By Jim Buice

The Clemmons Courier

At last, there’s some good news regarding roads in Clemmons.

The long-awaited completion of Village Point Drive, which ultimately connects Harper Road all the way through to Town Center Drive and then up to Lewisville-Clemmons Road, appears to be less than a month away.

Village Manager Scott Buffkin provided an updated on the project during Monday night’s brief council meeting, which lasted less than 10 minutes.

“It’s probably about 30 days from being completed, perhaps a little earlier than that, but I don’t want to promise something I can’t deliver,” Buffkin said. While recent council meetings have been dominated with fixing Lewisville-Clemmons Road and dealing with the dangerous intersection at Sessions Court, finishing the last segment of the nearly one-mile Village Point Drive will provide a key piece of connectivity as the bustling area on the north side of I-40 continues to be developed.

The stretch of Village Point Drive from Harper Road going past Novant Health Clemmons Medical Center down to the roundabout behind Morgan Elementary School at Village Point Lake Drive has been intact for some time.

The soon-to-be connected segment feeds into Jessie Lane, which runs behind Mossy’s parallel to Lewisville-Clemmons Road and intersects with Clemmons Point Drive – going toward Dairi-O and Clemmons Town Center Apartments in one direction – and the new Publix going the other way.

The only issue with the new roadway has been the selection of a particular species of tree for the sides of roadways, according to the landscape contractor. It can only be transplanted during specific months of the year – late this fall or early winter.

Buffkin said that Duke Power started putting in street lights last week and that sidewalks were also starting to be poured.

The price for the project has certainly been right for the Village with Novant paying up to $1.9 million and NCDOT providing a grant for the other $1.9 million. “We’re administering it,” Buffkin said. “That’s basically our contribution. We feel like this has been a very smooth project, and we look forward to it being completed. We think it’s an exciting time for the Village.”

There were no business items on the agenda for Monday night’s meeting.

In the business conducted by the Planning Board last week, planner Megan Ledbetter reviewed the Comprehensive Plan update results at a public forum held at River Oaks Church on Sept. 14. Ledbetter said that about 45 individuals were in attendance and asked to answer 10 questions from the survey. She added that some 585 individual participated in the online survey (results can be found on the Village website)

In other business in Monday night’s meeting, the council:

• Approved unsealing the closed session minutes related to attorney-client privilege, property acquisition and personnel matters from July 13, 2015, to Sept. 11, 2017.

• Heard from Shannon Ford in her marketing report. She said that the Village will participate in the national Coffee with a Cop day next Wednesday with its usual local version, this time at Lowes Foods from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Ford added that the third annual Monster Mash and Goblin Hop will be held at the Village Point Greenway on Sunday, Oct. 22, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.