March 15, 2006

Published in Wake Forest, NC

            Immediately afterward during Tuesday night’s regular town board meeting, the commissioners will consider a request by the Wake Forest Fire Department to participate in constructing the third fire station, this one to be built on Kearney Road on land donated by Wake Forest developer Jim Adams. Wake County will also contribute to the construction cost. The department would like to open the station by Jan. 1 of 2008.

            The meeting will begin with a public hearing about the proposed Capital Improvement Plan with a price tag of nearly $14 million. Topping the list of investments are $400,000 this year and $350,000 next for new financial software; $265,000 for the downtown streetscape project; $100,000 for new bathrooms at the Community House on West Owen; $2.5 million, most of it for design and engineering, for several sidewalk projects; $500,000 for lighting along the N.C. 98 bypass; and $20,000 for salt brine equipment for snow events.

            The commissioners will appoint – voting by ballot – several members to four advisory boards: cemetery, greenway, historic preservation and human relations. The town board recently reorganized the boards, and there are five vacant seats on the cemetery board, nine seats on the new greenway board, one seat on the historic preservation commission and one seat on the human relations council. The applicants are:

            - Frank W. Smith, 315 N. Main St., retired, cemetery board.

            - Myra M. Parker, 951 Wait Ave., teller at Fidelity Bank, cemetery board.

            - Cristie Dowda, 316 N. Main St., grant coordinator at the seminary, cemetery board.

            - I. Beverly Lake Jr., 3703 Shadybrook Drive in Raleigh, recently retired chief justice of the N.C. Supreme Court, cemetery board.

            - Joseph D. Seigler, 8201 Ligon Mill Road, residential builder/remodeler, greenways board.

            - Bob Johnson, 143 Wait Ave., listed as peddler, greenways board.

            - Jeff Poupart, 315 Lilliput Lane, environmental supervisor for the N.C. Division of Water Quality, greenways board.

            - Stephanie M. Jenny, 7016 Shady Glen Lane, stay at home parent, greenways board.

            - Jeanette Ammons, 7716 Kings Way Court, community volunteer and stay at home parent, greenways board.

            - Greg Hoit, 121 Shenandoah Farm Road, program manager at IBM, greenways board.

            - Debora L. White, 120 Remington Woods Drive, homemaker, greenways board.

            - Edwin Gary, 1132 Clatter Ave., retired, greenways and planning board.

            - Andrea R. Purdy, 119 Dogwood Lane, librarian, greenways board.

            - Leesa L. Finley, 621 Middle Bridge Road, realtor, historic preservation commission.

            - Tim Roth, 1330 Cedar Branch Court, retail broker, human relations council.

            - Franc DiBari, 10113 San Remo Place, business owner, human relations council and planning board.

Planning items

            The possible controversy will be about a request the planning board, by a five to three vote, recommended denying. It was filed by Lennar Communications of Carolina for a private amenities center in the Thornrose subdivision along Forestville Road.

            The three other planning items were all recommended by the planning board on March 7. They are:

            - a request by Taylor Blakely for a special use permit for a daycare center, to be called Goddard School, at 3705 Rogers Road in the Heritage Square commercial subdivision.

            - a request by Scott Pittman for a conditional use permit for a 24-lot single-family subdivision on 6.7 acres between South Franklin Street and South Allen Road.

            - a request by Ammons Development Group to rezone 73 acres at the end of Heritage Branch Road from rural holding to office and institution.

Other items

            The commissioners will also again discuss the erosion and sedimentation control ordinance. The town plans to take over enforcement of its own ordinance rather than contract with the county to enforce its ordinance. The town staff originally proposed a stricter version than the county’s, but the commissioners last fall wanted a version similar to the county’s. Soon after that the state told Wake County it would have to strengthen its ordinance, and there has been a delay while that was done.

            The board will be asked to approve an agreement with Ralph Whitehead and Associates of Raleigh for $85,000 to do preliminary engineering for the section of the North Loop between North White and North Main streets. Deputy Town Manager Roe O’Donnell said the staff is asking for this to be done now to firm up the right-of-way location. The agreement letter says the original construction will be at-grade intersections with the two streets and an at-grade crossing of the CSX Railroad tracks.

            The Downtown Revitalization Corporation needs board approval to close the South White parking lot for the Herbfest in April and the Farmer’s Market beginning April 8 and ending Oct. 28.

            In other items, the board will

            - accept a petition from the Doris C. Forbes Family Limited Partnership for annexation of 72 acres on Forbes Road.

            - approve a resolution to participate in the Community Development Block Grant and HOME programs through 2009.

            - approve a bid of $87,900 by Narron Construction to build sidewalks along Stadium Drive and Front Street. The state Department of Transportation will reimburse the town up to $66,375.

            - approve change orders for increased costs for the widening of South Main Street, the roundabout at South Main and the campus and the paving of Roosevelt Ave.