A decrease in a roadway construction contract and a grant for building sidewalks along Main St. from Town Hall to the G.B. Alford Hwy. were approved by the Holly Springs Town Council at its July 27 meeting.

The council approved a $274,168 decrease in a Green Oaks Pkwy. construction contract. Staff said among the reasons for the decrease in the contract was work done by another contractor and time savings.

“We like it, obviously,” said Holly Springs Mayor Dick Sears.

Staff said the four-lane parkway through the business park would open at the latest in January 2010 and said that the four lanes to Novartis would be open by the facility’s Nov. 24 ribbon cutting – an “international event,” said staff.

Also, the council approved entering an agreement with NC Department of Transportation for construction of a sidewalk along Main St., from Ballentine St. at Town Hall south to the G.B. Alford Hwy.

The state is to provide a grant of up to $320,000 with the town matching funds of $80,000 in an 80-20 split. Staff said the next steps on the project included design and planning for the sidewalk.

“I appreciate it,” Councilman Parish Womble said. “It’s nice to get something on the south side.”

As part of the consent agenda, the council accepted a $1,000 donation from Wal-Mart for the Holly Springs Police Department K-9 Division.

The council approved annexing an area in the Valleyfield subdivision. Staff encouraged the annexation and said it is to clear up some mapping errors. Twelve lots were affected, and staff said property owners agreed to be voluntarily annexed.

The council also approved a special exception, allowing in-home child care at 1104 Holly Meadow Dr. in the Braxton Village subdivision off Avent Ferry Rd. Councilman Vinnie DeBenedetto questioned if neighboring homeowners were contacted regarding the issue. The homeowner said she had contacted neighbors on both sides of her. Councilman Tim Sack said that a public hearing sign had been posted, and Councilman Hank Dickson said neighbors also were informed by the town prior to the issue coming up at the council meeting.

During the “Other Business” portion of the meeting when councilmen can address any issue, Womble brought up several items, including tall grass on the future Pizza Hut site off Main St. between Wendy’s and Walgreens, a house damaged by a fire, and more. He also said he received a complaint about the Police Department being unfriendly.

“I was very surprised knowing we’d already talked about this,” he said.

Dickson said Womble calling or directly contacting town staff heads would have been more appropriate than bringing up the issue at a meeting.

“I’m on the board,” Womble said. “I bring up what I want to when I want to.”

Continuing the “Other Business” portion, Dickson commended the town Parks and Recreation Department for the staff’s job of running a recent statewide athletic tournament.

Dickson said he heard compliments from visiting teams about the staff and about field maintenance. Sack also complimented the parks staff.

In addition, he asked for maintenance of median islands with traffic signs that had been damaged and “sheared off.”

Sears noted that plans for construction of a major shopping center off New Hill Rd. remain, but he said progress is moving slowly. He said a Target, bowling alley and movie theater as part of the development are “still moving forward.”

Public hearings regarding the Leslie-Alford-Mims house were removed from the agenda. Councilman Chet VanFossen was absent from the meeting.