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(01/13/09 5:00am)
Residents made their point: if UNC or any other body pursues development in rural Orange County they'll have to work with people ready to challenge their authority.UNC's now-abandoned plans to replace Horace Williams Airport were met by community resistance that steadily gained momentum until Chancellor Holden Thorp decided to opt out.The local reaction came as a surprise to many officials including Thorp" and ultimately pushed UNC toward forgoing another runway.""There was a lot of community dialogue"" said N.C. Sen. Richard Stevens (R-Wake), one of the sponsors of the August bill that gave UNC the power to take land for an airport by eminent domain.He said he thinks the issue shows that the university would need to spend more time with the community on a development like an airport.The August legislation, passed at the university's behest, was seen as a sneaky attempt to make room for UNC expansion.We ended up surprising people with the legislation far more than we should have"" Thorp said Friday.Residents formed a number of advocacy groups, such as Preserve Rural Orange and Orange County Voice, which lobbied both county government and the university to reconsider the plans. Many of the advocates wanted to keep parts of the county devoted to agriculture.Some picketed meetings between Chapel Hill government and UNC Trustees while others displayed no airport"" signs in their lawn. More still researched airport laws and regulations and wrote letters to University officials.Residents also pressured county commissioners" who expressed their concerns to UNC in turn.Many spoke at regular county commissioner meetings asking officials to protect their land.Brad Broadwell the county economic development director" was sharply criticized for saying an airport could be an economic boon.""By and large I think the public has made it known that a lot of people were unhappy about it"" he said. I in no way want to minimize their story.""And officials should not expect residents to ease their scrutiny of development in the county. Residents are building on their momentum and moving on to other challenges. The troubled search for a waste transfer station to replace the county landfill has faced growing community resistance during its more than year-long history. More than 250 residents attended a public information session on the transfer station siting in November. ""We're not just vacant land waiting to be developed"" said Marilee McTigue of Orange County Voice. Certainly we think our voice was heard on this.""Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(01/12/09 5:00am)
A decision to call off a search for a new airport in Orange County was met with applause from many residents but might not spell the end for a local runway.Chancellor Holden Thorp announced in a press conference Friday that he would not seat an airport authority charged with replacing Horace Williams Airport.He said the operations of the N.C. Area Health Education Centers which fly doctors across the state will move from Horace Williams to a new hanger at Raleigh-Durham International Airport.Thorp's move was well received by many residents across the county who protested a new airport.Expansion at UNC's new 250-acre satellite research campus was driving the school's efforts to build another airport. The new UNC Law School building is slated for Horace Williams' runway. As UNC formed plans to build on the space Horace Williams occupies University officials sought and won legislation that allowed them to build a new larger airport anywhere in Orange County using the power of eminent domain to take land.But many are still in favor of an in-county airport and will continue to pursue building a new one or keeping Horace Williams.Jim Heavner who owns WCHL and helped then-Chancellor James Moeser fund a 2008 study on the economic benefit of a new airport" said Orange County needs its own runway. ""It is unfortunate that it appears that the protests of a group of citizens who live in a part of the county where" in my judgement the airport was not very to likely to be built — for that group to follow its fears and organize in such a way that it caused all discussions of issues relating to an airport to be clouded" said Heavner, who talked to Thorp before the announcement.Other supporters of local aviation said the prospect of a new airport has not been completely scratched. Thorp said Friday he will not seek to repeal the law that granted UNC the power to build a new airport.While we're disappointed that it's not proceeding at the moment" we're encouraged that he hasn't closed the door on it" said Chris Dancy, a spokesman for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association.Dancy said the group, a long-time advocate of either preserving Horace Williams or replacing it, is seeking a meeting with UNC-systems President Erskine Bowles.N.C. Rep. Bill Faison (D-Orange) said Horace Williams could stay open for much longer than expected in the recession economy.I think it's a very low probability of it closing in the immediate future" he said. Faison supported the bill's language which required the airport authority to build the airport in Orange County.And Chris Hudson of the N.C. Friends of Horace Williams said his organization will pursue legislation to prevent UNC from closing the old airport.Thorp admitted there were mistakes in the way UNC went about the process of finding a replacement airport.He said the move to drop airport plans came after months of researching the ins and outs of siting a new airport — an initiative he inherited from his predecessor Moeser — and meeting with concerned residents.There's too much distrust" he said. I feared that that distrust would extend to the authority.""UNC's efforts to replace Horace Williams particularly stressed the relationship between Orange County commissioners and the University.Commissioners felt Thorp left them out of the loop on the process and gave them a disproportionate say on the authority.In response" county officials are strengthening the laws that govern where an airport could go said Commissioner Bernadette Pelissier.The board reaffirmed that goal in its retreat Saturday Pelissier said. Although UNC has the power to take land by eminent domain the county has the ability to regulate that land's use according to the airport legislation.Many residents were ecstatic about Thorp's decision to forgo the authority" while officials were supportive.""Perhaps the way this was done wasn't the best way"" Faison said. And I applaud the University's decision to step back and take look at this.""Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(11/20/08 5:00am)
