Mr. Council & the Town Council

Here is everything you need to know about what's going on in Apex, NC for the week of Thursday, August 13, 2026.

Author

Adam Whitaker
August 13, 2026 • Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes

Disclaimer: The Peak Weekly is an independent publication and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or otherwise associated with the Town of Apex. We have done our best to provide accurate and insightful information but can make mistakes so please always double-check the information yourself for accuracy.

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👋 Good Morning, Apex! Today is Thursday, August 13, 2026 and this is the 84th weekly issue of The Peak Weekly.

The Apex Town Council was back in session this week with a 5-hour meeting, a packed room and many resident speakers. So there’s a lot to talk about in that regard.

But before we get into Town Council, I want to take a moment to talk about Mr. Lynn Council - a true Apex hero. Sadly, this past week, the Apex community lost a true beacon of resilience with the passing of Mr. Council at the age of 93. While his passing brings sorrow, his life leaves behind an incredible blueprint for courage, truth-telling, and forgiveness.

Mr. Council's story is a harrowing but essential piece of our local history. In November 1952, when he was just 19 years old, he was falsely accused of robbing a community store. In a brutal attempt to coerce a confession, the former Apex Police Chief and Wake County Sheriff's deputies drove him out to a wooded area and hanged him from a tree. Miraculously, he survived the aborted lynching when he refused to yield to their demands and falsely confess.

For decades, this profound injustice went officially unaddressed. But 67 years later, Mr. Council bravely decided to share his experiences with students at Middle Creek High School, local historians, and the media. That single act of courageous truth-telling catalyzed a historic wave of reconciliation.

In 2019, both the Apex Police Department and the Wake County Sheriff's Office issued formal, public apologies to Mr. Council. The Wake County Sheriff presented him with a silver key to the Sheriff's Office, and both departments took action by removing the portraits and memorial bricks of the 1952 chief and sheriff from their respective walls of honor. Later that year, the town dedicated a permanent memorial bench to Mr. Council outside the Apex Police Department to ensure his story is never forgotten. You can watch a short story about Mr. Council on YouTube here.

I extend my deepest condolences to Mr. Council’s family and loved ones. And I encourage all residents to take a moment to visit his bench at the police station to reflect on his story and to honor his legacy.

Miscellaneous Info:

🧠 Family Trivia Night - Tonight
Gather your family and put your knowledge to the test with a variety of exciting trivia questions covering topics like pop culture, history, science, sports and more. Teams will compete in a friendly environment, at the Apex Senior Center this evening at 6pm, for prizes. $10 tickets are still available as of this morning.

🍄 Super Mario Galaxy
Grab the kids, snacks, blankets and visit the Halle on August 19 for this month’s free Wednesday Morning Movie. Doors open at 9:30am for The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.

🏘️ Neighborhood Leaders
The Neighborhood Leaders Program launches on August 20th and seeks community champions eager to build stronger neighborhoods. Program participants will receive the resources needed to serve as ambassadors to their community, keeping their neighbors updated on happenings around Apex, and representing their neighborhoods on key issues. 

🚧 Upcoming Closures and Renovations
The Apex Senior Center will be closed from August 18th to September 7th for floor renovations. The first floor of Town Hall is also undergoing renovations starting August 17th to relocate the HR department.

🏢 Altera Heights
Wood Partners, Atlanta, along with Marcus Partners, Boston, acquired 13.5 acres north of HW64 in Apex for $4.9M according to Wake County deed records. That’s $362,000 per acre, where construction has started on the 280-unit apartment project. Construction is expected to be complete by the end of 2027.

🧠 Mental Health Task Force Expansion
Showing a growing commitment to community wellness, the council approved an amendment to expand the official membership of the Peak Resilience and Wellbeing Task Force. The group is nearly doubling in size, growing from 18 to 30 members.

👮‍♂️ A Heartwarming Retirement
The council voted to officially declare a police badge and service weapon as surplus property so they could be awarded to retiring Apex Police Officer Alex Cossifos. As a token of appreciation for his service, the town set the purchase price for his badge and weapon at just $1.00. His retirement went into effect on August 1st.

💊 Drugs Uncovered: What Parents & Adults Needs to Know
The Mayor’s Substance Misuse Task Force is partnering with the Poe Center for Health Education to host a “Drugs Uncovered” education session for Apex parents and caregivers to protect the youth of our community. This drug education event will be hosted at the John Brown Community Center on Thursday, August 20th, 2026 beginning at 5:30pm. Learn about current trends in drug use, as well as the associated health risks and consequences which could befall an adolescent user. This event will also provide tools to help adults communicate with these vulnerable community members about the dangers of drug use.

