Published: Oct 19, 2006 10:41 AM
Modified: Oct 19, 2006 10:41 AM

Apex mayor praises emergency workers for response to chemical fire

Adam Arnold, Staff Writer

The recent explosions and fire at Environmental Quality Co. in Apex are still at the top of the talking points for Mayor Keith Weatherly.

Weatherly shared his “State of the Town” address Wednesday morning with a crowd of about 40 at the “Wake Up Apex Breakfast” sponsored by the Apex Chamber of Commerce.

“We are not going to let this rest until we get every reasonable issue resolved,” Weatherly said.

Weatherly praised the town’s emergency personnel working under Fire Chief Mark Haraway.

Both the police department and its communications center had to evacuate during the disaster, which also necessitated clearing several thousand residents. Nevertheless, the department did not miss a single 911 call during that time, Weatherly said.

“I hope the silver lining in this is that our people have confidence that we have top-quality people working for them in Apex,” Weatherly said.

The town had already started updating its emergency preparedness systems before the fire on Oct. 5. A recent test of the CodeRED emergency notification system was able to dial every number in its database in 12 minutes and recall them in another eight minutes, Weatherly said.

Apex residents can get information on updating numbers for the system to call in case of emergency by going to www.apexnc.org/around_apex/codered.cfm#RDUP or calling 362-4001. The mayor also addressed several other topics.

Weatherly said the Western Wake Waste Water Treatment Plant is still on schedule to open by 2011.

The project’s location in rural New Hill southwest of Apex has angered many residents in that area.

“I’m satisfied we made the right decision” on the site, Weatherly said. “I make no apologies. I represent the people of Apex.”

Weatherly said he is still in “information-gathering mode” regarding the possibility of having the Western Wake Expressway be a toll road.

“There is just no way of knowing if we would have funding for that using traditional sources,” Weatherly said.

He said a decision on a funding mechanism for the expressway, which would be the western portion of Interstate 540, is still a year away.

Contact Adam Arnold at 460-2609 or aarnold@nando.com.