One of the casualties of Monday night/Tuesday morning’s mixed winter event was the cancellation and rescheduling of the Wake Forest Town Board’s regular business meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 17.
It has been rescheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 24, but readers should note the new beginning time: 5 p.m. instead of the regular 7 p.m. Public Information Officer Bill Crabtree said the change to 5 p.m. was made because the board is already scheduled to meet with Steve Strauss of Developmental Associates “to begin sorting through the town manager applications.” Current Town Manager Mark Williams will retire on April 30 after 22 years in that position, 32 years with the town.
If you have signed up for Engage Wake Forest and are interested in the town’s search for its next manager, you might want to respond to the current question: “What are the most critical skills and abilities Wake Forest should be seeking in its next town manager?”
Another casualty was the annual State of the Town Dinner and Address by Mayor Vivian Jones, which was originally set for Monday, Feb. 16. It, too, has been rescheduled for next week but at the same time. Hosted by the Wake Forest Rotary Club, it will begin at 6 p.m. in the Wake Forest Renaissance Centre on Brooks Street. Some $15 tickets may be available. If you want to hear the speech but skip the dinner, plan to arrive about 6:15 p.m.
Agenda items for town board
Many will cheer for one agenda item next Tuesday. The town board is expected to authorize $50,000 of town funds to erect a traffic signal at the intersection of South Franklin Street and the N.C. 98 Bypass (the Dr. Calvin Jones Highway). The town will not owe more if the cost is more than $50,000 though the contract with the state Department of Transportation does not include any repayment to the town if the cost is less, although that is almost certainly a foolish thought. The town does have to also pay for any easements and utility relocations required.
Planning Director Chip Russell said at the close of the February Wake Forest Planning Board meeting on Feb. 3 that the Franklin/N.C. 98 Bypass intersection “should be constructed in 2015” along with two others in town. The town already has an agreement with DOT to install a signal at the Marshall Farm Road/Rogers Road intersection where a neighboring homeowners association has pledged to help with the cost. The town is waiting to receive an agreement from DOT for a signal at the Chalk Road/Jones Dairy Road intersection.
The town and the Local Government Commission are moving ahead to secure funding for the several street, sidewalk and greenway projects that are “shovel-ready” or are close to construction phase and were part of the list for the bonds approved last fall.
The street projects are (1) widening Ligon Mill west of South Main: $844 bond funds ($2.4 million total cost); (2) pedestrian underpass at West Oak bridge over Richland Creek: $168,000 bond funds and total; (3) pedestrian underpass at Forestville Road bridge over Sanford Creek: $67,000 bond funds and total; (4) several traffic signals: $90,000 bond funds ($450,000 total cost); sidewalks and trails on Wait Avenue and West Oak Street: $325,000 bond funds ($1.625 million total cost).
The street and sidewalk improvements are (1) construction of Smith and Sanford Creek greenways: $685,000 bond funds ($3 million with assured grants); (2) Dunn Creek Greenway Phase I and Phase 2 DT: $491,000 bond funds ($857,000 total); (3) greenway and park signage: $360,000 bond funds and total; (4) greenway and park connections: $500,000 bond funds and total; (5) soft trail/greenway at the reservoir Phase I and II: $350,000 and $450,000, respectively, bond funds and total.
The greenway improvements are lumped together as $2,836,000 from bond funds and $5,524,000 total.
On March 3 the LGC on behalf of the town will advertise electronically for $1.495 million in street and sidewalk bonds and $2.835 million in greenway bonds. The town board will be asked to approve issuing those bonds. The town will not start or pay for all these projects at the same time; the pedestrian underpasses will be built as part of the state Department of Transportation’s project to rebuild four local bridges.
The meeting that begins at 5 p.m. will start with a presentation about the choices for Wake County’s future transit options, and it is expected the board and the mayor will discuss and choose the options they favor.
After that, there will be two public hearings, one for resident input about the 2015-2016 budget and one about the 2015 update of the five-year Capital Improvements Plan. The top item in the list of projects submitted to the board earlier this month was the Wake Forest Fire Department’s Station #4 on Jenkins Road, where site preparation is underway.
The commissioners will be asked to consider and vote on the request to build 61 townhouses on South Franklin Street and a request for a 49-lot subdivision on Wait Avenue.
They will probably appoint a new member to the Cultural Resources Advisory Board and approve two requests for the May 2 Meet in the Street: closing several streets on that day and allowing for public consumption of alcohol for the beer garden.
The meeting will be televised live and all town and area residents are invited to attend the meeting, which will be held in the second-floor meeting room at the Wake Forest Town Hall on Brooks Street. If you want to speak about a topic which is not an agenda item, please call or email Town Clerk Deeda Harris before 3 p.m. that day, dharris@wakeforestnc.gov and 919-435-9413.
