By Glenn Rolfe

DAGSBORO — Annexation has not been a frequent occurrence in Dagsboro, as its last one was likely in spring 2009, with that property subsequently de-annexed.

But as residential and commercial growth continue in many parts of Sussex County, town leaders want to be prepared for annexation requests.

That means ensuring its taxpayers don’t foot the bill for them.

Following a discussion at its Jan. 24 meeting, Dagsboro’s mayor and Town Council tabled drafting an ordinance for annexation impact fees, in lieu of more detailed information and further consideration.

Town administrator Cindi Brought has been researching Dagsboro’s annexation history, in the hope of having more data available at council’s Feb. 21 meeting.

“We’re doing some evaluations of what we have spent in the past for annexations. I’m researching all of that,” she said.

Councilman William Chandler III said the town needs to have adequate annexation impact fees in place, so it does not have to absorb costs associated with the process, such as the price for consultants and an annexation committee.

“This is a fee that would compensate for doing that. The idea is to set the fee … at a reasonable amount,” he said.

Councilwoman Teresa Ulrich, noting the growth of northern neighbor Millsboro, is fearful an overly high annexation fee could deter interest in development.

“I understand Millsboro. They are booming right now. They can charge whatever they want. People are still going to come into their town,” she said. “If we ever want our town to grow, charging higher fees is going to deter them from doing so.

“So we have to ask ourselves, what do we want here? Do we want more revenue? … We all know that there has been very few in the past. There may be one coming up in the future. I think if we make that difficult, then that is not going to happen.”

Councilman Chandler disagreed, saying a reasonable rate will not deter people wanting to build homes in town. He added that the cost for annexation is simply passed on to homebuyers by the developer.

“They are quite able to pass those costs on to buyers, and that is what they do. We don’t, frankly, have that many annexations, but when we do have one, I would also like to see the town at least recoup its out-of-pocket costs,” he said. “I don’t think that is unreasonable, to ask those who want us to bring them into the jurisdiction and make them part of the Dagsboro club (to) pay their fair share of what it costs the town, rather than imposing those costs on all of those who are already residents living in the town.”

He continued, “I just think that I am trying to do what I am being told by the people who elected me, who actually voted for me, about what they want Dagsboro to look like in the future. They don’t want it to look like Millsboro. They don’t want it to look like Middletown. They want Dagsboro to be a small, family-friendly community that is kind of laid-back and easy to get around. That is what they came here for, and that is what they want.”

Councilman Will Labor said he is not opposed to the annexation fee.

“I think it would be helpful to understand what that cost for that committee would actually cost us today and then base our fee on that,” he said.

Mayor Brian Baull suggested that council table the issue, allowing Ms. Brought, solicitor Greg Morris and AECOM consultant Kyle Gulbronson to provide more information Feb. 21.

“It has been a long time since (we) annexed property,” Mayor Baull said. “Like, come up with some scenarios. (For example,) we’re going to annex 100 acres. What would you charge? What would our time be worth? That kind of thing, … to kind of give us an idea of a ballpark as to where we could be.”