom studio apartments and that the target audience is college students, given the proximity to DSU. Potentially also with the air base, and military personnel. The apartments are geared toward starter apartments with a mix of two bedrooms mixed in. Responding to Mr. Hare, Ms. Melson-Williams stated that this is the first appearance of residential development for this tract of land. There was an associated site plan that dealt with street improvements in the general area, but the number of units had various designs that have been worked on over the recent years, but not presented to the Planning Commission or the prior committee.

CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 27, 2023 PAGE 11 Responding to Mr. Hare, Ms. Melson-Williams stated that the city’s zoning ordinance does not make that a requirement. The State Department of Transportation, DelDOT, has its own technical regulations that would regulate where a TIS is warranted There are also other options in DelDOT’s Development Coordination Manual. They will be the ones deferred to for those traffic improvement approvals and necessary studies or analyses. Responding to Mr. Hare, Ms. Melson-Williams stated that as part of the site development application process, Dover’s Development Advisory Committee is made up of the city departments and state agencies that are made aware of the application filings. Additionally, a number of those agencies have regulatory requirements and their review process to, for example with DelDOT, take access from a state-maintained roadway. There is a review process with them, just like the sediment and stormwater management plan for the site will be reviewed with Kent Conservation District, which has its own technical review guidelines. All of that goes into the consideration of the site development plan and its approval process. Responding to Mr. Neil, Ms. Gray stated that the process is that the site development plans are reviewed, the final review and approvals are done at Planning Commission, and this application will not come back to council. Mr. Anderson moved to recommend the acceptance of the staff recommendation of the Active Recreation Plan – College Road Apartments at Railroad Avenue/Grove Street. The motion was seconded by Mr. Boggerty and carried with Mr. Rocha and Mr. Hare voting no. By consent agenda, Mr. Neil moved for approval of the Committee’s recommendation seconded by Mr. Rocha and carried by a unanimous roll call vote. Ms. Arndt moved for adjournment of the Parks, Recreation, and Community Enhancement Committee meeting, hearing no objection the meeting adjourned at 7:42 p.m. LEGISLATIVE, FINANCE, AND ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE The Legislative, Finance, and Administration Committee met with Chairman Anderson presiding. Adoption of Agenda Mr. Neil moved for adoption of the agenda, seconded by Ms. Arndt and unanimously carried. Proposed Resolution No. 2023-02 Authorizing the City of Dover to Participate in New National Opioid Settlements Staff recommended the adoption of the proposed resolution No. 2023-02. Mayor Christiansen stated that he has had the honor of being appointed to the Opioid Distribution Funds by the Governor and the Attorney General, so this will enhance

CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 27, 2023 PAGE 12 the city’s position on that committee. The downside of it is that at this point, it looks like there is $27 million which will be distributed over the next ten years. Mr. Hare moved to recommend the acceptance of the staff recommendation of the proposed resolution No. 2023-02. The motion was seconded by Mr. Boggerty and unanimously carried. By consent agenda, Mr. Neil moved for approval of the Committee’s recommendation seconded by Mr. Rocha and carried by a unanimous roll call vote. Mr. Anderson moved for adjournment of the Legislative, Finance, and Administration Committee meeting, hearing no objection the meeting adjourned at 7:45 p.m. Mr. Hare moved for adjournment of the Council Committee of the Whole meeting, hearing no objection the meeting adjourned at 7:46 p.m. APPOINTMENT-RECOMMENDED BY MAYOR CHRISTIANSEN – DOVER PUBLIC LIBRARY ADVISORY COMMISSION – JACLYN K. HALE – TERM TO EXPIRE JUNE 2028 Appointment Recommended by Mayor Christiansen – Dover Public Library Advisory Commission – Jaclyn K. Hale (Term to expire June 2028) By consent agenda, Mr. Neil moved for the appointment of Jaclyn K. Hale to the Dover Public Library Commission, as recommended by Mayor Christiansen. The motion was seconded by Mr. Rocha and carried by a unanimous roll call vote. ITEMS NOT ON THE CONSENT AGENDA WAGE EQUITY STUDY UPDATE (DAVID S. HUGG III, CITY MANAGER) City Manager, David S. Hugg III, stated that they started back in July and probably for the better part of July till November were doing a lot of data collecting, looking at comparables, meeting with union representatives and others to get a sense of where the City of Dover's pay scales and compensation matched to those of our area competitors. Mr. Hugg noted that on average the City of Dover's pay scales across the board was probably 30% below the market or below what other employers in the area were paying. So clearly there is a risk and an issue that needs to be addressed. Since November they have been sort of trying to peg positions and pay grades. They have also been doing a sort of analysis to be able to get to a point where they could make a preliminary presentation. Mr. Hugg stated that he wanted to point out two things. One, they have two obligations that require them to balance their approach. One is the obligation of the city management and city council to their employees. Mr. Hugg explained that they had promised back in the summer that they would do their very best to address the inequities that exist between Dover and other locations. They also have a fiscal obligation to the city and to the city's taxpayers and employers to be fiscally responsible. It is a balancing act that is not easy and involves things like increasing revenues, decreasing expenditures, and postponing major projects. Mr. Hugg stated that he would like to just quickly touch on some numbers so everyone gets at least an understanding of

CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 27, 2023 PAGE 13 where they are and what issues they are dealing with. Mr. Hugg noted that he wanted to give the audience a little bit of the information from a presentation that they had made to city council at their workshop. Mr. Hugg stated that they are preliminarily working through their estimates of revenues and expenditures for fiscal year 24’, looking at places where they are going to have to address increased costs. Also trying their best to project what the revenue growth might be as a result of continued economic development or consumption. Just to give everyone a sense of sort of where they are, the city’s base expenditures appear to be somewhere in the neighborhood of eight to nine percent for FY 24’ versus 23’. What that translates into basically is a 21% increase from fiscal 21’ to 23’ and then another eight percent to get to 24’. That is a pretty significant change and it actually can be as high as $17 million. So they have got an expenditure growth that is going to be rather significant which is going to require them to talk to council and for council to make some tough decisions about where money is to be allocated. Mr. Hugg continued to explain that the offsetting that they are looking at is maybe six to seven million worth of normal revenue growth. So as everyone can see, that is a pretty big spread from 17 to six. That difference excludes one-time revenues and things that might come along that will exclude inner fund transfers. The point that Mr. Hugg wanted to make is that there is no magic pot of money here. There is a huge expenditure coming and modest, to say the least, modest growth in revenues. Mr. Hugg has a presentation that they could go through, but in the interest of time, he will not do that. They approach this from the standpoint of what is the best that they could do for the employees if revenues, expenditures, if all those things worked out, then what would be sort of the best case scenario? Mr. Hugg stated that the best-case scenario, and he has to be cautious by saying this may or may not be the proposal that the city can ultimately afford. So everyone knows what they were looking at, which is a combination of bringing roughly 300 employees up to a proper minimum and adding years of service multiplier of two percent per year. That gets the city about a four- and-a-half to five-million-dollar hit. That is the outside number. That is what the city is looking at, excluding the police. The police department is bound to its own FOP union contract, which has a certain amount built into it and an MOU that council approved some time ago. If the city was able to do that, the average increase for employees would be a little over 25% would affect 326 employees. Mr. Hugg noted that some employees could get more than double their current salary. That is how bad the discrepancy is and there are a handful of employees who just because of how long they have been with the city and where they fit would have to be adjusted individually. Mr. Hugg continued to explain that the two percent placement in grade, which is years of service, is built on the theory that it would take 30 years to get from minimum to maximum. In a pay grade using the idea of minimum midpoint and maximum a 30-year career would move an employee from the starting point to the maximum pay grades so they have applied a two percent factor. Now the next steps in this process are that they need to sit down with city council and look into, dive into, does the city have anywhere near sufficient funds to add the full proposal. Mr. Hugg would certainly like to if the city could, but he honestly does not think they can. Mr. Hugg does not see revenues growing substantially and he wants everyone to understand that. The city still has bills to pay and they are still seeing substantial increases in a lot of costs that they deal with. Mr. Hugg noted that they have some work to do and that they will be doing that over the next

CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 27, 2023 PAGE 14 few weeks with the idea that they need to lock down whatever proposal council is willing to accept. They need to lock it down the next month or so, probably the next month to put the budget together and determine what kind of revenue enhancements, if any, the city is going to have to go into the next year. Mr. Hugg stated that the city will do something this year and he is hoping it will be a substantial adjustment. He cannot guarantee anyone that. They will do their very best, but counsel is committed to starting a process that gets them to a place where working for the City of Dover is well compensated and competitive with the market of our neighboring cities and counties throughout Delaware. At council’s request, Mr. Duca went through the presentation that was presented to council at their workshop on March 24th. Councilman Anderson stated that he wanted to reiterate that council is committed to achieving this. Council committed to achieving pay equity and then they were asked by their employees to adjust it for payment and grade. They did not know what that looked like and what those numbers were, but they have seen them and they are going to find a way to make it work. It may not be all in one year when it comes to the payment and grade, but it is going to happen. It is not going to be 10 years down the road. Council is committed to making this happen. Councilman Anderson noted that he asked Mr. Hugg and his team and of course, Council President to put this on the agenda in the second legislative finance agenda in April. So they can discuss it more in- depth and they can also get the employees opinions as well. By that time they should have some firmer financial numbers and feedback from the city’s labor partners and the unions. Which is something that the city values as well. Mr. Anderson noted that this is a major move. It is something that had never even been asked of council before because it is such a heavy lift and they are glad to be able to take this voluntarily because it is the right thing to do, especially with the economy. However, everyone also sees that they produce the price index. When they see those numbers on television, what