Approved without debate on April 21, 2026: the Wake Forest fire station loan for $18 million at 3.35% interest sailed through the Board of Commissioners. A $725,000 charter school lawsuit settlement followed — the whole meeting wrapped in under 40 minutes.
The Wake Forest Board of Commissioners held its April 21 regular meeting. Commissioners approved an $18 million Wake Forest fire station loan at 3.35% and a $725,000 charter school settlement. In total, they processed roughly $18.7 million in new obligations without a single member calling for debate.
Commissioner R. Keith Shackleford was absent on approved leave, leaving four voting members on the dais.
White Street, Downtown Wake Forest, NC. Photo: Rysnap1024, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Wake Forest Fire Station Loan: $18 Million at 3.35%, Final Payment April 2038
The night’s spotlight item — Item 8.A — authorized the installment purchase financing agreement with Pinnacle Bank for Fire Station 6. It drew no board questions, one brief update from staff, and a quick unanimous vote.
Advertisement
Assistant Town Manager and CFO Aileen Staples told commissioners she was simply there to answer questions. “Was very pleased with the interest rates that we received,” she said. Five lenders had submitted proposals when the town went to market in late March, with rates ranging from 3.28% to 4.45%.
Per the resolution adopted Tuesday night, the financing agreement authorizes the town to borrow up to $18,000,000 from Pinnacle Bank. The interest rate is 3.35% per annum, with the final installment payment due no later than April 1, 2038 — a 12-year structure.
LGC Approval and Loan Terms
That term is shorter than planned. Staff had originally modeled a 15-year financing window, but Staples said the competitive rate environment made the 12-year structure fit within the town’s existing debt service capacity. Meanwhile, the formal application is before the NC Local Government Commission, which considers it at its May 5 meeting. Assuming LGC approval, the loan closes around May 20 and the town receives the installment proceeds.
The resolution authorizes the Mayor, Town Manager, and CFO each to execute the agreement and an accompanying deed of trust, which grants Pinnacle Bank a lien on the project site. Notably, the agreement bars any deficiency judgment against the town, and Wake Forest retains its taxing power unencumbered as collateral.
Wake Forest Matters has been tracking this financing process since before the March 17 public hearing. Fire Station 6 will be a 22,000-square-foot facility with a full regional training campus — burn building, high-rise simulation tower, vehicle extrication zones. It is designed to meet NFPA response-time standards in the town’s fastest-growing corridor near Averette Road.
No member of the public spoke on the item.
Wake Forest Town Hall, where the Board of Commissioners meets.
Schooldev Settlement: $725,000 Passes on Consent, Unexamined
The other major financial commitment — Item 5.D, settling all remaining claims in Schooldev East, LLC v. Town of Wake Forest — didn’t get its own vote. It passed on the consent agenda with a single motion covering five items simultaneously. No commissioner moved to pull it from the bundle.
Of the $725,000 settlement payment, $332,370.13 goes to the developer’s attorney fees and costs. The remaining $392,629.87 covers damages, interest, and a full release of all current and future claims.
Indeed, the resolution’s own language puts it plainly: the town “acknowledges the North Carolina Supreme Court’s decision that the Town was erroneous in denying the permit applications.”
Six-Year Litigation History
As detailed in our preview coverage, this settlement closes more than six years of litigation. Schooldev East had applied in November 2019 for permits to build Wake Preparatory Academy, a K-12 charter school, on a 35-acre parcel. The Board unanimously denied the applications in October 2020, citing a UDO provision on pedestrian and bicycle connectivity. Subsequently, Wake Forest won at Superior Court in 2021 and again at the Court of Appeals in 2022. However, in December 2024, the NC Supreme Court reversed in a 5-2 opinion. The court found the UDO provision ambiguous, holding that courts must construe ambiguous land-use language in favor of the free use of property. A fee hearing and April 6, 2026 mediation ultimately produced the $725,000 figure.
One number remains unaccounted for: Wake Forest’s total outside counsel costs. The litigation spanned six years, three court levels, a fee hearing, and a mediation. Of the $725,000 settlement, $332,370 goes to the other side’s lawyers. Yet Wake Forest’s own legal costs appear nowhere in the packet.
Commissioner Adam Wright — the only current board member who served on the 2020 board and voted for the original denial — voted yes on the consent agenda without comment.
The Rest of the Consent Agenda
Four other items rode through the same bloc vote:
5.A — Annexation petition, 1313 N. White Street. Commissioners approved scheduling a public hearing and certifying the sufficiency of a contiguous annexation petition submitted by Ritchie Family Properties. Located at Wake County PIN 1851089042, the parcel is approximately 7.76 acres on North White Street.
5.B — July 4th parade road closure. The board approved a resolution supporting NCDOT’s closure of North Main Street for the 2026 July 4th Children’s Parade.
5.C — Citizen Advisory Board appointment. Approved without discussion.
5.E — Opioid settlement, six remnant defendants. The board voted to join a national settlement against six regional pharmaceutical distributors and dispensers. Named defendants include Associated Pharmacies, J M Smith Corporation, Louisiana Wholesale Drug Company, and Morris and Dickson Co. Also included: North Carolina Mutual Wholesale Drug Company and United Natural Foods (including subsidiaries SuperValu and Advantage Logistics). In total, the six defendants will pay $720 million nationally. Specifically, Wake Forest qualifies for a share based on an allocation formula in the settlement agreement. The town must direct any funds toward opioid abatement. Additionally, it must hold those funds separately from previous opioid settlement proceeds, as this agreement falls outside the NC Memorandum of Agreement framework.
