Pasta, Peak Way & The Local Spot

👋 Good morning, Apex! Today is Thursday, May 15, 2025 and this is the 19th weekly issue of The Peak Weekly.

Here is what’s inside today:

📝 Intro: Quick thoughts from yours truly

📂 Miscellaneous: Some town-related notes that didn’t fit anywhere else

🗓️ Things to Do This Week: Events and activities this coming week in and around Apex

🏢 Local Business: The latest in local small business news

🏛️ Civil News: The latest from our local government

🐶 Animal(s) of the Week: Featured animals looking for a good home

👀 A Look Ahead: A quick peak at things to know beyond this week

Intro:

Two things that I mentioned last week turned out to be incorrect.

👩‍🌾  I mentioned that the new Midweek Market at Sweetwater was having it’s very first market on Thursday. But several Sweetwater residents let me know that it actually didn’t happen. The Facebook event was still active and as of today, I still haven’t seen anything posted on the web to indicate that it has been postponed. For now I will just assume that it fell through until I hear otherwise.

🍨 I mentioned that Mama Bird’s Ice Cream was now open. This was based on a social media post that I saw. That post was removed and, thanks again to some kind Sweetwater residents, I was informed that it is not open. Word on the street is that all openings there are delayed for one reason or another.

My apologies to anyone that attempted to visit either of these only to be disappointed.

The good news is… there is something brewing here at The Peak Weekly.

Ya know, this newsletter is pretty one-sided. It’s just my voice being broadcast out to all of you. Nothing about that from the weekly newsletter perspective will change, but in the near future, we will be releasing a new community platform that allows all of you to contribute more (if you want to) to the information sharing (including any potential updates/corrections).

More info coming next week. But for now, here’s a teaser:

Miscellaneous:

👮 Peace Officers Memorial Day
During Tuesday’s Town Council Meeting, a proclamation was made designating the week of May 11-17th as National Police Week and today, May 15th, as Peace Officers Memorial Day.

🎉 Happy Economic Development Week
Shoutout to the Apex Economic Development team for all of their hard work. Check out their new Apex tourism website: exploreapexnc.com 

🤖 Downtown Social District
The Downtown Apex Social District, “The Local Spot”, officially launches on Saturday, June 7. More info will be added to this page soon.

🔥 Apex Firefighters Are Hot
A few days ago, AFD responded to a vehicle fire. Even though it was night time, I am sure they were hot. They posted a video of it here. And then yesterday posted a video of their swift water rescue training. It’s actually pretty… cool.

📊 Wake County Housing Data Platform
Wake County’s new interactive housing dashboard is incredible. It’s a super user-friendly website that allows you to visualize all sorts of data for the county as a whole, or you can narrow in specifically on Apex. See the details on population growth, affordability challenges, housing supply & demand. Check it out.

Things to Do This Week in Apex:

Today, May 15

🌌 AHS Jazz Bands and Percussion Ensemble Concert
7pm - 9pm | AHS Auditorium

Friday, May 16

🌌 Friday Night Lights and Vendor Market
5pm - 9pm | Neighbor Boy Farm & Country Store

Saturday, May 17

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

💪 MARCH 1000
10am - 1pm | Downtown Apex

🐢 Parent & Me Painting Class
11am - 12:30pm | Wine & Design

🍻 Brews & Blues Festival
12pm (Band at 8pm) | Oaklyn Springs Brewery

🎸 Spring Music Festival
12pm - 9pm | Southern Peak Brewery

🪴 Plant/Seed Swap
2pm - 2:45pm | The Peak Church

🍖 Barbeque Dinner Fundraiser
Knights of Columbus
5pm - 7:30pm | St. Mary Magdalene Catholic Church

🤣 Laugh Theory: Stand Up Comedy
7pm | Bottle Theory

Saturday (17th) & Sunday (18th)

🧓 Senior Showcase
3pm | Halle Cultural Arts

Tuesday, May 20

🍽️ Patrice Dining Experience
5pm - 8:30pm | Southern Peak Brewery

🧔‍♂️ Apex Man Night
7pm - 9pm | Hope Community Church

❓️ Trivia Night
7pm - 8pm | Abbey Road Tavern

Wednesday, May 21

💙 Wednesday Morning Movie: Lilo & Stitch
10am | Halle Cultural Arts

🥪 Learning Lunch Series
Asian American and Pacific Islander Month 
12pm - 1pm | John Brown Community Center

Some Things to Do Nearby:

Adult Nights: Game On!
Friday, May 16, 6:30pm | NC Museum of Natural Sciences

2025 Got to Be NC Festival
📍 NC State Fairgrounds
Friday, May 16: Noon - 10pm
Saturday, May 17: 10am - 10pm
Sunday, May 18: 10am - 8pm

Local Business

Coming Soon

🍝 Serafina Ristorante
The Peak on Salem has closed and a new restaurant will be opening soon in its place. Serafina Ristorante will be serving, “upscale casual Italian cuisine”.