does that translate to? It translates into high wholesale prices and everyone can see that things are bad enough when it comes to the numbers that people get in when they go to the grocery store, with rent and the stores. It is even worse when it comes to what it costs the city to provide the services that they do. When it costs twice as much to repair and build a road, something is happening here. So council is going to do this, they are going to make it happen. Councilman Anderson stated that council is going to make it happen in a way that works for the taxpayers and everyone. They are going to do it as quickly as possible and he thinks the employees will be pleased to say it should be realistic. It may not be an all-in-one-shot deal because the city added a major expenditure, which almost tripled the cost when they talked about looking at payment and grade. That is something that was not part of the original discussion, but that is something that they are committed to doing because it is fair. If someone has been working with the city for 25 years, someone that got hired yesterday should not be able to catch up with them tomorrow. So they have to do it, they are going to do it and they are going to find the most expedient way to do it as quickly as possible. Councilman Rocha stated that they are going to have to do this because as much as prices are going up for the city’s bills, the employee’s bills are going up too. So at some point, Council just

CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 27, 2023 PAGE 15 has to make it so that the employees have a livable wage and work for the city. He has been waiting for them to make some progress on this. Councilman Rocha noted that he knows it is not easy, but he hopes optimistically with this in mind as they work through the budget constraints, that this is in there. He stated that they just need to figure out how they navigate it going forward because expenses probably from here on out are going to be challenging anyway. Councilman Rocha noted that the city just has to come up with creative ways to forecast how they can bring in more revenue going forward. So council needs to take care of their own and make sure their people are being taken care of so that when these prices do go up, it is not a big hit on their end. They have been waiting a long time, so it is time to get it done. Councilman Hare stated that just as little follow-up on everything that has been said, he agrees with Councilman Rocha and he agrees with Mr. Anderson. His only concern is that they do not take another nine months to get this done. Council made this commitment last July and should have already had the presentation that they had at this meeting. Councilman Hare thinks that they should have had it at least three or four months later. It is not fair to the people and it is not fair to the employees. He understands the expenses, he understands all of that. Council Hare thinks that the employees do too. So they need to just try to get something to where they can do something and not take another nine months to get to this point. Councilman Boggerty stated that he too shook every one of the employee’s hands, and he understands. He got his electric bill and he looked at it too. Councilman Boggerty stated that he understands what it is like to have to budget and the presentation that they saw, is realistic and he thanks City Manager and Ms. Duca for that. Without the employees, there is nobody to put those amps in, nobody to operate the trucks and there is nobody to pick up the trash. Without that, without them, with nobody to drive the trucks, everyone will be fussing about other things. So he understands and appreciates it and council is realistic. Councilman Boggerty stated that he and Councilman Hare were appointed to be part of this committee, and they are committed. He does not want to see this drag on longer than it needs to. Council can kick the can down the road. It is going to hurt and the city is going to have to adjust. He wants their employees to feel like council values them. That is not to negate any work that anybody has done. That is not to ignore anything that the city is going to face, but they are going to face that anyway. Councilman Boggerty stated that he remembers the year that he got into the military in 91’ and they offered those buyouts to all the staff and tech sergeants, he did not know it then, he was a new airman and it did not mean anything. But what happened? They lost a lot of brain energy. They lost a lot of experience and he thinks it hurt them now that he looks back over his military career. They lost that group and they cannot have that in the city. They cannot lose. That is a lot of experience out there. That is a whole bunch of knowing how to do whatever they do in a short amount of time. Teaching and making sure others know exactly how to do some things the right way. Council talks about repairing trucks and then they lose those individuals, those mechanics who know how to repair trucks or do whatever they do. Thank you Council President for showing the city’s staff what council faces. As Council President is always saying, they always say they are going to be team Dover and Dover Strong, and the employees are part of that team. Council is not Dover strong without the employees. EXTENSION OF AMBULANCE SERVICE CONTRACT DATED JANUARY 22, 2019 (KAY SASS, PUBLIC AFFAIRS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT

CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 27, 2023 PAGE 16 COORDINATOR) Kay Sass, Public Affairs and Emergency Management stated that she is asking for council's approval for a one-year extension on the city’s contract with St. Francis. The original contract was three years with the option to add two additional one-year extensions. This is the second one-year extension, which means it will go out to RFP this coming August or September. Nothing has changed. It is the same cost to extend it for an additional year and the city has had great service provided by them. Ms. Sass stated that she also has Scott Bundek and Mike O'Connor present if there are any specific questions that council needs to be answered. They're also here for availability. Responding to Councilman Boggerty, Chief Carey stated that it is not the time to discuss the structure and red light camera funds because all they are doing is renewing a contract that they currently have. Council can look at negotiating maybe some of this into the RFP as it is coming up in August. Council can look into different avenues of how they could make this work for the fire department and the city as well. Chief Carey stated that currently, yes, the legislation references fire departments being nonprofit and that is why they can collect these red light funds for the ambulance service because the ambulance service falls under most fire departments, except the City of Dover and the Wilmington Fire Department or the City of Wilmington. That is something that they will have to work out. Mr. Hare moved to recommend the acceptance of the staff recommendation that authorizes the City Manager the right to extend the contract term by one year under the Original Agreement signed on January 22, 2019, XVII. Terms Review, Termination, and Assignment, Section B, Contract period may be extended by the City of Dover for two (2) additional one (1) year terms if the contractor agrees to hold the prices as negotiated. If such an extension occurs, it will be agreed upon by both St. Francis and The City of Dover in written documentation. This is the second (final) one-year extension expiring on March 31, 2024. The motion was seconded by Mr. Rocha and unanimously carried. Evaluation of Bids – FY 2023B Street and Alley Program (Jason Lyon, Water/Wastewater Director) Assistant City Manager Sharon Duca stated that she was there on behalf of Jason Lyon, director of Water, Wastewater & Engineering Services. Ms. Duca discussed the bid for the fiscal year 2023 B Street Alley Program. The program is funded through community transportation funds, which were provided by two area local legislators for two specific street improvement projects, one being the repaving of the Dover Little League parking lot, the second being East Loockerman Street in Loockerman Court on the east side of the highway. Two bids were received and are shown in the packet. Both bids were found to be qualified. However, staff did recommend awarding the contract to Grass Busters Landscaping in the amount of $413,294 for the Street Alley program Mr. Hare moved to recommend the acceptance of the staff recommendation to Award the contract to Grassbusters Landscaping Co., Inc, for the City of Dover FY 2023B Street and Alley Program, Bid #23-0012PW, for the amount of $413,294. The motion was seconded by Mr. Arndt and carried by a unanimous roll call vote.

CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 27, 2023 PAGE 17 Electric Fund-Retail Rate Benchmarking and Recommendation to Adjust the Purchase of Power Adjustment (PPA) (Lori Peddicord, Controller/Treasurer) Controller/Treasurer Lori Peddicord stated that there have been a lot of discussions about comparable rates within Dover and that is pretty much what drove them to pull these data points together. She apologized because she may have offered some confusion. After all, she saw an issue with one of her charts earlier this evening and sent an updated slide deck to the clerk's office. Again, she has had a lot of conversations about comparable electric rates amongst the various utilities within Dover or Delaware. They went out to the resources on the web, such as the Energy Information Administration website. They obtained statistical and analytical data from the US Department of Energy which is responsible for collecting and analyzing and then disseminating the data, being independent and impartial to the energy information. Ms. Peddicord listed all of the neighboring utilities, City of Seaford, Town of Smyrna, City of Milford, and City of Newark, and charted them out for the past 10 years, from 2011 to 2021. Ms. Peddicord explained that the red line shows the total average based on the information gathered per year from each of the municipalities or electric utilities. So there has been a lot of discussion about the City of Dover being one of the highest electric rates in the area. Ms. Peddicord noted that the city does not portray itself as being high in the presented charts. Ms. Peddicord explained that this information is out on the web, available based on collection from the Department of Energy. Now, this information is based on electric rates, not to include any power purchase adjustments that the surrounding entities may include. So the city is comparing apples to apples, electric rates, and residential across the board. Ms. Peddicord stated that the current purchase power adjustment factor for the City of Dover was at 3 cents per kilowatt-hour. Dover's rates were designed to recover the service costs and maintain financial reserves according to state and federal regulations. In the event of unexpected cost increases or decreases, this purchase power adjustment factor is used as a mechanism to cover those increases or decreases. She noted that she wanted to give a little bit of history because this is the first time that they are bringing forth the discussion of an adjustment to this factor during a fiscal year. Normally and in prior practice with the city, the purchase power adjustment has been established and set at the same time that they adjust the rates. There is no prior history of adjusting it midstream during the year. Based on conversations with the Energy Authority, which sits with the management team of the city of Dover, and in conversation about how other electric utilities use this mechanism at their locations, it was discussed that this is not an item that is set once the budget is approved. A lot of other utilities change this power purchase factor throughout the fiscal year. Some do it monthly, others do it less routinely than that because, it is established to cover purchase power costs, transmission costs, and fuel costs. Ms. Peddicord stated that in conversations with City Manager Hugg, they also were using that adjustment factor and changing it internally based on conversations with management. Ms. Peddicord was unsure if Mr. Hugg would want to reference some of the use that he has experienced with the Town of Smyrna.

CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 27, 2023 PAGE 18 City Manager Hugg stated that when he was Town Manager in Smyrna, they had a consultant providing services very much like the Energy Authority provides to Dover. One of the tools that they exercised regularly was an analysis pretty much monthly of where utility costs were and periodically changing, raising, or lowering the purchase power adjustment to try to do what it is intended to do, which is balance out the swings that happen in the wholesale energy market. It was considered a management tool to be used kind of as necessary and not fixed once a year when the budget process was done. Ms. Peddicord stated that the Delaware average retail price comes directly also from the EIA website displaying the average retail price of electricity for residential US residential, Delaware residential, and then Dover residential kilowatt per hour displayed by that gray line on the presentation. The gray line as council can see is flat. That is based on the city’s rate tariff of 12 cents per kilowatt hour, which is the flat rate for the electric charges that the city charges. Then it gets multiplied by the usage. The red line in the presentation displays the increase or change based on the establishment of the purchase power adjustment factor of 3 cents. This is comparable information from January 2022 to December 2022. As council can see early on the city did not have the purchase power factor added to the bill. The city was giving money back. Ms. Peddicord stated that Moody's had adjusted Dover’s rating, the bond rating, from an AA3 to an AA2. This was based on economic and strong financial positions, low long-term liabilities, and fixed costs, although they were up against a variety of headwinds, so that was good news. In considering all this, again, the purchase power adjustment, there was a lot of talk about what the totals were, and how much had been provided to the benefit of the taxpayers, and that equates to about $32 million from the fiscal year 2011 to 2022. Also taking into consideration the transfer from the general fund to the electric fund, which totals $128.5 million, and that again is also cumulative from 2011 to 2022. As a result of a lot of this conversation, the transfers, and the purchase power adjustment factor, there has been a lot of question about how that affects the tax rate to the citizens of Dover. In total, the electric contribution to the general fund reduced the city's tax rate, on average, by 30% since 2010. Ms. Peddicord noted that she has more of a detailed presentation of this depicting the number of transfers, in general, each year, also displaying the PCA credit during the years that were provided. Then there is a gray line that signifies the percentage of reduction in the tax rate each year based on the transfer that the general fund was receiving from the electric fund. As of the most the recent fiscal year 2022, there was a reduction in the tax rate of approximately 34% based on the transfer from the electric fund to the general fund. Responding to Mr. Rocha, Ms. Peddicord stated that she does not have any historical background to go on this. She has reached out to the energy consultant to kind of formulate an internal practice or procedure to bring back and just communicate with council. What she is looking to do is to take the PPA adjustment out of the rates and tariffs guide that council approves because if they can change that based on what they see in fluctuating power supply, transmission costs, et cetera, she does not want to have to keep bringing that guide back to council. She also wants council to have an understanding of when and how the changes are occurring and then probably establish a practice of communicating those to them. So that council is aware of what internal management decisions are being made.

CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 27, 2023 PAGE 19 Responding to Mr. Rocha, Ms. Peddicord stated that she hopes to bring it back as part of the budget discussion. The city is supposed to meet with the energy authority and they meet with them monthly. She had asked to put that on the agenda to have that discussion and bring back more detailed information from other utilities that they work with. So she would hope that they would have something hashed out to accommodate or follow along with the budget discussions. Again, it is kind of pulling that mechanism out of the overall authority and the approval process but again, she did not want council to be in the dark per se. Councilman Neil stated that the electric rates have been a public relations nightmare for the council and the city because the rates did not change, the surcharge was put up. Yet the fluctuations that he has heard from people who have made complaints are kind of astronomical. Just on that 3 cents, his bill went up $93 because of it. Other people claim their bill went up $700. Mr. Neil stated that he is unsure why that would be but he did not know how closely they look at their rates or not. So when council is considering this, when they have a stable amount saying this is what your rate is and then you are adding the surcharge if the city is taking that up and down periodically, whether it is every month or whatever because it is going to fluctuate. It's not going to stay the same. Mr. Neil stated that they have to communicate with a whole lot of people. Anything that they do, whether council does not make any changes and do the surcharges they are doing now or whether they are going to do a fluctuating basis month by month, two months, every other month. Whatever council does, basically it becomes a nightmare. He just does not understand why someone would call him and say, "My bill went up $700." When he is looking at