Ruben Wall, head of Wake Forest’s parks, recreation and cultural resources department, and Jennifer Rall, who heads the town’s urban forest, were the highlights of the Wake Forest Town Board’s work session on Feb. 2.
Wall presented the draft strategic plan to implement the department’s new master plan. He emphasized how quickly conditions change. The town had never heard of pickle ball two years ago and now has 27 pickle ball courts. He introduced Lisa Jacobs, the new part-time special events coordinator, who will manage the new Music in Miller, a noon lunch break downtown, as well as a 5K race in April at Joyner Park and a new dog fair.
Wall said it will take $45 to $55 million to achieve what is in the master plan, but there will be a yearly check with the town board. Part of the new cost is $500,000 a year to staff Joyner Park once the new community center there is built, and the emphasis is on programs for children, teens, families and seniors there and at all department locations.
He plans to examine the fee structure. “Are we charging the right fees? Are they fair? What do other towns charge?” Along with the new fee schedule, he plans to develop a staff that works together by, as one tactic, holding a full departmental meeting once a month and by developing performance standards and mentoring for new hires.
Wall said he and other staff members plan to visit all the town parks and discuss what they see, what is wrong, what is right, what is needed. “You are now able to see the pond at Flaherty Park,” he said, and they will soon add picnic benches near the pond.
There will be new spring break camps, track out camps and summer camps for children along with programs emphasizing health and fitness for every age.
The new facilities objective is at the very end and should delight a number of people. Wall proposes to explore the “opportunity to design and construct a 65,000-square=foot recreation center in the downtown area that includes a competitive pool, water features, gymnasiums, fitness/wellness space, indoor track and community space. Explore outdoor amphitheater/special event venue.” And a price tag well over $25 million.
Also, “Explore the opportunity to construct a dedicated pickle ball facility that could serve the region as a tournament and league play hub.” This is cheaper at $232,186.
Rall began with the street tree inventory, which is in progress with 155,083 inventoried so far. Of those 67 percent are in good condition, 30 percent are in fair and 3 percent are in poor shape. The goal is to have 90 percent in good condition.
Also 70 percent of the trees need pruning for structure and health and 24 percent need pruning for vehicle and pedestrian clearance. She is proposing a pruning cycle of 10 years though, she said, five to eight years is better.
Then we get to the money, and Rall gave the board figures showing that doing pruning inhouse rather than contracting it will save the town money and increase the number of trees pruned in a year. Pruning by contractor can be done only from late fall to early spring, and last year the town spent about $40,000. If done inhouse it would cost $25,000 and could go on all year, meaning 544 up to 4,800 trees could be pruned when contractors can do only 151 to 1,335 trees.
Rall then showed a really ugly photo of a tree with mulch piled up around it halfway up to the first branches. She said 45 percent of the town’s trees have too much mulch – like a volcano – which results in suffocating the roots. As the roots in the ground start to dry from suffocation, the tree will send new roots out into the mulch. The tree is slowly dying and will be very weak in storms. Also, 1,930 of town trees need scale treatment because of infestations of emerald ash borers.
Rall has expanded the mission of her job by reviewing plans for new developments and making sure then, and with a later inspection, that the right type of tree is planted and that it is properly planted. She noted that just from 2011 to 2015 the town has added, 2,384 single-family homes each with an average of two trees per lot, which comes to 4,568 new trees in five years. She also added 10 to 15 percent for other development, estimating well over 5,000 new trees in that time frame.
Rall is planning to ask for additional staff as well as a bucket truck and equipment for the pruning and other tree work. Continuing an earlier program, Rall said there are now 60 trained tree steward volunteers with a volunteer coordinator.
One goal is to maintain and preserve the pecan grove at E. Carroll Joyner Park by growing new pecan trees to replace the older, dying ones.
At the end of the meeting, Mayor Vivian Jones announced the board will hold its March work session at the Wireless Research Center of North Carolina, which has been involved in meetings and conferences with cities about Riot – the regional internet of things – or how to make cities work better.
The board also had a closed session with attorney Eric Vernon to discuss land purchases to widen Ligon Mill Road west of South Main Street and to discuss the litigation filed by Bob Johnson in regard to a piece of land between The Cotton Company block of buildings and B&W Hardware. No vote was taken when the board returned to the meeting room, Town Manager Kip Padgett said.
