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Earlier this week, we spotted a car in the parking lot of the store at Pleasant Ridge and Carlson Dairy roads. As it turned out, the car belonged to Jiten Oza, a Summerfield resident who bought the store earlier this month.

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In an interview, Oza said his family owns more than a dozen gasoline convenience stores in the Triad –including the Quick Shop (formerly Belco) on N.C. 150 near Lake Brandt Road. Over the years, Oza said he developed a friendship with Harold “Shorty” Wilson and told him he’d like to buy his store if it became available.

After Wilson’s death on Aug. 6 of

Jiten Oza, the new owner of the former corner of Pleasant Ridge and Carlson last year, Pam Fox, one of his daughters and the executor of the family’s estate, listed the property for sale with Keller Williams Realty One Realtors Mike Carter and Andrea Blake. They contacted more than 20 prospective buyers on a list provided by Fox.

The property went under contract to Oza around March 1, and the transaction entered a period of due diligence by the potential buyer. The property sold June 13, according to the deed on file with the Guilford County Clerk of Courts.

“I am so excited,” Oza said. “It was my dream to purchase this business.”

He declined to say how much he paid for the one-acre tract that contains the store and a mobile home next door. An employee in one of Oza’s stores is now living in the house.

Keller Williams listed the property’s sale price at $2 million when it went on the market late last year.

After remodeling and restocking the space, Oza said he plans to reopen the store in about two months with a new name: Shorty’s. As a condition of the sale, the store would no longer carry the Wilson’s name, at the insistence of the family. Oza said Fox was pleased by the new name.

As much as he wanted to expand the store and possibly add prepared food, Oza said the lack of municipal water and sewer services prevents him from taking those steps.

Also, Oza said the location of the water well on the property prevents him from adding more gasoline pumps.

“During busy times, two pumps are not enough,” he said.

Budget Approved

...continued from p. 3 workshops. It also held a public hearing to gain citizen input at the June 8 council meeting, but the hearing was continued after the council decided to consider a funding request from Stokesdale Parks & Recreation (SP&R), a nonprofit that owns Stokesdale Community Park on Capri Drive in Stokesdale, before finalizing the budget.

Councilman Tim Jones expressed his reservations about the budget being expanded next fiscal year because of “free money” – i.e., grant money, which he said the government printed and spun into the economy, resulting in high inflation.

“My concern is that when next year rolls around, we won’t be able to back up to a reasonable budget level because we’ve gotten addicted to spending this amount of money versus previous budgets,” Jones said.

“I agree about the ‘free money,’” Foy responded. “There is no doubt that is a direct correlation with inflation, which is hitting us all. But this is money we have, and I think there is a good plan for how to use it… In my opinion, there is no fluff in this budget.”

Councilman Jim Rigsbee concurred.

“We have been fortunate to have some money, regardless of how it was generated, and we’re making good use of it,” Rigsbee said. “Subtracting grant money, we’re right in line with where we were the last few years. I’m pleased with the budget.”

Councilman Jimmy Landreth also agreed, noting the town does a good job without charging a property tax, and could be a model for other towns.

“It would be easy to run this town if we had a tax,” Landreth said. “It’s not hard to take other people’s money out of their pocket and then do something with it –but we don’t do that. We’ve had meetings and we’ve been open and transparent. I think we’ve done a good job.”

Thanks to rising interest rates, the town’s investment earnings are projected to top $85,000 next fiscal year, a significant increase over previous years.

 4  0 (in two separate votes) to approve the general fund and water enterprise budgets for FY2023-24.

After the votes, council resumed discussion of Stokesdale Parks & Rec.’s $50,000 request. (See our June 15-28 issue for details of Jordan Balmforth’s presentation to the town council at its June 8 meeting.)

“The request isn’t just for us to give them a check,” Foy emphasized. “They must raise $25,000 first and show evidence that the money is tied to this project. We have the grant money to do it. If the town owned and operated those ballfields, the cost to maintain them, pick up the trash, etc., at a minimum would be $40,000 to $50,000 – not to mention that we wouldn’t do as good a job as SP&R has done.”

Supporting Foy’s comments, Landreth said, “SP&R is a great organization. This town would have spent a lot of money over the years and this is a great situation. SP&R is a big part of the town. I’m all for it.”

 4  0 to participate in a fundraising campaign with SP&R by matching $2 for every $1 raised by the nonprofit, specific to this fundraising initiative, up to $50,000. The motion stipulated that Town money only be used to pay for new lighting and poles associated with lighting the community park for baseball and softball games; that the fundraising campaign must conclude by June 1, 2024, to align with the town’s fiscal budget; and that SP&R provide evidence that funds raised during this period be specific to this fundraising initiative.

 4  0 to approve a 3% cost-ofliving raise for all staff members who haven’t gotten a promotion within the last few weeks (which excludes newly promoted clerk Robbie Wagoner), effective July 1. The raise had already been factored into the proposed budget for next fiscal year.