Statements by Brian E. Lewis
596 statements from meeting recordings, newest meeting first.
Machine transcript. Statements are matched to this official by machine and can be wrong. Check the recording.
Jan 13, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole Meeting
Gotcha. Um and I know this is still going before the Planning Commission, but uh were there any objections by any residents within the vicinity over there to this project to your knowledge?
Play from 1:26:53Jan 13, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole Meeting
Understood. Uh at this time, I have no further questions. Thank you, Ms. Williams.
Play from 1:27:46Jan 13, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole Meeting
Thank you. Good evening, Mr. Leggins.
Play from 1:39:31Jan 13, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole Meeting
Uh first of all, I just want you to be aware that um when the uh Economic Development um that we have right now before us uh was introduced, the ordinance, um I voted against it because I wasn't for it for the reason that um I believe it's the people's money and they should decide where that money goes more than us, because it's actually from the sale of properties in the city. I don't know if you know the background with where the money come from, but uh the money comes from sales of properties that the city owns, but in theory the people own. And it was decided to start this uh Economic Development Fund, uh which I had concerns of. So I don't want you to take this personal, because I commend you for the business that you have and for it being open as long as it has, because a lot of businesses fall within a year or two in the city of Dover. Um now, I was reviewing your application and I just have like two questions. Sure.
Play from 1:39:33Jan 13, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole Meeting
Um the first question is that I see that you're asking for $50,000, um and one of the things that you're requesting is an artificial turf to the outdoor beer garden and HVAC upgrades. Now, your restaurant was built in October 2023. Um why the upgrades so soon?
Play from 1:40:32Jan 13, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole Meeting
Understood. Thank you. And my second question is, as I read through the application is, uh under the Impact on Downtown Dover, uh the third one down, it says, "Draw additional foot traffic to the downtown district." Now, I've been to your restaurant, and it's way out there away from the downtown area. Um In the future, do you have any anticipations of maybe providing transportation or a shuttle or something? Out of curiosity. [laughter] Uh because like when I read this, I'm like, "Wait a minute. It's not downtown in the district." It is.
Play from 1:42:13Jan 13, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole Meeting
I mean, it may be encompassed in a map, but it's not here. [laughter]
Play from 1:42:29Jan 13, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole Meeting
I I was just, you know, giving you some background and, you know, the reason how, you know, or why I feel the way I do about this fund.
Play from 1:44:38Jan 13, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole Meeting
Um do you guys run down South New Street by any chance?
Play from 1:44:46Jan 13, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole Meeting
Okay. Gotcha. No, when you said that, you know, uh you wanted to show people that Dover isn't dangerous, there are areas that still are.
Play from 1:44:56Jan 13, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole Meeting
So. Um thank you very much uh for answering my questions. And again, uh I don't want you to take uh my vote personal.
Play from 1:45:04Jan 13, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole Meeting
That's all I have.
Play from 1:45:12Jan 13, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole Meeting
Thank you. I'm going to take more from uh uh members of the committee, but I'd like to open up uh to the public cuz I I see somebody I know somebody has to go back home, so I'm going to open up to members of the public right now.
Play from 1:48:06Jan 13, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole Meeting
Yes, Mr. President.
Play from 1:48:24Jan 13, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole Meeting
Please, Mr. President.
Play from 1:48:27Jan 13, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole Meeting
Thank you. Please be careful coming down. Thank you.
Play from 1:48:40Jan 13, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole Meeting
Can we get your full name, Mrs. Pennington?
Play from 1:48:53Jan 13, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole Meeting
Thank you. Now you got to get back to your grandson, so thank you for coming out tonight. Uh since being fair, any other members of the public, uh come on forward, please. And then I am going to give back to members of the committee.
Play from 1:50:52Jan 13, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole Meeting
Oh yeah.
Play from 1:51:42Jan 13, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole Meeting
Yep, that creosote, that's on the uh ties.
Play from 1:51:44Jan 13, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole Meeting
Councilman Rocha, you're recognized.
