March 18 - 24, 2016
bringing the local news home to northwest Guilford County since 1996
www.nwobserver.com
MST Trail: ‘No’ for Stokesdale, ‘Go’ for Oak Ridge Stokesdale Mayor Randy Braswell asks N.C. Parks and Recreation Department to remove town from Mountains-to-Sea Trail map. Oak Ridge says, ‘If you don’t want it, we’ll take it!’ by PATTI STOKES STOKESDALE/OAK RIDGE – What is what man’s trash can indeed be another’s treasure, and such is the case with the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, which will
eventually stretch 1,150 miles from the Great Smoky Mountains to the Outer Banks. Stokesdale Mayor Randy Braswell recently requested Carol Tingley, deputy director of N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation, to remove the Town from the Mountains-to-Sea map, which shows a
proposed future segment of the trail coming through Stokesdale.
The trouble with the issue of trails came vividly to the surface last fall, when Tim Jones, who was then a candidate for town council, authored and circulated a petition entitled “Redress of Grievance,” which said “We the undersigned citizens do hereby wish to
express our opposition to the A&Y Trail/ Mountains-to-Sea Trail being built in Stokesdale for reasons including the following:
• An increase in state taxes and federal taxes, leading to even more debt
• Loss of privacy to our neighbors living on or near the proposed trail
• The permanent maintenance and repair costs the Town of Stokesdale will have to pay!
• The overall security risk to our community from the proposed trail
• The risk of hunting and other land-use restrictions near the trail
• The risks/costs for emergency services personnel to patrol/respond to emergencies
• Public liability risks for property owners from the public, trespassers and vandals
• Acquisition of land by planning officials using back-door condemnation
• A reduction in property taxes
• The increased risk to the citizens of Stokesdale for permanent property
You’ve been flocked! Northwest High School’s We the People team, led by WTP teacher Ray Parrish, has been busy recently. When they’re not preparing for the upcoming state-level competition on March 18, WTP students are soliciting donations of $25 for a small flock or $50 for a large flock of bright pink flamingos with patriotic attire to adorn an unsuspecting business’ or friend’s front yard for 24 hours. The friendly-looking group of flamingos shown in this photo greeted Northwest Observer employees as they returned to the office on Monday morning. The NWO passed along the fun to Sam Anders, CPA in Oak Ridge… who
taxes!
The information presented on the
...continued on p. 6
IN THIS ISSUE
in turn passed it along to the Oak Ridge Fire Department the following day. “We’ve been honored to be involved in such a great organization,” said Oak Ridge Fire Chief Steve Simmons of the high school’s WTP program. “I sent the flock down the road to another unsuspecting
person, who will get it tonight. Hopefully, others will pass it along and it will help the WTP team raise money for their trip to D.C. in April (for the national-level competition).” Email nwghswethepeeps@gmail.com to schedule a flock to visit someone you know.
News in Brief ............................... 3 Your Questions ........................... 4 Summerfield Town Council ....... 8 Business Notes ......................... 12 Community Calendar ............. 14 NWO Real Estate ...................... 15 New kids on the block ............ 16 Real Estate Briefs...................... 19 Real Estate Q&A ...................... 24 Real Estate Transactions ......... 25 Student Profiles ........................ 29 Frontlines to the Sidelines ....... 28 Letters/Opinions ...................... 32 Grins & Gripes .......................... 33 Crime/Incident Report ............ 34 Classifieds ................................ 35 Index of Advertisers ................ 39 NWO on the go! ....................... 40