Wendell News Outlet

Informational News of interest for the citizens in and around Wendell, North Carolina. Postings on this site are the property of Glenn Harris and cannot be copied without express written permission. Archives are listed at the bottom of the home page.

Friday, May 29, 2009

WakeUp Wake County Update

If you are concerned about proposed school budget cuts that may eliminate 800 teachers from Wake schools and increase class size...then now is the time to speak out! The state's economic crisis is hitting our community very close to home, forcing huge reductions in spending on public schools. The Wake Board of Commissioners will soon decide on a county budget that could cut a reported 800 teachers and make school class sizes larger in order to meet required budget cuts.

Please act now to save schools in two ways:

Attend Wake County's Public Hearing on the proposed FY 09-10 budget, Monday, June 1, 7 pm (arrive early and sign up to speak!) at the Wake County Commons building, off Poole Road. Urge commissioners to make our children's education a priority by: delaying county capital projects and by using new ways to pay for schools, like through impact fees on new development (using an Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance). WakeUP Wake County will be speaking at the hearing.
Send an email to the Wake Board of Commissioners by clicking here. (note: if your server won't connect to the email, click "read more" and then cut and paste the email language into your email system). Please edit the email into your own words and provide your own subject line. Tell these Wake elected officials to stop the cuts for schools.

** Please be a part of WakeUP Wake County's campaign to achieve educational excellence and keep up with growth by joining WakeUP! The more people who join, the more influential we will be! Click here to make your $25 membership dues today!

Thank you for your help and your support!

posted by Administrator # 7:52 PM 0 Comments

Wake County Government Newsletter

You are invited to attend the public hearings and provide feedback to the Wake Board of Commissioners on the fiscal year 2010 recommended budget. There will be two hearings on Monday, June 1, 2009, at:

2 p.m., in Room 700 of the Wake County Courthouse, 335 S. Salisbury St., Raleigh, during the Board's regularly scheduled meeting; and

7 p.m., in the Wake County Commons Building, 4011 Carya Dr., Raleigh.

By attending one of the two hearings or watching them through streaming video, you have the opportunity to become more involved in local government. To view hearings online, go to www.wakegov.com/commissioners and click on the "View Meetings" button. The 2 p.m. meeting will be streamed live, and video from the 7 p.m. meeting will be available online on Tuesday, June 2, 2009.

While watching the meetings on the computer, you can follow the agenda posted beside the on-screen video player. You can also click on an indexed agenda and "jump to" a specific topic during the meeting.

For more information on the Wake County fiscal year 2010 budget process, including a copy of the County Manager's recommended budget, visit www.wakegov.com/economy.

-Wake County Government

Wake County Government

posted by Administrator # 7:47 PM 0 Comments

Friday Update

Board of Commissioners Friday Update

Friday, May 29, 2009

ITEM 1. PAVING BIDS RECEIVED ON THURSDAY, MAY 28^TH

Bids for the resurfacing of town streets were received on Thursday, May 28^th. Five bids were received. Staff is still evaluating the bids, but an initial review of the bids was positive. Consideration of the bids is scheduled for the June 8^th Board of Commissioners meeting.

Resurfacing of the following streets was included in the bid packets:

Street/Road	From	To
Rail Crossing		N Main
Rail Crossing		N Hollybrook
Magnolia Street		Intersection at Wendell Blvd
N Main Street	3rd Street	Wendell Boulevard
2nd Street	S Hollybrook	S Pine
N Cypress	E Academy	Poplar Street
Rail Crossing		Martin Street
Whitley Way	Wendell Boulevard	Towne Square
S Main Street	W Haywood	3rd Street
W 4th Street		Intersection at Magnolia
N Main Street	Nowell Street	Wendell Boulevard
Fowlkes Street		Intersection at Main Street
1st Street		Intersection at Meadow
Todd Street	W Academy	Cook Street
W Haywood Street	S Main Street	S Cypress
Wall Street	100 block	100 block
Timber Court	Griffin Drive	Cul-de-sac
Grange Drive	Boxley Drive	Boxley Drive
Canterbury Court	00 block	00 block
Oak Dare	400 block	400 block
W Hester Court	00 block	100 block
Parrish Court	W 2nd Street	Cul-de-sac
Printers Al	Gaslight Trail	Cul-de-sac
Paula Court	00 block	100 block

ITEM 2. UPDATE ON THE UDO

There will not be a UDO meeting on Monday – the meeting has been postponed. Staff is currently in the process of comprehensively checking and updating all references throughout the document. There are two reasons why this is necessary. First of all, as a result of the recent re-codification of the code of ordinances, all references to the zoning and subdivision code within the UDO need to be changed. Staff has completed these changes. Secondly, the edits the UDO Committee has made as it reviewed the UDO chapter by chapter have created some inconsistencies in the document as a whole. Staff has made a number of internal reference corrections but is currently waiting on the Lawrence Group to provide guidance on invalid references which have no clear correction. The UDO Committee is expected to meet again on July 6^th.

