Towns, county identify partnerships for Rogers Road

When the Historic Rogers Road Neighborhood Task Force convenes this spring, town and county leaders hope it will have several community organizations to assist in its efforts.

The town and county managers of Orange County, Chapel Hill and Carrboro identified potential strategic partners to help the historically low-income Rogers Road neighborhood.

Carrboro Town Manager David Andrews said Chapel Hill’s The Jackson Center and the Durham branch of Self-Help were asked to help the task force promote affordable housing in the neighborhood.

The Rogers Road neighborhood has housed the county landfill since 1972. Last year, county commissioners voted to close the landfill in “June 2013.

In preparation for the landfill’s closing, the task force was created in February 2012 and includes two representatives each from Orange County, Chapel Hill, Carrboro and the Rogers-Eubanks Neighborhood Association.

Commissioners voted in February to extend the task force, mandating that it must report to the Board of Orange County Commissioners by Sept. 17, after the planned closure of the landfill.

The organizations will be introduced to the task force during its first meeting, which assistant county manager Michael Talbert said could be as early as mid-March.

Dan Levine, assistant director of real estate for Self-Help, said his organization is not yet formally involved in the process. Self-Help currently works with Northside, another historically low-income neighborhood in Chapel Hill.

“The Rogers Road community has a long, rich history,” Levine said in an e-mail.

“We have a lot to learn from the community and about it before we can understand whether we can assist.”

The Jackson Center has also done work in the Northside community, developing housing-related strategies to preserve the neighborhood’s character.

Elizabeth McCain, the center’s public history and communications coordinator, said the Jackson Center hopes to use its knowledge of community advocacy to help the Rogers Road neighborhood.

“We have agreed to consult with the town on a collaborative initiative,” she said.

“If anything, we’d like to contribute what we’ve learned.”

The towns also called on the Orange Water and Sewer Authority to continue work on improvements for Rogers Road. Currently, some parts of the neighborhood lack public water and sewage hookups.

OWASA created a program in 2011 to help residents connect to public water lines, and it manages a proposed sewer extension project.

Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools was also identified as a possible strategic partner because of its ongoing discussions to build a school near the Rogers Road neighborhood.

County Manager Frank Clifton said there is a long-range plan for the school, but the project would not happen for six to seven years.

Jeff Nash, spokesman for the school district, said a school has been discussed for the Green Tract — a piece of property owned by Orange County, Chapel Hill and Carrboro in the Rogers Road area — but no definite plans have been made.

“There’s a whole lot of work that would have to take place for that property,” Nash said.

“It’s not something that’s on our radar right now.”

Contact the desk editor at city@dailytarheel.com.