Council hears plan to expand
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on April 7, 2015 1:46 PM
Businessman David Weil appeared at the Goldsboro City Council work session Monday to discuss several issues and projects he is working on throughout the community.
Weil revealed that he and Charles Norwood have formed a group, Friends of Willowdale, and have been buying up properties surrounding Willowdale Cemetery. The purpose is to guarantee there will be enough land available to expand the cemetery, which the city is considering.
The purchase of surrounding properties provides the city with nearly 10 extra acres of land to use for expansion, Weil said. There is only one property in the immediate vicinity of the cemetery that has not been purchased through the partnership between Friends of Willowdale and the city.
"I would like to have a study conducted for the best use of the land, with the cost funded by Friends of Willowdale and with the city participating in that study," Weil said.
He added that the cemetery is an important part of Wayne County history.
"I don't know if you have ever been on one of the walking tours of Willowdale," Weil said. "People prepare and do research on various burials in the cemetery, and then give tours. It was on one of these walks that Charles Norwood expressed his vision for Willowdale to me, and Friends of Willowdale was formed based on that vision."
Weil then moved on to present his next idea for the community -- a KaBOOM Playground. KaBOOM is a non-profit organization formed 20 years ago. It has built 16,000 parks and playgrounds across the United States.
One of these parks was built in Fayetteville in May 2014 in just a little over six hours.
"These parks are planned by the community, and then volunteers -- with the guidance of KaBOOM representatives -- build the park themselves," Weil said.
And now that will be a possibility for Goldsboro as well. Gary Bartlett, former State Board of Elections director and currently a private consultant, has tapped into contacts with Blue Cross and Blue Shield to secure funding from the health care company for the park.
Bartlett said he was able to ensure that Blue Cross and Blue Shield will underwrite 50 percent of the cost of building a KaBOOM park in Goldsboro, should the city council decide to move forward with the project. A possible site for the park was not discussed.
In other business, Public Works Director Jose Martinez told the council how many residents would be affected by the city's switch to automated garbage trucks. Council members had asked the question during a recent retreat.
Martinez said the high estimate is 851 of 13,873 total accounts, and the low estimate would be 513 accounts.
Martinez said the department has itemized the accounts that will be affected by the change, and will be sending out notifications to the families within a few weeks.
During the public comments portion of the meeting, Bobby and Della Mathis of 104 Powers Court spoke to the council for the third time about an issue they are having with flooding and erosion in their front lawn. Each time it rains, Mathis said, his yard floods. He said the installation of curb and gutter is needed to correct the problem. City officials say digging a drainage ditch on his property would correct the problem. The homeowners do not want a ditch.
Council member Charles Williams told Mathis that he experienced similar problems at his home on Slocumb Street.
"Each time it rains, my yard floods, too," Williams said. "As citizens and taxpayers, sometimes we have to do things ourselves."
The exchange grew heated after Mathis commented that he was "tired of asking for service" from the city, and that the council had two weeks to act on the matter or else.
At that comment, Mayor Al King shot back.
"You will not be getting any of these city employees fired," King said, referencing earlier exchanges between Mathis and City Manager Scott Stevens. "If you want me fired, then go ahead and get me fired."
After that, the Mathises left the council chambers. Before moving on, council members said they would reach back out to the Mathises to offer the installation of drainage piping in their yard as a compromise between digging a ditch and installing curb and gutter.
During the scheduled public hearing regarding the financing of the construction of the new W.A. Foster Center and renovations to Goldsboro County Club, no one spoke.
No action on the matter was required.
Finance Director Kaye Scott will return to the council at their next meeting with a recommendation on the matter.