Wendell News Outlet

Board of Commissioners Friday Update

Friday, July 31, 2009

ITEM 1. UDO COMMITTEE MEETING ON MONDAY, AUGUST 3^RD AT 6:00 P.M.

The UDO Committee will meet Monday, August 3^rd at 6:00 p.m. in the courtroom. The UDO Committee is also scheduled to meet on Monday, August 17^th.

Two special called meetings are tentatively planned for the evaluation and consideration of a Unified Development Ordinance (UDO). Both of these meetings are scheduled to be joint meetings between the Board of Commissioners and the Planning Board. The meetings are planned as follows:

31-Aug-09		Joint Meeting Plan/Town Board w/Lawrence Group		Community Center			6-9 pm
5-Oct-09		Close Public Comment Period/joint Public Hearing w/ Lawrence Group		Community Center			7-9 pm

A vote by the Planning Board is tentatively scheduled to take place at the regularly-scheduled October 19^th Planning Board meeting. A vote by the Board of Commissioners is tentatively scheduled to take place at the regularly-scheduled October 26^th Board of Commissioners meeting.

ITEM 2. REPORT FROM THE THURSDAY, JULY 30^TH MEETING OF THE MARKETING FOCUS GROUP

The Wendell Economic Development Web Page/Branding Focus Group meeting met on Thursday, July 30^th. The group discussed past marketing efforts but focused on how the town should present itself through an economic development web site.

The group will likely meet again with Holland Consulting in late September.

ITEM 3. BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT MEETING ON THURSDAY, AUGUST 13^TH AT 6:00 P.M.

NAPA Auto Parts has submitted a variance request for property located at 3100 Wendell Boulevard for Section 38.574 of the Wendell Code of Ordinances as it relates to maximum allowed signage per parcel. The Board of Adjustment will meet to hear this case on August 13, 2009 at 6:00 p.m. in the courtroom.

ITEM 4. LEGISLATIVE UPDATE – ARCHER LODGE INCORPORATION – There was some action this week with House Bill 641 – a bill to allow the incorporation of Archer Lodge. The Municipal Incorporations Committee met this week and endorsed the Archer Lodge bill. A copy of the bill’s history is available here.

ITEM 5. PAVING PROGRESS

This week, the town’s contractor paved several areas this week including Todd Street, a portion of North Cypress Street, Magnolia Street, Timber Drive, the railroad crossings and a portion of South Main Street. Paving work that remains is limited to the remainder of Main Street downtown. Hopefully, the paving work will be completed next week.

ITEM 6. STATUS OF HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN UPDATE

Last week, the Town of Wendell received confirmation that the NC Division of Emergency Management approved the town’s Hazard Mitigation Plan update and forwarded it to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for its approval.

ITEM 7. RECOGNITION OF STATE CHAMPIONSHIP TEAMS PLANNED FOR 6:30 P.M. AT THE MONDAY, AUGUST 24^TH BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS MEETING

Three Wendell Parks and Recreation teams recently won their respective State Championships:

• 11/12 Girls Softball (Tar Heel);

• 9/10 Boys Baseball (SWAC) and

• 13/14 Boys Baseball (Tar Heel).

A recognition ceremony for these teams is being planned to take place thirty minutes prior to the regular August 24^th Board of Commissioners meeting time. Staff would like to start the meeting at 6:30 p.m. and allow the Board of Commissioners to recognize the efforts of the teams at that time. The recognition should be completed by 7:00 p.m. for the board’s regular agenda.

ITEM 8. IMPROVED VIEWING OF BOARD MEETINGS ON EWTV.ORG

The video of Board of Commissioners meetings on www.ewtv.org is now improved. The town has received some complaints about the size and quality of the video online. The video box is bigger now, and the resolution of the video is better due to some adjustments being made in the settings for the video feed to East Wake TV’s web site.

ITEM 9. UPDATE ON WATER SERVICE FOR CENTRAL BAPTIST CHURCH

On Thursday July 23, 2009, Donna Jackson, Assistant Public Utilities Director with the City of Raleigh, contacted the Town of Wendell to inform staff that the letter of acceptance for the waterline located along Richardson Road has been written by the City of Raleigh Public Utilities Department. Water fees in excess of $37,000 have been paid by Central Baptist to the town and will be credited to the town’s pro forma account.

The church continues to work with Wake County Environmental Services with improvements to the septic system and with Wake County Building Inspections for the completing final building improvements in order to receive their Certificate of Occupancy.

