City Information Web site: www.cityofws.org
Apartments get a new lease on life
A once-desolate apartment complex has received a new lease
on life, thanks to a partnership between the city, the Department
of Housing and Urban Development, and a Florida company that
specializes in resuscitating sub-par rental property.
The old Forest Ridge apartment complex on Old Greensboro
Road, originally buitt as low-income housing for HUD's Section 8
housing program, is being completely rebuilt with new wiring,
plumbing, windows, doors, roofs and landscaping.
Now renamed Kensington Village, the complex offers all the
amenities that go with today's market-rate apartment
communities, including all new appliances, individually
controlled heating and air-conditioning, washer/dryer hook-ups,
pool, patio and deck, and a new club house with a fitness center,
community room/lounge with big-screen television, and business
office. The entire complex is guarded by a closed-circuit video
security systegi.
The project is being headed up by the Finch Group of Boca
Raton, Fla. The company has a track record of taking struggling
properties and working with HUD to breathe new life into them.
The old Forest Ridge apartments had been foreclosed on, and
the complex sat vacant.
In all, the project is budgeted at $10.75 million. Of this, the
Finch Group is putting up $6.7 million. HUD is providing a $3.3
million grant to assist with the turn-around, and the city
Department of Housing and Neighborhood Development is
contributing $750,000. <
The first 36 apartments will be completed this month and are
available for rent; the rest will be completed in two phases by the
end of the year. When finished, Kensington Village will have 132
one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments with one or two
bathrooms. Rents range from $470 to $725 a month.
Floor plans are available at www.kensingtonvillageapts.com
Kensington Village offers all the amenities renters are looking for today
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Winston-Salem
Right: Wastewater sludge is
dried into small pellets that are
sold as a soil additive.
Below: The pellets are stored in
two silos until they are loaded
into trucks.
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Utilities' new biosolids drier: It's a Triple-Pay
When it comes to helping the
environment and saving money,
the new biosolids drier at the
Archie Elledge Wastewater
Treatment Plant has scored a
triple-pay" for the Utility
Commission.
First, it is putting to good use
the harmful methane gas
produced at the plant: second, it
is saving the commission the cost
of disposing of wastewater sludge:
and third, it gives the commission
a new source of revenue.
The drier removes so much
moisture from wastewater sludge
that it is reduced to little pellets.
The pellets are being sold to
PineGro. which in turn markets
them as a soil additive to timber
farms.
The drier is fueled by methane
gas produced as a byproduct of
the treatment process in the
plant's anaerobic digesters.
Without the methane, about
1.625 gallons of fossil fuel would
have to be burned each day to
operate the dryer.
But that's not the only savings.
Last year, the Utility Commission
spent $820,000 to dispose of
wastewater sludge, either in
liquid form or dehydrated to a
semi-dry cake-like material. With
this drier, the commission avoids
this cost and instead makes
about $30,000 a year selling the
pelletized biosolids.
Six months left to register your
boarding house, rooming house, or
shared single-family house
Owners of boarding
houses, rooming
houses, and houses
shared by more than
four unrelated people
have six months
remaining to register
their property with
Department of
Neighborhood Services.
Last year, the
Winston-Salem C?ty
Council and the Forsyth
County Commissioners
passed zoning revisions that apply to any rooming house,
boarding house, or shared single-family house in Winston
Salem or an unincorporated area of Forsyth County and is on
land zoned for single-family houses (these districts start with
the letters "RS") or on land zoned RSQ (a district for
residential buildings ranging from singlo-family houses' to
quadraplexes).
The revisions require the owners of these buildings, both
in Winston-Salem and in the unincorporated areas of Forsyth
County, to register with the Winston-Salem Department of
Neighborhood Services before Jan 1, 2009, and to bring
these houses into compliance with current zoning regulations
by Jan. 1, 2012.
Owners who do not register by Jan. 1, 2009 will be out of
compliance as of Jan. 2, 2009, and will be subject to civil
penalties of up to $100 a day or criminal prosecution in
Forsyth County.
Complete information about registering your property is
available at www.cityofws.org/hns, or by calling City Link at
727-8000.
Go Inside the WSPD
The Police Department is accepting
applications for the fall session of the Citizens'
Police Academy, which will start Aug. 26,
2008.
The Citizens' Police Academy is designed to increase
community awareness of the law enforcement profession
and the role of the Police Department by informing citizens
of the administrative philosophy, internal policies and
guidelines, and principles of law and ethical conduct that
govern the delivery of police services within our community.
