Just as it takes a while to settle into a new house, the Wake Forest commissioners and town staff are still adjusting to the new town hall.
The biggest point of discussion at Tuesday night’s work session was the height of the podium in front of the commissioners. From most points in the 96-seat meeting room on the second floor in the rotunda, all spectators could see of the commissioners was their heads. Mayor Vivian Jones stood up once, and at the close of the meeting moved to a side chair where the podium is lower.
All the commissioners and the mayor said they could not see all the audience.
Town Manager Mark Williams asked everyone to be patient and to try the new furniture and fittings for at least a couple meetings. “It’s custom millwork. We can only fix it once.” One solution, he said, may be to bring in a new center section.
The curving desk/podium has to have a have a section at the top, above the built-in desk, to hide the computers the board members will soon use to follow the paperless agenda. Once the final design is settled and installed, the name plates for the mayor and commissioners will be on the front of the desk/podium and the old removable name plates will be scrapped.
The new microphones and sound system are, as promised, very good and allow the commissioners to speak and be heard without having to bend over to the microphones.
While the board can follow the agenda and the presentations on their computers, the audience can follow presentations and other information on the drop-down screen at the front of the room.
Tuesday the windows that circle the top of the rotunda were shaded, but at night the shades will be pulled up, the drapes will be drawn behind the commissioners and the room’s lights will glow through the top windows. People can see the town government is at work, Williams said.