Through the years, Wake Forest residents have consistently voted for bonds to build streets, parks and greenways, and town leaders are hopeful they will do the same this year and vote for $25.1 million in three separate bond questions on the Nov. 4 ballot.
If the bonds do pass, voters will get lot of bang for those bucks because matching grants will help the town pay for capital projects totaling $55 million. In fact, there may be a bigger bang if the town continues to be successful in the next few years in obtaining more grants for parks and streets.
Although the town must inform voters that the bonds could make it necessary to raise property taxes by 2 cents, past history and current planning for the bonds indicate that will not be the case.
After the last two bond referendums, in 1999 and 2005, the town did not raise the tax rate as a result. As they did for those bonds, Town Manager Mark Williams and Finance Director Aileen Staples have said they will time the sale of the bonds to keep the town’s debt as low as possible. The town’s bond consultants have set out a schedule that will accomplish that.
The total of the three separate bond questions is $25.1 million broken down to $6.3 million for street and sidewalks, $14.2 million for parks and recreation, and $4.6 million for the greenway improvements.
“The only way for the town to fund large ticket items like this [the items on the list of potential projects] is through bond issues,” Williams said during a media briefing recently. The town has a triple-A bond rating, meaning it can sell the bonds at a very low rate of interest – and Staples has always shopped for the lowest possible.
During that same briefing, Williams said all three bond issues are equally important. “They all have a part to play in the quality of life in town.” If the voters approve the bonds, he said, the money will allow the town “to maintain the service levels our citizens have become used to.”
The money will also help provide services and facilities for the hundreds of new residents the town can foresee heading here in the next few years.
Wake County just celebrated adding its one-millionth resident – and it will add 62 people each day, 15,872 each year. Of the 62, 40 move in from other parts of North Carolina, from other parts of the United States or from foreign countries and 22 are the net increase between births and deaths.
Most of the 62 are added to Raleigh’s growth, 12 each day, while Cary is close behind with 11 new residents each day. Then Wake Forest, Apex and Holly Springs add 3 new residents each day – or 27 each week in Wake Forest – while two move to Fuquay-Varina and Morrisville, one person moves into Knightdale and three move into either Zebulon or some other area of the county. Rolesville adds five new residents each week.
Wake Forest is adding just a bit over 1,400 people each year, which is a 4 percent annual growth, but Williams and Staples are using a 2 percent growth factor in determining the dollars needed in the bond issues and the town’s ability to repay the bonds. This strategy is part of the way they avoided tax increases for the two most recent bond issues.
The $25.1 million in bond money will not cover the total cost of the potential projects, but the money will provide a 20-part local match for likely grant monies which will pay 80 percent of the cost. For example, the planned construction for the Smith Creek and Sanford Creek greenways is estimated to cost just over $3 million, but the town’s match for a state CMAQ (Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement) grant is $685,000.
The town’s widening of the portion of Ligon Mill Road from South Main Street to just past an entrance to Walmart will cost $2.4 million, but a LAPP (Locally Administered Projects Program) grant which uses federal funds funneled through the state means the town will only pay $694,000 from the bond monies.
Senior Planner Candace Davis said the Smith and Sanford greenway project and one for the Dunn Creek greenway (with a matching grant) are “shovel-ready,” with plans complete. The Ligon Mill widening is close to shovel-ready.
“The number of projects we can do is based on the number of grants Candace can get,” Williams said. Davis is anticipating grants for seven of the 10 potential projects in the streets and sidewalks bond and four of the 10 greenway projects, though that could change as she applies for more grants.
The town has been very successful in obtaining grants, and Williams obviously anticipates that will continue. Grants are mostly based on need and the ability to pay the town’s share, Davis said. The success of the bond issues will give the town the ability to pay its share. “They like to see the money,” Williams said.
Should one or more bond question fail to get support from town voters, Williams said, “We would have to completely redo our priority list. I couldn’t see us doing items like the community center.”
The current list includes the town’s second full community center in J. Carroll Joyner Park, where the estimate is $11.1 million for the center plus the other improvements which will be in the park’s master plan still being assembled. The other full community center in town is at Flaherty Park and is over-used at present.
Currently, the plan is to use the bond monies on the construction at Joyner Park and also do two expansions at the town-owned North Wake Senior Center at an estimated cost of $3.1 million. If grants become available the bond money could be used for other projects.
The big ticket item in the streets and sidewalks package is to build the missing part of the Northside Loop from Traditions, which links to the N.C. 98 bypass (the Dr. Calvin Jones Highway), to Harris Road and its link to Capital Boulevard. (The idea of constructing a loop around Wake Forest began in the 1960s when the route went through farmland and forests.) The estimated cost is $14 million, which includes a bridge over the CSX rail line and a crossing at North White; it will require a lot of fill because of the gully to the east of North Main Street where Harris Road meets North Main. The town is allotting $2.8 million from the bond money and relying on either state or federal money or the Southeast High Speed Rail project to provide the rest.
