There was a warm friendly feeling Tuesday afternoon when the Wake Forest Town Board met for a work session, even though they and staff members were carefully placed at least six feet apart.
It was enhanced near the close of the meeting when Commissioner Liz Simpers announced “I got married on Saturday.” She went on to say she was very grateful for how the town has responded to the pandemic crisis. “We are seeing good coming out of a very scary time.”
The board approved a resolution setting out how they would meet remotely after Commissioner Chad Sary asked about getting disconnected. They agreed the meeting would end if the disconnection was longer than two minutes.
They also approved several items including an installment purchasing agreement with Truist (formerly SunTrust and BBT) for police vehicles — $556,925 at 1.66 percent interest over three years – a resolution approving of actions taken by the town manager in the crisis, and a statement of support for the S Line requested by the state Department of Transportation in case federal funds become available for rebuilding the former CSX rail line between Petersburg, Virginia and Norlina.
Assistant Public Works Director Allison Snyder led a presentation about future changes at the Wake Forest Reservoir, formerly called the Wake Forest Lake by Raleigh. The changes include a safety fence to keep the public safe and decommissioning the lagoon. Commissioner Chad Sary asked if the new rules had to include life preservers in small boats such as canoes. They probably will have to because the rules for boating could be enforced by the N.C. Wildlife Commission.
Human Resources Director Virginia Jones gave the board the personnel policy update (last done in 2014) that will include the new employees in the fire department. She said her department had heard from all town departments with good comments, had used a steering committee to work through the policies and had it reviewed by the town attorney. She hopes the commissioners will approve it in April in order to become effective July 1.
When the town board meets for its regular business meeting on April 21 there will be a public hearing about the petition from the Tryon developers for the town to annex the land for the proposed Averette-Tryon subdivision. Commissioner Bridget Wall-Lennon questioned that, saying it seemed the vote would predict how the commissioners would vote on approving the subdivision. No, Mayor Vivian Jones said. “We cannot vote on a project unless it is in the town.”
And how will the town handle a public hearing when common sense and safety rules you cannot have a crowd in the hearing room?
Adam Oates, the interim chief information technology officer, said the answer is a virtual meeting on Zoom. The potential speakers would have to register at least 24 hours before the hearing on April 21 and the town will give them access to dial in and speak when it is their turn. Everyone will be able to see the commissioners, but Oates said at this time the speakers would have to be on audio only.
Oates also said the town did not have the technology for people to dial in and speak at the work session.
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One Response
I would hope that there would be an alternative situation to allow the public to speak during this time. A 24 hour notice beforehand would not give the public time to ask questions about something that comes up during a meeting. I might suggest a two part public hearing during this time.