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Speakers air opinions, board spends $15.2 M
Tuesday night’s Wake Forest Town Board meeting began with hearings on three possible town action and a general public comment section, four hearings in all in which people could give their opinions – and they did. Later in the meeting, during consideration of the consent agenda which takes only one vote, the commissioners agreed to spend $15.2 million on four current projects and the future train station. Details will follow. But back to the four hearings. The first was about the impact fees developers would pay to help build or rebuild or repair town streets and roads, a new set of fees. The consulting firm Benesch has just concluded a Multimodal Transportation Impact Fee Study including the possible fees developers could pay for single-family and multi-family development as well as commercial and industrial growth. The report suggests a transportation fee of $4,431 per house for single-family developments and $6,748 for multifamily units and fees ranging from $4,431 to $14,085 for commercial and industrial developments. That was not well received by developers and builders. Suzanne Harris with the Homebuilders Association of Raleigh-Wake County said the members were concerned because of other town actions (maybe the increase in the existing parks and recreation fees). If it is approved she suggested it be at the 6 percent level, and she asked the town to talk with local builders
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Builder Benjamin Thomas Hicks
100 years of history by Carol Pelosi In the 1900’s, the early years of the 20th Century, Benjamin Thomas Hicks was building the houses for the Royall Cotton Mill’s “operatives.” Each four-room house with four interior fireplaces housed two families. He probably also built the school for the mill children in 1907, just as he helped build several of the homes along Faculty Avenue. In the 1930s, remembered as a very old man, he was the lead carpenter for the several barns and buildings, including the massive dairy barn, at John Sprunt Hill’s 1,750-acre showplace farm on Falls of the Neuse Road. At the time it was called Forest Hill Farm and later, in 1939 or 1940, the name was changed to Wakefield Farm. Ed
Eight men charged with child sex crimes
Eight suspects have been arrested as part of a multi-jurisdictional undercover sting operation targeting child sex predators and human traffickers. Planned and executed by the Wake Forest Police Department (WFPD) and Wake County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO), the November 12-15 joint operation involved undercover officers and agents posing as juveniles and traffickers. The suspects solicited the agents for sex or some other purpose, and meetings were set up at various locations throughout Wake Forest where they were taken into custody. Please note that there were no Wake Forest residents. The eight suspects identified and arrested are: Police officials say one of the reasons child sex crimes and human trafficking are on the rise is because predators now have access to their victims via home computers and cell
Tip a Cop Thursday for Special Olympics
GT\ The Wake Forest Police Department will “serve” area residents in an entirely different way Thursday, Nov. 21, during the “Tip a Cop for Special Olympics” fundraiser. Several officers will be “working” at the Wake Forest Texas Roadhouse, 11440 Capital Boulevard., from 3 to10 p.m. assisting restaurant staff by clearing tables, delivering beverage orders, nd more! At the end of the day, all the tips the officers receive for their efforts will go to Special Olympics of North Carolina to support the athletes who participate in the organization’s year-round sports, health, and fitness programs. This marks the 16th consecutive year the WFPD has participated in the Tip a Cop fundraiser. During that time, the department has raised over $25,000 for Special Olympics. For more information,
Part of Ligon Mill Road to be closed Dec. 2
Beginning Monday, Dec. 2, a contractor working on behalf of the NC Department of Transportation (NCDOT) will close a portion of Ligon Mill Road between Burlington Mills Road and South Main Street/US 1A. The closure is necessary to allow crews to realign Ligon Mill Road from the existing bridge that spans Smith Creek to the new replacement bridge. A signed detour will be in place directing motorists to and from South Main Street/US 1A to Capital Boulevard/US 1 to Burlington Mills Road. Weather permitting, the road is scheduled to reopen in late December. Built in 1967 to span Smith Creek, the existing bridge needed to be replaced due to the deterioration of some bridge components that could no longer be addressed by maintenance. It was
