“Some of the things (accomplished at the retreat) are a little harder to measure than others,” Sears said, mentioning teambuilding and lengthy “nuts and bolts” presentations.
“One of the things we walked away having accomplished also was a pretty good direction on where we’re going in the next two to three years as far as plans are concerned,” he said.
The top projects for the next few years from the general town fund include expanding Bass Lake Park, building a road connecting Piney-Grove Wilbon Rd. with the Ralph Stevens loop road, installing sidewalk along Bass Lake Rd., and building new public works and police station facilities, Sears said.
Expansion of Bass Lake Park is expected to cost roughly $190,000 and will include completing a trail around the lake, installing another parking lot, building a picnic shelter with restrooms and more.
The road connecting Piney-Grove Wilbon to Ralph Stevens is estimated to cost $4.25 million. Sears said the town is looking into how to fund the connection, which he said will “eliminate a degree of traffic on Avent Ferry Rd.” Federal stimulus money may be a funding option, he said.
“It has to be done, especially when the new middle school opens up,” he said.
The sidewalk along Bass Lake Rd. is expected to cost about $710,000 and would connect Bass Lake Park with Earp St. Sears said the town is considering reducing the 8-foot sidewalk width to 5 feet, which would save money.
A new Public Works facility is needed because the town has outgrown its current facility in the business park, Sears said. He said the town is considering building the new facility near the town’s wastewater treatment plant. The project could cost $2 million. Sears also said the town is looking at the possibility of constructing a police station annex and said the police department has outgrown its current building. A separate facility or sub-station may be constructed near the future New Hill Place shopping center, he said, but a needs analysis will be conducted first. The project is expected to cost $2.8 million.
Sears said other projects the council discussed included building more greenway trails, adding parkland, building a civic organization gateway sign, and installing more sidewalks and a flashing signal at a fire station. Larger projects the town discussed include an interchange on US 1 in the Friendship area, but with a $36 million price tag, Sears discussed funding sources as potentially being from federal stimulus money and state monies.
“To develop the Friendship area, that’s going to be a high priority,” he said of the interchange. “That could be down the road a little bit, but we want to consider it.”
Sears also discussed a new community center, possibly with a swimming pool, at $21.5 million, a pedestrian bridge over the NC 55 bypass near the Wal-Mart shopping center at $2.1 million, adding parkland at $5.7 million and adding greenways at $1.7 million.
Sears said the town is trying to figure out how to pay for the projects and that a bond referendum will be discussed, “but there’s nothing specific.”
“We all agree if we decide to raise taxes that that would be a voter referendum and the voters would decide,” Sears said. “That’s one option we’re going to look at.”
Project priorities from the utility fund include extending utilities to Friendship Rd. at $5.6 million and extending reclaimed water lines into the business park at $130,000.
Wastewater treatment plans were discussed, including whether the town will participate in a regional wastewater treatment facility with Cary, Apex and Morrisville, which would involve piping treated wastewater to a regional plant, or whether the town will be able to discharge into a local waterway or lake. If the town goes with the regional partnership, the cost is easily $25-$30 million more than if the town discharges locally, Sears said. However, the town must first be permitted to discharge locally, something town staff has been working on recently.
“There are some signs on the horizon that we may have a better chance at going into Harris Lake than we did a year ago,” Sears said. Other retreat business included a split vote on allowing the county to operate the town’s ambulance service. Currently, the town owns an ambulance and employs drivers with emergency medical training.
The council voted 3-2 to turn over service to the county so long as the county agrees to make Holly Springs a key station, which would mean the county would move an ambulance to the station should the ambulance currently at the station be dispatched on a call.
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