Tuesday night, during a short meeting, the Wake Forest Town Board commended Transportation Engineer Eric Keravuori, who is retiring after more than 22 years of service, and agreed to preserve a family cemetery. They also approved all three items on the planning agenda.
Keravuori was hired as an engineer in the public utilities/water-sewer district on Oct. 28, 1996, reclassified as the town engineer in the new engineering department in 2000 and again reclassified as the transportation engineer in 2018. He was not present Tuesday night.
The family cemetery is part of a tidying-up process for Olde Mill Stream subdivision by Mill Creek Associates and Ellerbee Creek Partnership in which the town accepting three small parcels for open space while rejecting the third, which is not accessible. The cemetery, .05 acre, is close to the historic Battle-Purnell House and is associated with it because of the Scholar family with members buried there. Everyone from the Historic Preservation Commission to the public works department, with former director Mike Barton and current Director Magda Holloway favoring acceptance by the town.
Chip Russell, the planning department director, told the board the cemetery will remain in its present condition with minimal maintenance. In the future, if there are funds, a consultant will be hired to determine if there are any graves outside the cemetery and an appropriate fence could be erected.
The board also approved these planning requests:
*A request to add six townhouses to the Townes at Gateway Commons.
*A request to rezone the house and land at 417 South Main Street to residential mixed use to allow Mike Perry to relocate his law office there.
*A rezoning and master plan for Ledge Rock Green subdivision at the ends of Cardinal Cres Lane and Ledgerock Road that will allow for 22 homes.
The board also approved a petition for contiguous annexation submitted by David Williams Sr. for property at 1047 North Main Street where 40 townhouses are planned.
The board went into closed session at the end of the regular agenda to consult with their attorney, Eric Vernon.