ITEM 10. POSSIBLE TOWN APPLICATION TO THE CAPTIAL TREES AWARDS PROGRAM

Tree Board Chairman Warren Boyette came by and discussed with the manager a desire and plan of the Wendell Tree Board to nominate several trees in the Wendell Park for the Capital Tree Award Program.

The Capital Trees Program (CTP) grew out of a 1992 citizen request that Raleigh establish a "Champion Tree Program" to recognize the largest, rarest, oldest and prettiest trees of various species. After discussion with representatives of various interested groups, a consensus developed to include all of Wake County in a broad-based educational effort. The program quickly won endorsement from the City of Raleigh and Wake County and interest from other local municipalities. The program is administered through the Triangle J Council of Governments. More information on the program is available here.

There is no protection with the Capital Tree Program that is administered by TJCOG; however, some municipalities are instituting their own protection efforts to protect these honor roll trees.

The Tree Board would like to nominate large oak tree next to one of the ballfields, as well as a grove of pecan trees. Mr. Boyette is an arborist and will be working on the nomination applications.

ITEM 11. OTHER

1. The town’s Public Works Department installed new Downtown Historic District and Farmers’ Market directional sign on Wendell Boulevard this week.

2. A public meeting regarding the Secondary and Cumulative Impacts Management Plan (or SCI Management Plan) will be held on Monday, August 17, 2009. The plan will be used to address the growth-related environmental impacts from water and wastewater projects constructed in the seven municipalities served by the City of Raleigh Public Utilities Department. The meeting will be held at the Neuse River Wastewater Treatment Plant Training Facility located at 8500 Battlebridge Road in Raleigh) starting at 6:00 p.m. Oral and written comments will be accepted at the public meeting. Public comment can also be provided in writing or via e-mail.

3. The Wendell Police Department (in partnership with the Wendell Fire Department and Eastern Wake Emergency Medical Services) will hold its inaugural Public Safety Day on Saturday, August 22^nd from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. in the rear parking lot of Hephzibah Baptist Church.

4. The annual Wendell Movie Night will be on Friday, September 18. It will be held it in the same place as last year (at the bottom of the new side of the park). The rain site will be the Community Center.

5. The NC League of Municipalities will hold its annual conference in Greenville October 25-27.

ITEM 12. UPCOMING EVENTS:

DATE TIME EVENT LOCATION

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

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

08/13 6:00 p.m. Board of Adjustment Meeting @ Town Hall

08/17 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. UDO Meeting @ Town Hall

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

08/17 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. Public Meeting – SCI Management Plan w/CORPUD staff available for questions @ Neuse River Wastewater Treatment Plant, 8500 Battlebridge Rd., Raleigh

08/22 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Wendell’s “Public Safety Day 2009” @ Hephzibah Baptist Church parking lot

08/24 6:30 p.m. Board of Commissioners Meeting @ Town Hall

08/31 6:00 p.m. Joint Town Board / Planning Board Meeting about the draft UDO @ Wendell Community Center

09/07 Town facilities closed for Labor Day holiday

09/14 7:00 p.m. Board of Commissioners Meeting @ Town Hall

09/21 7:00 p.m. Planning Board Meeting Town Hall

09/28 7:00 p.m. Board of Commissioners Meeting Town Hall

10/05 7:00 p.m. Joint Town Board / Planning Board Meeting about the draft UDO @ Wendell Community Center

10/12 7:00 p.m. Board of Commissioners Meeting Town Hall

10/19 7:00 p.m. Planning Board Meeting Town Hall

10/25 – 10/27 NC League of Municipalities Annual Conference @ Greenville Convention Center

10/26 7:00 p.m. Board of Commissioners Meeting @ Town Hall

For Immediate Release: July 30, 2009

Media Contacts:

Alissa Bierma, Upper Neuse RIVERKEEPER^®

309-750-0307

alissa@neuseriver.org

Britt Stoddard, Acting Water Quality Director, Wake County

919-856-2641

bstoddard@co.wake.nc.us

Neuse RIVERKEEPER^® Foundation Applauds Wendell for Stormwater Improvements

July 27, 2009, Wendell, NC: Monday night, the Wendell Board of Commissioners adopted a comprehensive stormwater management ordinance, stepping into a leadership role in the protection of water resources in Easter Wake County. An initial vote of 3-2 in favor at the meeting of July 13 failed to pass the ordinance by the supermajority required for a single reading passage, so the ordinance was heard for a second time this week.

August 2009

Children's Programs

Family Preschool Story Time
Join Ms. Kathy for weekly story times including flannel boards, songs, rhymes, books, and art.
Wednesdays @ 10:30 a.m.

