Council approves housing and grant funding, several rezoning items in routine votes

At its meeting, New Castle County Council moved through a series of ordinance and resolution votes that included funding reallocations and several zoning matters.

Notable outcomes:
- Ordinance 26-027: The council adopted an appropriation of $143,979 in Community Development Block Grant funding (passed through from the City of Wilmington) for a lead-based paint hazard reduction program administered by the Department of Community Services.
- Ordinance 26-029: Council approved reallocating $1,000,000 within the New Castle County affordable housing fund among existing contracts administered by the Department of Community Services and the Delaware Valley Development Corporation projects.
- Ordinance 26-030: The council approved appropriation of $142,800 from the Delaware Department of Transportation’s Community Transportation Fund for a Silverside Road retaining wall mural; Brian Cunningham, chief of staff to the county executive, said the artist (Christian Kannenberg) has been selected and staff will share renderings with the Public Arts Commission.
- Multiple rezoning items (including Ordinances 25-146, 25-159, 25-160 and 25-161) were presented and approved by poll votes with recorded rationales from individual council members; some measures drew one or two dissents and absences were recorded on several items.

Council members emphasized these votes were consistent with land-use department recommendations and planning-board reports in many cases. Several members commended staff and sponsors for securing grants and addressing housing needs; one council member noted that some reallocations used funds obtained in earlier years that were not spent immediately and are now being applied to current projects.

Where roll calls were recorded, the clerk announced the vote tallies or noted when items were tabled. Public comment was limited or none on these items, except for brief remarks of support during the rezoning and warehouse-code discussion.