Things to Do This Weekend in Apex:


Friday, August 14

🌵 Invasive Plant Removal Workday
5pm - 6:30pm | Kelly Road Park

🧭 Retracing the Lewis and Clark Expedition
7:30pm - 9pm | Bass Lake Park

🎸 Live Music: It’s Those Guys
8pm - 11pm | Peak of the Vine

Saturday, August 15

🧑‍🌾 Apex Farmers Market
8am - 12pm | The Depot

🏃‍♀️ Run Club Apex
Meet at 9am | Foxtail Coffee

🎨 SuperFun Saturday (ages 4-12)
10:30am - 12:30pm | The Halle

🎶 Rhythm & Reels: Emma Rae
7pm | Nature Park Amphitheatre

Local Business Updates

🎸 Mike Gangi Music
Mike Gangi is an NC-based acoustic guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. He will be performing this evening from 7pm-10pm at Salem Street Pub. Grab a good burger, cold drink and listen to some great music all in one place!

🐾 Pints & Puppies
Looking to add a furry friend to your family? Southern Peak Brewering is hosting their next adoption mini event with Peak Lab Rescue on Friday from 6:00-7:30pm. Follow this link to get pre-approved, or this one for the full details.

📘 Book Clubs (all on August 18)

📢 Now Hiring
Joyfully House is hiring a Retail & Customer Experience Associate. I bet you this job would be amazing. The owner is the coolest and I guarantee this would be a fun job. Info to apply here. Salem Street Pub is hiring too - looking for experienced Servers & Hosts. You could work here and then go visit Joyfully House across the street. Or work at Joyfully and go eat at SSP. Apply for both! It’s win/win 🙂 

📲 Three More Ways to Stay Connected
We all know The Peak Weekly is the ultimate way to stay informed 😉 

But if you’re still thirsty for more, here are some other ways to stay tuned-in to what’s happening around town:

Civic News:

📊 Town Manager Updates

Utility Billing & Disconnects: The town currently has roughly $4.3 million in past-due utility balances, plus an additional $1.2 million structured under 506 active payment plans. The town anticipates beginning utility disconnects in 4 to 6 weeks for roughly 191 customers who have hit the modified $1,000 past-due threshold. Late fees have also been reinstated.

Smart Meters: The town has replaced 26,500 electric meters, representing about 80% completion. The project remains on track to finish this fall.

Capital Projects: The Peakway Southwest Connector project is trending ahead of schedule with a possible fall opening.

💳️ P-Card Usage

The Town Manager's Report: Manager Randy Vosburg addressed recent discussions surrounding town P-Cards. He stated that 124 individuals have town P-Cards, which represents about 16% of the town's workforce. The town's total P-Card spend for fiscal year 2026 was $2.7 million. Vosburg also defended their use by explaining that the town receives a cash-back rebate percentage on P-Card purchases, unlike standard purchase orders.

Public Forum Pushback: A resident, who obtained records on the Town’s P-Card usage, pointed a few things out during public forum related to P-Card purchases. A couple of examples: Randy Vosburg’s single day purchase of over $3200 at Eggs Up Grill and Chic-fil-A. In fact, over $18k of Apex taxpayer money has been spent at Chic-fil-A alone over the past three fiscal years. Also, the Town Manager and Town Clerk swiped their P-Cards at the dry cleaner for a cool $1500. In all fairness, you can’t eat chicky nugs in a wrinkled suit. The Indy Weak will tell you about porta potties purchased for a Town event like it’s some big scandal (how much revenue do you think they made from all the ads in that article?) But will they tell you about other staff and their eBay charges, PayPal charges, etc? Probably not. “Town Clerk swipes P-Card at Yang’s Cleaners” doesn’t drive as many clicks. I will tell you all about it, though. For free and with zero ads. That’s next week.

🚒 The Future of Downtown Fire Station 1

The Plan: Town staff asked Council for funding on Tuesday to pay for an RFQ that they submitted many months ago to determine what to do with Fire Station 1.

Public Forum & Community Pushback: This sparked major public opposition from citizens and former volunteer firefighters. Speakers on Tuesday highlighted the station's deep historical roots dating back to 1939 and its cultural importance to downtown. A petition to save the active station has gathered over 1,300 signatures in just three weeks.

Council’s Vote: Despite the heavy public opposition, the council unanimously (5-0) approved a $170,000 budget amendment for a 9- to 10-month market analysis and feasibility study. This study will explore redeveloping the Fire Station 1 site into a civic or mixed-use space, up to and including a public-private partnership. They claim that public feedback will be a large part of this study, despite already receiving signifiant public feedback already… for free.

📸 Surveillance Tech (ALPRs & Drones)

Public Opposition: A significant portion of the public forum was dedicated to intense pushback against the use of ALPRs (Flock cameras), Axon technology, and police drones.

