Category: Government
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Hail to Our New Chief: Brian Curran Takes the Helm
[UPDATE:] Not 15 minutes went by before I got the chance to congratulate Chief Curran in person. He was making his rounds through the Northside neighborhood (I noticed him rolling around Town before – he doesn’t seem to be much of a desk jockey). [ORIGINAL] I’ve had an opportunity to meet Brian in a few […]
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Software Freedom Day 2007
As long time readers know, I’ve been trying to get our Town to adopt free/open source software products for the last 6 years. There’s been some success but not enough. FOSS (free/open source software) is a low cost alternative to the Microsoft Monopoly (the Town could’ve saved between $500-700K by now if it had adopted […]
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National Conversation on Climate Action: A Local Perspective
As I mentioned in my post “The Climate Heats Up AND The Mayor Has A Website?”, the Town is hosting an all day “conversation” on climate change (as part of our Town’s ongoing commitment to sustainability). The program is sponsored by ICLEI US (Local Governments For Sustainability) and the local Chamber of Commerce’s “green” coordinating […]
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Carolina Innovation Center: Alexandria Equities, the Citizens Partner?
At yesterday’s UNC Board of Trustees meeting, the Carolina Innovation Center took center stage when Carolina North’s quarterback Jack Evans confirmed it as the first step in Carolina North’s development. The center will be sited upon the recently vacated Chapel Hill municipal facility. Jack has written a Sunday column for the Chapel Hill News, a […]
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UNC BOT Chairman Perry: Carolina North “…before it’s too late”
They say history has a way of repeating itself. The trustees, led by new chairman and Chapel Hill developer Roger Perry, are full steam ahead on the project. Final trustee approval is expected in September, with a plan to be submitted to the town by the end of October. “The time of talking about Carolina […]
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Rogers Road: Unify the Community with a Back To School Bash
There’s a thread over on OrangePolitics (“Historic Rogers Road Community Enhancement Plan Development and Monitoring Task Force “) covering the historic ills and vexations of the Rogers Road community. I plan to discuss some of the comments in a future post but couldn’t pass up this request by Rev. Robert Campbell (who, thankfully, has recently […]
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Carolina North: Not So Innovative Location for the Innovation Center?
As I predicted (“Carolina North: What’s Next?”) last week, the Carrboro Citizen is reporting that UNC is prepared to move the Carolina North Innovation Center north of Estes to sit roughly on the Town’s former municipal services site. Not a hard guess given UNC’s Jack Evans recent comments. …one indication that the university is intent […]
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Election 2007: Early Voting On The Move
Orange County Commissioner Mike Nelson reports that: I have just been told that the Director of the Orange County Board of Elections is recommending that the one-stop, early voting site in Chapel Hill be moved from UNC to the Senior Center. I’ll be checking into this. If true, this decision needs to be revisited. In […]
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June 6th’s Closed Council Session
As we wind down the planning for this fiscal year, Council’s deliberations take on a bit more gravitas, thus demand even more attention by the public. As one might observe listening to last year’s Lot #5 closed negotiations ( “Downtown Development Initiative: Listen and Learn How Negotiations Went Awry”), going too long or waiting until […]
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Municipal Networking: Eyes on the Road
[SPRING CLEANING] I asked Town Manager Roger Stancil May 17th how the CCTV (closed-circuit TV) packaged in the Town’s first steps towards municipal networking (Municipal Networking:Could We Have a Little Less Big Brother?). Roger and Kumar Neppalli, our Town’s traffic (and now streetlight) point person, both clarified the bullet item. The CCTVs will be used […]
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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 […]
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A Matter of Process: Greenbridge and Council’s Devolving Standard of Public Review
I haven’t been reticent in my criticism of the process Council used recently to manage the approvals for Greenbridge, the environmental uber-project and possible end of the traditional Northside neighborhood. Adopting a new zone, TC-3, developed and refined during the months bridging Thanksgiving to Christmas, within the context of Greenbridge’s approval ill-served our citizens. Claims, […]
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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, […]
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The HeraldSun Turns A Corner: Trouble on the horizon at lot 5
The HeraldSun’s editorial stance on Chapel Hill’s Lot #5 project has always been somewhat “peppy”. Tom Jensen’s Chapel Hill Herald (CHH) columns have been singularly reflective of the papers ebullient attitude towards this troubled development. In spite of the narrowing scope – halving the size of the project – and escalating taxpayer commitments – keeping […]