At the close of a short work session for the Wake Forest Town Board, Town Manager Kip Padgett asked that an item about increasing a pay grade for a position in the planning department be added to the March 21 agenda.
Planning Director Chip Russell said it would be for the transportation planning manager. Candace Davis, who had been in that position, has been promoted to assistant to the town manager. Also, Russell said that the other day there were only two people working in the whole planning department, himself and Senior Planner Jonathan Cooper.
One person is on medical leave, Russell said, someone else is sick, and two staff members recently resigned to take other jobs. “I lost 30 years of experience when those two staff left.
“It’s getting be a five-alarm situation,” he said. Currently Russell is reviewing residential plans while Senior Planner Jonathan Cooper handles the commercial side. But Russell has many claims on his time besides his duties as the department’s director. He is also and has been very involved in the planning for the Wake County transportation plan.
During the work session, Antwan Morrison, the financial operations manager in the finance department, led the commissioners and mayor in a brief overview of the draft Capital Improvements Plan update. There will be a public hearing about the update during the board’s regular meeting on Tuesday, March 21, and the Gazette will provide highlights of the plan in its March 15 issue.
“When will we finish up building these greenways?” Commissioner Anne Reeve asked. “I don’t see that many people using them.”
Candace Davis, the new assistant to Town Manager Kip Padgett who before that job did all the transportation planning, including greenways, said there are people on the greenways every day, even people walking and biking in the construction for one of the new greenway extensions.
After Commissioner Greg Harrington said, “I know you can’t give me this answer, but do you have a number for the people who use the greenways?” Not really, Davis said. “We’re working to get a number.” That may include some kind of electronic counting system.
Mayor Vivian Jones said, “It’s time for us to get those LAPP projects completed. We’re in danger of losing money because they take so long.”
She was referring to local transportation projects using federal funds that come through the state Department of Transportation. One project is the Ligon Mill widening project between South Main Street and the recently built section just past an entrance to the Walmart shopping center. It has been held up by problems of obtaining right-of-way from adjacent landowners. The situation for the Stadium Drive complete street project has run into similar problems with obtaining right-of-way.
2 Responses
Everywhere I look, the greenways are under construction, (Heritage, near Deacon’s Ridge, Richland Creek), under repair, or inaccessible (behind Caddell Woods off Burlington Mills Rd.). Where exactly are citizens even permitted to use any of the greenways?
I walk often on the green ways and am anxious for the work to be completed. As
The work is still pending I do not wish to walk on a
Construction site. Looking
Forward to a completion date
And perhaps a formal announcement and program.
Thank you for your informiarionsl columns.