Brief Bits

You know those bright yellow rubber posts in South Main Street just north of the Rogers Road intersection, the ones that were installed to keep drivers from turning left into Selsey Drive, the ones that had to be replaced frequently because someone just HAD to turn left there rather than driving 500 feet or so and turning left into Forbes Road and making his way home a slightly different way?

Well, the state Department of Transportation knows a losing strategy when it sees one. That is why it asked the Town of Wake Forest to install a monolithic concrete island to replace the yellow posts, work that was done from midnight to 8 a.m. Tuesday.

The yellow posts were a temporary measure to help prevent traffic tie-ups at that intersection while Rogers Road is closed to through traffic because the bridge over Smith Creek is being replaced. A “monolithic concrete island” sounds pretty permanent. Do you wonder if someone will try to drive over or through that? Or if it will be there long after the bridge is completed?

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One of the few items on the Wake Forest Town Board’s agenda for its July 19 meeting is a second reading on an ordinance amendment giving the public works director, who is currently Mike Barton, the authority to fine people who violate the bulk trash pickup service up to $500.

Barton said recently that since there was publicity about the blatant misuse of the service by some most of the problems have disappeared. He said he and the staff have had some “interesting conversations.” When someone calls to schedule a bulk pickup now, he or a staff member ask what the items are and inform them that regular garbage or something that would fit in the roll-out garbage bins does not qualify for bulk pickup. A bulk pickup item must weigh 75 pounds or more.

Barton has not had to fine anyone yet, but he said last week, “We are working on one location that may need to be fined if they do not comply with our request.”

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There is a rumor or an understanding among some that one or all of the homeowners associations in Heritage ban golf carts on subdivision streets. Following up, the editor learned that it is untrue.

Melissa Jenkins with Charleston Management manages those 10 HOAs and said in an email that golf carts and other recreational vehicles are not allowed in Heritage “unless full enclosed in the garages. In regards to the use of them on the streets of Heritage, these are public streets so that would fall under the jurisdiction of the Town of Wake Forest. However, they are discouraged in the community.”

Captain Darren Abbachi with the Wake Forest Police Department wrote: ”The Town of Wake Forest follows North Carolina state statutes on golf carts. They are not legal for use on the road without a specific ordinance. Wake Forest does not and apparently is not planning on creating an ordinance allowing them. Heritage subdivision does not have the authority to allow them or deny them; this is done by local or state regulations. Approval or restriction on golf carts is something that must be done by the board of commissioners or by a change in state law.”

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The Publix grocery store under construction in The Shoppes at Heritage Village shopping center at the intersection of Rogers Road and Forestville Road held an application event for interested future employees. This could mean the store will be opening in a couple months, maybe

Kimberly Reynolds with Publix said several months ago, “We typically hire about one month or so out from opening. Management will be transfers or promotions from within; however, we expect to employ up to 150 associates with approximately more than 100 being local hires. This store will have all of the traditional Publix offerings including a scratch bakery, full service meat and seafood, Publix Deli and fresh produce.”

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Last week in the article about the new Downtown Connector which will connect the Smith Creek, Sanford Creek and Dunn Creek greenways to downtown the editor neglected to include some important information.

The low bid contractor for the work is the Fred Smith Company and the amount of the contract is $5.7 million. It should be finished in late 2017. Candace Davis, the transportation planning manager in the Wake Forest Planning Department, said all the projects included in the contract “are listed as projects to be potentially funded by the 2014 [bond] referendum.” See them all at http://www.wakeforestnc.gov/2014-bond-referendum.aspx.

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Ever wonder who pays to have the nearly constant attention – mowing, pruning, planting – paid to the medians and road borders in Wakefield and Heritage? It certainly makes driving along Heritage Lake Road and New Falls of the Neuse Road more pleasant.

The answer is that N.C. DOT pay for the landscaping work all along New Falls of the Neuse. In Heritage, developer Andy Ammons says that the 10 homeowners associations in the subdivision pay for the crews and work in the residential areas and the individual property owners pay in the commercial areas.

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Wake Forester Alan Brown, who works for UNC-TV, says there will be a segment about the Forest of Wake Storyfest (formerly the Wake Forest Storytelling Festival) airing on the North Carolina Channel, digital channel 4.4, at 8 p.m. Wednesday, July 27, and also on the regular channel during North Carolina Weekend on Thursday, July 28, after the Democratic National Convention about 11 p.m. and again on Friday, July 29, at 8:30 p.m.

“The interviewees include last year’s storytellers and the organizers Drew Bridges and Gale Buck. We learn the significance of “the oldest art form” of storytelling and why it should remain an appreciated art form in the modern age.”

The Forest of Wake Storyfest will be held at the Wake Forest Renaissance Centre for the Arts on Saturday, Aug. 6.