Wednesday After School Programs!
Wednesday after school programs will resume Wednesday, September 2 @ 4:30! Call or email Ms. Margaret for details or suggestions, 365-2600 or Margaret.Vaughan@wakegov.com!

TEENS
Want to suggest a program for the Wendell Community Library? Call Ms. Linda or Ms Margaret at 365-2600, or email Linda.Wilkes@wakegov.com, Margaret.Vaughan@wakegov.com.

Adult Programs

Monday Afternoon Book Club
August Book - Serena (Ron Rash)
August 3 @ 1:00

In the Spirit African American Book Club
First Tuesday of each month at East Regional Library.
August book - Up to no Good (Carl Weber)
August 4 @ 6:30

Computer Classes
Second Thursday of each month! Registration required. Call 365-2600.

"PC Basics" - Learn the basics of personal computers.
August 13 @ 9:00 a.m.

"Introduction to the Internet"
September 10 @ 9:00

New Books for July!
Request today! Call 365 - 2600 or email Linda.Wilkes@co.wake.nc.us

Intervention
The Hunted
A Surrendered Heart

The Lost Symbol
Stardust
A Change in Altitude

Check out the links below for more reading suggestions!

September's New Fiction!

New Adult Non-fiction !

New Large Print Titles!

New Teen Books!

Graphic Novel Review !

Search our catalog!
Wake County Public Library Home

Board of Commissioners Friday Update

Friday, July 24, 2009

ITEM 1. WENDELL POLICE DEPARTMENT IN CHARITY SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT THIS WEEKEND

The Wendell Police Department will be involved in a Charity Softball Tournament on July 25, 2009 at Zebulon Community Park (which is by the old armory). All money donated and raised will be given to the 200 Club of Wake County, an organization dedicated to providing immediate financial help for the spouse and children of police officers, sheriff deputies, firemen, EMS squad members and NCSHP serving in Wake County who lose their life in the line of duty. The event was originally scheduled for March but was rescheduled.

The opening ceremony for the tournament will be at 9:00 a.m. The Wendell Police Department team will play at 10:00 a.m. and again at either 11:00 a.m. or 12:00 noon.

ITEM 2. TRIANGLE TRANSIT AGREEMENT DELAYED

At its July 13^th meeting, the Board of Commissioners reviewed a draft of an interlocal agreement with Triangle Transit for the provision an express bus service. It was anticipated that the final draft would be considered at the July 27^th meeting; however, town staff is waiting for a final version of the interlocal agreement from Triangle Transit. Hopefully, the agreement will be ready for full consideration by the Town Board at the August 10^th meeting.

ITEM 3. TOWN HALL MEETING WITH REP. DARREN JACKSON ON TUESDAY, JULY 28^TH

Rep. Darren Jackson will hold a town hall meeting in the Wendell Courtroom on Tuesday, July 28^th at 7:00 p.m. Rep. Jackson held a similar event in Knightdale in June. At that meeting, he asked for public input about the State budget and other legislative issues.

ITEM 4. MEETING WITH THE MARKETING FOCUS GROUP – THURSDAY, JULY 30^TH

The Wendell Economic Development Web Page/Branding Focus Group meeting is scheduled to meet at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, July 30^th at the Community Center. One of the main goals of the Focus Group is to assimilate past town marketing efforts (including logo design, video marketing, photographs, defining community appeal, etc.) into a new marketing effort.

The focus group will meet with Holland Consulting 2-3 times over the next 90 days. Holland Consulting wants to ensure that past efforts at logo design, video marketing, photographs, defining community appeal, etc, are articulated to its team by individuals who have spearheaded these efforts in the past. Through this effort, Holland Consulting will work with a web page development firm to develop a web-based marketing tool that will serve to present the town’s economic development “assets” to potential investors and regional partners, and will develop preliminary “branding” strategies to help sell the town to investors interested in the region.

ITEM 5. LEGISLATIVE UPDATE – ANNEXATION

On Wednesday, July 22^nd, the House passed HB 524 – Annexation – Omnibus Changes by a vote of 89-27. The House approved an amendment, made by Rep. Dollar, allowing up to one year to obtain the signatures necessary to call for a petition on city-initiated annexations.

HB 524 without the referendum provision would make for far fewer and more difficult annexations, especially for smaller towns and cities. With the referendum requirement, the legislation will lead to the effective elimination of annexation as a tool to manage this state growth and provide needed services in this state's urban areas.

Rep. Darren Jackson supported municipalities by voting against the bill.

