Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / Nov. 8, 2018, edition 1 / Page 2
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A2 November 8, 2018 The Chronicle County tentatively agrees to buy Belews Lake land for park BY TODD LUCK THE CHRONICLE Forsyth County com missioners voted to explore buying Belews Lake land from Duke Energy for a future park last week after hearing from concerned residents in the area. The county tentatively agreed to buy the 216 acres of vacant land in the north- east corner of Forsyth for $640,000. However, the county won’t pay that money until after a year long due diligence period and can cancel the pur chase at any time. The due diligence period will include environmental assessment, boundary sur vey, recombination plat and title work. It’ll also include community meet ings to see what nearby residents think of the potential new park. Three residents who live near the land said they wished that the outreach had started even earlier, saying they already had concerns about the park increasing traffic on both the roads in the area and in the lake itself. They voiced concerns about the county’s only Deacon public boat ramp to the lake, known as the Piney Bluff Access Area, located on Belews Creek Road/Highway 65 just south of the land the coun ty is looking at. Scott Deacon said he thought the county’s concept was good, but was worried how it would affect the poplar access point that he says is already “overloaded” and “overwhelmed.” “It’s a narrow finger of water that goes out to the main lake and we have people who are parking on 65 who are walking down to the lake with their pad dle boards, their kayaks or swimming right in that lit tle narrow channel,” he said. “There have been many close calls. It’s only a matter of time before someone gets run over by one of the boats coming from that launch ramp.” Deacon said the poten tial park land is surrounded by homes. He hopes the county will consult resi dents on the park. Residents Roy Boykin and Brad Carrier agreed. Carrier added that he has a problem giving taxpayer money to Duke because of its issues with coal ash and other environmental issues. He said residents with pollution concerns about Duke’s power plant at the lake may also have an issue with it. County Manager Dudley Watts said the county has been in- discus sions for about 10 years with Duke about having a potential park on the lake, and it was only recently that a deal came together for the property. He said the county didn’t want to do outreach on the project until they had the property under control, and now plans to hold as many com munity meetings as need ed. County Commissioner Vice Chair Don Martin assured the residents that the due diligence period was purposely long to allow the county to get res- Forsyth County Image This map shows the land the county has agreed to buy with the residential areas that surround it. The Piney Bluff Access Area is just south of Belews Creek Road. ident feedback. Also during the meet ing: ♦Commissioners approved changes that will go into effect on Jan. 1 that will make the Smith Reynolds Airport, which is owned by the county, a county department. It will have a seven-member board, that includes all of the current Airport Commissioners, which will oversee day-to-day operations. Things like land acquisition and inter- local agreements will be voted on by the county commissions. ♦Commissioners approved the first play ground improvements from the voter approved 2016 county parks bonds for Union Cross Park, 421 River Park and Walkertown Community Park. The $234,223.65 contract for new play grounds was awarded to Cunningham Associates, Inc, which is an authorized distributor and installer of Gametime playground equipment. ♦Commissioners appropriated $100,000 the Public Health Department received from a state opi oid mitigation grant to the non-profit Twin City Harm Reduction Coalition. The needle exchange, located at Green Street United Methodist Church, will use the funds to expand its hours and outreach. ♦Commissioners approved a three year lease of 6.6 acres at Tanglewood Park to Gassy Tees, LLC doing business as Softgolf. The land near Tanglewood’s dog park is used by the company for soft golf, which is a sort of golf played with a large styrofoam ball. The lease, which covers March through September, is $5,250 annually, plus 15 percent of annual gross sales above $60,000 and a 2 percent escalation each year. -• Commissioners awarded a $183,474 con tract for a new ambulance to Northwestern Emergency Vehicles. • They awarded a $329,369.93 contract to Quality Refrigeration Concepts Inc. to replace four walk-in rollers and a walk-in freezer in the kitchen of the Forsyth County Law Enforcement Detention Center. Magnet School Fair Saturday, November 17th, 10 am-2 pm Winston-Salem Fairgrounds, Education Building Come see 21 Magnet Schools with unique programs for all grade levels, all showcased alongside community partners, in one place. CONTACTING THE CHRONICLE www.wschronicle.com . To send news items: email news@wschronicle.com 1300 E. Fifth St., Winston Salem, N.C. 27101 Main Phone Number: 336-722-8624 To send a Letter to the Editor (350 words or less) or column (550 words or less): email letters@wschronicle.com Advertising: Ext. 113 Circulation/Subscriptions: Ext. 100 Editor: Ext. 108 For advertising: email adv@wschronicle.com For subscriptions: email plewis@wschronicle.com Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/WSChron icle Follow us on Twitter: WS_Chronicle The Chronicle (USPS 067-910) was established by Ernest H. Pitt and Ndubisi Egemonye in 1974 and is published every Thursday by Chronicle Media Group, LLC, 1300 E. Fifth St., Winston Salem, N.C. 27101. Periodicals postage paid at Winston-Salem, N.C. Annual subscrip tion price is $30.72. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: The Chronicle, P.O. Box 1636 Winston-Salem, NC 27102-1636
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