June 17 - 23, 2016
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Budget approved, deputy dismissed With a 4-1 vote, on June 9 the town council approved the FY 2016-2017 budget, which does not include funding for a sheriffâs deputy by PATTI STOKES Photo by Patti Stokes/NWO
Speaking as Stokesdale Elementaryâs Student Council president, William Gibson was one of eight speakers who addressed the Stokesdale Town Council at its June 9 meeting and asked that the Town continue to fund a sheriffâs deputy.
STOKESDALE â As of July 1, the Town of Stokesdale will no longer fund a full-time deputy. Stokesdale initially contracted for a dedicated deputy through the Guilford County Sheriffâs Office in 1993, four years after it
incorporated. In those days, before Sheriff BJ Barnes was elected (in 1994) and instituted a county-wide district system, response times in the rural parts of the county were typically much slower and the crime rate was higher. Stokesdale was additionally challenged by the existence of some local bars which were frequented by a âroughâ crowd. After a fight at one of the bars resulted in a man being killed, then-Mayor Randle Jones, who had worked for the sheriffâs department before he began practicing law, advocated for the Town
Town rejects CrossFitâs settlement offer One of the things I brought up when I ran for Town Council was this conflict (between the Town and CrossFit). I mentioned I had done a lot of projects in historic districts, and if I could get them done, itâs not a big deal. If they (CrossFit) had done that ... but they dragged it out and dragged it out.â Doug Nodine Oak Ridge Town Council member
Offering to pay only 10 percent of penalties is âan insult,â council says by PATTI STOKES The battle between the Town of Oak Ridge and CMT Commons, owner of CrossFit Oak Ridge, began almost four years ago â and it isnât over yet. CMTâs offer to pay 10 percent of $29,750 in civil penalties which the Town assessed on the fitness facility for two separate violations was rejected at the Oak Ridge Town Councilâs June 2 meeting. Much has been documented about the ongoing battle between the two entities, which dates back to September 2012, when the Townâs Historic Pres-
ervation Commission issued CrossFit a temporary Certificate of Occupancy; simultaneously, the facilityâs representatives were instructed to come back to the HPC the following month with suggestions for addressing several design elements that had been modified and remained unresolved. The commission issued its conditions for a Certificate of Appropriateness on Oct. 23, 2012, and CrossFit held its grand opening four days later. In the time since, CMT Commons and the Town have been in and out of court over unresolved issues, with countless dollars spent on staff time, attorney fees and court costs. On June 2, Jeff Oleynik, an attorney
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IN THIS ISSUE News in Brief ............................3 Your Questions ........................4 Stokesdale Town Council ......6 Graduate Profiles....................9 Top Academic Students ......10 Crime/Incident Report .........12 NWO Real Estate ..................13 Real Estate Transactions ......14 What our area has to offer...18 Real Estate Briefs...................20 Community Calendar ..........23 Letters/Opinions ...................24 Grins & Gripes .......................25 Classifieds .............................27 Index of Advertisers .............31