11/24/2015 – Press Conference – Preparing for ‘Small Business Saturday’

November 24th 10 a.m. – Noon (Old Courthouse Museum steps – rain or shine):   Prepare for ‘Small Business Saturday’ and Local Shopping in New Castle: Debut of ‘Byway Bucks’ Shopping/Travel Incentives U.S. Sen. Tom Carper, U.S. Small Business Administration officials, State of Delaware representatives, and local leaders will conduct a press conference and small business walking tour.  The event urges local holiday and year-round shopping, and marks the Old New Castle debut of ‘Byway Bucks’ Program.  The ‘Byways Bucks’ is a coupon voucher program offering special dining, shopping and admissions deals along Del.’s ‘Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway.’  The event will be anchored by opening remarks on the steps of the newly-minted First State National Historic Park’s New Castle courthouse  –  site of the fugitive slave trials, the transcripts of which informed the layout of the ‘Tubman Byway’s’ route  –  and feature tours of some of the Colonial-era town’s most idyllic […]

FEMA revising FIRMs; City properties impacted

Editor’s note: The following are edited excerpts from the FEMA Flood Hazard Mapping Fact Sheet prepared for New Castle County. This entire publication and a great deal of other detailed information, including draft maps, are available online at www.rampp-team.com/de.htm. (Note the map sections for the City of New Castle are numbered 0162, 0164 and 0166.) FEMA manages the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). This Federal Government program makes flood insurance available to residents in communities which meet certain criteria, including the City of New Castle. Maps created by FEMA include the Special Flood Hazard Area, which is the area that has a 1% or greater chance of flooding in any given year. When FEMA maps flood hazards in a community or county, two products are produced: a Flood Insurance Study (FIS) report; and a Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) An FIS is a narrative report of the community’s flood hazards […]

FEMA proposes changes for floodplain maps

This article from the News Journal (Gannett) delawareonline.com New maps reflect greater flood threat Written by Jeff Montgomery and Molly Murray The News Journal; Jan. 06 Several times a day lately, Sussex County official Jeff Shockley finds himself plunging into the fine points of flood plains, prompted by calls from residents anxious about big storms and bigger insurance bills. “There’s been much more interest in the past couple of years, and I think that it’s due to the storms that have hit and missed all around us,” Shockley said. “I get several calls a day from homeowners wanting to know if their property is close to a flood plain, how close they are to a body of water.” The latest surge in interest has coincided with the arrival of new Federal Emergency Management Agency flood insurance boundary maps, slated for public review in coming months. Driving the map revisions, federal […]

Please Help the City by Completing the Parking Survey

The City Planning Commission formed a subcommittee to study parking. That subcommittee is conducting a parking survey. Paper surveys were included along with the December MSC utility billing. Survey recipients are encouraged to complete and return the surveys no later than the deadline of January 11. In lieu of submitting a paper survey, respondents may complete the survey online, by the January 11 deadline, by clicking on the link below: http://surveygoldplus.com/s/D856CE1A16424E0C/46.htm  

City Pier destroyed by Superstorm Sandy

What is left of the New Castle City Pier is shown in a debris pile on the wharf at the end of Delaware Street. See A Full Hurricane Sandy Special Report

HMS Bounty anchored off New Castle

In mid-June, the HMS Bounty stopped overnight and anchored in the Delaware River off the New Castle City shoreline.

City Charter changes fully approved, adopted and in effect

Governor Markell signed HB 307, the final step in approval and adoption of Charter changes for the City of New Castle. The Delaware Senate and House of Representatives had previously approved HB 307, each in a unanimous vote. Click on the following link to read the full text of HB 307 – Charter changes for the City of New Castle: New Charter for the City of New Castle

Waterfront Concept Plan Proposal Path Forward/Timeline

Waterfront Concept Timeline

DOC, MSC aid City with beach cleanup

Riverfront beach cleanup efforts took place in mid-December, with the City coordinating with the Department Of Corrections (DOC)/New Castle Community Correction Centers and the Municipal Services Commission (MSC). The City is always grateful when our Public Works crews can team up with MSC personnel on projects to benefit the public. Added special thanks to Lt. McLellan, Cpl. Stokes, Cpl. Ewasko and of course all the hard working crew members. It is estimated as many as 75 dump truck loads of material were removed off the beach — much of it wood washed ashore with the tide, and some of it in huge pieces of whole trees and trunks. And a final thank you on this project goes to Rep. J.J. Johnson, who helped arrange for the City to dispose of all the wood collected free of charge, in cooperation with the Peninsula Compost Group. Plans are to have the crews […]

The Old Library Museum

The Old Library Museum is just one of many museums and historical buildings found in Historic New Castle. Photo courtesy of the New Castle Historical Society. The Old Library was built by the New Castle Library Company in 1892 on land purchased by the Company from the Janvier family, who lived in Harmony House – adjacent to the library lot on its north side.  The Library is currently not open to the public. The Company, chartered in 1812, had housed its collection of classics and law books in the Academy (built in 1799) across the street. Originally, the Company was private: borrowing privileges were limited to members and, it is believed, students at the Academy. By the late 1860s, the schoolroom was no longer large enough to house the growing number of books.  Still, it was more than 20 years before a new library was constructed. The subscription-based library was […]