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Monday night the Town of Wake Forest
honored the volunteers who serve on the
nine advisory boards with dinner at The
Forks Cafeteria, thanks and goodie bags.
This is the first dinner of
its kind, Mayor Vivian Jones said, and
she hopes it will continue. She noted
that the advisory board members, though
volunteers, can be criticized as much as
elected officials.
Commissioner David Camacho
said the recognition is long overdue for
those who give so freely of their time.
Commissioners Velma Boyd-Lawson and
Frank Drake also attended along with
several town staff members: Town Clerk
Joyce Wilson, Parks and Recreation
Director Susan Simpson, Planning
Director Chip Russell, Public Works
Director Mike Barton and planner Lisa
Potts.
There were at least two
people present from eight boards – board
of adjustment, cemetery, historic
preservation commission, human relations
council, planning board, urban forestry
(formerly tree board), recreation and
senior citizens. The ninth board,
greenways, has just been established and
its first members will be appointed in
March. (See below)
When they arrived, many
people gravitated toward people who
serve on the same board, but Jones shook
that up before dinner by announcing
people would sit at the six tables
according to their birthdays. The
conversations that followed continued
for an hour after dinner was finished.
There are vacancies on three
advisory boards at present. The deadline
for submitting applications is
Wednesday, Feb. 22. The town board will
interview candidates at its work session
March 7 and appoint the new members on
March 21.
The town board recently made
several changes in the composition and
duties of advisory boards, increasing
most of them to nine members and
requiring annual reports.
The Cemetery Advisory Board
advises the town board and staff about
matters affecting the policies and
improvements at the town-owned historic
cemetery on North White Street. Current
members are John Mills, the chairman,
Susan Brinkley, Nancy Bates and Virginia
Brewer. Members serve three-year terms.
The Greenway Advisory Board
is new. It had been operating as an
offshoot of the Recreation Advisory
Board. In future, its nine members will
make recommendations about policies,
acquisitions, expansions and
improvements to the town’s greenway
system. The members will serve
three-year terms.
There is one vacancy on the
Human Relations Council because Carol
Speas, whose term ends at the end of
this year, resigned. The council
encourages understanding and good will
among town residents.
You can find an advisory
board application form at the town’s web
site,
http://www.wakeforestnc.gov, or in
Town Clerk Joyce Wilson’s office in town
hall.
On Tuesday night, the town
board was to interview Leesa L. Finley
of 621 Middle Bridge Road, the only
applicant for the vacancy on the
Historic Preservation Commission. It has
had eight members, and the recent board
action increased the number to nine.
Finley could not be present and may be
interviewed at the town board meeting
Feb. 21. |
