News in brief

for every stage of life, we’re here for you

Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist proudly offers care for all ages. From newborns, children and teens to young adults, mature adults and seniors, we provide outstanding care to help you live your best life. ...continued from p. 1

according to McIntyre’s presentation.

Earlier in the meeting, the council learned the cost of extending water lines to Summerfield from Greensboro or Reidsville would range from $24 million to $27 million – with no guarantee it wouldn’t go higher if Summerfield leaders decide to pursue the project.

Inflation is “absolutely crazy these days,” Bryan Jann, a principal with Freese and Nichols, the engineering firm that prepared the water lines study, told the council.

“We did a cost estimate based on the best information that we have today,” Jann said. Noting the unpredictability of labor, supply chain and other costs, he added, “It doesn’t mean that it won’t change next week.”

In May, the Summerfield council halted plans to build a new town hall after estimated costs climbed to nearly $4.8 million, surpassing the original budget of $3.5 million.

Before the council stopped the project, Summerfield spent $268,207 on design, construction planning and other expenses, according to Dee Hall, the town’s finance officer.

In Oak Ridge and Summerfield, leaders are defraying costs of big projects with state grants and appropriations and federal COVID-19 relief funds. Even so, citing inflation, the councils in the two towns adopted budgets last month that left intact property tax rates, despite Guilford County’s reappraisal of property leading to higher valuations.

In Oak Ridge, rising expenses for building materials and labor are also boosting estimated costs for big projects.

The projected cost for the Veterans Honor Green rose by 29% from $150,000 to $194,000, Patti Dmuchowski, chair of the town’s Special Events Committee, reported to the Oak Ridge council May 5.

The committee is leading fundraising for the veterans’ site planned for Heritage Farm Park.

Development of the park is Oak Ridge’s biggest capital project, with an appropriation of $3.66 million in the budget for the fiscal year starting this Friday, July 1.

“The true cost will be known when the project is put out to bid in the next few months,” Town Manager Bill Bruce said in an email earlier this week. “Given the many economic uncertainties at this time, we have not attempted to update those costs.’’

NEWS in brief

WakeHealth.edu

Family Medicine—Summerfield 4431 US Highway 220 North Summerfield, NC 27358 336-643-7711

Pediatrics—Greensboro 802 Green Valley Road Suite 210 Greensboro, NC 27408 336-510-5510

Adult Urgent Care—Pisgah Church Brenner Children’s Urgent Care—Pisgah Church 2005 Pisgah Church Road Greensboro, NC 27455 336-716-9150

Six candidates seek vacant Summerfi eld council seat

by CHRIS BURRITT

SUMMERFIELD – A former Town Council candidate, the Planning Board’s vice chair and two Henson Farms homeowners are among six candidates vying to fill the council’s vacant seat. The candidates seeking to replace 2 JUNE 30 - JULY 6, 2022 The Northwest Observer • Totally local since 1996 former council member John O’Day, who resigned from the council May 4 after he and his wife, Kelly, sold their Summerfield home and moved to High Point, are: • Greg Fox, who ran for a seat on the council in November 2021, as part of a “no planned development” slate that included former mayor Gail Dunham and council member Teresa Perryman. • Jeff Davis, vice chair of the Planning

Board.

• Bob Jones and J. Dwayne Crite, homeowners in the Henson Farms neighborhood. Jones is the former president of the neighborhood’s

HOA. • Tara Peterson, who lives in a Bunch

Road neighborhood near the Trotter

Ridge subdivision. • Patrick Ingegno, who lives in the

Water’s Edge neighborhood.

Town Manager Scott Whitaker released the names of the candidates earlier this week in response to a public records request by the Northwest Observer.

The candidates submitted their names to Town Hall by the end of the day Friday, June 17, as part of the council’s process for filling the vacancy. Mayor Tim Sessoms and Mayor Pro Tem Lynne Williams DeVaney plan to interview the candidates and prepare reports with summaries of their qualifications for other council members.

The council may select the new council member during its meeting Aug. 9. The appointed council member will serve the remainder of O’Day’s fouryear term, which expires November 2023. Above left, Kevin Payne photographed this bear exploring his neighbor’s yard in the Kensington neighborhood in Oak Ridge, near N.C. 150 and Pepper Road. Center, Tom Malone spotted this bear earlier this week on Highway 150 near Interstate 73 in Summerfi eld. Above right, this past Monday, Erica Jobe photographed this bear emerging from the woods behind a house near the Dawn Acres subdivision on Haw River Road in Stokesdale.

by CHRIS BURRITT

NW GUILFORD – This past Monday, real estate agent Erica Jobe was showing a house in Stokesdale when she looked out the window and saw a black bear step out of the woods.

Jobe had never seen a bear up close so she went onto the back porch as the animal walked into the yard.

“I think he was just as curious about me as I was about him,” Jobe said in an interview.

Recently, bear sightings have been increasingly common in northwestern Guilford County. Kevin Payne snapped a photo of a bear in the Kensington Place neighborhood in Oak Ridge, just off N.C. 150 and Pepper Road. In another photo, Tom Malone captured a bear near Highway 150 at the Interstate 73 interchange.

Encounters with black bears in central North Carolina are increasingly common, especially from May through July, as their population is growing, according to the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission. No longer dependent upon their mothers, young bears may “appear to be wandering aimlessly,” but they may be looking for new homes, the commission said on its website.

Clocked at speeds of 35 mph over short distances, the bears are nonetheless “a very shy, non-aggressive animal that avoids humans in most cases,” the commission said.

To be safe, people should not feed bears or leave pet food, bird seed and garbage easily accessible to the animals, according to bearwise.org.

GREENSBORO | WILMINGTON | BURLINGTON Best in FlooringFOR THE FOURTH YEAR IN A ROW, CSM WAS VOTED BEST IN FLOORING BY NEWS & RECORD READERS.

CSMFLOORING.COM