During its work session Tuesday, Aug. 4, the mayor and town commissioners heard Assistant Town Engineer Holly Miller described the plan to completely renovate the boat access at the Smith Creek Reservoir for about $800,000, money already available from last fall’s bond issues. A new paved driveway, a parking area with spaces for 20 or 21 vehicles and three boat trailers, a refurbished boat ramp, a new floating dock with kayak launches, a new bridge to the greenway, signs, landscaping and picnic tables are included in the plan drawn up by Brandon White with Kimley-Horn Associates. “It’s a wonderful project,” he said, and residents who viewed the plan in July agreed. The cost breaks own to $116,000 for design and permitting with construction estimated at $684,000. The discussion about the plan got sidetracked early on into one about the liability plan for the 1960 earthen dam and who should pay

“You feel like you’re in the mountains,” Assistant Town Engineer Holly Miller said last week about the 178 acres north of the Smith Creek Reservoir the town wants to purchase to protect the reservoir’s drinking water quality and to provide a new park. Miller applied for and received $529,920 in a state Clean Water Management Trust Fund grant and has applied to Wake County’s Open Space grant fund program for $2.6 million to come close to the $3.6 million purchase price. The Ammons family owns the land and is willing to sell. Along with protecting the reservoir water, Miller said in an email, the purchase will “provide a valuable asset to the town in regards to habitat, ecology and connection. In the future we will also look at a PARTF (North Carolina Parks and Recreation Trust Fund) grant to provide master planning including trail networks for hikers, bikers and equestrians.

Every Thursday the volunteers at Hope House, 334 North Allen Road, pick up food from the Food Bank of Eastern and Central North Carolina and give it away to people in the community. And in August Hope House sponsors an annual School Supply & Book Bag Giveaway Fun Day. This third year the fun day will be Saturday, Aug. 15, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Volunteers will distribute school supplies, book bags and clothing, and there will be food, games and music. Children need to be present to receive a book bag. Fresh vegetables, fruits, salad packages and breads are the staple items distributed on Thursday each week, but some weeks they have meat, eggs, fruit juice and milk. Everything is distributed on a first-come, first-served basis. You can find out more by calling Norma Bennekin at 919-26-1007 or emailing to hopehouse334@yahoo.com. Hope House is a project of the

The Wake Forest Renaissance Centre for the Arts will host the “Forest of Wake Storytelling Festival” on Saturday, Aug. 15. Featuring four professional storytellers, along with entertaining workshops and concerts for children and adults, the festival will introduce the art of storytelling to the Wake Forest community and celebrate one of humanity’s oldest art forms. Audiences of ages 6 and older are sure to relate to the colorful, humorous and inspirational stories shared by the lineup of storytellers, including Cary’s Alan Hoal, Ron Jones and Pamela Alberda from Durham and Raleigh’s Henry Gogel. Hoal is a highly energetic and animated storyteller who has taken home numerous storytelling awards. He travels throughout the United States telling stories at festivals and retreats as well as at colleges, secondary schools and libraries. He has also shared his talents at church, corporate and civic events. Hoal has a diverse repertoire from the hilarious, to