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Resolution, paving bid approved for Market Center Drive

By Jim Buice
For the Clemmons Courier

Finally, the Market Center Drive Phase II A & B project in Clemmons is moving ahead after the Clemmons Village Council approved a resolution and paving bid amount in Monday night’s meeting.

The road project that runs parallel to Lewisville-Clemmons Road has been done in phases, and this section, which extends to Cook Avenue, has been stuck in neutral for some time.

“We finally got this thing bid,” Public Works Director Mike Gunnell said. “The first time we didn’t have enough bidders to have a valid bid. So we rebid it and just had one bidder again, and that was Yadkin Valley Paving, Inc. This thing is unique in nature as far as the project because probably 80% of the work is going to have to be done after hours. So that kind of limits us to a contractor who’s got an asphalt plant.”

The approved bid amount was $729,336, which includes a 10% contingency. Gunnell said that the project is being funded by Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program dollars. He added that the engineer’s estimate was $769,397.

“I felt like we still got a good competitive bid,” Gunnell said. “With the 10% contingency, it still puts us underneath our original estimate.  We need to get started on this as soon as possible.“

Phase I of the Market Center Drive project extended from Ramada Drive past the front of Village Square, and Phase II links Stadium Drive to Cook Avenue.

“My car thanks you,” councilwoman Mary Cameron said after the vote approving awarding the construction contract. “There’s so many potholes. It’s a mess. This has been needed for a long time.”

In another item on the agenda, Shannon Ford, marketing/communications director for the village, reported that the new Clemmons Quaran-Clean program has been “such a huge success that we are actually ending it early.

“We are ending it on May 2 because everything has been cleaned up in Clemmons. We’ve had over 200 bags of trash collected with over 250 volunteers so far. Emily Harrison (stormwater technician) has a few groups scheduled for this weekend to get the remaining parts.

“Once that is over, we will really start marketing and explain our Adopt-A-Street program, which we hope will also continue to keep everything cleaned up on a more routine basis.”

The program, which provides individuals or groups the opportunity to volunteer to help pick up trash along the roadways, was started this spring after the mayor and council brought awareness to the growing problem of littering and what could be done to address it.

In other highlights from Monday night’s meeting, the council:

• Approved a motion to provide in-kind assistance for an upcoming Clemmons Rotary Club drive-by luncheon to honor heroes who are working in the community. The First Responder Appreciation Lunch will be held on Tuesday, May 18, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the parking lot of Agape Faith Church on Lewisville-Clemmons Road. In addition to lunch, first responder attendees will receive a goodie bag as another form of appreciation.

• Heard from Shannon Ford in her marketing and communications report that she expects about 30 vendors for opening day of the Farmers Market on Saturday morning, May 8, at

the Jerry Long Family YMCA.

• Also heard from Ford that “Coffee with a Cop” will return on Wednesday, May 5, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. outdoors at Be Kind Coffee Co, which is located at 3560 Clemmons Road.

• Heard from Village Manager Scott Buffkin about the consideration of property disposition on Harper Road for a tract that has been “in our possession for a number of years now, and it doesn’t appear we have any uses for it in the foreseeable future.” It was decided to have further discussion at the upcoming budget working on Monday, May 10, at 3 p.m.

• Received a report from Keith Green, the village’s representative on the Triad Municipal ABC Board, that Clemmons has done “pretty well” in the current year, ranking fourth out of 16 stores.

• Listened to a Waste Management recycling report from Mike Holbrook and Marilyn Wells, the senior account manager, who said “there is a high participation rate from the residents, and what that tells me is that the Village of Clemmons residents care.”

• Heard from Kenny French, who lives at 7510 Lasater Road, in the public comments portion of the meeting, saying he wanted to reconnect with the council regarding flooding issues in the past — including last Aug. 6 when there was significant damage from a torrential downpour — with summer and more potential storms ahead. He mentioned a map showing 258 acres of drainage area “coming into that one 48-inch pipe” on his property. He added there has been more building on Peace Haven Road, which will only increase the water flow, but that he’s doing everything he can on his end with preventative maintenance.

• Received a quarterly report from Wes Kimbrell, stormwater engineer with updates and details on various projects. “This is something that we promised in the elimination of the Stormwater Advisory Board,” Kimbrell said.

• Heard from planner Nasser Rahimzadeh, who said that last week’s Planning Board meeting consisted of spending “a half an hour talking about over 150 pages of text amendments.”