13 minute read
Oak Ridge Town Council meeting
OAK RIDGE town council WHAT they voted on, June 2 / MEETING HIGHLIGHTS and HOW they voted:
as reported by CHRIS BURRITT
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OAK RIDGE – Mayor Ann Schneider called the regular monthly meeting in Town Hall to order, with council members George McClellan, Martha Pittman and Spencer Sullivan present; Mayor Pro Tem Jim Kinneman was absent.
Oak Ridge resident Steve Sumner offered the invocation, which was followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.
PUBLIC SAFETY
Sheriff’s Office. Cpl J. Swaringen of the sheriff’s District 1 office said officers ran 104 calls in Oak Ridge in May; of those, 11 were follow-ups to reports of suspicious activity, four were for reports of trespassing and one was for a burglary from a vehicle at Town Park.
“We’ve been getting hit at parks throughout the county,” said Swaringen, urging people to lock their vehicles and put valuables in their trunks, glove boxes or otherwise out of sight. Oak Ridge Fire Department. Firefighter Philip Lamendola reported the department responded to 80 calls last month, including 38 which were medical-related. Firefighters also responded to three fires, eight motor vehicle accidents, two gas leaks and nine false alarms.
The department’s staff obtained 538 hours of training in May.
PUBLIC HEARINGS
4 0 to approve a $7.36 million budget for the fiscal year starting July 1. After hearing from residents for and against the spending plan, the council adopted the draft budget as recommended by the Finance Committee.
The property tax rate remains unchanged at 8 cents per $100 property valuation, despite projections for higher property and sales tax receipts. (See related article on p. 16.) 4 0 to approve an ordinance extending the town limits to accommodate the voluntary annexation of 21 properties into Oak Ridge.
For the second consecutive year, the council invited property owners to apply for annexation into Oak Ridge. After review and certification by town staff, the council approved 21 petitions for voluntary annexation.
During a public hearing before the council’s vote, no one spoke for or against the ordinance.
Inviting property owners to seek annexation on an annual basis improves the efficiency of the process for town staff, Pittman said. It also alerts other property owners to the potential for voluntary annexation in future years.
“Welcome to Oak Ridge,” McClellan said for the benefit of the
Oak Ridge Presbyterian Church celebrates and congratulates its graduating seniors: Macy Bowles Conner Kubis Luke Morton Ava Overmyer Sam Uhrlass Seth Wilder
We are proud of you and send you with our prayers and blessings. Go with God’s grace to love and serve the world.
Mayor Ann Schneider and council members George McClellan, Martha Pittman and Spencer Sullivan voted on the following items during the council’s June 2 meeting. Mayor Pro Tem Jim Kinneman was absent. 4 0: Approve a $7.36 million budget for the fiscal year starting July 1 4 0: Approve an ordinance extending the town limits to accommodate the voluntary annexation of 21 properties into Oak Ridge 4 0: Appoint Steve Sumner as an alternate to the town’s Historic Preservation Commission 4 0: Declare the town’s 2008 Yamaha golf cart as surplus property 4 0: Adopt a resolution setting fees and charges for users of the town’s new municipal water system 4 0: Authorize the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board to secure sponsors for four of the six concerts during next summer’s Music in the Park series 4 0: Authorize the transfer of $50,000 from Oak Ridge’s undesignated fund balance to establish the municipal water system’s enterprise fund
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MANAGER’S REPORT
4 0 to appoint Steve Sumner as an alternate on the Historic Preservation Commission. 4 0 to declare the town’s 2008 Yamaha golf cart used by the Parks and Recreation Department as surplus property, authorizing town staff to sell the vehicle. It has exceeded its “useful life” and will be sold for parts, Town Manager Bill Bruce said. Heritage Farm Park update. The town is still in the process of exploring a combination of wells at the proposed park site to provide enough water for bathroom usage and irrigation of athletic fields, Bruce said.
Existing and new wells are being investigated, he said. If the flow of water from the combination of wells proves insufficient, the town may build a storage tank to supply water during peak demand.
Completion of construction drawings for the park hinges upon identifying the locations of wells, Bruce said. Afterwards, the town will solicit bids from a general contractor for the project.
Bruce noted that Sam Anders, the town’s finance officer, is continuing his discussions with banks interested in lending money for the park construction project. N.C. 68/150 improvements. Plans for construction of two roundabouts in Oak Ridge’s commercial district and improvements to the Highway 68/150 intersection are on track, Bruce said.
