SUMMERFIELD town council
Sept. 14 / MEETING HIGHLIGHTS as reported by CHRIS BURRITT Mayor Pro Tem Tim Sessoms called the monthly meeting in Summerfield Community Center to order, with council members Lynne W. DeVaney, Teresa W. Perryman and John O’Day present. Mayor BJ Barnes and councilman Reece Walker were absent. DeVaney offered the invocation, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. “We want to recognize the absence
of air conditioning,” Sessoms said, noting the malfunction of the cooling system in the building, which is undergoing renovations, made it “as hot as Hades in here.”
RESOLUTION
Perryman read a resolution praising the contributions of Summerfield historian Gladys Scarlette, who passed away Aug. 7 at age 92.
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WHAT they voted on, and HOW they voted: Mayor Pro Tem Tim Sessoms and council members Lynne W. DeVaney, Teresa W. Perryman and John O’Day voted on the following items during the Sept. 14 council meeting. Mayor BJ Barnes and councilman Reece Walker were absent. In Summerfield, the mayor votes only to break a tie.
4 0: Authorize students from Northwest Guilford and Northern Guilford high schools to proceed with the next phase of painting a mural on the inside of the pedestrian tunnel under U.S. 220.
4 0: Appoint Loren Sterling as a regular member of the Historical Committee and Kenneth Robinson as an ex-officio member of the committee. Scarlette compiled the town’s history in three books and numerous newspaper articles, while contributing to the town’s Historical Committee and the History Committee of Summerfield First Baptist Church, according to the resolution.
development, partly to protect the town’s supply of well water.
The council declared next year’s Founders’ Day celebration will be dedicated in Scarlette’s memory.
As an example, Kaplan cited the board’s recommendation that triplex and quadplex dwellings should not qualify for density bonuses under moderately priced housing guidelines for developers and builders.
PUBLIC SAFETY Summerfield Fire District. The district reported responding to 126 calls in August; 61 of those were EMSrelated, 26 were fire-related and 39 were for miscellaneous reasons. Firefighters installed 19 child safety seats. Sheriff’s Office. The District 1 sheriff’s office reported it responded to 95 calls in Summerfield last month.
PUBLIC COMMENTS
Carter Spradling (left) and Jesse Day (middle), planners with Piedmont Triad Regional Council, talk with Oak Ridge Town Council member George McClellan at SMA’s Sept. 7 meeting hosted by PS Communications, publisher of the Northwest Observer. The planners sought feedback from SMA members on Summerfield’s Land Development Plan, which the town hopes will act as a guide for making decisions about the amount, type and pattern of future land development.
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Gail Dunham, a candidate for mayor in the Nov. 2 election, said she favors low overall density in development. She criticized the council for adopting the unified development ordinance (UDO) in June after making changes that relaxed density restrictions. The council adopted the changes the same night that it approved the UDO, without review by the Planning Board or a public hearing to gain residents’ views. Perryman, seeking reelection to
The Northwest Observer •the Totally local 1996low density council, saidsince she favors
Beth Kaplan said she was disappointed that changes to the UDO recommended by the Planning Board in August will discourage construction of more affordable housing.
MANAGER’S REPORT Pedestrian tunnel art
4 0 to authorize students
from Northwest Guilford and Northern Guilford high schools to proceed with the second phase of painting the inside of the pedestrian tunnel under U.S. 220. In a power point presentation, Northwest Guilford’s Autumn Jackson and Amir Kazzaz told the council they and other students want to paint a mural on the southern side of the tunnel that “blends the cityscape of Greensboro with the countryside of Summerfield.” Over four Saturdays, they plan to paint the mural with depictions such as Greensboro’s skyline, the Lake Higgins reservoir and scenes with animals around a barn and people fishing. Students painted the northern side of the tunnel last spring. “I love what you did and I love what