🦞 Cape Fear Seafood Company
Located at 1885 Lake Pine Dr, technically in Cary (barely), Cape Fear Seafood Company will be having their soft opening today thru Saturday with their official opening on Sunday.

Now Open

💵 Dollar Tree
Double check me on this, but I’m pretty sure the new Dollar Tree at Villages of Apex is now open. 📍 611 Chessie Station.

🏆️ Maggy Award Winners

I don’t know much about this but I stumbled across an Instagram post that lead me over to Cary Magazine who apparently awards ‘best of’ businesses in various categories based on votes from the community.

Here are the Apex businesses who made the list:

Best New Business: 
→ Alleyway Bookstore

Best Bottle Shop: 
→ Bottle Theory

Best Neighborhood Bar: 
→ Bottle Theory

Best Pet Services: 
→ Town and Country Vet Hospital

Best Public School: 
→ Apex Friendship High School

Best Appetizers: 
→ Ruckus Pizza, Pasta & Spirits

Most Kid-Friendly Restaurant: 
→ Ruckus Pizza, Pasta & Spirits

Best Burgers: 
→ Abbey Road Tavern & Grill

🔦 Spotlight:

A little while back, I did mention Neighbor Boy Farms in the newsletter. But it was mostly in passing as I was announcing that The Rusty Bucket had returned to Apex with her store on the farm’s property.

Last Saturday, my wife and I stopped by Neighbor Boy Farms and owner, Dave, spent some time with us showing us around and telling us a bit about his story and the history of the farm / country store.

Tomorrow night from 5-9pm, they are hosting a Friday Night Lights event. Bring the kids, pack a picnic, and come enjoy ice cream, snacks, a vendor fair, live music and more.

The whole farm sits on just about an acre of land, but I swear it feels like you have stepped into a whole other world when you are there. It’s just peaceful there and a really enjoyable experience.

Civil News:

✉️ Utility Billing Update (mailing of paper bills)
The company responsible for printing and mailing utility bills closed on Friday after being purchased by another company. The Town is looking for a new vendor. Paper bill delivery times are currently unknown. You can access your utility bill online through the e-portal.

💡 Utility Billing Update (3rd-Party Review)
Representatives from the third-party review company, BerryDunn, presented their findings, which were:

• In totality, customers did not overpay. In fact, the Town under-collected overall (Cycle 1 under-billings of $255k, Cycle 2 under-billings of $45k).

• Out of 100 accounts reviewed in detail, only one was due an actual credit ($19.50)

Options presented for moving forward were:

• Option A: Proceed with a full account-by-account review (labor-intensive)

• Option B: Recognize that the Town under billed and just move on

• Option C: Create an opt-in campaign for residents who want their accounts reviewed

• Option D: Isolate and review accounts more likely to have errors

The Council voted 4-1 (Mahaffey dissenting) to proceed with Option C. 

Statement from Mayor Gilbert:

Yesterday afternoon, the Mayor released a statement through the Our Mayor app and through his social media. My interpretation is that he is essentially stating his dissatisfaction with the recommendation, and the review process as a whole. The review only looked at 100 utility accounts out of 26,000 total and only looked at them over a limited 3-month period. The Mayor is questioning how accurate of a story this very small sample size can actually tell. I think I would have to agree. These findings seem a day late (actually about 3 months late) and a dollar short (actually probably a lot of dollars). The saga continues…

💰️ Budget Update
Last Thursday, the Town Council held a budget work session where quite a bit of spending was cut. And a few things were added. I’m not smart enough to explain it, but Terry does a great job of it here. There is a public hearing on this Tuesday, May 27 (presumably the last chance to provide input before it is finalized).

🗓️ Important Upcoming Dates

Thursday, May 15
Environmental Advisory Board Meeting
6pm | Town Hall

Monday, May 19
Mayor’s Substance Misuse Task Force Meeting
5:30pm - 7pm | Town Hall

Wednesday, May 21
Economic Development Committee Meeting
4pm - 5:30pm | Town Hall

Tuesday, May 27
Budget Public Hearing
Time TBD | Town Hall

Animal(s) of the Week:

Wake County Animal Center

View all pets for adoption here.

A Look Ahead:

May 22, 2025
Tingen Rd Bicycle/Pedestrian Bridge Design Charrette
4pm - 6pm | Apex Senior Center

May 22, 2025
CommUniversity: Crafting Messages That Matter
6pm - 8pm | Town Hall

May 24, 2025
Opening Day for Splashlantis
10am-6pm | Pleasant Park

May 26, 2025
Memorial Day Ceremony
9:30am | Downtown Apex

May 31, 2025
Community Garden Open House
10am - 12:30pm | Simple Gifts Community Garden

May 31, 2025
Infinity Ballet (Apex Dance Studio) Spring Performance
3pm | Cary Arts Center

June 3, 2025
Raise Hope, Foster Dreams
6:30pm - 7:30pm | Apex Baptist Church

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 have any ideas of how to make this 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... 😘