ITEM 6. PAVING PROGRESS

No paving was performed this week due to concerns about potential rainfall. The resurfacing work is scheduled to continue next week.

ITEM 7. SECONDARY AND CUMULATIVE IMPACTS

A public meeting regarding the Secondary and Cumulative Impacts Management Plan (or SCI Management Plan) will be held on August 17, 2009. The plan will be used to address the growth-related environmental impacts from water and wastewater projects constructed in the seven municipalities served by the City of Raleigh Public Utilities Department. Utilization of the SCI Management Plan will reduce City construction project costs by eliminating expensive duplication in future environmental documents and will allow all interested parties easy one-stop access to regional environmental mitigation efforts.

CORPUD staff will be available at the August 17^th public meeting (which will be held at the Neuse River Wastewater Treatment Plant Training Facility located at 8500 Battlebridge Road in Raleigh) to answer public questions at 6:00 pm and will provide a brief presentation and roundtable discussion opportunity at 7:00 pm. Oral and written comments will also be accepted at the public meeting. Public comment can also be provided via e-mail to Ruth Swanek at ruth.swanek@ch2m.com or Kenneth Waldroup at kenneth.waldroup@ci.raleigh.nc.us or via U.S. Mail to the same C/O the City of Raleigh, Public Utilities Department, P. O. Box 590 Raleigh, North Carolina 27602.

ITEM 8. UDO CONSIDERATION

Two special called meetings are tentatively planned for the evaluation and consideration of a Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) for the Town of Wendell. Both of these meetings are scheduled to be joint meetings between the Board of Commissioners and the Planning Board. The meetings are planned as follows:

31-Aug-09		Joint Meeting Plan/Town Bd. w/Lawrence Group			Community Center		6-9 pm
5-Oct-09		Close Public Comment Period/joint Public Hearing w/ Lawrence Group			Community Center		7-9 pm

A vote by the Planning Board is tentatively scheduled to take place at the regularly-scheduled October 19^th Planning Board meeting. A vote by the Board of Commissioners is tentatively scheduled to take place at the regularly-scheduled October 26^th Board of Commissioners meeting.

ITEM 9. DROUGHT UPDATE

Dry conditions continue to spread across the state. The number of counties in the “Abnormally Dry” category jumped from 63 to 76 this week. Areas included in the “Abnormally Dry” category basically include the entire coastal plain and Piedmont areas, as well as part of the mountains. The latest Drought Advisory Map is available at http://www.ncdrought.org/.

ITEM 10. OTHER

1. The town received official notification this week of the acceptance of the Wendell Boulevard Historic District into the National Register of Historic Places.

2. The Wendell Police Department (in partnership with the Wendell Fire Department and Eastern Wake Emergency Medical Services) will hold its inaugural Public Safety Day on Saturday, August 22^nd from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. in the rear parking lot of Hephzibah Baptist Church.

3. The annual Wendell Movie Night will be on Friday, September 18. It will be held it in the same place as last year (at the bottom of the new side of the park). The rain site will be the Community Center.

4. The NC League of Municipalities will hold its annual conference in Greenville October 25-27.

ITEM 11. UPCOMING EVENTS:

DATE TIME EVENT LOCATION

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

07/28 7:00 p.m. Town Hall Meeting with Rep. Darren Jackson @ 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 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. UDO Meeting @ Town Hall

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

08/17 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. Public Meeting – SCI Management Plan w/CORPUD staff available for questions @ Neuse River Wastewater Treatment Plant, 8500 Battlebridge Rd., Raleigh

08/22 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Wendell’s “Public Safety Day 2009” @ Hephzibah Baptist Church parking lot

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

08/31 6:00 p.m. Joint Town Board / Planning Board Meeting about the draft UDO @ Wendell Community Center

09/07 Town facilities closed for Labor Day holiday

09/14 7:00 p.m. Board of Commissioners Meeting @ Town Hall

09/21 7:00 p.m. Planning Board Meeting Town Hall

09/28 7:00 p.m. Board of Commissioners Meeting Town Hall

10/05 7:00 p.m. Joint Town Board / Planning Board Meeting about the draft UDO @ Wendell Community Center

10/12 7:00 p.m. Board of Commissioners Meeting Town Hall

10/19 7:00 p.m. Planning Board Meeting Town Hall

10/25 – 10/27 NC League of Municipalities Annual Conference @ Greenville Convention Center

10/26 7:00 p.m. Board of Commissioners Meeting @ Town Hall

Dear Friends,

Will we run out of drinking water? The Wake County Board of Commissioners recently heard a presentation from water experts that raised questions about the future of Wake County's water supply. Richard Whisnant, UNC-Chapel Hill, and Bill Holman, Duke University, presented findings from a study commissioned by the state legislature to look at water allocation issues and options in North Carolina. According to Whisnant, the Triangle region is in a race with Atlanta, GA to be the first large metropolitan area in the eastern United States that will run out of water. Unless we act now to establish a water budget and a process to ensure we remain within that budget, population growth and increasing demand for water and electric services could dry up our drinking water resources in the foreseeable future. In fact, demand in Eastern Wake County will exceed supply of water by 2040, according to Raleigh's Public Utilities water supply plan.