Public Forum Pushback: Residents cited severe data privacy concerns, the potential for tracking innocent citizens, and recent news stories of officers in nearby towns misusing the technology to stalk ex-spouses.

Next Steps: Flock cameras remain in use, however publish pushback was able to get Constent Item Number 4 pulled from the Agenda. This item was an agreement for a multi-year Axon contract covering the DroneSense program and interview room camera systems. Instead of being rubber-stamped with the rest of the consent agenda, the item was officially deferred to the Public Safety Council Committee for deeper review.

🏫 Wake Tech Western Wake Campus

Approval: The council unanimously approved zoning amendments for the new Wake Tech campus located within the Veridea development.

Design Changes: The amendments exempt the college from Veridea's strict urban-grid street and frontage requirements, allowing for a more traditional, sprawling college campus layout.

Public Forum Pushback: Because the town opted to allow a traditional, sprawling campus layout instead of an urban grid, the argument is that we missed the opportunity for walkability, it will lead to increased traffic, and there is a lack of equity in the approval process, noting that Council were willing to demand sidewalk easements from a small property owner earlier in the meeting, but were eager to bend the rules and grant a massive list of exemptions for a "big shiny" project like Wake Tech.

💰️ Downtown Business Relief

Construction Delays: The Town Manager noted that the Salem Streetscaping project has been delayed. Originally slated for an October completion, the finish line has been pushed to December or January.

Financial Support: Acknowledging the struggle downtown businesses are facing due to the ongoing construction, the council approved $25,000 in seed money. These funds will be used to host entertainment and events (such as movie nights or music) from September through January to draw residents downtown and drive foot traffic to local shops.

Upcoming Meetings:

Thursday, August 13
Town Council Work Session
3:30pm - 5pm | Town Hall

Monday, August 17
Culture and Arts Advisory Board
6pm | Town Hall

Tuesday, August 18
Board of Adjustment Meeting
6pm | Town Hall

Tuesday, August 18
Town Council Work Session
3:30pm - 5pm | Town Hall

A Look Ahead:

August 20
🎟️ Murder Mystery Dinner: Death by Disco | The Halle

August 21
The Great Southeast Pollinator Census | Apex Nature Park

August 21
🎟️ On the Steps Concert Series | The Halle

August 21
Wildlife Trivia Night | Black Dog Bottleshop (Holly)

August 22
Rhythm & Reels: Mario Galaxy | Nature Park Amphitheatre

August 27
Triangle Environmental Symposium | The Halle
Rooted in Justice - Growing Healthy Communities Panel Discussion featuring The Reverend Jemonde Taylor, Alexandra Valladares, Ryan Emanuel, and Sarah Brim

August 27
Back-to-School Community & Conversation | Wake Tech Cary Campus

August 28
🎟️ Neon Nights - Silent Disco | The Halle

August 29
Meadow Melody Makers | Kelly Road Park

August 29
Rhythm & Reels: Ol’ Joey Scrums | Nature Park Amphitheatre

September 3
Triangle Environmental Symposium | The Halle
From Wasteland to Wonder with Basil Camu

September 10
Paws & Rec Kick-Off Event | Apex Community Park

September 10
Triangle Environmental Symposium | The Halle
Forests from Around the World with Meg Lowman, Chumpi Washikiat, and Godi Gadar Moteke Molanga

September 11
Patriot Day Ceremony | Fire Station 1

September 12
Think Apex Day | Multiple Locations

September 12
Apex Underground Market | Sweetwater Town Center

September 12
55+ Health & Wellness Fair | Apex Senior Center

September 17
Triangle Environmental Symposium | The Halle
Gardening for the Planet Documentary Screening with Joanne Hershfield

September 24
Explore S’more | Apex Nature Park

September 26
Latino Arts Festival | Town Hall Campus

In Case You Missed it

✨ Peak Perks
You can pick up a free Peak Perks card at any participating business. You’ll earn a punch with every qualifying purchase and can then redeem your punch card for rewards. Details here.

📝 Apex Youth Council Applications
The Apex Youth Council is an independent organization run by local middle and high school students to enhance the local community through leadership and service. By becoming a member you will gain experience in planning and participating in Town and community events, as well as developing organizational, social and professional skills. Applications are now open.

📩 Connecting with Elected Officials
The Town has created new ways to connecting with your Apex elected officials. Use new tools like Council Connector, Meeting Request Form, and Event Attendance Form. Just be careful; these are the same types of forms that have exposed the data on the public web recently.

A Final Note:

Thank you for taking time out of your day today to read this week’s edition of The Peak Weekly. If you love it, please forward it to a friend. If you don’t love it, please unsubscribe.

And, as always, if you have any ideas of how to make this newsletter better, want to nominate a local business or organization to be featured, or anything else, please respond to this email or email me directly at [email protected]

See you next Thursday... 😘 

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