The draft agenda for the Wake Forest Town Board’s July 20 business meeting is short, but it includes what could be some thorny issues, including an update to the transportation plan, a new ordinance for public art, and a public hearing about a possible sizeable raise in water and sewer availability fees.
The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. in the new Wake Forest Town Hall. The meeting room is on the second floor to the left as you leave the elevator.
Some people have already voiced objections to a part of the transportation plan update that includes the plan for Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. It would close Wingate Street between South Avenue/Durham Road and North Avenue/Stadium Drive and build an extension of Rock Spring Road that would impact the seminary president’s house, the Paschal house and the seminary’s guest house.
One Paschal heir, Richard A. Paschal, spoke movingly about his family’s history and his opposition to that plan during a public hearing on June 2. There have also been letters to the editor, and some people have been calling the commissioners saying they are opposed to closing Wingate.
Also on June 2 Les Warmuth with Raftelis Financial Consultants recommended raising sewer availability fees by 60 percent, 30 percent to cover construction costs and another 30 percent to account for inflow and infiltration water into the system.
Inflow is the sudden surge of stormwater into sewer lines that occurs three or four times a month from rain and thunder storms. Infiltration is the water that leaks into sewer lines constantly from groundwater through holes in the lines and seals. They are lumped together as I & I.
Availability fees are charged against new construction – residential and commercial – based on the town’s assessment of daily use. The builder of a four-bedroom house, very typical at present, will pay an availability fee of $1,537.29 for an estimated daily use of 279 gallons per day (gpd).
Warmuth calculated that with all the past and future construction – Raleigh says it will cost $15-16 million to repair and replace old, inadequate sewer lines – the town should increase the above fee to $1,997.51. Then he added on the I & I 30 percent increase, resulting in a possible maximum sewer availability fee of $2,596.77 for a four-bedroom house. (The town also has a water availability fee of $2,251.53 for a four-bedroom house. Both fees, water and sewer, now go directly to Raleigh to pay off the $15 million or so for the initial merger cost plus the future sewer repair costs.)
A Raftelis study of water and sewer availability fees the town board authorized late in 2003 recommended the fee for a four-bedroom house be raised to either $2,027 or $2,449 based on debt service costs. That recommendation was not acted on before the board agreed to the water/sewer merger with Raleigh in November of 2004. The effective date of the merger was delayed for several reasons until July 1, 2005.
Warmuth said it will be the board’s decision whether to include the I & I factor and whether to set the new fees at the maximum level or lower. He strongly recommended against charging more than what he set out as the maximum justified fees.
Town Manager Mark Williams said the town had never used an I & I factor in setting rates in the past.
The public hearing about the possible availability fee increase will be held at the beginning of the meeting. Everyone with an opinion is welcome to speak without giving prior notice.
The board has pretty much settled its opinion of the proposed public art ordinance which would require the town – not individuals or companies – to set aside a percentage of a capital project cost for art.
The board will also appoint the Youth Advisory Board members for the 2010-2011 school year.