All the projects on the three lists are called “potential” because, even if the voters approve, a change in conditions or much higher costs for one project will eat up all or most of that bond section.
That was what happened to the $9.5 million for streets and sidewalks voters approved in May of 2005 along with $7 million for parks and recreation. The right-of-way acquisition for the widening of South Main Street from Rogers Road to Capital Boulevard and the large amount of rock and many plan changes for South Franklin Street meant there was almost nothing left for the other projects, which were to be $3.3 million to build part of the Northern Loop from North Main to North White, including a bridge over the rail Iine and North White; $2.2 million to widen Stadium Drive from Rock Springs Road to Capital to three lines; and $600,000 to build a sidewalk on North White Street from Juniper Avenue to Flaherty Park. A crew from the town’s Public Works Department built the sidewalk for a much lower cost.
Now in 2014 those undone projects are on the list of street and sidewalk potential projects. The other projects are:
*West Oak Avenue and Forestville Road pedestrian underpasses, $168,000 bond money
*Traffic signals, total cost $450,000, $280,000 bond money
*Sidewalks and multi-use paths along Wait Avenue and West Oak Avenue, total $1.6 million, $325,000 bonds
*Making Stadium Drive a complete street and resurfacing North Avenue, total $2.2 million, $440,000 bonds
*Harris Road roundabout, $1.3 million, $255,000 bond monies
*Ligon Mill Road pedestrian underpass, $200,000 bond monies though the state may participate
*Rogers Road widening done with the bridge replacement, $1.4 million, $280,000 bond monies
*Durham Road sidewalks and multi-use paths, $4 million, $800,000 bond monies
The parks and recreation projects were discussed above.
The greenway projects are:
*Smith Creek Greenway, phase II, $2.7 million total, $515,000 town match with bond monies
*Dunn Creek Greenway, phases I and II, $857,000, $491,000 bond monies
*Dunn Creek Greenway, phase III, $2 million, $392,000 bond monies
*Greenway and park signage, $360,000 bond monies
*Reservoir soft trail, phase I and II, $800,000 bond monies
*Joyner Park soft trail and pedestrian bridge, $417,000 bond monies
*Greenway and park connections, $500,000 bond monies
*Dunn Creek Greenway, phase iv, $2 million, $406,000 bond monies.
The town has sent out a one-page flyer with a lot of information about the bond issues. Also there is a full account on the town website, www.wakeforestnc.gov/2014-bond-referendum.aspx.
In addition town officials have been speaking to local groups, there is an In Focus segment on Channel 10 and on the website and information of the town’s Facebook page. The Wake Forest Area Chamber of Commerce has, for the first time, taken a stand on a bond issue and is wholeheartedly endorsing the bonds and urging voters to approve them.
An interesting note is that the turnout for the 2005 referendum was abysmal – 3.5 percent of the 12,314 registered voters at the time went to the polls but they voted overwhelmingly for the bonds – 77 percent for the parks and recreation bonds, 84 percent for the street and sidewalk bonds.
3 Responses
There are those of us that are still recovering from the bad economy and I feel it prudent to ask all of those who wholeheartedly support the bonds to contribute to them. If everyone who supports the bonds contributes $400 to the town to pay for these projects; it will show that those citizens are willing to put their money where their mouth is.
I would be remiss if I did not point out that one of the previous bonds where they improved Franklin Street seems to have fallen by the wayside. An HOA had asked the town to upkeep the roundabout in front of the subdivision and it took over a year for the town to do it. Also Franklin Street is like driving on Ferry Street in Newark, NJ with the patches that were placed there recently. Is that the message that the Town of Wake Forest wants to send to people about its gateway?
While there is certainly a possibility of a very minimum tax increase, based on historical data, we are hoping this can be accomplished without any tax increases. From a Parks & Rec standpoint, we do not want to have to turn participants away, and that is a very real possibility without additional funds for another facility. The Parks & Rec Advisory Board is encouraging citizens to vote YES for this bond. It will be a very good thing for the town!! Additionally, please consider voting yes for the other two bonds as well as the Town continues to judiciously make improvements for the citizens of Wake Forest as well as visitors and guests that come and spend money. We are so fortunate to be governed by an intelligent and honest Town Board working very closely with Town department heads.
The Town (TM) has spent a tremendous amount of taxpayer money printing and mailing propaganda pieces pushing this additional debt burden on residents. Does town mgmt have an emergency contingency plan in the event this doesn’t pass?