Tag: ddi

  • Hazardous Consequences: Mystery of the Vault Contest

    [CLARIFICATION] Everyone gets two (2) guesses – their “real” guess and an outlandish assessment (please, keep it clean. Yes, skeletons are welcomed). [UPDATE:] Over on SqueezeThePulp former (and soon to be?) Carrboro Board of Alderman candidate, Orange County Democrat Women President, local businessperson and activist Katrina Ryan has offered a delicious La Rez meal for […]

  • Hazardous Consequences: A Report, a Rushed Decision, a Regrettable Day for Chapel Hill

    The Chapel Hill News’ ‘blog OrangeChat first alerted me to the Town’s completion of the Lot #5 negotiations with RAM Development (more to come in the N&O). The Town’s April 3rd news release celebrates what I believe will eventually be seen to be a rushed decision foisting a counter-productive, fiscally irresponsible obligation to construct expensive […]

  • Hazardous Consequences: No Official Word, Yet, On Lot #5’s Hazardous Waste Issue

    [UPDATE] As of April 3rd, the Town has provided part of what I asked for in the following petition, the environmental report [PDF]. In the Town’s announcement of a conclusion to negotiations, the figure of $232,000 for a remediation was thrown out. This figure, of which I haven’t found a full justification, would supposedly include […]

  • Lot #5 Development: “…up through the ground come a bubbling crude…”

    Well, not quite “black gold” or “Texas tea” but it appears that more “refined trouble” is brewing under Lot #5 (MAP). Chapel Hill’s taxpayers will have to wait for next week’s official lab confirmation but, as of today (Mar. 20th, 2007), initial field tests of some of the nearly 30 core samples show “interesting” signs […]

  • Lot #5 Development: Two Pictures 1,000 Words Apart

    Looks like this will be the last Spring I watch these trees bloom… and the last year I’ll see Chapel Hill’s Downtown signature church steeple from the second floor roost of where I work. Cline Associates Concept Plan Drawing for Lot #5 Corner of Church St. and Frankin St., Chapel Hill, NC – Mar. 18th, […]

  • Lot #5 Downtown Development: Do you smell gas?

    As we know, There are known knowns. There are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns. That is to say we know there are some things We do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns, the ones we don’t know we don’t know. — Donanld Rumsfeld, Feb. 12, 2002, […]

  • Downtown Development: Feb. 12th Council Debate

    [UPDATE:] The video below streams from my site – here’s the Google Video that streams faster. Here’s the complete “debate” Council held on the Lot #5. Note how quickly the expedited SUP application was approved.

  • Downtown Development: The LEEDs Trade-Off, AIA 2030 Up Next

    Sally Greene suggested trading formal LEEDs certification, which RAM’s VP Casey Cummings said cost $225K, for a required %20 energy reduction, as measured against ASHRAE standards. Cummings claimed that $14.5K of the $225K involved energy modeling and measurement – the rest involved paper shuffling. After reviewing the current proposal, it is still not clear that […]

  • Downtown Development: Feb. 12th Citizen Comment

    Endorsing the flawed deal: Anita Badrock Chapel Hill/Carrboro Chamber of Commerce Criticizing the misbegotten proposal: Andrea Rohrbacher former Council candidate, Chair of the Downtown Partnership, representing the Sierra Club. Francis Henry downtown business owner, longtime resident of Chapel Hill. Jean Brown Chapel Hill/Carrboro school advocate Tom Henkel Long time resident, brilliant alternative energy consultant. Mike […]

  • Godzilla vs. Bambi::RAM Development and Chapel Hill

    If I worked for RAM Development, I’d be dancing quite a jig this evening. Not only have they negotiated the sweetest of deals – their own publicly underwritten Downtown tower of wealth – they’ve gotten the friendliest of non-reviews by the majority of Council. Maybe folks will like “rah rah” growth RAM Development style. If […]

  • Downtown Development Intiative: Thank you Sir, May I Have Another?

    I missed the exact vote but the Council has not only authorized the Lot #5 development but put it on a fast-track. Talk about compounding a mistake. What’s clear, especially after this evening, is the bulk of Council does not comprehend the consequences of their decision. From my understanding, the SUP (special use permit) gives […]

  • Downtown Development Intiative: Easthom, Ward on Hazardous Waste Liability

    Live ‘blogged from hearing: Laurin Easthom picked up on a point that I didn’t have time to speak to this round: hazardous material remediation. It’s incredible that a hazardous waste assay hasn’t been done on a piece a property that is known to have had oil and gasoline exposures. Back in the ’80s I used […]

  • The Sad Story of Council’s Downtown Development Initiative

    They say, the story is buried in the details. After reviewing hundreds of pages of confidential documents and listening to hours of ridiculously poor audio recordings of confidential meetings, I can, sadly, stand by my public assertions that the private-public Lot #5 development Council will most probably be thrusting upon us this evening is a […]

  • Confidential Lot 5 Memorandum and Notes: Update I

    Confidential documentation of Downtown Development Initiative.

  • Downtown Development Initiative: Listen and Learn How Negotiations Went Awry

    I worked to elect all three Council members – Cam, Sally, Bill – intimately involved in the RAM negotiations. I’ve found them to be good folks with a keen interest in promoting what they think is best for our community. And that is why listening to these audio recordings was one of the most dispiriting […]