14 minute read
Summerfi eld Town Council meeting
May 10 / MEETING HIGHLIGHTS
as reported by CHRIS BURRITT
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SUMMERFIELD – Mayor Tim Sessoms called the monthly meeting in Summerfield Community Center to order, with Mayor Pro Tem Lynne Williams DeVaney and council members Janelle Robinson, Reece Walker and John Doggett present.
At the start of the meeting, John O’Day sat with the council to announce his recent resignation as a council member due to his family’s move from Summerfield to High Point.
DeVaney offered the invocation, which was followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.
PRESENTATION
O’Day described his May 4 resignation from the council as “a bittersweet moment,” saying he’s going to miss living in Summerfield and serving on the council. At the same time, he said he, his wife, Kelly, and their daughter, Jenna, look forward to living on the horse farm in High Point where they moved earlier this month.
“It’s a sad night in one respect,” he said. “It’s an evolution forward for the O’Day family in another.”
O’Day lived in Summerfield for 11 years and served on the council for the last 6 ½ years. Council members applauded his contributions and presented him with a plaque.
O’Day listed several accomplishments by town leaders during his tenure – the development of Bandera Farms Park and trails and open space, the passage of a unified development ordinance and the renovation of Summerfield Community Center among them.
Photo by Chris Burritt/NWO Former council member John O’Day (center) thanks council member Reece Walker (far right) after Walker presented a plaque of appreciation to O’Day for his 6 ½ years of service to the town of Summerfi eld. At left, Mayor Tim Sessoms and (not shown) council members Janelle Robinson, John Doggett, Lynne W. DeVaney and staff members joined Walker in thanking O’Day for his accomplishments and service.
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“I feel like I lost my righthand man on the council,” Walker said. “John O’Day has been a rock on our council,” Sessoms said. “He is literally a walking encyclopedia of knowledge. When John O’Day walks out the door tonight, a lot of knowledge walks out the door with him. We have much love and appreciation for him.”
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ANNOUNCEMENTS
Revamped website. Town Manager Scott Whitaker presented the town’s newly updated website. Links to staff and council contacts, council meeting documents and the calendar of events are prominently displayed on the homepage, making it easier for users to find more frequently sought information. Special called budget meeting. The council has scheduled a special called 10 MAY 19 - JUNE 1, 2022 The Northwest Observer • Totally local since 1996 meeting May 31 to review the proposed budget for next fiscal year starting July 1.
PUBLIC SAFETY
Sheriff’s Office. Capt. L. Howell introduced herself as commander of the District 1 sheriff’s office, which serves Summerfield, Oak Ridge and Stokesdale as well as Colfax and a portion of Greensboro and Browns Summit.
Burglar alarms and reports of suspicious activity accounted for most of the calls in Summerfield last month, Howell said. She urged people to lock their car doors and put valuables out of sight when they leave their vehicles. Summerfield Fire District. The fire department reported it responded to 91 incidents last month, including 35 fire-related calls, 47 EMS-related calls and nine other calls.
PUBLIC COMMENTS
Teresa W. Perryman said the town should have posted information about O’Day’s resignation on its website.
“Very few people knew about it,” she said, urging the council to adopt a policy requiring an explanation of how a vacant seat is filled.