A unique set of geographic, geologic, demographic, and policy circumstances make the situation particularly dire for the Triangle:

* The Piedmont region has low water resilience - good average rainfall, but little water storage, high susceptibility to drought, and no good local supply options
* Wake County is one of the fastest growing counties in the US - more people means higher water use for drinking, irrigation, and energy
* North Carolina has no permitting system for large water withdrawals - we do not know how much of the state's water resources are currently tapped, how much water there is to accommodate growth, or how large water withdrawals impact downstream users

Recommendations suggested to ensure a long-term water supply for Wake County and the Triangle region, include:

* Establish a permitting system for large water withdrawals
* Establish proactive, adaptive, regional water supply planning
* Improve our supply by encouraging efficiency and using rainwater/stormwater as a resource

Legislation was introduced in the 2009 General Assembly that would act on many of the recommendations (SB 907 / HB 1101), but it was not taken up by the relevant committees. Unfortunately, there is little time to waste - coordinating, planning, and implementing the necessary steps to establish and balance our water budget will take time. We must ACT NOW to avoid our water demand exceeding our supply.

More information on the study can be found on UNC's Water Wiki.

If you are concerned about the future of Wake County's water supply, talk to your legislators and city and county representatives, and join WakeUP Wake County!

Board of Commissioners Friday Update

Friday, July 17, 2009

ITEM 1. NO PLANNING BOARD MEETING ON MONDAY

There will not be a Planning Board meeting on Monday, July 20^th.

ITEM 2. SECONDARY AND CUMULATIVE IMPACTS

As you are aware the City of Raleigh, working in partnership with the Towns of Garner, Wake Forest, Rolesville, Knightdale, Wendell and Zebulon, Wake County and with the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NC DENR), has developed a Secondary and Cumulative Impacts Management Plan that will be used to address the growth-related environmental impacts from water and wastewater projects constructed in the seven municipalities served by the City of Raleigh Public Utilities Department. On April 14, 2008, the Wendell Board of Commissioners adopted a “Resolution of Support and Commitment to Mitigative Measures to Address Secondary and Cumulative Impacts Associated with Water and Sewer Utility Projects”. (A copy of the resolution is attached.)

The plan was developed in response to a Memorandum of Agreement between the City of Raleigh and NC DENR that allows for utilization of the plan to characterize SCI conditions, allows for the review and updating of the plan every two years and is considered a “living document” in recognition of changing environmental conditions and further efforts by all communities to improve the SCI Management strategies.

Utilization of the SCI Management Plan will reduce City construction project costs by eliminating expensive duplication in future environmental documents and will allow all interested parties easy one-stop access to regional environmental mitigation efforts.

Examples of secondary impacts include impervious surface increases and/or home density increases in a watershed caused by development that was enabled by the presence of municipal water and sewer. Those increases in impervious surface could lead to water quality degradation from increased storm water discharges without programs to mitigate those impacts. Cumulative impacts describe the effect of many years of successive development within a watershed, even if that development was designed to mitigate environmental impact.

The culmination of that effort is the draft Secondary and Cumulative Impacts (SCI) Management Plan, released recently for public comment. The draft SCI Management Plan is now available on the City of Raleigh’s website under the Public Utilities webpage; publications section (SCI Management Plan Link). The draft plan will encompass all service areas but will exclude certain sub-watersheds that drain to threaten & endangered species habitats.

Public comment is welcome and can be provided via e-mail to Ruth Swanek at ruth.swanek@ch2m.com or Kenneth Waldroup at kenneth.waldroup@ci.raleigh.nc.us or via U.S. Mail to the same C/O the City of Raleigh, Public Utilities Department, P.O. Box 590 Raleigh, North Carolina 27602.

A public meeting regarding the SCI Management Plan will be held at the Neuse River Wastewater Treatment Plant Training Facility located at 8500 Battlebridge Road in Raleigh on August 17, 2009. CORPUD staff will be available to answer public questions at 6:00 pm and will provide a brief presentation and roundtable discussion opportunity at 7:00 pm. Oral and written comments will also be accepted at the public meeting. The public comment period is open until August 21, 2009. A formal press release with this information will be issued shortly.

