Carrboro is known for focusing on environmental friendliness — but after Tuesday night, local elected leaders will be looking for a way to make it a little bit greener. The Board of Alderman passed a proposal to investigate the feasibility of reducing town carbon dioxide emissions by 2 percent annually in a Tuesday meeting.
Orange County Commissioners and the Chapel Hill Town Council discussed the future of the community’s solid waste management strategy following the Feb.
On Tuesday night, the Carrboro Board of Alderman voted to indefinitely postpone a public hearing scheduled for the rezoning of a property for CVS.
The effort of Chapel Hill 2020 to engage the public in the development process may not be going far enough, residents say. At a Monday night Town Council meeting, sixteen speakers criticized the process Chapel Hill 2020 has gone through with public.
Orange County Board of Commissioners voted Thursday night to hire an outside consulting group, Solutions for Local Government, Inc., to assess the County’s Emergency Medical Services and E911 Communications Center. The board’s decision was based on a recommendation from the county’s Emergency Services Workgroup.
Some residents who didn’t qualify for Community Home Trust funding will have a better chance after Tuesday’s Board of Alderman meeting. Aldermen approved an amendment presented by the Community Home Trust that will allow up to 25 percent of affordable housing units to be sold to families whose income is greater than 80 percent of the area’s median income. With the new rules, the Community Home Trust can further subsidize lower-income homes while charging higher prices for those receiving higher incomes.
Kathy Atwater told Chapel Hill Town Council Monday that the Marian Cheek Jackson Center has given her Northside community hope for a better life — and they should provide it with adequate funding in the next fiscal year. The Jackson Center, which advocates for affordable housing in the Northside and Pine Knolls neighborhoods, would receive only $5,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds based on 2012-2013 budget recommendations.
Chapel Hill bars and restaurants will be going green on Saturday. Employees said they are anticipating large crowds and will offer combinations of Irish foods, drink specials and live music in honor of Saint Patrick’s Day.
Orange County Commissioners have voted to shut down a landfill located on Rogers Road — but that didn’t put problems with trash in the area to rest. Michael Talbert, assistant county manager, presented information on illegal dumping sites on Rogers Road to Commissioners at a Tuesday night meeting.
At the Carrboro Board of Aldermen meeting Tuesday, board members asked Police Chief Carolyn Hutchison how she will deal with people who plan to protest at the proposed CVS site located at 201 N. Greensboro St. on Saturday. “I think that it’s important to note that anyone who enters the property or stays on the property will be guilty of first degree trespassing,” she said. “Everything will be dependent on the behavior of the people who come to the event.”
Chapel Hill Town Council members just can’t decide what to do about cell phone use on town roads. The council could have voted Monday on a measure that would have banned residents older than 18 from talking on cell phones while driving. The measure, which would punish violators with fines, has graced town agendas starting in early 2010.
Despite a slow start, tensions were high towards the end of Tuesday’s Board of Aldermen meeting. The Friends of the Carrboro Branch Library tried to convince the board to agree to Orange County-determined criteria for the site of the new Southwestern Orange Regional Library.
The Chapel Hill Town Council met tonight to discuss a proposed student housing complex by Trinitas Ventures located on Martin Luther King Jr.
Local officials are working out a plan to make transit in the Triangle faster and more efficient. But they are also running into a problem — money. The Orange County Board of Commissioners discussed shared benefits of light rail transit investments near the Durham-Orange County line and development plans for 15-501 Corridor Tuesday night.
Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt says the work of creating a more developed Chapel Hill is not complete, but instead is a work in progress.
Staff members of the North Carolina Department of Transportation presented updates on the Smith Level Road Project to the Carrboro Board of Aldermen on Tuesday. The project, which includes the creation of sidewalks and bike lanes along Smith Level Road, has been controversial among Carrboro residents because it involves the creation of a two-lane highway and median. “Having a road with a median in front of a neighborhood in the city of Carrboro doesn’t make sense given we are the city,” resident Alan Waibel said.
The Orange County Board of Commissioners decided to recommend the route along N.C. 54 to the future Hillmont development for the proposed light rail from Chapel Hill to Durham.
Ed Holland, the planning director for Orange Water and Sewer Authority, presented reasons for Chapel Hill to add Jordan Lake in its list of emergency water supply options at a Feb. 6 presentation for Chapel Hill 2020.
Orange County Commissioners don’t want advisory boards or noteworthy individuals to think they’ve forgotten them — so they might make some changes. At a Tuesday night meeting, the Orange County Board of Commissioners met to discuss the management of advisory boards and ways to improve communication with them.
Mark Kleinschmidt is used to wearing multiple hats: Chapel Hill mayor, same-sex marriage advocate, defense attorney and, on Jan. 20, MSNBC correspondent.
