News in brief

the rear of Town Hall on Linville Road.

“This definitely helps us with our fundraising,” Schneider said in an interview last week, adding the council plans to discuss the topic during its Feb. 9 planning session for the town’s capital improvement plan.

After the town council learned last September that the town had failed for a second consecutive year to win a PARTF grant, it opted to borrow $2.75 million from Truist Financial for financing the development of Heritage Farm Park and use $855,000 earmarked in the town’s current budget.

The three new funding sources offer more options.

“I think it is likely we will still take out a loan of some size,” Schneider said.

Exactly how much – if any – the town will now seek to borrow is up for council discussion.

Easing of rules governing how municipalities can spend appropriations from the American Rescue Plan Act now permits spending on capital projects, such as developing Heritage Farm Park, according to Schneider. Earlier, restricted-service governments such as Oak Ridge were allowed to spend the money on water, sewer and broadband projects.

Oak Ridge leaders are also evaluating whether they can spend ARP funds to cover the town’s $490,000 matching portion of the PARTF grant, Bruce, the town manager, said. The town learned of the grant a few weeks ago, when the PARTF Authority announced the approval of $28.6 million in capital improvement projects and land acquisitions for state parks and an additional $13.6 million in grants to fund 41 local parks and recreation projects.

The second round of grants this fiscal year resulted from the recently enacted state budget’s allocation of an additional $101 million to PARTF.

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NEWS in brief

Preview: Feb. 3 Oak Ridge Town Council meeting

by CHRIS BURRITT

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OAK RIDGE – State legislators John Faircloth and Jon Hardister plan to present a $50,000 small town development grant to Oak Ridge during the Town Council’s meeting this Thursday, Feb. 3. The grant from the State Capital and Infrastructure Fund will help pay for developing Heritage Farm Park and the veterans’ site slated for the property, according to Town Manager Bill Bruce. Bruce will update the council on another financial boost for the park – the awarding of a $490,000 matching grant from the North Carolina Parks and Recreation Trust Fund that, if accepted by the council, would help defray costs for the $3.63 million projThe Northwest Observer • Totally local since 1996 ect. (See related article on p. 2.) Bruce also plans to provide an update on plans by the North Carolina Department of Transportation for roughly $7 million in improvements to N.C. 68 and 150 in Oak Ridge’s central business district. Slated to start in the spring of 2023, construction of two roundabouts and installation of new traffic signals and pedestrian crosswalks at the town’s major intersection is aimed at slowing traffic and improving safety for pedestrians and cyclists. (See related Q&A on p. 4.)

In other business, the council plans to hold a public hearing to gather viewpoints on a request to rezone a 1.55-acre lot at 2201 Oak Ridge Road (N.C. 150) from RS-30 (single-family residential) to CZ-LO (conditional zoning – limited office). Applicants Nelson Kerley and Ruth Kerley propose to use ... continued on p. 25