What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving? For being able turn on your faucet and drink a glass of clean water that doesn’t taste funky and leave you worried about what sorts of toxins or carcinogens it contains? For never having to budget for pumping out the septic tank and remediation efforts when it fails? […]
Back of the line — again
Posted by Nancy Oates on November 25, 2013
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2013/11/25/back-of-the-line-again/
Loopholes and buzzkill
You’re more likely to behave yourself if you live next door to your landlord. Jay Patel of, well, a few different business partnerships, but known by Chapel Hillians as the owner of the Franklin Hotel, apparently ascribes to that theory. At tonight’s Town Council meeting, he will present a concept review of Franklin Student Housing, […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on November 18, 2013
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2013/11/18/loopholes-and-buzzkill/
Beside the tracks
Here’s what “Many” has to say: Many years ago, when we lived in Boston, I remember what happened when the red line was put in through Cambridge/Somerville. At the time the corridor was filled with moderately priced rentals and housing for people that commuted into Boston by car or bus. The red line morphed those […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on November 13, 2013
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2013/11/13/beside-the-tracks/
Sorting out recycling
Does Wake County get a volume discount for recycling? It seems to be able to handle recycling at half the cost as Orange County. Then again, Wake County is a little more than twice the area of Orange County (857 square miles compared to Orange’s 401 square miles), yet it has nearly seven times the […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on November 11, 2013
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2013/11/11/sorting-out-recycling/
Vote to be heard
In 2011, any candidate that broke 4,000 votes got a seat on Town Council. This year, it may take even fewer. Even though we are a town of about 50,000 people. As in 2011, nine candidates are battling, albeit quietly, for four seats on council. This year I’ve heard some voters talk about writing in […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on November 4, 2013
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2013/11/04/vote-to-be-heard/
Limits on listening
I never thought I’d say this, but I miss those all-nighter council meetings. Town Council had a rich agenda for its Oct. 21 public hearing – a discussion of whether to add large swaths of land north of Chapel Hill, which included the Historic Rogers Road neighborhood, to the ETJ; Central West’s controversial proposal; and […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on October 28, 2013
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2013/10/28/limits-on-listening/
Buybacks
Tell me I’m not the only person to have donated something to the PTA Thrift Shop, then a month later bought it back. Town Council members know the feeling. They are asked to give away affordable housing as they vote to approve redevelopment projects, then scrounge for town resources to buy affordable housing somewhere else […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on October 21, 2013
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2013/10/21/buybacks/
ETJ and trust
At its Oct. 21 meeting, Town Council will preside over a public hearing to consider expanding the Extraterritorial Jurisdiction north of town. The proposed plan would incorporate the historic Rogers Road area, the old landfill, Northwood and a large chunk north of Eubanks Road into the ETJ. Accepting this proposal would allow the town to […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on October 13, 2013
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2013/10/13/etj-and-trust/
Price tag on the gift
Head and heart – they can coexist. We desperately want them to in Town Council members. At a council work session last week, DHIC, a housing nonprofit in Raleigh, proposed building 140 apartments – 60 reserved for senior citizens and 80 for low-income families – on 10 acres of what is now part of Chapel […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on October 7, 2013
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2013/10/07/price-tag-on-the-gift/
Small town, big money
The Age of Private Equity Transactions has arrived in Chapel Hill. Private equity transactions are nothing new; they got a lot of press coverage during the 2012 presidential race because Mitt Romney’s Bain Capital specialized in them and made Romney rich. This is the concept: Buy an asset with borrowed money; resell it at a […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on September 30, 2013
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2013/09/30/small-town-big-money/