I told you so. Not that I like rubbing anyone’s nose in bad decisions, but going ahead with the library renovation without thinking through what we would have to give up to make it happen was a bad decision you could smell before you stepped in it. On the last lap of what was a [...]
All posts in category Library
Tax increase
Posted by Nancy Oates on May 22, 2012
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2012/05/22/tax-increase/
Pile on the public hearings
Stock up on the popcorn. Tonight’s public hearing will likely be a two-bagger. First up, St. Paul’s AME Church wants to build a village on Purefoy Road, across from Phoenix Place, to serve the Rogers Road community. The proposed mixed-use development on a 20-acre parcel would consist of a church, a health center, a cultural [...]
Posted by Nancy Oates on May 21, 2012
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2012/05/21/pile-on-the-public-hearings/
Dividing a small pot
Frank McCourt’s memoir “Angela’s Ashes” shares the experiences of a family that coexists with poverty, not letting it impede them as they live their lives. In one scene, a father is ready to go from Ireland to England to find work to support the family. (Forgive me if I’ve gotten some of the details wrong; [...]
Posted by Nancy Oates on March 22, 2012
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2012/03/22/dividing-a-small-pot/
Gym jumps through hoops
Chapel Hill now has two town-owned buildings that can’t be rented out due to overdue maintenance. The Chapel Hill Museum building at 523 E. Franklin St. was shuttered in June 2011 because the town did not have the approximately $800,000 to do the repairs. And last week, Orange County Gymnastics learned it would have to [...]
Posted by Nancy Oates on February 27, 2012
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2012/02/27/gym-jumps-through-hoops/
Fiscally happy New Year
Town manager Roger Stancil must have eaten his New Year’s Day Hoppin’ John on behalf of the town this year. When Town Council resumes meetings tonight, council members will vote on whether to accept money from several sources. The consent agenda asks council to accept $5,000 from OWASA toward Code Red, a service that notifies [...]
Posted by Nancy Oates on January 9, 2012
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2012/01/09/fiscally-happy-new-year/
Library belt-tightening
Does the library expansion construction contract with Clancy & Theys call for providing lunches to the construction crew? Because food is the only general commodity that has gone up in price noticeably since October 2008, when the contract was last drawn up. Yet the renegotiated contract, which appears on tonight’s consent agenda, has scaled back [...]
Posted by Nancy Oates on November 21, 2011
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2011/11/21/library-belt-tightening/
Reverse charges
Words I never thought I’d hear a lawyer utter: “Vagueness is your friend.” That sentiment came from Sally Greene during Monday night’s final council meeting of the fiscal year during the discussion on whether to charge Orange County residents who live outside of Chapel Hill for a library card. At the May 25 meeting, the [...]
Posted by Nancy Oates on June 29, 2011
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2011/06/29/reverse-charges/
Season finale
The Town Council season finale airs tonight, beginning at 7. Among the topics up for discussion is whether and how much to charge for library cards. Last month, council preliminarily rejected Orange County’s contribution to the library and, instead, left open the option of charging out-of-town users for library cards. At present, about 1,400 out-of-county [...]
Posted by Nancy Oates on June 27, 2011
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2011/06/27/season-finale/
Card charge
The library figured prominently in the budget discussion at Monday night’s Town Council meeting. You may recall that Sally Greene was away on a family emergency the night council rejected the county’s contribution and approved charging for cards. She clearly disagreed with the council’s move, and she voted for the budget Monday night only on [...]
Posted by Nancy Oates on June 15, 2011
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2011/06/15/card-charge/
Charge for the card
Town Council reached the end of its rope last Wednesday night when it came to the county’s unwillingness to make a larger contribution toward the town’s library budget. Laurin Easthom and Matt Czajkowski led the call to begin charging non-town residents a fee for a library card to check out books. (Everyone could still use [...]
Posted by Nancy Oates on May 30, 2011
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2011/05/30/charge-for-the-card/