According to the North Carolina Department of Transportation, the project will take two years to complete and will be let out for bids next spring, Bruce said. ORMA’s reduced-speed zone. NCDOT has completed the extension of the reduced-speed zone in front of Oak Ridge Military Academy, Bruce said. The 25-mph zone now runs in front of the baseball field at the eastern end of the school’s campus.
Last year, Oak Ridge asked NCDOT to extend the reduced-speed zone after Myra Blackburn and some other homeowners in the area complained about speeding. Speaking during the June 2 meeting, Blackburn said she’s “thrilled” by the extension of the zone.
“Theoretically, it’s going to slow traffic down, but it’s yet to do so,” Blackburn said, adding that she believes enforcement of the lower speed limit by sheriff’s deputies may be required to slow motorists down.
NEW BUSINESS
Water system fees
4 0 to adopt a resolution setting fees and charges for users of the town’s new municipal water system. Residential users will pay a base charge of $21 a month and an additional $6.50 per 1,000 gallons of water, according to the rate schedule.
Homeowners in Honeycutt Reserve, a subdivision under development on Bunch Road, will be the first customers of Oak Ridge’s new municipal water system. Later this summer, the town plans to take ownership of the water system in the development, Bruce said. Music in the Park sponsorships
4 0 to authorize the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board to secure sponsors for four of the six concerts during next summer’s Music in the Park series. (See related article on p. 2.)
The council also approved the board’s recommendations to allow the sale of beer and wine and the addition of food trucks during the four sponsored concerts.
The council approved the changes as a “trial” during the 2023 concert season. Later in the meeting, Patti Dmuchowski thanked the council for approving the changes for next summer.
Having businesses and organizations sponsor concerts will help attract popular bands that charge more than the $500 the town now pays bands, said
PUBLIC COMMENTS
Cheri Pikett, a representative of the Take Back Our Schools – GCS group, said Guilford County Schools (GCS) is using a social and emotional learning curriculum that “puts wedges between our children that didn’t exist before.”
The curriculum tells “children of all colors over and over they are oppressed and that the white children are responsible,” said Pikett, a Summerfield resident who also recently spoke on the same topic before the town councils in Summerfield and Oak Ridge. Summerfield resident Maria Adams said she disagreed with a recent decision by a Northern Guilford High School advisory committee to retain “Salvage the Bones,” which includes sexually explicit content, as an optional book on the AP literature reading list.
While town councils don’t dictate GCS policies, Adams said elected officials “have a voice” and an interest in the county schools. She urged parents to “speak up” if they disagree with the curriculum being taught in their children’s schools. Sam Anders, Oak Ridge’s assistant fire chief, praised Arlington National Cemetery staff which last month reinterred the remains of Lance Cpl. Andrew David Russoli.
Russoli, a U.S. Marine, was killed in the Iraqi war in 2005 and was buried in Greensboro. He had hoped to join the Oak Ridge Fire Department after ending his military service.
FINANCIAL UPDATE
4 0 to authorize Anders, who also serves as the town’s finance officer, to transfer $50,000 from Oak Ridge’s undesignated fund balance to establish the municipal water system’s enterprise fund.
The water enterprise fund is independent of the town’s general operations fund and requires its own bank account and financial statements, according to Anders. The fund will cover initial ...continued on p. 8
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expenses in establishing the water system. COMMUNITY UPDATES
Parks and Recreation Advisory Board. Co-Chair John Browning said the board approved requests by the Northwest Guilford High School band boosters and Summit Church to show movies in the park. Water Advisory Board. Councilman Spencer Sullivan said the board plans to begin evaluating a water-for-firefighting study prepared for Oak Ridge by the Wooten Co. Historic Preservation Commission. Chair Debbie Shoenfeld reported the Historic Heritage Grants Committee and the commission approved applications to fund improvements at the Donnell stone house on Highway 150 and Maple Glade on Oak Ridge Military Academy’s campus. Mountains-to-Sea Trail Committee. The committee reported that two representatives of Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, a statewide organization, built an information kiosk at the trailhead parking lot NEXT MEETING on Linville Road. The kiosk will serve as a model for other Thursday, July 7 • 7pm Oak Ridge Town Hall kiosks built along CONTACT YOUR TOWN the trail that runs nearly 1,200 miles across the state, from the Great (336) 644-7009 ssmith@oakridgenc.com www.oakridgenc.com Smoky Mountains to the Outer Banks. Conservation Easement Committee. Chair Stephanie Farrell reported the committee reviewed a list of properties that are potential candidates for open-space easements. Later this month, it plans to repeat the process for owners of historic structures and properties.