The Citizens' Police Academy curriculum is similar to
recruit training for new police officers, with a mix of
classroom and hands-on training on such topics as
department functions, search and seizure laws, use of force,
firearms training, crime prevention, criminal investigations,
domestic violence, and K-9 and special operations.
The Citizens' Police Academy will meet from 6:30 - 9:30
p.m. on Tuesday evenings for 12 weeks, starting Aug. 26.
Enrollment is open to any citizen 18 years of age or older
who resides, works or attends school in Winston-Salem.
Anyone interested in attending the Citizens' Police Academy
may call the Winston-Salem Police Department for an
application at 773-7788, or complete an application online
at www.wspd.org.
The class is limited to 30 students. Applications must be
submitted by Aug. 12.
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Get prepared with the Warthogs
Are you ready for the worst a hurricane can dish out?
What about a tornado... or an ice storm? Attend the third
annual Emergency Preparedness Night with the Warthogs on
Aug. 22 and you'll know what to do.
Highlights include the N.C. Highway Patrol's roll-over
simulator, the Triad Bloodhound Team, an Air National Guard
Blackhawk helicopter and helo aquatic rescue
team(scheduled) and the Lewisville Fire Department's "burn
stove" that demonstrates how stovetop fires can start. The
SORT team will have decontamination demonstrations, the
state medical assistance team will set up its mobile hospital
and the Salvation Army will set up its mobile canteen.
Other displays include the Winston-Salem Fire
Department's aerial unit and Rescue One, the Forsyth EMS
off-road ambulance, and the Forsyth County Sheriffs
Department marine patrol boat.
The Warthogs game will be preceded by a 30-minute
softball game between local public safety personnel, starting
at 6 p.m. And stick around for the fireworks after the
Warthogs wrap up their last game they'll ever play at historic ,
Ernie Shore Field.
In all, more than 50 local agencies and businesses will be
exhibiting during the game to raise awareness of the need to
be prepared for emergencies, says Michelle Brock, an
emergency management coordinator with the Office of
Emergency Management. "Too many people never prepare
for an emergency because they think it won't happen to
them," Brock said.
For more information about Emergency Preparedness
Night with the Warthogs, call Brock at 661-6440. *
Need service hours?
Help us Rock the Block
The organizers of Rock the
Block, the city's anriual end-of
summer downtown street
extravaganza, are looking for
volunteers to help staff the event,
scheduled this year for Friday
evening, Sept. 19. The festival will
begin at 6 p.m. and end at
midnight. It's a great way for anyone
who needs service hours, such as
National Honor Society students, to
fill their quota.
Volunteers are rfefeded to helD
_ _ _ v
set up Friday afternoon and tear down after the event. During
the festival, volunteers are needed to staff the children's
area and merchandise and soda stands, and assist at the
mechanical bull, the BMX stunt show and the inflatibles.
All volunteers will receive a free "Rock the Block Volunteer"
T-shirt
People interested in volunteering can sign up online at
www.rocktheblockws.com.- For more information call 747-7369.
WEB WRTCH
See It for yourself
On June 16, the City Council
passed a $396.5 million budget for
2008-2009. The budget keeps the tax rate at 49 cents
per $100 worth of property and retains all current levels
of city services. The entire budget has been posted on
the city's Web site, at www.cityofws.org
And while you're there, look also for the
Performance Scorecard for 2007-2008. This
streamlined and innovative annual report combines
traditional effectiveness measures, polling results of
city residents, and comparisons with North Carolina's
other leading municipalities to give citizens a quick
summary of the performance of city departments
that deliver services directly to the public.
he City of Winston- Salem doe* not discriminate on the basts of race, sex. color, age.
national origin, religion or dls^bllltyln Its employment opportunities, programs,
services or activities. (TDD number 727-8319)
City Page la published through the cooparattve efforts of the City of
Winston-Salem and The Chronicle. Question or concarn about cKy
government services? Call City Unk at 727-MOO.
Mayor: Allen Jotnes City Council: Vivian H. Burke, Mayor Pro Tempore. Northeast
Ward: Dan Besae. Southwest Ward: Robert C. Clark, West Ward.
Joycalyn V. Johnson. East Ward: Molly Lelght. South Ward; Nelson l. Malloy Jr.,
North Wand: Wanda Merschel, Northwest Ward: Evelyn A. Tarry. Southeast Ward
City Manager: Lae Garrtty