|
“The
state of your downtown is good – and
getting better,” Tom Iversen, the
outgoing chairman of the Downtown
Revitalization Corporation told the town
board last night, and later the
commissioners passed a resolution
approving the DRC’s application to be a
member of the Main Street Program
sponsored by the state Department of
Commerce.
Iversen listed the DRC’s
accomplishments during the last year and
outlined plans for the coming year.
Successes include:
-- the four businesses who
have applied for and received grants for
façade improvement, a program that will
be continued next year
-- hiring an experienced
downtown manager, Connie Kincaid, who
will start in August but has already
been key in preparing the Main Street
application
-- a new marketing and
signage plan that will provide
“wayfinding, trailblazing and gateway
signage” as well as a new identity and a
market analysis
-- designing and printing
placards for windows in vacant downtown
businesses that “tell the story of the
renaissance in downtown Wake Forest.”
Iversen said that because there are few
vacant storefronts now, they will be
displayed during downtown events.
-- the first Renaissance
Ball
-- adding the Wake Forest
Farmer’s Market to the DRC board.
Iversen said the addition will lead to
all kinds of cross-marketing
opportunities.
Next year the DRC plans to
completely redo its web site to include
a business inventory; give downtown
businesses easier access to the Small
Business Technology Development Center
at N.C. State, “the first step in
creating a true downtown business
incubator;” and develop a local loyalty
program to encourage repeat visits and
build a database of local shoppers for
marketing and analysis.
“The DRC is proud to be a
part of the renaissance of our
downtown,” Iversen said. “We are a good
organization with great people doing
some wonderful things.”
The board agreed to two
requests for funding.
One will allow the town to
pay for a consultant to determine what
improvements are needed for bicycle and
pedestrian access and movement around
town. The state Department of
Transportation will reimburse up to
$35,000 for the consultant’s time.
The other is a request for a
Wake County Open Space grant of $150,000
to help purchase the 70-acre Clinebelle
tract along the Neuse River. The state
Clean Water Management Trust Fund is
being asked to pay $417,900 toward the
$717,900 purchase price, and the town’s
share would be $150,000.
The town will have no
financial obligation for another grant,
this one from the Governor’s Highway
Safety Program.
Lt. Darren Abbacchi said the
$21,212 will be used by the traffic
unit, which he heads, to buy a 12-foot
by 6-foot utility trailer, traffic
cones, rain and cold weather gear for
policemen, and other equipment now
mandated by the state for traffic stops.
The traffic unit also has to have an
approved plan for any traffic stops.
Commissioner Frank Drake
asked if any of the money would go
toward salaries or intangibles or would
it be used for “stuff.”
“It is a stuff grant sir,”
Abbachi said.
Two growth items were
postponed until August.
The developer of the
proposed Village at Wake Forest
subdivision on the Calvin Ray property
on the west side of North Main Street is
asking for 60 homes per year rather than
the 40 now allowed for new subdivisions.
The comprehensive planning committee did
not recommend the increase. The month’s
delay is to allow the developer to work
out some details with Ray.
The annexation of the
proposed Willfair subdivision on Rogers
Road was delayed until August when the
property rezoning will be considered by
the planning and town boards. |
