Civil and Municipal - Jan 2024

“Hopefully once that is complete, it will redirect some of the trucks and those who are just using our roads to pass through to other locations and keep our local roads more business-friendly for those who are coming into town with purpose.” On the subject of connectivity, Burk admits, “That’s an area where we can see some improvement. That is something with ARPA funds that we’re looking at on the state and county level, improving that infrastructure, but that’s not something that town has the resources to implement.” On a more positive note, he relays that Millsboro has taken it upon itself to enlist a fiber company to run fiber to town hall and all of the town buildings. “We have a network between all of our facilities,” he recounts. “So, we have gone with an outside vendor to bring that bandwidth into the town hall and to our facilities, especially with the construction of the new police department.” He notes that Police departments are very bandwidth- heavy because of the technology being utilized, and a reliable network is of utmost importance. This investment will not only be integrated into the new police station but will extend to the newwater plant and wastewater plant. Housing development is also underway, to keep up with an expanding population. Plantation Lakes, a development that was started in 2006 has been slowly growing despite a housing lull midway through the project. “They’ve been plugging along since then, and when completed, the Plantation Lakes development itself will have doubled the population of Millsboro,” says Burk. “There’s all kinds of infrastructure improvements and upgrades that we have to make to handle that influx of people and the increase in demand for services.” DOWNTOWN PRESERVATION The town of Millsboro is committed to preserving the character of its downtown core, while also ensuring the community is equipped with quality- of-life amenities that will facilitate growth. A recent sidewalk replacement project, which added brick 224 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 5, ISSUE 01