WHAT they voted on, and HOW they voted:

Ken Gibson reported the department responded to 103 calls in July, including 46 EMS-related calls. ORFD also assisted on two structure fires in Stokesdale, and staff obtained 457 hours of training.

Gibson said the department signed a contract for the construction of a fire training facility behind Station No. 15 on Linville Road.

Some people have asked why Oak Ridge’s fire department needs a training tower when “we don’t have that many structure fires,” Gibson said. “The technical aspect of firefighting is forever changing,” he explained, adding that even though fires “don’t happen often, when they do, it is very high risk…so we want to have the best training we can.”

Gibson reported that efforts are underway to create a CERT (community emergency response team) consisting of volunteers trained in basic first aid and similar skills to help during emergencies.

“They will come in and assist us,” Gibson said. “They help their neighbors, whatever the case may be.”

An informational meeting about CERT is planned for Aug. 31, 7:30 p.m., at Summerfield Community Center on Centerfield Road (behind Summerfield Elementary School).

Sheriff’s Office. The sheriff’s District 1 office did not provide a July incident

Mayor Ann Schneider, Mayor Pro Tem Jim Kinneman and council members George McClellan, Martha Pittman and Spencer Sullivan voted on the following items during the Aug. 3 town council meeting.

 5  0: Approve the meeting agenda, as well as minutes of a June 21 special called meeting and the June 29 open and closed session meeting minutes

 5  0: Appoint Denise Sacks as a full member of the Historic Preservation Commission, while also reappointing and staggering the terms of Water Advisory Committee members Erin English, Francis Disney, Brian Hall and Phil McNamara

 5  0: Approve the town’s match of Veterans Honor Green donations of $22,400 from April through June

 5  0: Approve a proposal for Piedmont Triad Regional Council to update Oak Ridge’s development ordinance, at a cost of $79,500

 5  0: Approve a $350,000 proposal from Barrs Recreation to design and install the new playground at Heritage Farm Park

 5  0: Approve a plan for landscaping the entrance to Town Park, at an estimated cost of $139,810

 5  0: Approve $85,554.88 in budget amendments for last fiscal year report for Oak Ridge.

MANAGER’S REPORT Board appointments, reappointments

 5  0 to appoint Denise Sacks as a full member of the Historic Preservation Commission. By unanimous vote, the council also reappointed and staggered the terms of Water Advisory Committee members Erin English, Francis Disney, Brian Hall and Phil McNamara.

Veterans Honor Green donations

 5  0 to approve the town’s match of Veterans Honor Green donations of $22,400 received from April through June.

The council provided the matching $22,400 from a state Small Town Development Grant. It also donated the remainder of the grant – $7,383.38 –to the veterans’ site slated for Heritage Farm Park.

After the town’s giving, donations to the veterans’ site totaled $237,115.62, edging closer to the fundraising goal of roughly $250,000.

Later in the meeting, Patti Dmuchowski, chair of the Special Events Committee, thanked the town for its matching funds.

“We are so close,” she said, adding that “we’re not going to stop fundraising.”

Heritage Farm Park update. Town Manager Bill Bruce reported that construction of the park is progressing “at a healthy pace” as BAR Construction Co. wraps up rough grading of the two athletic fields and parking lot.

The contractor is preparing to install irrigation lines and is coordinating with Duke Energy to extend electrical service to the site, Bruce said.

“There is work going on every day,” he confirmed, adding that the park behind Town Hall on Linville Road is scheduled to open next spring.

Bruce thanked walkers for abiding by the town’s request to stay out of the construction zone. As trail construction begins on the southern portion of the property, the town will post signs asking people to also stay away from that area, he added.

Digital speed monitoring sign. Bruce reported the town paid for the installation of a digital speed monitoring sign on Haw River Road after two Halloween night fatalities in 2022 and 2019. (See related article and photo on p. 3)

Farmhouse Community Center update. The town has instructed BAR Construction Co. to start the renovation and conversion of the historic Redmon house into the Farmhouse Community Center no later than Aug. 31, Bruce said.

New Business

Development ordinance update

 5  0 to approve a proposal for Piedmont Triad Regional Council to update Oak Ridge’s development ordinance, at a cost of $79,500.

Over the next 15 months, the agency plans to “reorganize, streamline, and modernize the Development Ordinance to reflect building trends and best practices in planning and zoning, as well as to improve functionality and user-friendliness,” according to a memo from Bruce.

The update will also incorporate the town’s village core design guidelines into a proposed overlay zone.

Despite periodic updates to the ordinance over the years, he told the council, “the primary structure and text of the development ordinance is over 30 years old. So this is a long overdue project.”

Heritage Farm Park playground  5  0 to approve a $350,000 proposal from Barrs Recreation for design and installation of the new playground at Heritage Farm Park.