ITEM 3. ANNEXATION LEGISLATION UPDATE

Town staff participated in a conference call this week with the NC League of Municipalities about the status of annexation bills. The NCLM staff stated there is a lot of discussion going on behind the scenes about the various annexation bills. The NCLM remains committed to its support of HB 727, which would enact 20 changes to address legitimate concerns of citizens while retaining fairness of annexation for in-town residents and annexation as tool for managing growth.

It is believed that many of the annexation bills are still eligible for action this legislative year (even though the crossover date had passed), since finance bills are the exception to the crossover deadline and most of the annexation bills were referred to a finance committee.

ITEM 4. OTHER

A. How’s your throwing arm? Mayor Broadwell and Manager Bone will be assisting in a fundraiser at Wendell Baptist Church on Saturday, June 4^th. Each has agreed to be in the dunking booth. Manager Bone will be in the dunking booth from 12:00 to 12:30, and Mayor Broadwell will be in the booth from 12:30 to 1:00. Also, Planning Director Teresa Piner will be in the dunking booth from 1:00 to 1:30.

B. A tentative route map for the planned Triangle Transit East Wake Express Bus Service (serving Wendell and Zebulon to points in Raleigh) is available online here.

C. The Town of Wendell is currently seeking applicants for an Administrative Assistant position in the Planning Department. For more information, check-out the announcement here.

D. The Town of Wendell is currently seeking part-time, temporary employees to work as Public Works Specialists. For more information, check-out the announcement here.

E. The draft FY 2009-10 Budget Ordinance, Budget Message and PowerPoint presentation from the May 11^th meeting is available online here.

ITEM 10. UPCOMING EVENTS:

DATE TIME EVENT LOCATION

~~06/01 6:00 p.m. UDO Meeting @ Town Hall~~

06/08 7:00 p.m. Board of Commissioners Meeting @ Town Hall

06/15 7:00 p.m. Planning Board Meeting @ Town Hall

06/22 7:00 p.m. Board of Commissioners Meeting @ Town Hall

07/03 Town facilities closed for July 4^th holiday

07/04 Wendell Historical Society July 4^th Event @ downtown Wendell

07/06 6:00 p.m. UDO Meeting @ Town Hall

07/13 7:00 p.m. Board of Commissioners Meeting @ Town Hall

07/20 7:00 p.m. Planning Board Meeting @ Town Hall

07/27 7:00 p.m. Board of Commissioners Meeting @ Town Hall

08/03 6:00 p.m. UDO Meeting @ Town Hall

08/10 7:00 p.m. Board of Commissioners Meeting @ Town Hall

08/17 7:00 p.m. Planning Board Meeting @ Town Hall

08/24 7:00 p.m. Board of Commissioners Meeting @ Town Hall

09/07 Town facilities closed for Labor Day holiday

posted by Administrator # 7:12 PM 0 Comments

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Proud to be an American

Awesome video - Let Each Of Us - Regardless Of Age - Not Forget How Blessed We Really Are!!!!

posted by Administrator # 7:36 AM 0 Comments

Friday, May 22, 2009

Friday Update

Board of Commissioners Friday Update

Friday, May 22, 2009

Have a wonderful holiday!

ITEM 1. TOWN FACILITIES CLOSED FOR MEMORIAL DAY HOLIDAY

Wendell town facilities will be closed on Monday, May 25^th for Memorial Day. The Board of Commissioners meeting regularly-scheduled for Monday, May 25^th instead will be held on Tuesday, May 26^th at 7:00 p.m.

ITEM 2. JOINT MEETING WITH THE GREATER RALEIGH CONVENTION AND VISITORS BUREAU / CHAMBER BOARD – WEDNESDAY, MAY 20^TH

Several town officials met on Wednesday with Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau (GRCVB) and the Wendell Chamber of Commerce. The purpose of the meeting was to exchange information about what has been happening and what is expected to happen in Wendell and with the Chamber in the next 2-3 years.

Staff spoke about development plans, the Wendell Park Master Plan and plans for economic development initiatives with the assistance of the town’s consultants, Holland Consulting Planners. The GRCVB staff also updated the group on what is happening in the visitor industry in Wake County and different ways that they could potentially assist us in promoting Wendell.

