There was a cast of at least a hundred in the two hours of Tuesday night’s Wake Forest Town Board meeting.
First there were all the people who are involved in one of the proclamations, either the proclamation declaring October as P.A.N.D.A.S. month and the proclamation recognizing October as Dysautonomia Awareness Month. We all should be aware of these two conditions which afflict a number of people in our community.
The other proclamations did not call for a crowd at the podium: Oct. 23 was recognized as Make a Difference Day in town, November was recognized as both National Native American Indian and as Family Court Awareness month.
Sheila Bishop, a 29-year Wake Forest resident, then told the board members why she wanted to be a planning board member. The commissioners voted for her to replace Colleen Sharpe, who has served two terms, for Karin Kuropas to serve a second term and for Chris Joyner, the ETJ member, to serve a second term of three years. He has to be approved by the Wake County commissioners.
Next were two public hearings to determine if two buildings should be named Local Landmarks and receive the protections, requirements and a 50 percent cut in their property tax. The town board unanimously approved the Jack Medlin Store on North Main Street and the Mutschler House. For the story behind the Medlin store, please see the history article in this week’s Gazette immediately after this article.
The house was built in 1973 and is a fine example of Modernist architecture, Senior Planner Michelle Michaels said. It was identified during a survey of possible historic homes, which have to be at least 50 years old. Two other homes that were identified in the survey are the Tommy Byrne house and the John Rich house.
The town board unanimously approved the two buildings as Local Landmarks.
They also were unanimous in annexing 28.6 acres owned by G98 Commercial LLC, land that will become a part of the Grove 98 residential and commercial development along the N.C. 98 Bypass.
Next came the public hearing about what should be considered for inclusion in the Capital Improvements Plan update for 2022-2027, and two men, Russell Lawrence and Dennis Brennan, had a spiffy idea – a large pickleball complex that would include as many as 23 courts with some of them covered, a stadium for tournaments and parking. It would need six acres if next to an existing park with parking or 8 acres if it stood alone. They estimated the cost at $2.5 million and the economic impact to the town at $1 million to $100 million.
Board members seemed impressed by the idea. Commissioner Liz Simpers said the complex “puts us on the map,” but Commissioner Bridget Wall-Lennon had a caveat. “We do not have a community center on the south side of town,” she said. In fact, the nearest community center for her is in Rolesville. She said she could approve of a pickleball complex if it was combined with a community center.
Thomas Ballman, a planning board member, was next with a presentation showing how building about 2,200 feet of sidewalk along Jones Dairy Road would connect about 1,100 dwelling units to the planned park at the Wake Forest Reservoir and downtown “at a relatively minor cost.” He said there should be access for bicycles.
Richard Ostergard talked about houses and towns, saying that once a town reaches a population of 50,000 it is considered an urban center. He also said the quality of life is affected by open space, and that a goal of preserving open space or green space was deleted recently from a set of goals the commissioners have approved.
Gary Hartong, a member of the Parks, Recreation & Cultural Resources Advisory Board, had given a report on that board’s activities and then returned to speak about the pickleball complex. He said it sounded like a great idea, but then went on to say its proponents seem to have optimistic ideas about its cost, which could be much higher than $2.5 million, and that the town should carefully weigh the costs and benefits.
After this, the town board finally got to their consent agenda, usually the first item in their meetings. Among those items, they approved a request from Police Chief Jeff Leonard to combine two part-time positions to one position in order to have a full-time evidence technician; approved a change to prohibit trespassing in or on motor vehicles because that has been lacking; and amended the pay and classification plan to add a coordinator position at the Renaissance Centre and reclassify the position of box office coordinator.
Under planning items, the board agreed to rezone about seven acres on Ligon Mill Road from business to general residential for apartments.
The last item was a short discussion about the town tree at the intersection of Front Street and East North Avenue. The tree stands on a small parcel of grass in front of the abandoned dormitory (full of asbestos) and Lisa Hayes, the strategic performance manager, said no one is quite sure who owns that land – the town, the state Department of Transportation or the seminary. Because the tree is the symbol of the town, the town wants to own it. The commissioners agreed to foot the bill — $25,000? – to get a clear title.
After the agenda, the commissioners and Town Manager Kip Padgett went into two closed sessions to talk about some negotiations and to consult with attorney Eric Vernon about a suit filed by SchoolDev East.
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One Response
I love pickleball as much as anyone, but a huge complex would not put Wake Forest on any maps. If this were nearly as profitable as the proposals claim, then private industry will build it for us. Leaving a few acres of forest land undeveloped will prove to be most valuable.