Wake Forest’s own Jeff Leonard was sworn in as the Wake Forest Police Chief Tuesday afternoon by Commissioner Margaret Stinnett. Leonard’s wife, Amy, their children, Meredith and Mason, and retired chief Greg Harrington stood by.
          Leonard was applauded by a group of at least 70 well-wishers, including his parents, Philip and Frances Leonard, other family, friends, police officers and officers’ families.
          He spoke briefly, thanking everyone and telling the police officers that his door would always be open.
          After the crowd cleared the meeting room, the commissioners and mayor began the work session.
          Although the commissioners have approved the recommendations from the IDC steering committee for the new IDC committee’s purpose and its makeup, they had never quite discussed names for the new committee. Tuesday night Mayor Vivian Jones offered her recommendations and the commissioners agreed. They will take official action at their July 20 regular business meeting.
          Jones recommended:
          -- Marla Akridge as the chamber of commerce representative,
          -- Sue Anthony as the local attorney,
          -- Mike Marguerat with Landmark Construction as the construction industry representative,
          -- Tom O’Conner with BB&T Bank as the commercial banker representative,
          -- Deputy Town Manager Roe O’Donnell as the town staff representative
          -- town attorney Eric Vernon as the commercial real estate attorney, and
          -- citizen Matt Hale.
         The committee will receive, examine and recommend applications to use the $2.2 million left after the Industrial Development Corporation, established in 1964, sold the land and buildings where Schrader and eventually Parker-Hannifin employed hundreds of Wake Forest-area men and women through the years. The town board has decided to use the money for economic development.
          The mayor next took up the proposed public art ordinance. Staff has reorganized it, made the changes the town commissioners and she proposed, and put it in the standard ordinance format. They set the August business meeting for a public hearing on the proposed ordinance.
          O’Donnell had a possible change order for the Taylor Street construction project, one that was a bit different, he said, in that there was not a hole that had to be filled. The board has a choice here, he said. The problem is that what had been a dead-end part of Jones Avenue will tie into the new Taylor Street. “The street is in really poor shape,” O’Donnell said, and the question is whether to just overlay it or reconstruct it. The board favored reconstruction, but the final decision will be made July 20.