Category: ChapelHill

  • The Estes Dr./MLK, Jr. Intersection: Crossroads to Chapel Hill’s Future

    The following letter does an excellent job summing up my reasons for delaying the July’s abbreviated community review process for the ciritical Estes Drive/MLK, Jr. intersection, the two congested transit corridors and the surrounding area which includes UNC’s Carolina North campus. The current CH2020 proposal calls for us to plan in haste and repent in […]

  • A Plaza for All? Looking for Chapel Hill’s Public Commons

    Last night I made a few remarks to Council before they codified a series of restrictions on the use of Peace and Justice Plaza Downtown by organized and disorganized activist. We renamed the small patch of ground outside the Downtown post office to Peace and Justice Plaza to honor its central place in Chapel Hill’s […]

  • Voting NO on 2011 Orange County 1/4ct Sales Tax

    I did a recent WCHL 1360 commentary reiterating my reasons for voting NO this year for Orange County’s .25% sales tax bump. Basically, it comes down to a lack of fairness and skewed spending priorities. For some odd technical reason, my commentary isn’t posted on WCHL’s website. I have a copy here (MP3) for readers […]

  • Festifall 2011: Welcome to Willville

    By all accounts, yesterday’s Festifall was a resounding success. Carolina Blue skies, comfortable temperatures and a diverse program of activities beyond vendor-provided art brought folks out. This is the second year I helped organize the event as a member of the Town’s Festifall planning committee. Starting Spring, the committee’s duties revolve around brainstorming activities and […]

  • Sierra Club/Chamber Forum Sept. 21st

    Semi-live blogging from tonight’s Sierra Club/Chapel Hill Chamber of Commerce Town candidate forum. [UPDATE:] Comments on candidate responses are mostly paraphrases. Comments in quotes are verbatim from candidates. Comments in parentheses or brackets are mine. I didn’t capture all comments or questions. The People’s Channel video taped the forum and should have it posted sometime […]

  • 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 […]

  • Density, 2008

    In forming the new Comprehensive Plan initiating committee, the Mayor studiously avoided recruiting members of the Sustainability Visioning Task Force who challenged the narrow approach foisted upon that effort by staff. The concerns raised by those committee members (Sustainability Task Force: The Whole or The Sum of the Parts? ) are unlikely to be addressed […]

  • Northside Memories

    A couple excellent student driven articles on Northside appeared this week. Carrboro Commons’ Megan Gassaway published this article which reviews the history of the Northside community through long time resident Ms. Keith Edwards eyes. Too often local media focuses narrowly on the business of carving up the community rather than providing a broader context – […]

  • Snobarista

    I haven’t been a big coffee drinker since my days on the engineering mezzanine at Northern Telecom (I never met a bunch of folks that could guzzle joe like Northern’s engineers). The last decade, though, I easily go a month without drinking some form of coffee; a double bang cappuccino with extra foamy milk being […]

  • Another Splash in Lake Jordan

    Quick update on last week’s post Easthom: Let’s Revisit Lake Jordan. Several weeks ago Chapel Hill approved an amendment to language of the 2001 Water and Sewer Management, Planning and Agreement (WSMPBA) which gave OWASA much more leeway in tapping OWASA’s 5 million gallon per day (5Mg/d) allocation from Lake Jordan. At that time there […]

  • Phase I 2011 Affordable Housing Community Outreach Wraps Up

    Today is the final meeting in a several week series of outreach sessions seeking community input to help formulate a new Affordable Housing Strategy for Chapel Hill. Staff sought advice from a broad range of local residents – from current affordable housing residents to professionals managing a wide variety of community programs. Council, after a […]

  • 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 […]