Play from 1:54:26Jan 13, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole Meeting
Any other members of the public? Okay, I'm going to go back to the committee then. Uh Dr. Sudler, you're recognized.
Play from 1:55:04Jan 13, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole Meeting
Thank you. Uh Councilman Rocha.
Play from 1:55:39Jan 13, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole Meeting
Thank you.
Play from 1:56:35Jan 13, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole Meeting
Uh Mr. Garfinkel.
Play from 1:56:39Jan 13, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole Meeting
Thank you. You're you're Okay, thank you.
Play from 1:58:27Jan 13, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole Meeting
Mr. Mayor?
Play from 1:58:33Jan 13, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole Meeting
All right. Thank you. Anyone else? Uh comments? Uh then I—
Play from 1:59:28Jan 13, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole Meeting
Thank you. I thank you. So the if there has been staff uh recommendation of approval. What is the pleasure of uh committee? Uh Councilman Rocha, you're recognized.
Play from 1:59:50Jan 13, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole Meeting
Thank you. It's been moved by uh uh Councilman Rocha and uh seconded by uh Dr. Pillsbury. And and discussion? And I I'll give mine, and
Play from 2:00:16Jan 13, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole Meeting
I'm not going to vote no. I'm going to abstain. I'm not going to vote at all. And again, it has nothing to do with you or your restaurant. It has to do with the economic development fund. My concern is, and this is for the record, and Mr. Hugg knows and is well very well aware of my position on this, is it used to go into the general fund. And if we got into a jam where the city went into a deficit, we would be able to use that money instead of raise taxes. So that's my rationale behind the whole thing. And I stand that with any application that comes before us that's looking for money from the economic development fund. Because I'm concerned, okay, the way the budget looks, that we may go into a deficit. I'm not saying we are, but it kind of looks a little gloomy. So that's where I stand on that. So that has nothing to do with you, nothing to do with your restaurant. You're doing a fabulous job. So I'm just going to abstain. Thank you.
Play from 2:03:42Jan 13, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole Meeting
Abstain.
Play from 2:05:23Jan 13, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole Meeting
I was looking at the uh action form, Mr. Lyon, and um I see that um you're going to uh have to utilize money from somewhere else because there's a shortfall. Uh my question is, um what's going to happen if we use that money, and can you explain why there is a shortfall?
Play from 2:09:50Jan 13, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole Meeting
My second question is did did you attempt to apply for assistance through any agencies, uh example DNREC, FEMA, okay, uh responsible for dam safety repairs? I don't know if you're aware of that. I did some research. Uh they administer um National Dam Safety Program uh and they provide grants and technical assistance to states and local governments to enhance dam safety repairs. Um I printed this out for you.
Play from 2:11:01Jan 13, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole Meeting
Do you want to possibly maybe look into it and and come back to us on this matter or is uh there time constraints? Because I'm not going to support it because if you could get money through this grant,
Play from 2:11:33Jan 13, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole Meeting
we're better off.
Play from 2:11:46Jan 13, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole Meeting
So when you say they should be done, um how would you rate it? Immediately? Is it a danger to the community?
Play from 2:12:06Jan 13, 2026, Council Committee of the Whole Meeting
I'm going to hand this over to you, and it would behoove you to look into this because it could save the city and the taxpayers money.
Play from 2:12:37Dec 9, 2025, Council Committee of the Whole Meeting
All right. Uh, good evening, everybody. Um, this uh this month, I attended uh a couple of uh holiday community events. Uh, I also attended the tree lighting. I attended um DEMCO, uh they had a holiday event uh that I attended um where they were giving out um toys to the children and stuff, and uh this past Saturday, I attended the 50th anniversary
Play from 02:55Dec 9, 2025, Council Committee of the Whole Meeting
I, it's a, it's not an easy call, because I agree with Mr. Sudler 100%, but uh weirdly enough, also agree with you, because uh there's good points uh particularly, um my big concern is emergency response time. Um that's i- in my ideal world, I would love it if we could find a solution where that could be an em- where we could make it so that it could be an em- emergency-only entrance. Um, I I'm I'm wondering, how can how can we accomplish that?
Play from 49:27