In response to Perryman’s comments, Sessoms told her this was the council’s first public meeting following O’Day’s resignation and the council
WHAT they voted on, and HOW they voted:
Mayor Pro Tem Lynne Williams DeVaney and council members Janelle Robinson, Reece Walker and John Doggett voted on the following items during the council’s May 10 meeting. Because the vote on proceeding with the development of the new town hall was initially tied 2-2, Mayor Tim Sessoms cast the deciding nay vote (in Summerfield the mayor votes only in cases of a tie). 4 0: Rezone 37.2 acres on U.S. 220 North at Winfree Road for an 800-student charter high school 4 0: Approve a text amendment to the unified development ordinance 2 3: (motion failed) to proceed with development of the new town hall (DeVaney and Doggett voted in favor of proceeding, with Walker, Robinson and Sessoms opposed) 4 0: Authorize Town Manager Scott Whitaker and Historical Committee members Mark Brown and Gary Brown to determine sales prices for the historic Gordon Hardware building and the Martin house 4 0: Allocate $250,000 for the purchase of a 4.8-acre tract and house next to Bandera Farms Park from the Piedmont Land Conservancy 4 0: Adopt a resolution and policy stating that Summerfield will meet the requirements of Title VI of the federal Civil Rights Act
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plans to discuss steps to replace him. Cheri Pikett urged Guilford County voters to vote against the $1.7 billion school bond referendum. A representative of the Take Back Our Schools–GCS group, she said Guilford County Schools is using a social and emotional learning curriculum that tells “our children of color over and over that they are oppressed and white children are responsible. It puts wedges between them that shouldn’t exist.”
DeVaney said she supports the efforts of the Take Back Our Schools group. She added that some parents are pushing the district to remove “Salvage the Bones,” an award-winning book by Jesmyn Ward with some sexually explicit scenes, from the AP English program’s reading list.
DeVaney described content in the book as “so inappropriate” for high school students.
“Don’t give it to your kids,” she said.
PUBLIC HEARINGS
Charter high school rezoning
4 0 to rezone 37.2 acres on U.S. 220 North at Winfree Road from highway business (HB) and agricultural (AG) to conditional zoning – agricultural (CZ-AG) for an 800-student charter high school.
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A site plan presented by National Heritage Academies addressed DeVaney’s rstcitizens.com/wealth concern about the safety of student drivers. She asked whether motorists would be able to enter the school’s parking lot without delay on U.S. 220.
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from the future high school site. Unified development ordinance (UDO) text amendment
40 to approve a text amendment to the UDO that revised some sign regulations and corrected discrepancies in the permitted use table. The table stipulates the types of businesses, such as restaurants, pool halls and welding shops, allowed in specific zoning districts.
The council’s vote also prevents a landowner from resubmitting “substantially the same text amendment request” for a public hearing or consideration by the council within a year of the town’s action on the original request.
Town staff recommended the oneyear rule after the council voted last month to deny developer David Couch’s request for a text amendment to accommodate his plans for higher density development on 973 acres spanning Summerfield.
Just hours before the council approved the one-year rule, Couch submitted a new text amendment request that addresses criticism of his development proposal by some homeowners and council members. As an example, Couch proposed cutting the number of apartments in the development in half,
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SMA Scholarship Committee members Zoraida Corbett (far left), Cyndi Brown (far right) and Jack Clemens at our May meeting with two of SMA’s three 2022 scholarship recipients, Emily Peeden and Grant McNeill (not shown, Benjamin Bluitt ).
Thanks to Kevin Murray, owner of The Jumping Bean, for hosting our May meeting.
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from 1,192 to 596. (See related article on p. 3.) New town hall on hold
23 (motion failed, with Doggett and DeVaney in favor) to proceed with development of a new town hall after the projected cost increased to nearly $4.8 million. That compares to the council’s original budget of $3.5 million.
Mayor Tim Sessoms cast the deciding nay vote after recommending town leaders revisit the possibility of renovating the historic Laughlin school that Guilford County Schools (GCS) plans to declare surplus property. (See related article on front cover.)
MANAGER’S REPORT
Sale prices are being determined for the town-owned historic Gordon Hardware building (at left) and the Martin house (below), both located at the intersection of Summerfield Road and N.C. 150. “The goal is not necessarily to recoup what we’ve got in it, but it is to get it in the hands of somebody that’s preservation-minded,” Town Manager Scott Whitaker told the council at its May 10 meeting.
structure from the town. After the sale closed, PNC would recoup its marketing expenses, closing costs and a fee for monitoring and ensuring the new owner abides by historic preservation covenants. Remaining sale proceeds would go to the town.