In recent weeks, the Parks and Recreation (P&R) Advisory Board reviewed proposals from four playground manufacturing and installation contractors.

The town instructed bidders to incorporate a farm theme and accessibility for disabled children in their proposals for the playground. The board favored Pittsboro, North Carolina-based Barrs due to its “creative design, inclusive elements, elements for older children, and its supplemental warranty that offers 100% free replacement cost on all warrantied products,” Bruce said.

“We really wanted to make this an extraordinary place and not just have what’s across the road, but create a good environment for all kids between young and old and children of all abilities and disabilities to be able to play side by side,” said John Browning, co-chair of the P&R Advisory Board.

Browning added that the pour-inplace rubberized playground surface will be safer than other surfaces.

Barrs is not affiliated with Greensboro-based BAR Construction Co., the general contractor building the new park and renovating the Redmon house.

Town Park entrance landscaping

 5  0 to approve a plan for landscaping the entrance to Town Park, at an estimated cost of $139,810.

Earlier, the council agreed on plans for a parking lot, sidewalks and lighting for the Farmhouse Community Center. However, the council expressed dissatisfaction with initial plans by Roanoke, Virginia-based Hill Studio for landscaping around the historic house at Linville Road and Lisa Drive.

The revised plan calls for the planting of magnolia trees, camellia bushes and coneflowers, among numerous varieties. The plan lists the biggest expenses as sidewalks and a parking lot to accommodate visitors to the house after its renovation and expansion.

FINANCIAL UPDATE Budget amendments

 5  0 to approve $85,554.88 in budget amendments to last fiscal year’s budget.

The council had authorized finance director Sam Anders to tap the town’s reserves to pay final bills and adjust earlier budget projections in the fiscal year that ended June 30.

“This was a very, very, very minor final adjustment,” Anders told the council.

Community Updates

Mountains-to-Sea Trail Committee. Pittman reported the committee has scheduled a workday on the Headwaters Trail from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Aug. 19. Volunteers will meet at the Linville Road trailhead. Special Events Committee. Chair Patti Dmuchowski reported that more than 400 people attended the inaugural Fourth of July kids’ bike parade in Town Park, several times the attendance organizers had expected.

“The committee decided this will become an annual event,” Dmuchowski said.

Tree Board. John Browning reported that Taylor Jones, an agent with the N.C. Extension in Greensboro, plans to answer questions about trees during the Heritage Day festival on Sept. 30.

“We’re getting ready for a big Heritage Day,” said Browning, who serves as the P&R Advisory Board’s liaison to the Tree Board.

Parks and Recreation Advisory Board. Co-chair John Browning said the board decided to hire a second sheriff’s deputy to enforce the Music in the Park’s ban on outside beverages and food during concerts.

Separately, as part of the board’s annual contract negotiations with Oak Ridge Youth Association (ORYA), the board recommended increasing the rate for non-resident players from $8 to $15 per season. ORYA is reviewing the proposal, Browning said.

Water Advisory Committee. Chair Jim Harton reported the committee is reviewing a proposed agreement for Winston-Salem/Forsyth Utilities to provide water for Oak Ridge’s municipal water system.

Initially, Oak Ridge plans to build a water storage tank that will be filled from a well in Heritage Farm Park. Later, the extension of a line from Kernersville to Oak Ridge would provide a more reliable source of

Mayor presents plaque honoring Schlosser

Sam Schlosser, who died in August 2022 after an extended illness, served in the U.S. Air Force from 1968 to 1972, and later, in the U.S. Coast Guard for 17 years.

“He was so interested in history,” Chris Schlosser said of her husband. “Any kind of history – and he loved being on the town’s Historical Committee.”

Sam served on the committee from March 2016 to August 2022 and was very involved with the planning and installation of the roadside historical markers.

At Summerfield Town Council’s Aug. 8 meeting, Mayor Tim Sessoms (far left) presented Chris Schlosser, wife of the late Sam Schlosser, a plaque honoring Sam’s many years of volunteer service to the town. Also in photo at left are Sam’s twin brother, Andy Schlosser (far right), and beside him, Andy’s long-term companion, Patricia Brown.

Members of Hopewell Wesleyan Church, BSA Troop 600 and Summerfield’s Historical Committee endured the heat on a workday last month to clear trees, limbs and debris from an overgrown section of the historic church’s cemetery. Another workday is scheduled Saturday, Aug. 26, to uncover the remaining graves, headstones and footstones. About 30 headstones not previously visible can now be seen, and roughly an equal number of grave markers have yet to be uncovered.

The work is preparing for the ground-penetratingradar search for unmarked graves, possibly of slaves and British soldiers from the Battle of Guilford Courthouse in 1781, according to Mark Brown, a member of the Historical Committee.

Located on Pleasant Ridge Road at Lewiston and Carlson Dairy roads, the church originated in the mid-18th century and was active during the American Revolution.

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