REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. - The Nation's Summer Capital had quite the successful season. The Boardwalk and Beach Committee met Tuesday to review how the summer went, as well as future plans for the boardwalk.
The police chief says tourism was definitely up this year, over 8 million people visited the area. But, staffing was an issue. Usually the police department has 26 seasonal workers, but this past summer they only hired 14.
"We are very proud of our guys and girls, we're switching their shifts, they didn't have any problem with that, as far as hiring for next year, we are already on top of that," said Chief Keith Banks.
But with more visitors came police, fire, and EMS calls.
"I know many many times it would not be surprising, to have three, four, five ambulances all going at the same time," said Chief Banks. There were also issues with alcohol violations and openly smoking marijuana on the boardwalk
"We had 0 burglaries, 0 robberies so far this year, domestics were up but violent domestics were down," said the chief.
The committee also discussed installing a historic marker right at Poodle Beach, which Camp Rehoboth says was an important gathering place for the LGBTQ community. That sign is expected to be installed in June 2022 to coincide with Pride Month and the Stonewall Uprising. Plus, the Boardwalk and Beach Committee wants to preserve the viewshed, and they say the expansion of the lifeguard headquarters and comfort station will obstruct the view.
"What's kind of proposed now is making it bigger ... we're kind of moving in the wrong direction opening up Baltimore Avenue," said Frank Cooper. The committee suggested keeping the lifeguard station and comfort station one floor, possibly split up so they can be bigger, but on different parts of the boardwalk.
"We just have one chance to get it right, before we put a spade or shovel in the ground, we just have to make sure we really got it right. The committee did not give an update on the Dolle's sign on Tuesday, but the Rehoboth Beach Museum is willing to take the sign.
