Mayor finds much to praise about 2015
Despite the ice on vehicles and roads, there was a full house at the Renaissance Centre Monday night for the eighth State of the Town dinner and address hosted by the Wake Forest Rotary Club. New chamber of commerce President Ann Welton was the master of ceremonies, and the Capital Christian Homeschool Band entertained before and during dinner.
Calling 2015 “another great year in our history,” Mayor Vivian Jones began by praising Town Manager Kip Padgett who took office in July. “I believe he has been impressed by the experience and dedication of our town employees and by the involvement of our citizens in making this a great community. . . “We are excited about the possibilities ahead under his leadership.”
Next Jones said the sale of the town’s power generation assets to Duke Progress Energy was a highlight of the year. Owning shares in the plants “was a good idea back in the 1970’s but in recent years the debt has made it difficult for us to offer competitive rates to our customers.” There is a rate study underway and, she said, “. . . we are sure our electric rates will go down but we are not sure yet how much.” The new rates will be part of the budget process and will go into effect in July.
“We continue to see the value of being a public power community because we know that we are able to provide more reliable power than the investor-owned utilities or coops. Look no farther than the recent ice storm when we had very little outage.” Wake Forest Power has been named an RP3 Platinum utility based on its reliability, safety, workforce development and system improvement, which all lead to fewer outages.
She praised the power system staff and the three men, Justin Higging, William Weston and Hugo Mier won events at a lineman’s rodeo in Wilson which she attended. Mier was named Lineman of the Year.
Jones went on to praise Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Director Ruben Wall and his staff for the programming they began last year for the special needs community, offering ten programs such as movie nights and family bingo night. The staff has begun the process of becoming a certified parks and recreation department, which will take 18 months.
Some of the other highlights of the speech were:
*The town has been named a Tree Line USA Utility because of Wake Forest Power’s attention to correct tree planting and trimming. “We are only the second North Carolina town to earn both Tree Line and Tree City awards.” In 2015 the town won its 36th designation as a Tree City USA.
*The town has doubled in size in ten years, from 20,000 residents to almost 40,000, and growth has brought “pains” particularly for the police department. “We have had more incidences this year which brought outside media to town than I can ever remember.” (The most vivid was the kidnapping case where a felon orchestrated that event and others by cell phone from prison. Law departments all over the southeast, the SBI, the FBI, and other groups coordinated and were able to rescue the man shortly before he was to be killed.)
Jones only said, “However, one thing that has been proven is that we have a police department made up of dedicated professionals who are well trained and compassionate. She had an example. Lt. Larry Danforth arrested a young man for fighting nine years ago. This year he wrote to thank Danforth for his thoughtful treatment of him and to say he is now a deputy sheriff in a nearby county.
*In 2008 the state listed Smith Creek Watershed as impaired, and the town began a restoration project with a $100,000 grant and 32 volunteers who adopted parts of the streams, measuring water quality once a month for a year. The efforts mean the watershed will probably be taken off the impaired list very soon.
*She praised the Wake Forest Fire Department for its professionalism; Officer Kim Warren for starting Shop With a Cop; the Wake Forest Historical Museum and its Smithsonian Institution exhibit called Home Town Teams; Olive Branch Baptist Church on its 150th anniversary; Wake Forest Baptist Church for its 100 years in its beautiful church; and Wake Electric for opening its new downtown building while celebrating 75 years.
Looking forward, Jones said there is no way of knowing what will happen next, but it will involve technology, data, and connectivity. Also, after years of partnering with the Wake Forest Area Chamber of Commerce for economic development, the town is now about to hire an economic development director. “The success of the Wireless Research Center of North Carolina has given us the opportunity to attract technology startups and rising companies.
“Our growth has brought a lot of highly educated people to our community and we want to provide more jobs so the can work here as well as live here. We think this change will benefit the town.”
Another goal, Jones said, is for a safe and connected community, and part of that will be adding to the greenway system, the transportation system, the parks and the senior center, all funded in total or part by the 2014 bond referendum.
She talked about the dislocation that will be caused by the Rogers Road bridge replacement, and asked “let’s all make it a point to support the businesses on Rogers Road so when the bridge reopens they will be stronger than ever.”
Jones talked about the town’s conservative fiscal policy which helped it weather the recession. “We reduced our capital spending but maintained our operation and employee positions.” Later, “if you ever question how your tax dollar is being spent in Wake Forest, look no further than our AAA bond rating. They don’t had out those ratings like Halloween candy; you have to earn them.”
Finally, she said, “I do believe the best is yet to come in Wake Forest as we continue to build on our foundation of good governance, great community spirit, sound financial management and innovation.”
(The speech will be broadcast on Channel 10 through March at 10 a.m., noon and 6 p.m. It is also in streaming video on the town’s website, www.wakeforestnc.gov.)
