I listened to a panel discussion on WCHL yesterday afternoon as I drove around doing errands in the rain. Local residents who held various leadership roles in Chapel Hill and Carrboro talked about their vision for the town. One comment in particular stuck with me. Delores Bailey, executive director of Empowerment, said she would like […]
Invite them where?
Posted by Nancy Oates on April 29, 2013
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2013/04/29/invite-them-where/
It’s only a slice
Don and I live simply. Because we are so focused on paying our high property taxes (purportedly the highest in the state), we rarely go out to dinner. But once in a while, we’ll pick up a pizza to go. Last night, Don called Tedesco’s, our favorite Italian joint, to place an order, but the […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on April 22, 2013
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2013/04/22/its-only-a-slice/
Can we afford to be generous?
Raise your hand if you live in Governors Club and regularly ride the bus. Jim Ward fingered you at last Wednesday’s Town Council meeting during a discussion of whether the town should subsidize Chapel Hill residents who ride TTA commuter buses from the Eubanks Road park-and-ride. Beginning Aug. 15, the town will charge $2 a […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on April 15, 2013
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2013/04/15/can-we-afford-to-be-generous/
Time trial
Town Council meets next on Wednesday this week, so you’ve got a couple extra days to get your thoughts in order. You’ll need extra time to prepare to address council in the future, if council members adopt new council meeting procedures designed to shorten council meetings. Part of the proposal to trim the butt-in-seat time […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on April 8, 2013
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2013/04/08/time-trial/
A new day
This morning, RAM Development announced it planned to convert all 140 condominums at 140 West into workforce housing. RAM chairman Peter Cummings said the idea came to him like an epiphany as he was driving along West Rosemary Street one afternoon. “I saw this bright light,” he said. “Maybe it was a sign from Heaven, […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on April 1, 2013
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2013/04/01/a-new-day/
Transit takes a curve
Bonnie Hauser, speaking for “Smart Transit for Orange County” (http://smarttransitfororange.wordpress.com/) provides a transit update. Just as the county is getting ready to start collecting its new half-cent transit tax, new questions are swirling about the plan and state and federal funding. It was predictable, and the politics are especially entertaining. First state lawmakers signaled their […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on March 29, 2013
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2013/03/29/transit-takes-a-curve/
Parking pickle
Town Council members spoke as one voice at Monday night’s meeting to make sure Chapel Hill taxpayers who want to park won’t be taken for a ride. UNC will start charging employees for its park-and-ride lots come August, forcing Chapel Hill to keep pace. After all, if commuters have a choice between a $2-a-day lot […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on March 27, 2013
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2013/03/27/parking-pickle/
Unintended consequences
We’ll give Jim Ward the benefit of the doubt that his heart was in the right place when he directed Loryn Clark to focus affordable housing funds on the people who make 30 percent of the Area Median Income. At the March 18 Town Council meeting, Clark, the Planning Department’s neighborhood and community services manager, […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on March 25, 2013
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2013/03/25/unintended-consequences/
A representative view
Former Town Council member Julie McClintock, who also worked for the EPA, has participated in many planning efforts. She offers her reaction to the town’s priority-budgeting survey: In a recent email from the Town, I was invited to take a budget survey to show “what [I] value.” Since I’m an engaged citizen, I took the […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on March 18, 2013
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2013/03/18/a-representative-view/
Heated exchange over fire district
I got a hint of the complexity of the relationship between town and county governing bodies after watching Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt address the Orange County Board of Commissioners not long ago about the matter of Chapel Hill becoming the official first-responder to fires in the extra-territorial jurisdiction. At its Feb. 11 meeting, Town Council discussed […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on March 11, 2013
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2013/03/11/heated-exchange-over-fire-district/