“The goal is not necessarily to recoup what we’ve got in it, but it is to get it in the hands of somebody that’s preservation-minded,” Whitaker said.
Sale of historic buildings
40 to authorize Whitaker, Historical Committee Chair Mark Brown and committee member Gary Brown to determine sales prices for the historic Gordon Hardware building and the Martin house.
With that information, the council plans to consider granting options for Preservation North Carolina (PNC) to purchase the two structures. In turn, the Raleigh-based nonprofit group would market the buildings for sale nationally, said Cathleen Turner, director of PNC’s Piedmont office.
As an example, if a buyer were secured for one of the buildings, PNC would exercise the option to buy the Bandera Farms Park
40 to allocate $250,000 for the purchase of a 4.8-acre tract and house next to Bandera Farms Park from the Piedmont Land Conservancy (PLC).
In late February, PLC bought the wooded property at 5448 Bunch Road for $375,000 from Francis and Jo Ann Delaunce, a retired couple who had lived in the house for many years.
Acquiring the property creates new options for designing parking areas at the trailhead for the equestrian and hiking preserve, according to Kevin Redding, the nonprofit’s executive director. PLC agreed to take less from Summerfield than it paid for the property. ...continued on p. 14
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Planning and Zoning Board. Chair Jason Streck said the board would appreciate the Town Council’s guidance with developing regulations to help enforce recommendations in the newly adopted design guidebook for commercial building in the town core. Mountains-to-Sea Trail. Pittman reported Friends of the Mountains-to- Sea Trail, a statewide organization, plans to install a new information kiosk at the trailhead parking lot on Linville Road. Conservation Easement Committee. Chair Stephanie Farrell reported the committee decided to postpone an informational open house at Town Hall earlier this month. Instead, it plans to meet with individuals who’ve expressed an interest in learning more about Oak Ridge’s conservation easement program; the committee also plans to reach out to individuals with property and structures that may be suitable for conservation easements.
COUNCIL COMMENTS
While he was “startled” by projected costs for restoring the Redmon House, Sullivan said the council is “working to come up with a way to reconstruct that building. In the end, will the final expense represent a good value to the citizens of Oak Ridge? I hope we keep that focus as we continue to move through this process.” Pittman said next fiscal year’s proposed budget reflects Oak Ridge’s commitment to historic preservation.
“In reality, Oak Ridge celebrates historic preservation every day, every week, every month,” she said. McClellan and Schneider said contractor bids to renovate the Redmon House may come in less than $455,000 in the town’s proposed budget.
“I think we are going to get a very motivated estimate” for work on the house, Schneider said. The proposed design calls for the addition of a kitchen, a heating and cooling system and bathrooms accessible for the disabled.
“It isn’t just restoring the house,” she said. “It is putting it to new use.”
With no further council comments, the meeting was adjourned at 9:10 p.m. ...continued from p. 12
Separately, Bandera Farms Park has been awarded a $100,000 state grant for the development of a network of trails. The Recreational Trails Program grant from the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources added to earlier funding – a $500,000 matching grant from the state Parks and Recreation Trust Fund and a $50,000 grant from the North Carolina Horse Council. 4 0 to adopt a resolution and policy stating Summerfield will meet the requirements of Title VI of the federal Civil Rights Act. The Federal Highway Administration requires municipalities to follow the requirements to be eligible for federal funds.
COUNCIL COMMENTS
DeVaney thanked town staff and volunteers for organizing the Founders’ Day celebration May 13-14. DeVaney and Sessoms thanked Summerfield First Baptist Church for its weeklong “We Love Summerfield” program that started with a prayer walk around town May 7. Church volunteers landscaped the grounds at Countryside Village Retirement Community in Stokesdale and cleaned up around the Martin house in Summerfield. They also provided appreciation bags to teachers and staff at five local schools.
With no further council comments, the meeting was adjourned at 10:51 p.m.
