WFPD: Guard against fraud and spam text messages

The Wake Forest Police Department is urging residents to guard against fraud and spam text messages following a reported incident involving a test message offering $10 off the purchase of a Town of Wake Forest and Wake Forest Fire Department shirt. The text message includes a link for recipients to click on to initiate their order. Many times, it’s hard to tell what’s a scam and what isn’t, but this is a scam. If you get a text message you weren’t expecting, don’t click on any links. Some links may take you to a spoofed website that looks real but isn’t. If you log in, the scammers then might steal your username and password. Other messages might install harmful malware on your phone that steals your personal or financial information without you realizing it. If you think the message might be real, contact the company/organization using a phone number or

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Two seats are open on Human Relations Council

You can make a difference in our community by applying to fill one of two vacancies on the Human Relations Council (HRC). The online advisory board application is available through Monday, July 31, at http://bit.ly/TOWFAdvBoardApplication. Anyone without computer access is invited to complete the application by using a computer kiosk in the lobby of Town Hall, 301 S. Brooks St. Hard copies are available upon request by contacting Deputy Town Clerk Ella Dowtin at 919-435-9436 or edowtin@wakeforestnc.gov. The purpose of the HRC is to encourage understanding and goodwill between all Wake Forest citizens regardless of race, sex, religion, creed, nationality, or economic status, and thus promote the general welfare of the Town. The HRC meets at 6 p.m. on the fourth Thursday of each month. Candidates will be expected to attend the August 24 HRC meeting to introduce themselves to current members and explain why they wish to serve. Following

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Hope House will sponsor back-to-school event

The Hope House Back to School event will be held Saturday, August 12, 2023, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at 334 North Allen Road. Along with the Bookbag and School Supplies Giveaway, there will be a food giveaway, vision screening for children and adults and a giveaway of adult readers glasses and sunglasses. ###

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How to eat in Wake Forest

In the midst of plenty . . . we all do not fare equally at all times. These are the places all, adults and children, can find one of the greatest gifts, a shared meal. **School-age children will find a free lunch on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Northern Regional Center on East Holding Avenue from now through August 4. **Wake Forest Community Table serves nutritious and delicious meals at 5 p.m. on Monday nights at Hope House (334 North Allen Road) and at 6 p.m. on Wednesday nights at Olive Branch Baptist Church (326 East Juniper Avenue). All ages are welcome to stop by for dinner and for fresh produce from the Wake Forest Presbyterian Giving Garden. We are thankful to all of or volunteers and the donors who make this organization possible. To learn more about our program and mission and

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Applicants needed for two planning board seats

The Town of Wake Forest is inviting residents who live in Wake Forest and its extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) to apply for two vacancies on the Planning Board. One seat must be filled by a Wake Forest resident, while the other is reserved for someone who lives in the ETJ. Applications will be accepted through Friday, July 28. The online advisory board application is available on the Town website at http://bit.ly/TOWFAdvBoardApplication. Anyone without computer access is invited to complete the application by using a computer kiosk in the lobby of Town Hall, 301 S. Brooks St. Hard copies are available upon request by contacting Deputy Town Clerk Ella Dowtin at 919-435-9436 or edowtin@wakeforestnc.gov. Planning Board candidates will be introduced to the Board of Commissioners during its regular meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 15. Appointments to the Planning Board will also be announced during this meeting. The new terms will commence immediately following

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Third Kars for Kids Charity Car Show Saturday, Sept. 16

The Wake Forest Optimist Club will present the third annual Kars for Kids Charity Car Show on Saturday, September 16, 2023, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at The Market of Wake Forest shopping center located at Business 98 and Capitol Boulevard. This is a fun family friendly event and admission is free to spectators. Cars displayed and judged must pay a $20 registration fee. Antique, Pony, Trucks, Muscle, Rods, and Custom cars and trucks will be on display. Everything from mild to wild – vintage to modern. The Grand Sponsor of Kars for Kids is Ted Wilder Agency State Farm Insurance. Mr. Wilder is also an avid antique car enthusiast and collector. Gold Sponsors are Zapolski Real Estate Property Management Company, Johnson Hyundai of Wake Forest, Charlie’s Kabobs, Wake Forest Dental Arts, Sam’s Xpress Car Wash, Carolina Comfort Air, McCorkle Sign & Awning, LPL Financial/Brooks Andrews, Wake Forest Chick-fil-A.

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The Growth Rate

Based on the May, 2023 Monthly Development Report, WF Planning Updated July 5, 2023 The updated Wake Forest population as of July 2022 is 54,274. In 2021 the population was 50,244. How rezoning and development requests are now heard Planning Director Courtney Tanner gave this response to a query: All legislative cases (rezonings) have a public hearing at the Commissioner meeting and a public comment session at the Planning Board. A special use permit has a public hearing at the Commissioner meeting. Administrative (correct zoning and comply with the UDO) cases are approved at the staff level. What town board approval means now Senior Planner Patrick Reidy explained what the town board’s approval of new subdivisions means under the new state and town requirements. “They approved the conditional rezoning/master plan. Both projects will need to go through Construction Plan approval before they can start site work. I would expect a

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Planners, neighbors agree to reject townhouse plan

The best organized public hearing before the Wake Forest Planning Board seen in years – and one of the shortest – helped the five board members recommend denial of a 140-townhouse infill project Tuesday night, July 11, 2023. The Rogers Road Townhouse plan will now go to the Wake Forest Town Board for consideration, probably at its August business meeting on August 15. During his explanation for the project by Tom McGrath, a lawyer with PoynerSpruill in Raleigh, McGrath explained how the developer, Chris Bostick, had altered plans based on the comments made by the neighbors and had “consultations . . . (with) members of the board of commissioners.” The Wake Forest Planning Department staff, led in this case by Senior Planner Tim Richards, had examined the plan in detail compared with the town’s Community Plan and Unified Development Ordinance and recommended that it be denied by the planning board.

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Town overpaid Raleigh $1.2M for the water/sewer merger

It is a bit tardy – by 18 years – but the City of Raleigh, after a reconciliation of costs and an audit – has determined that the Town of Wake Forest overpaid the city by $1,239,352 when Raleigh took ownership of the town’s water and sewer systems in the spring of 2005. This was the big surprise last Thursday, July 6, 2023 when the Wake Forest Town Board held its work session that had been postponed because of the Fourth of July. The overpayment was part of the information in the third amendment to the Wake Forest/Raleigh utility merger agreement that was on the agenda, and it included how the two parties have agreed to handle the overpayment. The town will apply the money toward the purchase of additional water capacity allocations, giving the town the maximum of 5.32 million gallons daily of water and 3.4 million gallons daily

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Now there are four

Now there are four declared candidates for the Wake Forest Town Board after Jim Thompson, who served in the board from 2013 to 2017, has announced his candidacy. “I am hoping to return to the board and focus on several areas – strategic growth, connectivity within our community (through sidewalks and greenways and broadband access), continual improvement on our parks, recreation and cultural resources and economic development,” Thompson wrote in an email last week. The biography he submitted is at the end of this article. Former planning board chairman and downtown business owner Joe Kimray made it official on July 7 by going to the Wake County Board of Elections and filing. Current Commissioner Adam Wright says he will seek a second term and held a fund-raising party over the weekend. Faith Cross has not made any announcements since she announced her candidacy. The two incumbent commissioners whose terms are

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