By a vote of 3-1, the King City Council approved plans to build a reading room at the King Senior Center during the council’s regular meeting on Monday. The city will utilize a $25,000 donation from a private donor to construct the addition. The council also agreed that the city would chip in $7,335 to pay for a shelter that would reach from the reading room’s exterior entrance to the main entrance of the Senior Center.
Council members Charles Allen, Dillard Burnette and Wesley Carter voted in favor of the measure while councilman Brian Carico voted against the proposal. Carico said he objected to the city not taking bids on the project. Public Works Superintendent Ricky Lewis recommended local builder John Cox as the project contractor. Cox has agreed to build the reading room at a cost of $22,400. Mayor Jack Warren said the city has been “burned before” when it has put construction projects out for bids, stating that the reading room represented a rare opportunity for the city and the anonymous donor is anxious for construction to begin. The reading room is being constructed in honor of the donor’s late wife, according to city documents.
The city council also addressed the stormwater problems in the Laurel Glen subdivision during Monday’s meeting. In June, Brian Gentry, a Laurel Glen resident, spoke during a council meeting and explained how stormwater runoff was a big problem in his neighborhood. Gentry asked the city for assistance, and the council directed City Engineer Scott Barrow to analyze the stormwater problems in Laurel Glen and report his findings.
During the council’s July meeting, Barrow presented a possible solution to the stormwater problem that included a proposal to pipe the entire drainage system with inlets. Barrow’s solution had a price tag of $82,700. At the time, Barrow said his primary concern was the city had never gone on to private property to rectify a stormwater issue.
During Monday’s meeting, City Manager John Cater said that after consulting with the Piedmont Triad Council of Governments and the School of Government at UNC-Chapel Hill, the city learned that the state bears no responsibility to improve drainage in the general area around the state highway system, and the City of King has never improved stormwater drainage around city streets except within the city’s right of way.
The council unanimously agreed to provide engineering services to the homeowners of Laurel Glen in the form of Barrow’s analysis of the stormwater problem and his recommended solution.
In other business, the council unanimously approved a budget amendment that added nearly $30,000 for air quality remediation at City Hall and more than $15,000 to reimburse Stokes County for the Sauratown Fire Department Water Line Extension Agreement originally signed in 2005. The council agreed to dip into the city’s enterprise fund balance to pay for the budgetary items.
The council also unanimously voted to accept water rescue equipment from Forsyth County in exchange for the King Fire Department agreeing to respond to water rescue incidents in the Rural Hall and Old Richmond areas. The value of the equipment, which includes a rescue boat, motors, trailer and accessories, is estimated at $12,000.
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