Tag: orange county

  • Support Our Local Farmers

    A last minute request of support for Orange County’s agricultural community. The PFAP program is working “to create a strong base to help launch and grow new food-businesses in the Piedmont, focusing on a 75 mile radius in all directions.” Orange County is home to a wide variety of farms producing specialty items for the […]

  • Whereas What’s The Best Use Of The Sales Tax Increase?

    I’ve had several folks ask me about my suggested and rejected changes to the recent Democratic Party resolution supporting the 1/4 cent sales tax increase (Orange County Dems: Thanks for the Consideration…). This is a terrible year to raise any tax yet the Orange County Board of Commissioners (BOCC) decided 4/5/2011 (VIDEO [my comments at […]

  • Easthom: Let’s Revisit Lake Jordan

    Tomorrow Council member Laurin Easthom is petitioning her colleagues to sharpen up their decision to allow Orange Water and Sewer (OWASA) tap Lake Jordan for less than dire and near catastrophic need. Several weeks ago Chapel Hill approved an amendment to language of the 2001 Water and Sewer Management, Planning and Agreement (WSMPBA) which gave […]

  • SWABbing Together

    [UPDATE] Valerie said she was “appalled” not “ashamed”. Turns out so is the Chapel Hill News. Tomorrow night Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt will petition his colleagues to appoint a representative to participate in discussions with the County’s Solid Waste Advisory Board (SWAB) on the future of the Interlocal Agreement on Solid Waste Management. That agreement, coordinating […]

  • Orange County Dems: Thanks for the Consideration…

    Among the many other activities going on today was the Orange County Democratic Party all-precinct convention. Quite a turnout with many familiar faces. Local heavyweights US Rep. David Price, former State House Speaker Joe Hackney and House colleague Verla Insko along with State Senator Ellie Kinnaird (who changed a tire on the way to the […]

  • Trash Talk: The Neverending Story…Ends?

    [UPDATE:] WCHL’s Elizabeth Friend has a great summation here. Over a decade ago, just as I was beginning to get involved in local issues, I heard then local NAACP President Fred Black and Roger Road resident Rev. Robert Campbell brief Council on the fairly extensive list of negative impacts our landfill was having on the […]

  • Zoned Out

    Spent a tad more than 5 hours discussing zoning and zoning related issues today. Had an incredible work session with UNC’s Counter-Cartographies Collective (www.countercartographies.org), who “seek to create collaborations for engaged research and cartography — transforming the conditions of how we think, write and map and the conditions about which we think, write and map.” […]

  • Comprehensive Plan Refresh, A New Toolbox

    Probably the best Council comment during Monday’s Comprehensive Plan discussion came from Ed Harrison. Ed, who often relates how his neighborhood straddles the Orange/Durham county border, explained how Durham has newly integrated a set of tools in its comprehensive plan to guide both developers and staff. The effort was spurred, Ed said, primarily by the […]

  • Election 2010: Sales Tax Referendum

    [UPDATE 2] The referendum is shelved with a margin of over 1,000 votes. Next up, the transit tax referendum. [UPDATE 3] Just listened to a really inept analysis of the sales tax referendum problems on WCHL. WCHL is usually ridiculously deferential to Aaron Nelson of the local Chamber of Commerce – rarely calls him out […]

  • A Busier Week: University Square Meeting, Aug. 18th

    In listing the roll of important events this coming week, I accidentally left out one that promises to be quite interesting. Cousins Properties Inc., which is leading the redevelopment of University Square for Chapel Hill Foundation Real Estate Holdings Inc., will host a public meeting Wednesday, Aug. 18, to discuss the long-term vision for the […]

  • Coming Events: Summer Slumber? Not!

    Summer in Chapel Hill can be somewhat slow as far as community initiatives. Council is on hiatus. UNC downshifts. Most folks have their hands full dealing with the heat, their jobs, kids home from school, vacations. Summer, though, is not always a time for sluggish vigilance. For instance, I learned many years ago UNC’s favored […]

  • IFC Community House: Balanced Social Services?

    One of the common criticisms of the Inter-Faith Council’s (IFC) proposed Community House site is that the Homestead area of Chapel Hill already hosts more than it’s fair (“a four letter word for responsible growth”) share of social services. Is that the case? The IFC and UNC’s School of Social Work put together this map […]

  • Chapel Hill Library Funding: Orange County Commissioners Respond, Kind Of…

    Final bit of business from this evening’s Orange County Board of Commissioner’s meeting. A couple weeks ago, members of the Council, Commissioners, our Town and County managers, met to discuss increasing the County’s financial contribution to Chapel Hill’s Library. As of today, the County’s current yearly $250K contribution is out-of-line with out-of-town usage. In effect, […]

  • Brother, can you spare a quarter percent?

    The Orange County Board of Commissioners (BOCC) opened up discussion this evening of putting a %0.25 increase in local sales tax before voters in November (Levy of a One-Quarter Cent (1/4¢) County Sales and Use Tax [PDF]). The tax, if approved, will bump our local sales tax to %8 with all the additional proceeds going […]

  • “You Are Excused”

    Of the few ways one can “exercise” citizenship directly, being chosen as a sitting juror seems most capricious. Ever since I turned 18 I’ve waited for the call. Master jury lists in North Carolina are randomly drawn from voter rolls and driver license records. Having been a licensed driver and voting maniac (all elections except […]