Padgett proposes big road fix

Almost all the town’s dirt roads have been paved – the reconstruction of Caddell Street, one of the last, begins in the spring – but some subdivision streets were not completed by developers because of the recession, and several town-maintained roads have suffered from heavy traffic in the last decade.

Friday Town Manager Kip Padgett briefly outlined his plan to quickly bring all the town’s streets and roads – aside from those owned and maintained by the state – up to town standard and thereafter provide a regular schedule of maintenance for all 97 miles.

He said 16.1 percent of the town streets need work, 3 percent have settling issues (slumping), and 63 percent have alligator cracking. In 2015 a survey showed 61 potholes.

Padgett gave more details in an email Monday. “We had a survey done in 2014 that showed our most immediate needs.  That showed the statistics you listed below [in the question].  We are going to do an in-house analysis to update the study; we then plan to recommend an installment purchase agreement where we can fix all the critical issues at once, along with filling in some existing gaps.  After that we would have a regular budget item for road maintenance. “

The commissioners apparently liked the plan. “If we don’t maintain and take care of what we’ve got, it will come back to bite us,” Commissioner Margaret Stinnett said.

Commissioner Brian Pate’s concern was how long repairs and resurfacing will last. Deputy Town Manager Roe O’Donnell said streets and roads are designed for trucks because one truck traveling over one street is equivalent to 16,000 cars. If properly designed, a road should last 25 years before it needs to be resurfaced, O’Donnell said, but “if you let it go longer it is more expensive to fix.”

Finance Director Aileen Staples said Powell Bill funds – money the state sends to municipalities for upkeep of local roads – can be used to repay the purchase agreement. And Padgett said the state is pushing resurfacing as a use for the Powell Bill funds.

Staples also gave the commissioners an update on the money in BB&T Bank left over from the South White Streetscape project.

The balance as of Dec. 31 was $126,548.96 which must be used for White Street improvements, and Staples said there is a commitment to spend $12,865 toward purchase of a four-sided clock. Preparations for its installation have been made on the west side of South White Street and the entrance to the part of Owen Avenue between B&W Hardware and the Cotton Company block. The hole is covered by plywood and a tarp and it is blocked by tape, and it is on a town-owned sidewalk.

Commissioner Margaret Stinnett said she would vote to pay back the loan “and not for a damned clock.” There was no discussion about the clock or the $12,865, but Mayor Vivian Jones said later the original plan for the streetscape indicated that location could be used for public art or other public piece.

The idea for something in downtown came up during a Wake Forest Community Council meeting last year when Mike Johnson, now council president, said he and others would like to donate or help erect something – a water feature may have been mentioned. Besides Johnson, some other members of the ad hoc committee were Downtown Development Director Lisa Hayes and then-council president Ed Morris. Hayes said last week the clock’s cost is $25,730 and it should be shipped in the next few weeks. It will be four-faced with chimes. Although there has been nothing official said about the other half of the clock’s cost the editor was told an anonymous person will provide that.

What the commissioners did discuss was uses for the $113,683.96 left. Staples suggested informational kiosks and wifi in downtown or to pay it toward the loan. The town borrowed $2.3 million in May 2012. After a payment in November 2015, the outstanding principal is $1,150,001 which will be paid off in May 2019.

Jones suggested that since there are so many events downtown with “garbage all over” afterward that the town buy compacting garbage bins which will save money and save the street crews from long cleanups. Commissioner Jim Thompson said he liked the wifi idea, and Jones agreed she did too. It was informally decided to have Public Works Director Mike Barton look into the bins for the best kind and the cost.

Earlier there had been a long discussion about the town’s fund balance or savings. The state is recommending two levels, an unassigned balance where the money is not needed for a current or future need at 20-25 percent, and a total fund balance of 35 percent with the unassigned balance included in the total.

Planning Director Chip Russell said the different percentages should reflect the possible risks the town could face. He mentioned Hurricane Fran in 1996, the year the General Assembly could not provide a budget for months, the ice storm and the heavy snow in two years in the early 2000s. Because Wake Forest owns its own power provider, it faces heavier risks from natural disasters. A healthy fund balance also helps the town maintain its triple-A bond rating.

The current policy is to have a total fund balance of 35 percent of general fund expenditures. The town board has the flexibility of falling below the 20-25 percent mark if the money is used for one-time capital items and replenished within three years.