ITEM 3. UDO CONSIDERATION

Two special called meetings are tentatively planned for the evaluation and consideration of a Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) for the Town of Wendell. Both of these meetings are scheduled to be joint meetings between the Board of Commissioners and the Planning Board. The meetings are planned as follows:

31-Aug-09		Joint Meeting Plan/Town Bd. w/Lawrence Group			Community Center		6-9 pm
5-Oct-09		Close Public Comment Period/joint Public Hearing w/ Lawrence Group			Community Center		7-9 pm

A vote by the Planning Board is tentatively scheduled to take place at the regularly-scheduled October 19^th Planning Board meeting. A vote by the Board of Commissioners is tentatively scheduled to take place at the regularly-scheduled October 26^th Board of Commissioners meeting.

ITEM 4. LEGISLATIVE UPDATE – ANNEXATION

On Tuesday, July 21, at 8:30 a.m., the Appropriations Committee is scheduled to consider HB 524 – Annexation – Omnibus Changes. The NC League of Municipalities made significant compromises in this bill and, while the NCLM still have specific concerns, the NCLM still hopes to have a reasonable bill that will pass this session.

Unfortunately, the referendum amendment added in the House Finance Committee would lead to the effective elimination of annexation as a tool to manage growth and to provide services in an orderly and logical manner in urban areas. Annexation opponents are requesting a number of changes to HB 524, including a vote just of the people being annexed and giving county boards of commissioners control over city-initiated annexations.

ITEM 5. PAVING PROGRESS

No paving was performed this week. The resurfacing work will continue next week.

ITEM 6. RECREATION NEWS

1. Wendell Parks and Recreation is very proud to announce that three Wendell teams will be representing District 6 in State Tournaments. Advancing for Wendell are the Boys 7-8 (Coach Pitch) team, the Boys 13-14 (Juniors) team and the Girls 11-12 (Fast Pitch Softball) team.

The Boys 7-8 team and the Girls 11-12 team will advance to Wilkes County. Their tournament s will be July 16-19. The Boys 13-14 team will advance to Erwin/Coats. Their tournament will be July 23-26.

2. The annual Wendell Movie Night will be on Friday, September 18. It will be held it in the same place as last year (at the bottom of the new side of the park). The rain site will be the Community Center.

ITEM 7. DROUGHT UPDATE

The number of counties in the “Abnormally Dry” category jumped from 51 to 63 this week, including Wake and Durham Counties (which is a big part of the Falls Lake Watershed). The latest Drought Advisory Map is available at http://www.ncdrought.org/.

ITEM 8. OTHER

1. The air conditioner for the Planning Department / part of the Police Department (which was included the 2009-10 Budget) was replaced this week.

2. The Wendell Police Department will be involved in a Charity Softball Tournament on July 25, 2009 at Zebulon Community Park. All money donated and raised will be given to the 200 Club of Wake County, an organization dedicated to providing immediate financial help for the spouse and children of police officers, sheriff deputies, firemen, EMS squad members and NCSHP serving in Wake County who lose their life in the line of duty. The event was originally scheduled for March but was rescheduled.

3. Rep. Darren Jackson has scheduled a town hall meeting in the Wendell Courtroom on Tuesday, July 28^th at 7:00 p.m. Rep. Jackson held a similar event in Knightdale in June. At that meeting, he asked for public input about the State budget and other legislative issues.

4. The Marketing Focus Group will meet with Holland Consulting Planners at the Wendell Community Center on Thursday, July 30^th from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m.

5. The Wendell Police Department (in partnership with the Wendell Fire Department and Eastern Wake Emergency Medical Services) will hold its inaugural Public Safety Day on Saturday, August 22^nd from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. in the rear parking lot of Hephzibah Baptist Church.

