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Residents of Innwood Street are up in arms about a proposed state Department of Transportation and city parks and recreation department land swap.

DOT needs to take some of Oak Hollow Park's property to widen bridge abutments on Skeet Club Road. To do that, the department needs to swap land with the city.

Why? Oak Hollow Park was developed with federal Land and Water Conservation funds, and the property is federally protected.

But after most of the residents in the Innwood area said they didn't want the park in their neighborhood at a May parks and recreation commission meeting, the city started to look in other areas.

"When we saw opposition to it, we knew we had to find other land," said parks and recreation Director Allen Oliver .

But misunderstanding continues. Resident Joe Belha presented a petition with 300 signatures opposing the land swap in the Innwood area to the City Council July 7.

Oliver explained to the council that the city and state department are no longer looking in that area for the land.

The city has now found land off Plainview Drive near Eastchester Drive, Oliver said earlier this week .

The state and city will swap about three acres of property.

Councilman Mike Pugh also assured Belha that the city would not take property from residents.

In other business, the council:

• approved 5-1 a rezoning request by High Point University to rezone 1.6 acres from residential single family home to conditional use public and institutional. The parcels are at the northeast corner of Fifth Street and North Avenue, at the northeast and southeast corner of Fifth Street and Woodrow Avenue and on the south side of O.A. Kirkman Way, 400 feet east of the intersection with Montlieu Avenue.

Pugh voted against the rezoning.

• set 5:30 p.m. Aug. 4 as a public hearing to receive comments about High Point University's request for the city to abandon a portion of an improved 50-foot right-of-way known as Fifth Street between Montlieu Avenue and Woodrow Avenue, an improved 55 foot right-of-way known as O.A. Kirkman Way and an improved 40 foot right-of-way known as West College Drive between O.A. Kirkman Way and the southern boundary of 915 W. College Drive.

• approved an amendment to Cisco Properties' permit on Mill Avenue. The developer no longer plans to widen a portion of Mill Avenue.

• set 5:30 p.m. Sept. 2 as a public hearing to receive comments about closing an unimproved 50-foot right-of-way lying east of Manley Street and opposite of Clish Place and closing a portion of unimproved 70-foot right-of-way, known as Archdale Drive, that lies west of the intersection of Greenview Terrace and Archdale Drive.

• approved a $848,676 contract to Pierce Manufacturing for two pumper trucks for the fire department and a lease-purchase agreement for $900,000 at 3.58 percent interest with RBC Bank to buy the fire trucks

• approved a $752,521 contract to Alchem, Univar, Greer Chemical and Shannon Chemical for water and wastewater treatment plant chemicals; a $501,200 contract to Waste Industries for bulk container services; a $279,420 contract to Ashland Water Technologies for sludge thickening polymer for Eastside and Westside Wastewater Treatment plants and polymer for Ward Water Plant; and an additional $308,798 contract to Breece Enterprises to clean existing water lines and coat them with epoxy lining.

• acknowledged a letter from the Piedmont Triad Regional Water Authority for the Randleman Lake Distribution Facility and approved an exception to bid laws for the police department to buy Tasers from Lawmen's Safety Supply, the only supplier in the state.

• approved to demolish structures at 1300 N. Centennial St., 306 Vail Ave. and 817 Winslow St. The council gave additional time to property owners of 1505 Franklin Ave., 1518 Furlough Ave. and 308 Park St. The order to demolish at 625 Cable St. was withdrawn as the property owner has brought the home up to code.

Contact E.A. Seagraves at 883-4422, Ext. 241, or elizabeth.seagraves@news-record.com