The committee plans to narrow the lists and contact individual property owners to discuss the town’s CORE (Conserving Oak Ridge through Easements) Initiative, Farrell said. Special Events Committee. Chair Patti Dmuchowski reported the committee had collected more than $1,300 in the previous two weeks from the sale of engraved pavers for the Veterans Honor Green. Bank of Oak Ridge donated $750 while Jim and Janet Sandelli gave $250, Dmuchowski noted. She thanked local Scouts and others who participated in the Memorial Day ceremony. COUNCIL COMMENTS Noting the council’s meeting had run longer than normal, Sullivan said the two-hour-plus session “speaks to the town’s growth and to the dynamic community we have grown here and built here” with leadership by elected officials and volunteers. “I appreciate all of the comments” by residents during the meeting, Schneider added. She also thanked town staff members for their work. Pittman congratulated graduating high school seniors, saying “you have met the very special challenges of the last few years and you’ve succeeded.” She then commended the graduates who served as leaders in their schools and volunteered in their communities.
“We will miss you, but we are excited for you as well,” she said. McClellan thanked those who supported him in his campaign for the Guilford County Board of Commissioners’ District 3 Republican nomination in the May 17 primary. He finished second behind Pat Tillman, who will run against Democrat Derek Mobley in November.
“I know we came out a little short on that race, but the folks here in Oak Ridge really came through,” McClellan said. “I’m ready to continue serving you here on this town council.”
With no further council comments, the meeting was adjourned at 9:16 p.m.
Take a Fresh Look at Oak Ridge’s Historic District...
OAK RIDGE HISTORIC DISTRICT DESIGN STANDARDS HANDBOOK
New Illustrated Design Standards now available
• Same standards, new look! • Now provides a visual survey of our district • Features a history of Oak Ridge • Highlights rich variety of architectural styles • Now more user-friendly for property owners
To access the new handbook, visit oakridgenc.com
Questions? Call Town Hall at (336) 644-7009.
Oak Ridge Historic Preservation
Commission
Promoting historic preservation in Oak Ridge (336) 644.7009 | www.oakridgenc.com
< > OAK RIDGE HISTORIC DISTRICT DESIGN STANDARDS HANDBOOK
MAP OF THE HISTORIC DISTRICT ABOUT THE HISTORIC DISTRICT OPERATION OF THE HISTORIC DISTRICT HISTORIC DISTRICT DESIGN STANDARDS APPENDICES
Published by the Oak Ridge Historic Preservation Commission | Approved March 2013 (Technical Revisions approved May 2021)
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Alumni Hall at Oak Ridge Military Academy, Site #39b (top left) Oakhurst, Site #40 (bottom left) Sheriff David B. Stafford House, Site #27 (top right)
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ABOUT THE HISTORIC DISTRICT HISTORIC OAK RIDGE IN A CHANGING RURAL LANDSCAPE Oak Ridge is centrally located just north of the metropoli-tan triangle formed by Greensboro, High Point, and Winston-Salem. The community is perhaps best known for the Old Mill of Guilford and the Oak Ridge Military Academy. But it also has a fine collection of 19th- and early 20th-century buildings chronicling the evolution of one of the region’s first settlements. In recent decades the community has attracted growing numbers of new residents whose workdays are spent in neighboring cities. Most live in nearby subdivisions, butthey are drawn to common purposesby schools, churches,and public affairs anchored in the older established Oak Ridge district. Along with their contributions has come a shift from rural to suburban orientations. The challenge of historic preservation in Oak Ridge is best understood as one of harmonizing new growth with the character of a village-like community whose traditional farming and educational pursuits have been set in open landscapes. The Historic District Design Standards provide a middle way between two opposite and equally unacceptable situ-ations: either no change, which would jeopardize thevitality of the central district, or incompatible growth,which would erode the community’s unique appeal. Change that is responsive to historic preservation can add to the quality of life of Oak Ridge residents, enhancing the sense of place and belonging, the feeling of rootedness in something of lasting shared value that is the very source of a healthy civic culture. This is both the goal and the challenge of the Oak Ridge Historic District.
OAK RIDGE HISTORIC DISTRICT DESIGN STANDARDS HANDBOOK
Determining When a Certificate of Appropriateness is Required
MAP OF THE HISTORIC DISTRICT ABOUT THE HISTORIC DISTRICT OPERATION OF THE HISTORIC DISTRICT HISTORIC DISTRICT DESIGN STANDARDS APPENDICES
The Design Standards should be understood in terms of three categories of outside or external work activities, as articulated in the Oak Ridge Development Ordinance.
HOW DO I KNOW IF I NEED A CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS?
ROUTINE MAINTENANCE: NO
MINOR WORKS: MAYBE
MAJOR WORKS: YES
See Definitions