6. The NC League of Municipalities will hold its annual conference in Greenville October 25-27.

ITEM 9. UPCOMING EVENTS:

DATE TIME EVENT LOCATION

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

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

07/28 7:00 p.m. Town Hall Meeting with Rep. Darren Jackson @ 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 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. UDO Meeting @ Town Hall

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

08/17 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. Public Meeting – SCI Management Plan w/CORPUD staff available for questions @ Neuse River Wastewater Treatment Plant, 8500 Battlebridge Rd., Raleigh

08/22 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Wendell’s “Public Safety Day 2009” @ Hephzibah Baptist Church parking lot

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

08/31 6:00 p.m. Joint Town Board / Planning Board Meeting about the draft UDO @ Wendell Community Center

09/07 Town facilities closed for Labor Day holiday

09/14 7:00 p.m. Board of Commissioners Meeting @ Town Hall

09/21 7:00 p.m. Planning Board Meeting Town Hall

09/28 7:00 p.m. Board of Commissioners Meeting Town Hall

10/05 7:00 p.m. Joint Town Board / Planning Board Meeting about the draft UDO @ Wendell Community Center

10/12 7:00 p.m. Board of Commissioners Meeting Town Hall

10/19 7:00 p.m. Planning Board Meeting Town Hall

10/25 – 10/27 NC League of Municipalities Annual Conference @ Greenville Convention Center

10/26 7:00 p.m. Board of Commissioners Meeting @ Town Hall

Dear Friend,

Do you want to wait years for clean drinking water?

Even though Falls Lake is the largest impaired water source in the state, the North Carolina Division of Water Quality is asking for a two-and-a-half-year extension in creating rules to protect the lake. This is in spite of the fact that the General Assembly has already granted one extension, allowing an additional year to complete the task they assigned and begin clean up of the Lake. For more information on the history of the Falls Rules visit our webpage.

Click here to tell Falls Lake Watershed State Senators that two-and-a-half-years is too long to wait for the Falls Lake Rules.

Please help us reach our goal of sending 200 comments to state legislators before the Falls Lake Stakeholder meeting, on Thursday, July 16. Falls Lake is in need of rules that will protect it from increased stormwater contamination, as well as point source discharges which cause high levels of bacteria and nutrients. As Senator Josh Stein recently said, "Falls Lake is polluted today, and every year we go without rules in place, it's going to get worse". The time to act is now.

Thank you for helping to protect the Neuse River Basin and to provide clean water for drinking, recreation and enjoyment to the communities that it serves.

Alissa Bierma
Upper Neuse RIVERKEEPER®

Board of Commissioners Friday Update

Friday, July 10, 2009

ITEM 1. UDO CONSIDERATION

The tentative process for evaluation and consideration of a Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) for the Town of Wendell is as follows:

Date	Action		Time
17-Jul-09	Distribute DRAFT UDO		Hand Deliver
3-Aug-09	Meet UDO Committee		6-9 pm
17-Aug-09	Meet UDO Committee		6-7 pm
31-Aug-09	Joint Meeting Plan/Town Bd. w/Lawrence Group		6-9 pm
31-Aug-09	Begin 30 day comment Period
14-Sep-09	Discussion with Town Bd. at Regular Meeting		7-9 pm
21-Sep-09	Discussion with Plan Bd. at Regular Meeting		7-9 pm
5-Oct-09	Close Public Comment Period/joint Public Hearing w/ Lawrence Group		7-9 pm
19-Oct-09	Vote by Planning Board		7-9 pm
26-Oct-09	Vote by Town Board		7-9 pm

To accommodate this schedule, there would be two Special Called Meetings:

• A joint Town Board / Planning Board meeting on Monday, August 31^st at 6:00 p.m. at the Community Center, and

• A joint Town Board / Planning Board meeting on Monday October 5^th at 6:00 p.m. at the Community Center.

Please let staff know if there are any questions or concerns about the proposed process and timeline.

ITEM 2. LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

1. TAX BREAK FOR HOMEBUILDERS – State lawmakers have passed a bill allowing home builders to defer for up to three years paying county and municipal property taxes on their unsold inventory of new homes. Qualifying for the exemption are homes that have been issued a certificate of occupancy but remain unoccupied. The anti-recession measure, which will take effect for tax years beginning after July 1, 2010, was ratified Thursday and awaits the signature of Gov. Beverly Perdue.

General Assembly fiscal researchers asked tax officials in all of the state’s 100 counties for an estimate of the dollar value of housing stock that would qualify under the law; 45 responded with an estimate of $3.1 billion in unsold inventory. Extrapolating from that figure, the researchers calculated that the amount of deferred taxes would hit $30 million to $35 million in fiscal 2010. With market conditions expected to improve by fiscal 2011, the deferred property tax volume is expected to decline to $7 million to $12 million.

The program sunsets – meaning it goes out of force – after the third year, fiscal 2012-2013. Properties qualifying in that final year will remain eligible for the exemption through 2015.

2. ANNEXATION – By a 60-59 vote this week, the House re-referred the Finance Committee Substitute for HB 524-Annexation-Omnibus Changes, which includes a referendum provision, to the House Appropriations Committee. The referral was made to determine the cost to the state of the Local Government Commission administering some provisions of the legislation. The Appropriations Committee is expected to take up HB 524 on Tuesday.