The One Moment That Wasn’t Routine
Before the votes, one resident stepped to the podium during public comment with a challenge that stood out in an otherwise procedural evening.
Abby Black, of 520 South Main Street, told the board she had attended the town’s sustainability plan open houses and photographed the public feedback boards. She then filed a public records request for all survey and engagement data collected by the town’s consultant, Blue Strike Environmental.
What she received back didn’t match what the consultant reported to the board.
Black said the consultant’s final assessment — presented to the board last month — ranked extreme heat as the public’s top hazard concern. However, the raw FOIA data told a different story. She tallied engagement board responses from the December 5, 2025 open house at the Center for Active Aging. The result: 41 comments about ecosystem and habitat loss, versus one comment about extreme heat. The online survey responses showed the same pattern. Indeed, her tally of approximately 200 FOIA-produced comments also placed ecosystem and habitat loss first.
“The raw public feedback data does not match the consultant’s final assessment,” Black told the board. “Therefore, I request the town of Wake Forest review the consultants’ data and share with residents how the consultants arrived at their conclusion. The citizens of Wake Forest deserve clarification on this matter.”
Advertisement
Mayor Clapsaddle thanked her and the board moved on.
Staff designed the sustainability plan to guide the town’s environmental efforts for the next decade. However, Black’s request — that the town review the consultant’s methodology and explain how it weighted public feedback — now sits with staff. So far, staff has not scheduled any follow-up before the board adopts the plan.
Proclamations
Before getting to business, the board issued five proclamations, each read by a different member:
Building Safety Month (May 2026) — read by Commissioner Sliwinski; recognized Assistant Inspections Director Marvin Weather
Professional Municipal Clerks Week (May 3–9) — read by Mayor Clapsaddle; recognized Town Clerk Evelyn Wright and Deputy Town Clerk Ella Dowtin
Earth Day (April 22, 2026) — read by Commissioner Wright; noted Wake Forest’s 561 acres of parks, open space, natural land, and trails
National Bike Month (May 2026) — read by Commissioner Fatmi; cited the town’s 14-plus miles of greenway trails and the Bicycle Safety Rodeo at Meet in the Street on May 2
Arbor Day (April 24, 2026) — read by Commissioner Cross; marked Wake Forest’s 47 consecutive years as a Tree City USA recognized by the National Arbor Day Foundation
Commissioner Reports
Commissioner Sliwinski
Sliwinski reported on the Trentini Scholarship Dinner — congratulating recipient Anna Ford — and a dinner with scholarship recipient Caden Seaford and his family. Additionally, he noted the Northeast Community Coalition is beginning Juneteenth preparations and is looking for vendors. He plugged the Building Safety Month event at Town and Country Hardware on Saturday, April 25 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Meet in the Street on May 2.
Commissioner Wright
Wright reported a packed two weeks. Early highlights: the STEM event (April 11), a Holi celebration (April 12), and the State and Town Dinner with the NC League of Municipalities (April 15). He also attended the community fish fry (April 17) and Police Captain Perkinson’s retirement celebration. He also attended Forest Fest and the adjacent petting zoo, where he met a llama at close range. The dedication of a new building at Christ Our Hope Church and the annual NC Holocaust commemoration at Beth Meyer Synagogue rounded out his schedule.
At that event, Wright said his friend Michael Abramson received the Order of the Longleaf Pine from Governor Josh Stein. Abramson has served on the NC Holocaust Council for more than 30 years. His mother, Gizella, was a Holocaust survivor; the 2021 state law requiring Holocaust education in all NC public middle and high schools carries her name. Stein cited Abramson’s decades of work connecting survivors with students and his role in passing the Holocaust education act. Wright described the honor as a complete surprise to the recipient.
Commissioner Cross
Cross highlighted the April 10 Friday Night on White and upcoming Popsicle House judging duties at the Building Safety Month event. She also flagged the AARP Age-Friendly Committee’s development of a prioritization matrix expected before the board in June, and Coffee with Commissioner on Thursday, May 21. Cross promoted Six Sundays in Spring, launching this Sunday from 5:30–7:30 p.m. at Joiner Park, and the National Day of Prayer gathering at Town Hall on Thursday, May 7 at noon.
Town Manager Kip Padgett
Town Manager Kip Padgett had no items.
Mayor Clapsaddle
Mayor Clapsaddle praised the town’s Channel 17 partnership, highlighted their coverage of the 66th Veterans Flag Raising, and announced the 67th Flag Raising on May 4. He also noted Six Sundays in Spring opens this Sunday with a Beatles tribute band. The next Friday Night on White features the Sleeping Booty band — a name he admitted required writing down.
What Didn’t Come Up
The April 21 preview flagged the hospital fight as hanging over Town Hall following a closed session on March 17. Still, nothing about WakeMed’s proposed facility appeared on the April 21 public agenda, and no commissioner raised it during reports. Whatever commissioners discussed in closed session has not surfaced publicly.
The Bottom Line
Two votes, $18.7 million in new obligations, zero floor debate — meeting adjourned in under 40 minutes. The Wake Forest fire station loan ($18 million) and charter school settlement ($725K) both passed without comment. Abby Black’s sustainability data challenge was the only moment of friction in an otherwise procedural night. Ultimately, where her request goes from here is up to staff.
Looking ahead, the next scheduled milestone for the Wake Forest fire station loan is the NC Local Government Commission’s May 5 vote on the Fire Station 6 application.
Wake Forest Matters covers Wake Forest and northern Wake County. To support this reporting, subscribe here.
Wake Forest Matters is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom covering Wake Forest, NC. We report on local government, schools, business, and community life — free to read and reader-supported. Fearless. Local. Loud.