his bill and this, they are not talking about ballet, they are talking about people who are living in houses or renting houses and paying directly to the city. Mr. Neil does not know whether the problem is the way they use their electricity. He does not know whether their house is leaky and the electricity is out or if they are using electricity for their heat. Nonetheless, it is kind of a nightmare. So whatever council decides they are going to do, the city is going to have to make sure as much publicity is out there as possible to make the people understand they are not making money from this. The city is trying to provide that service, dependable service as they possibly can get. If they are having a surplus from that electricity, it is keeping the tax rate down. Ultimately that is the story but the city needs to convey that story to them if they have a fluctuating period. He does not know what the answer is but he thinks they will figure it out. Responding to Councilperson Arndt, Ms. Peddicord stated that she is going on a lot of historical information and is also taking into consideration what the electric rate study is supposed to accomplish. So a couple of things to point out. The last time the city had an electric rate study was in 2017. So when the prices went through the roof at the beginning of, or the tail end of 2021 and 2022, they had not made any adjustments for that. Again, the city was following along with what the rate study sort of guided them towards doing in the many years. A PCA credit has been supplied to citizens or customers of the electric utility. So it is not often, and again she does not have any historical data to sort of follow along, but she does know that all of the variables that they are speaking of come into play when they put together the rate study information. It takes into consideration the purchase power cost, the rate, and the salary study, that they are pushing through because that will affect the

CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 27, 2023 PAGE 20 employees that are funded by the electric fund. Along with operating costs, infrastructure costs, et cetera. So the city is supposed to do its best to provide detailed information about the next five years’ worth of load history, infrastructure costs, and operating costs so that they can get a more solid rate framework. So in that case, Ms. Peddicord believes she would lean towards that there would not be so much fluctuation in the PPA factor, or the mechanism if the city’s rates are covering their costs, the only time they really would need to use this. Again, she is waiting for some more solid information from the consultant to go, "Why would someone be changing it monthly? And why cause yourself all these headaches?" If the rate study has all the pertinent information, the only time the city would need to use the PPA would be is if they had gas fluctuations, power supply fluctuations, et cetera. Or if they are paying this RMR cost that the city did not know about when they were creating the FY 23’ budget. So those sorts of factors that were outside of the normal scope are what she would believe this PPA would be used for, into capturing those changes or those things that are one time. Ms. Peddicord stated that she did not want to make a huge change in this, but she would sort of like to use it as it should be established and that she did not know that they are using it in that way right now. Mr. Neil stated that the way he sees it, they have a cost to get electricity to their people. That cost is in materials, it costs in infrastructure, and it is the cost of manpower, all of those things. That is a solid cost. The city knows what those costs are when they do the budget, they know who is going to get the pay raises, and they know all of that. Then they have that fluctuating cost just as when you go to the gas station and one time it is costing you X number for gallons and the next time more X for gallons or whatever. So that is the part that basically fluctuates and ultimately the decision is, when do they put what the fluctuation is? Council knows exactly what other costs are going to be, it could be higher or lower to get that electricity to the homes and businesses, but then the power is the key. That is the one thing that is not stable and that they still have to consider. Councilman Anderson stated that he looks forward to when more information comes back on it. He would not support a blank check on utility rates, he just would not. Now if they put a cap on it and it goes beyond that cap, then it comes to Council for approval. To him, he thinks that could hit a sweet spot that would give management the ability to do some adjustments. Mr. Anderson stated that he would not want to just give a blank check and then not have a discussion of whether they use a combination of power purchase with rate stabilization, which also exists for the reason to avoid spikes, the rate stabilization fund. Otherwise, it could end up being unfair to some people because of the way the electric billing happens and they could conceivably get people who would not have much notice, even though they benefit on the way down, equally. It's just that one of the things that's important for businesses and family budgets is a measure of stability. So they could conceivably get very little notice and just get a couple of weeks’ notice and all of a sudden be hit with a major change if they do not have a cap. So he thinks that would have to be part of the discussion, but he is definitely in support at least for a quarterly adjustment and he thinks that this is a very intelligent proposal and a great discussion to have. Mr. Anderson thanked Ms. Peddicord for bringing this up because he thinks it would benefit their citizens if done correctly.

CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 27, 2023 PAGE 21 Rates and Tariffs - July 1, 2022 Version (Revision Effective April 1, 2023 Billing Date) Ms. Peddicord continued to state that based on prior conversations in the prior agenda item, she is bringing forth the rates and tariffs with the revision of the PPA removed, for the remainder of the fiscal year from the April 1st billing date through June. This again is based on no historical guidance on how in normal practice this mechanism should or could be used, but again, in considering the possibility of building this out differently, take into consideration that again, the rate study includes an estimate for the fiscal year of infrastructure, gasoline prices, salaries, benefits. Ms. Peddicord explained that she would hope not to have to use that fluctuating power adjustment factor to any huge extent but that she also thought about the need for a cap or a parameter in there, high/low end, et cetera. Just so that everyone can be educated and she will look into bringing back information just to inform council. Probably to ask for a decision as to whether to include this PPA adjustment in the rates and tariff guide or to pull it out and be able to communicate the fluctuation in that adjustment factor in a different method. Ms. Peddicord stated that what she would suggest is informational, but she is suggesting that they remove that power factor from the billing to go out to customers from April 1st through June 30th. Also consider that, if by chance, power supply costs were to skyrocket, they may need to put some new factors in place. She hopes not to do that, but again, she does not have a crystal ball, so she thinks that is all she has to offer and she will just take council's direction from here. Responding to Mr. Hare, Ms. Peddicord stated that to make this decision, she did do a financial analysis and determined that based on where they stand currently and the change in the power supply cost, they have recognized a savings of approximately $20 million from the beginning of the fiscal year through February. Considering the debt that they have already passed through to customers and the funding that they are taking from the reserves, they should be fine with covering the remainder of the year’s costs. Including any amendments that they need to make to their budget for operating costs and maintenance infrastructure, et cetera, outside of the power supply. Ms. Peddicord stated that she can only give him a rough estimate because again, it is based on consumption, that 3 cents are per thousand kilowatt-hours. So without knowing particularly what everyone’s usage is, she is going to say it is probably $10 million that the city is not receiving. Responding to Mr. Hare, Ms. Peddicord stated that again, the collection and revenue are coming from a PPA adjustment and that the PPA adjustment is to cover the increase in cost and power supply, transmission, et cetera. In reviewing the details of the financial data and where they have seen power supply costs go, from where they started at the beginning of the fiscal year to current, she believes that the city has collected enough to cover the expenses through the end of the fiscal year and also to include the reserve funds that they are supposed to be utilizing. Responding to Councilperson Arndt, Ms. Peddicord stated that as she had mentioned during both of these presentations, she did have any historical action to follow. From what they could gather, this PPA adjustment is something that internal management uses as a mechanism to fluctuate or adjust from time to time. Not knowing the thoughts and concerns of council and how they had done this in the past and then trying to move forward by not

CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 27, 2023 PAGE 22 necessarily having a vote. Ms. Peddicord noted that she is up for having a vote to approve it or just having it as an informational piece. Councilman Anderson stated that now to get back to something very important, the purpose of the power. The city’s power purchase adjustment or the power credit adjustment is not to raise revenue. The city has already set how much revenue they will get from the electric fund. The purpose of it is to make sure that the city can purchase the power at the prevailing cost. What they have done is they have locked in a lot of the cost by contract already for the rest of this year. Council knows what most of the city’s costs are going to be. They have also bought in as Ms. Peddicord has pointed out, something like $20 million in excess revenues because since January the price has fallen tremendously. The city was dealing with several months ago approximately 90 cents natural gas costs. Mr. Anderson stated that the latest number he believes that he has seen, Ms. Peddicord can correct him if he remembers it incorrectly, but it is in the $2 and some range. So therefore, not returning when it went up, they told the people, "Hey, we are sorry but you have to help us because our costs have gone up." When they go down, we cannot tell them, "Oh, now we are just going to pocket the money." That is not what that is there for. If council wants to adjust something, they will do that in the fiscal year when it comes to the rates. The power purchase is solely for covering the fluctuations in power. When power costs quadrupled, council had no choice. There have been easing and regulations, there has been the opening of pipelines, and there have been a lot of factors that have happened nationally and globally, which have increased the natural gas power supply, which has lowered those particular costs. In the last approximately six months, there was a lot of panic because of the war in Ukraine, which helped cause price spikes. The city had to roll with that. Now that those things have evened out, what the city has is the opportunity to say, “Hey, we should not make people wait another three months before we give them their money back.” By the way, according to the policies that council has passed, once the rate stabilization and other funds get to a certain dollar level, the city is supposed to return some of that to the people. Mr. Anderson stated that they are bound that the city is only allowed to carry a certain number, a certain dollar amount of excess revenue in the funds, which they cannot use those funds by the way, because they are locked up in those particular funds. So they are locked up, so the city cannot use them for other projects anyway. Council cannot use them to buy police cars and council cannot use them to go and give general fundraisers or whatever because they are required for certain projects. They are locked in based upon long, long adopted policies, a lot of which are incorporated in the city’s bonding and the bond covenants, et cetera, and the city’s financial regulations. Councilman Neil stated that the price of the power has gone down and as a result that the city can cut the rate back just to move this surtax. Is that correct? It is just that it is down and council is going back to what they are supposed to do. Councilman Hare stated that he has said this for 20 years, “why do we have an electric utility?” Everybody tells him that is the city’s cash cow. That is where they get money when the city needs it. That is why the transfer to the general fund has gone up and up. So what he is hearing tonight, is how the city is going to be in the hole millions of dollars

CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 27, 2023 PAGE 23 because of different things such as taking care of our employees. Now he is hearing, oh it is all right. Mr. Hare stated that they will just reduce electric rates and then they are going to be raising something else somewhere if they do not have the money. Mr. Hare continued to state that the city does not want to bring in too much cash because then they will not be able to charge in other areas to make up what they do not have. Mr. Hare just does not think it is the right thing to do until they get the budget all squared away and they know where they are. From what he has been hearing is that the city is going to be in a big hole. So there are going to have to be some changes somewhere to make up for what the city does not have. Responding to Council President Sudler, Ms. Peddicord stated that yes, the PPA adjustment factor is to cover fluctuations, the cost of fuel purchase power, and transmission values. Again, the rate study adjusts the electric rates charged to residential, large commercials, small commercial et cetera, which entails all of the costs to operate the electric utility. The city is guided or based on policies that only allow them to keep reserves of a certain dollar amount. Based on what they are seeing, if the city keeps accumulating this PPA for the remainder of the year, they are going to have over and above what the reserved balance should be for the rate stabilization fund. Responding to Mr. Hare, Ms. Peddicord stated that the city does have a policy that establishes the guidelines for the rate stabilization fund. She believes it currently states that only a 10-million-dollar transfer to the general fund is allowed. Again, council can revisit that policy and the verbiage. Mr. Anderson moved to recommend the acceptance of the staff recommendation for the Electric Purchased Power Adjustment (PPA) to $0.00 effective with the April 1, 2023 Billing Date through the end of the Fiscal Year. The motion was seconded by Mr. Rocha and unanimously carried. FIRST READING - PROPOSED ORDINANCE #2023-04- LANDS OF JIREH CHRISTIAN CENTER, INC AT 2161 FORREST AVENUE Council President Sudler reminded the public that copies of the proposed ordinance were available at the entrance of the Council Chambers and also could be obtained from the City Clerk's Office. Responding to Mr. Rocha, Ms. Gray stated that yes, this would be a project in addition to Leander Lakes. Ms. Gray stated that with any rezoning the uses, they can talk about potential uses and the equitable owner is Leander Lakes Three. So she could surmise that the proposal will ultimately be for apartment use. However, the list of uses, any use that is allowed in that zoning district would be allowed. Ms. Gray stated that the density allowed in the zoning district is eight dwellings per acre. Ms. Gray continued to state that in regards to density, is taken on a per-parcel basis. Ms. Gray explained that the overall density is not only controlled by the parcel but also by the comprehensive plan. So that is looked at when the comprehensive plan, which was recently updated in 2019. So that is looked at overall and in addition when the department and when DelDOT looks at traffic generation when they talked about that the other day, they look at traffic generation per lot. They also take into consideration the whole of the area as well.

CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 27, 2023 PAGE 24 By motion of Mr. Hare, seconded by Mr. Arndt, Council unanimously referred the request to the Planning Commission and set a public hearing for April 17, 2023, at 6:30 p.m., as recommended by staff. In accordance with Section 1-9 of the Dover Code, Council acknowledged the First Reading of the Zoning Ordinance Amendment as read by the City Clerk, by title only, as follows: AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE ZONING ORDINANCE AND ZONING MAP OF THE CITY OF DOVER BY CHANGING THE ZONING DESIGNATION OF PROPERTY LOCATED AT 2161 FOREST AVENUE. CITY MANAGER'S ANNOUNCEMENTS City Manager Hugg asked the council to set aside some time fairly quickly for them to discuss some of the options related to the wage study and its implementation. There are several proposals that they can discuss based on revenues and they do need to get that piece of it nailed down. MAYOR’S ANNOUNCEMENTS Mayor Christiansen was absent. COUNCIL MEMBERS' ANNOUNCEMENTS Councilman Boggerty stated that he wanted to remind the public that the ARPA grants button is live. If they wish to apply for ARPA funds, please do so by April 12th at 5:00 PM. Mr. Boggerty urged everyone emphatically to read the instructions and follow them to a T. Councilman Neil stated that April 5th at 6:00 PM starts with the first day of the Jewish Passover. Happy Passover to all the members of the Jewish faith. Council has been talking about money and the costs and everything that they have been dealing with regarding the wage study. This is the time when members of the Jewish faith come in to sit down to eat and there is no bread in the house. Everyone may have heard that joke before, but it starts eight days and he wishes everybody a happy Passover. Council President Sudler stated that April 4th will be the Director of Clerk's birthday. She will be turning 21 and a half years old, and we want to wish her a happy birthday and enjoy. The meeting adjourned at 7:54 p.m. ANDRIA BENNETT CITY CLERK All ordinances, resolutions, motions, and orders adopted by City Council during their Regular Meeting of March 27, 2023, are hereby approved. ROBIN R. CHRISTIANSEN MAYOR /AB