3. WENDELL ETJ AUTHORITY – The Wendell ETJ extension authorization (House Bill 743) passed the second and third readings in the Senate this week and was sent to the governor for her signature. Once the bill is signed, the town will still need to get approval of Wake County concerning expansion of the ETJ.

4. PRIVILEGE LICENSES – The News & Observer published an article on July 5^th detailing the situation concerning the Legislature’s consideration of local governments’ authority to charge privilege licenses to businesses. The article can be found here.

ITEM 3. HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN

On Wednesday, July 1, the Planning Staff received comments from North Carolina Emergency Management (NCEM) on the town’s 2009 Hazard Mitigation Plan. Staff has already reviewed their comments and is working with NCEM to get the few changes made and the document resubmitted. Once the document is resubmitted, NCEM will review the updates and prepare the document for submittal to FEMA. The current plan, adopted in 2004, expires November 8, 2009. The updated plan was submitted to NCEM in February for their review.

ITEM 4. PAVING PROGRESS

The town’s paving contractor, T. R. Vernall, made progress this week on its re-surfacing contract. Work completed this week includes paving on:

• South Main Street (from Second Street to Haywood Street);

• Second Street (from Pine Street to Hollybrook Street);

• North Main Street (from Wendell Boulevard to Nowell Street); and

• The end of Meadow Street (at the intersection of First Street).

The resurfacing work will continue next week.

ITEM 5. RAILROAD CROSSINGS ON TOWN RIGHTS-OF-WAY REPAIRED

Carolina Coastal Railway replaced timbers this week at the railroad crossings on town rights-of-way this week in preparation for the resurfacing work.

ITEM 6. NEW EMPLOYEES

Mr. Robert Belvue started this week as a temporary employee in the Public Works Department. Adrian Thomas will begin work as a temporary employee on Monday.

Also, Mariann Franks will begin as the Administrative Assistant / Planning Technician in the Planning Department on Monday.

ITEM 7. DROUGHT UPDATE

51 counties are now in the “Abnormally Dry” category. The latest Drought Advisory Map is available here.

ITEM 8. OTHER

1. The Wendell Police Department will be involved in a Charity Softball Tournament on July 25, 2009 at Zebulon Community Park. All money donated and raised will be given to the 200 Club of Wake County, an organization dedicated to providing immediate financial help for the spouse and children of police officers, sheriff deputies, firemen, EMS squad members and NCSHP serving in Wake County who lose their life in the line of duty. The event was originally scheduled for March but was rescheduled.

2. Rep. Darren Jackson has scheduled a town hall meeting in the Wendell Courtroom on Tuesday, July 28^th at 7:00 p.m. Rep. Jackson held a similar event in Knightdale in June. At that meeting, he asked for public input about the State budget and other legislative issues.

3. The Marketing Focus Group will meet with Holland Consulting Planners at the Wendell Community Center on Thursday, July 30^th from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m.

4. The Wendell Police Department (in partnership with the Wendell Fire Department and Eastern Wake Emergency Medical Services) will hold its inaugural Public Safety Day on Saturday, August 22^nd from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. in the rear parking lot of Hephzibah Baptist Church.

5. The NC League of Municipalities will hold its annual conference in Greenville October 25-27.

ITEM 9. UPCOMING EVENTS:

DATE TIME EVENT LOCATION

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

07/28 7:00 p.m. Town Hall Meeting with Rep. Darren Jackson @ 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 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. UDO Meeting @ Town Hall

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

08/22 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Wendell’s “Public Safety Day 2009” @ Hephzibah Baptist Church parking lot

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

08/31 6:00 p.m. Joint Town Board / Planning Board Meeting about the draft UDO @ Wendell Community Center

09/07 Town facilities closed for Labor Day holiday

09/14 7:00 p.m. Board of Commissioners Meeting @ Town Hall

09/21 7:00 p.m. Planning Board Meeting Town Hall

09/28 7:00 p.m. Board of Commissioners Meeting Town Hall

10/05 6:00 p.m. Joint Town Board / Planning Board Meeting about the draft UDO @ Wendell Community Center

10/12 7:00 p.m. Board of Commissioners Meeting Town Hall

10/19 7:00 p.m. Planning Board Meeting Town Hall

10/25 – 10/27 NC League of Municipalities Annual Conference @ Greenville Convention Center

10/26 7:00 p.m. Board of Commissioners Meeting @ Town Hall