Tuesday evening, May 21, the Wake Forest Town Board, reduced to four commissioners by the absence of Commissioner Keith Shackleford, went through a lengthy agenda in near-record time.
The commissioners and mayor spent more time on the proposed curfew for teenagers at Friday Night on White than on most of the agenda items, questioning what age ranges — under 16 or under 18 — and what hours — from 6 p.m. when FNOW begins or from 8 p.m., as well as logistics and costs for the police presence and for administering the fines.
Downtown Director Jennifer Herbert said the most recent FNOW was not typical because a thunderstorm disrupted it early in the evening. The town had hired additional police officers from nearby towns, and there were 32 officers on site May 10.
Commissioner Adam Wright said he noticed some downtown businesses closing early on FNOW nights. “We want them to be busy. We would like you to stay open.” All four commissioners had been downtown the evening of May 10.
Wright said that night he saw more teens than adults after the thunderstorm.
There were questions about how to distinguish supervised from non-supervised teens, who may have arrived with their parents but left them to join friends. Town Manager Kip Padgett noted there would not be enough cops to identify supervised from non-supervised at 8 p.m.
Mayor Vivian Jones kept urging the commissioners to pass the revised curfew ordinance that night rather than hold it over to work out some questions the commissioners had. Commissioner Ben Clapsaddle said he asked for staff review, how it would be enforced and the requirements and logistics involved.
The proposed curfew amendment would be in effect for unsupervised minors under the age of 18 from 8 p.m. Friday to 12 a.m. Saturday on the evenings of Friday Night on White. It needs a second reading and a positive vote which will take place at the June work session, Herbert said.
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Fire Chief Ron Early and two of his staff made the case for three expensive — $980,000 each — fire engines Tuesday night at the tail end of the meeting.
“We needed a stainless steel truck for a shorter engine overall to better navigate the sharp turns and narrow streets in town,” Early said. And he agreed that there were cheaper fire engines.
However, Captain Davis Sandling said they had tried a cheaper one, and “It has been out of service for three years. We just put it back in service.”
Early and Chief Finance Officer/Assistant Town Manager Aileen Staples said the $980,000 cost figure is to cover possible additional cost increases during the 30 months it will take to build the trucks, a not-to-exceed figure. And, she said, she is going to spread the cost over three years. “It does not affect the budget right now.”
One of the trucks will go to Station #6 — the future station on Wait Avenue on the east side of town — and the other two will replace engines that will be 20 years old in two or three years.
Staples said the town spent $1.5 million of the fire impact fees on all new construction on the purchase of three acres on Wait Avenue for the new station and had about $2.4 million before the purchase.
“Tax rate is not relevant to the new fire engines other than setting aside funds in debt service fund. We will not move forward with borrowing the money for the engines until delivery – at which time we will do an installment financing agreement for up to 5 years…maybe a little longer,” Staples said.
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The ten-year lease agreement between the town and FUNGO for Field #2 at Flaherty Park and other considerations was approved unanimously.
The town manager was given approval to execute the on-demand transit service contract between the town and River North LLC as one of the items in the consent agenda.
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3 Responses
The one thing I do not understand is why the trucks are over $300,000 more now than in 2021. There was not much of an explanation. The Administration their economists claim that inflation was transitory and is now under control. If the inflation was actually transitory and under control; the town could have purchased for of them.
…“We needed a stainless steel truck for a shorter engine overall to better navigate the sharp turns and narrow streets in town,” …
Is stainless steel ‘shorter’ than other steels? I appreciate the need for a VW Bug like vehicle to navigate the streets.
N.Franklin used to be a 4 lane street before the “Let’s Make Wake Forest Look Purdy For The Magazines And Website Committee” turned it into a skinny little alley that accommodates hundreds of carpool vehicles for private schools . Try to get a ladder truck down that lane. Not to mention riding your bike in the ‘Bike Lane’ blocked by idling cars. Let’s address the traffic roundabouts and circles that where designed and built to save cash and preserve the private property of well connected entities.
The volume of dwellings on the books and those about to be occupied are a looming nightmare that will make these current problems look like ‘the good ole days’! To paraphrase Bette Davis, “ Fasten your seat belts. It’s going to be a bumpy decade!”
Franklin Academy is a public school. FYI.