The town of Apex has been working to improve parking after the start of construction of the police department, which took up more than 100 spaces. But last Tuesday, the Town Council decided against purchasing a lot in the heart of downtown.

The council said the site of the old Wachovia Bank was too expensive to purchase. Town Manager Bruce Radford would not disclose how much it would cost to buy the land, but said the town would have to fork over about $75,000 just to reconstruct the lot.

"Town Council considered it last night but then believed the amount of money involved, plus the money to put into it to move it -- it has to be moved about 11 feet -- was just to exorbitant for us at this time," Radford said.

The lot would have provided the town with about 25 more parking spots and also connected Salem Street to two other parking lots on Saunders Street behind the Wachovia building.