City briefs

Town Council, Commissioners to join homelessness plan

Both the Chapel Hill Town Council and the Orange County Board of Commissioners agreed Monday to participate in a partnership to end homelessness in Orange County with the county, Carrboro, Chapel Hill and Hillsborough.

The council also agreed to allocate part of its 2005-06 budget to the development of a 10-year plan to end homelessness in Orange County.

Both entities will now wait for Carrboro and Hillsborough to endorse the partnership before beginning to implement the plan.

One of the first steps would be to hold a second roundtable discussion on homelessness before June 30, according to the council’s petition.

 

N.C. literature award winner to speak at local schools

Communities in Schools of Orange County will host Jaki Shelton Green, recipient of the 2003 North Carolina Award in Literature, at various county sites during the next week.

Green, whose works include “Dead on Arrival” and “New Poems,” will appear at 3 p.m. today at Seawell Elementary School and at 3:30 p.m. Jan. 31 at Efland-Cheeks Elementary School.

CISOC works to bridge the connection between community resources and schools to meet the needs of young people.

 

County officials to take on problems with junk yard

Orange County is moving forward with its plans to crack down on the perennially non-compliant Hoyle King junk yard off Interstate 70.

The Orange County Board of Commissioners received a report at its Saturday planning retreat from Craig Benedict, director of planning and inspections, detailing his progress and plans in the matter. He said the county is currently in talks with contractors to haul away junk cars being stored outside of permitted areas on King’s property.

Benedict hopes that the proceeds from selling the vehicles as scrap will offset the costs of having them hauled away, as well as the costs of replacing sections of a court-ordered fence that do not meet the court’s specifications.

If not, the sheriff’s department will be directed to auction property from the junk yard until the bill is satisfied.