The Town of Holly Springs is flourishing and now has new leaders at the helm of two departments that greatly impact quality of life for residents. Chris Hills is the new Development Services Director and his job is to help plan for and manage all the fast-paced development going on in Holly Springs. Paige Scott was recruited to lead the Public Works Department, which oversees all maintenance activities for streets, sidewalks, public facilities, and fleet, as well as garbage, recycling and yard waste services, for the town.
Hills comes from Knightdale where he was Development Services Director for the last 14 years but says he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to work for Holly Springs which is known throughout Wake County as “the place to be.”
“I had been aware of the amazing projects going on in Holly Springs and jumped at the chance to join the team,” said Hills. “The alignment between elected officials and staff to set goals and put forth action plans to meet those goals is exciting. Leading a team of 40 talented professionals in inspections, engineering and planning who are committed to building a safe and highly attractive community for both current and future residents was too good of an opportunity to pass up.”
Scott comes to the Town of Holly Springs from California, where she was the Assistant Director of General Services for the Port of San Diego. She moved across the country for the exciting career opportunity to become the Director of Public Works which came with the added bonus of being located in a safe, kid-friendly community where she and her husband could raise their two small children. To be able to watch her children play outside their new home with new friends in a clean and well-kept community brings her much joy. She believes having an efficient and dependable Public Works Department is crucial to that quality of life.
“Public Works crew members are the backbone of the community,” said Scott. “Residents may not realize it, but these men and women touch every single piece of Holly Springs and are some of the hardest workers around. Whether they are repairing sidewalks, picking up yard waste or putting up holiday decorations, they are proud of what they do to make your life better.”
Scott is looking forward to deploying new technology to maximize resources for the town to improve consistency in response time. She also wants to orchestrate a proactive approach to town maintenance so they can anticipate issues before they become major problems. As the town grows, so do the miles of streets and sidewalks and aging infrastructure, and Public Works is often the first to identify growing needs.
Hills is busy working on some major projects that will guide the future of development in Holly Springs, including a new Comprehensive Transportation Plan to identify traffic hot spots throughout town and plan for future growth, an updated UDO which maps out development rules and regulations for developers, a new Village District Plan to make key decisions about Downtown Holly Springs, a housing affordability study, and more.
“One big project coming in 2022 that residents should be closely watching is the Northeast Gateway Master Plan,” said Hills. “The new NC 540 Turnpike extension could significantly affect how people commute and our interchange will create a new ‘front-door’ to Holly Springs. We want to make sure that land uses in the area near Holly Springs Road and Sunset Lake Road are well planned, walkable, and create a significant sense of place in our community. As our elected officials make important decisions about this part of town, we hope to hear from residents. We plan on having many opportunities for public comment with all our projects, so please don’t hesitate to let us know what you think.”
More information about these projects can be found at: www.hollyspringsnc.gov/LongRangePlanning
Hills and Scott are excited to collaborate with the community to keep Holly Springs a great place to live, work and play.