There was a good discussion about various attractions in Wendell and what type of businesses and community assets the GRCVB can help promote in its publications and promotions. There was also some good discussion about the positive effect of hosting recreational tournaments.

ITEM 3. EAST WAKE EXPRESS BUS SERVICE

A tentative route map for the planned Triangle Transit East Wake Express Bus Service (serving Wendell and Zebulon to points in Raleigh) is available here.

(The map takes a while to pull-up, so be patient with your computer.)

ITEM 4. GOOD NEWS ON RAINFALL, DROUGHT STATUS

A May 18^th News & Observer article reported that for the first time in two years, no part of North Carolina is experiencing drought.

According to last week’s Drought Advisory Council drought advisory map, 53 counties on opposite ends of the state were in the “Abnormally Dry” category. According to the May 19^th map, only 19 counties are still in the “Abnormally Dry” category. To read the article, click here. To view the updated Drought Advisory Council drought advisory map, click here.

ITEM 5. OTHER

A. The Woman’s Club lease has been executed, and the lease payments for 10 years ($10) have been paid.

B. The East Wake Senior Center celebrated its 20^th anniversary this week.

C. The May 12^th Land Use Training Workshop (facilitated by David Owens with the UNC School of Government) was recorded, and a copy of the recorded session will be made available to those who were not able to attend the session. If you are interested in borrowing a copy of the video once it is received, please contact Planner David Bergmark.

D. The Town of Wendell is currently seeking bids for resurfacing several town roads. Bids are due at 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, May 28^th at 3:00 p.m. The bids are scheduled to be considered by the board at the June 8^th meeting.

E. The Town of Wendell is currently seeking part-time, temporary employees to work as Public Works Specialists. For more information, click here.

F. The draft FY 2009-10 Budget Ordinance, Budget Message and PowerPoint presentation from the May 11^th meeting is available online here.

ITEM 6. UPCOMING EVENTS:

DATE TIME EVENT LOCATION

05/25 Memorial Day holiday – town facilities closed

05/26 7:00 p.m. Board of Commissioners Meeting / Public Hearing on the 2009-10 Budget @ Town Hall

06/01 6:00 p.m. UDO Meeting @ Town Hall

06/08 7:00 p.m. Board of Commissioners Meeting @ Town Hall

06/15 7:00 p.m. Planning Board Meeting @ Town Hall

06/22 7:00 p.m. Board of Commissioners Meeting @ Town Hall

07/03 July 4th holiday - town facilities closed

07/13 7:00 p.m. Board of Commissioners Meeting @ Town Hall

posted by Administrator # 5:10 PM 0 Comments

Thursday, May 21, 2009

WakeUp Wake County Update

Will our polluted drinking water get cleaned up?

You've probably heard that Jordan Lake and Falls Lake are "impaired." That means they're polluted from stormwater run-off and overgrown with potentially toxic algae. We living in Wake County primarily get our drinking water from Jordan Lake (western Wake) and Falls Lake (Raleigh and eastern Wake). The bad news is that both lakes have been declared impaired by the state, and are getting worse because of increasing development! The good news is that efforts are underway to direct action for clean up -- but VERY slowly! ***

So here's what's happening:

Jordan Lake - Within just 20 years, Jordan Lake became badly polluted. Twelve years later, rules have been negotiated between the state, municipalities and other stakeholders to direct action to help clean it up. Unfortunately, some in the NC General Assembly don't want the rules to proceed and are trying to "disapprove" the rules. A compromise was recently negotiated between upstream cities and downstream water consumers and clean water advocates. This compromise legislation, HB 239, just passed the NC House of Representatives last week, and next the NC Senate will consider this compromise. WakeUP recommends you urge elected officials at the city, county and state level to support Jordan Lake rules!

Falls Lake - Falls Lake and the streams flowing into it have been declared impaired/polluted. Rules were supposed to be developed for cleaning up Falls Lake by July of this year. Well, the state isn't meeting the deadline and needs more time. And it could take many years for these rules to be developed and implemented too -- just like Jordan Lake! Meanwhile, the lake is getting worse and Raleigh's Public Utility must use more chemicals to keep it clean to drink. WakeUP is communicating with city and state officials about getting moving with the rules. We also need incentives to encourage stormwater protections of the lake NOW, until the rules are developed. Wake Senator Josh Stein got a bill passed in the NC Senate last week that would do just that - SB 1020. Please thank him at josh.stein@ncleg.net.

*** To Support WakeUP's advocacy for cleaner drinking water and protections as Wake County grows, please consider donating $20 TODAY! Click here to donate for clean water!

posted by Administrator # 2:41 PM 0 Comments