Time is running short for Orange County Board of Commissioners to site a new waste transfer station.Original plans which included selecting a site Tuesday projected that the station would be ready in May 2011 the same time the county landfill is expected to reach capacity.But commissioners put off a final call for at least a month. If there's no station before the landfill is full the county could face a waste management crisis.Gayle Wilson the county's solid waste management director said the county could have to use a makeshift transfer station like an open lot for a few weeks. Garbage could also be shipped to a number of out-of-county landfills.Or the county could be forced to tell residents" ""You're on your own"" Wilson said.A transfer station would be used as a daily collection point for the county's garbage before it is shipped to an out-of-county landfill.The county won't decide on a contingency plan for at least a year.The rush to site and build a station is also a limiting factor on how much more time the board can take investigating other options, specifically waste to energy technology.That conversation would take months or years" Commissioner Mike Nelson said.Commissioners are currently on their second effort to locate a transfer station. Plans to build one on Eubanks Road were scrapped in November 2007 after residents protested.Part of why we have a time crunch is because we decided to start over Chairman Barry Jacobs said.While it may seem that we're hurrying" in fact we have gambled that we could still have a transfer station sited and constructed before we close the landfill.""Building a waste transfer station is a complex process. Property has to be acquired first"" which consultants estimate will take at least two months. ""Anything short of a willing seller and there's no way in heck you could make a two month deadline"" Nelson said.Construction alone will take more than a year.Developers also have to design the station, and get construction permission from the county and the N.C. Department of Transportation, a process that can also take months.Jacobs said Tuesday that the board could select a site on Dec. 11, revise part of the selection process or start from scratch. Three new commissioners join the board Dec. 1. At its meeting Tuesday, the board asked Wilson if the county could buy some time by making more room in the landfill. Frankly"" he said. I don't see how that's possible.""Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(11/19/08 5:00am)
Orange County Commissioners discussed public opinion on the three remaining sites for a waste- transfer station at a meeting Tuesday.But they left their time frame for making a final decision unclear. Chairman Barry Jacobs said the board could select a site on Dec. 11" revise part of the selection process or start from scratch.Recent efforts to site a waste- transfer station are part of a process that began last November after resident protests forced commissioners to scrap original plans. ""We were ready to go then"" Jacobs said. We started this process over again over a year ago.""Commissioners asked staff Tuesday for clarifications on questions residents raised at a meeting Monday attended by more than 250 people.Several board members were curious about waste-to-energy technology and the possibility of a site less than half the size of the three remaining" which are all at least 25 acres.Alternative technologies would be excessively expensive said Bob Sallach president of Olver Inc. the consulting group the board hired to conduct the transfer station search.Commissioners also discussed the possibility of locating the station in an industrial area possibly in Chapel Hill Carrboro or Hillsborough.The board would have to apply to local towns for special permits if it decided to site the transfer station within town limits.Planning Director Craig Benedict told the board that this process would take at least two years.Hillsborough officials also have already made clear to the board that they would annex any land near their borders in order to prevent the board from putting the station nearby commissioners said.Despite previous suggestions that a decision would be made before new commissioners join the board in December the board stressed ensuring a thorough careful process" regardless of time frame.""You have to be fair however you end up doing it" Commissioner Alice Gordon said. If we're not going to finish" I think the new board is going to have a lot to say.""Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(11/18/08 5:00am)
In a middle school cafeteria Monday night residents concerned about Orange County's new waste transfer station outnumbered commissioners about 50 to one.And for more than two hours they voiced their concerns about the three potential sites for the transfer station.Some addressed the fairness of the process" the possibility of alternative waste management solutions and the proposed station's impact on its host community.Others said the station should be located in an industrial area.""Just as no one would place a toilet in a living room" placing a waste transfer station in a residential area is inconceivable" Hillsborough resident Tatiana Zybin said.The five current and two future commissioners present did not respond to comments from roughly 50 of the more than 250 residents at Monday's public information session at McDougle Middle School in Carrboro. A few board members took notes. Others leaned back in their chairs and crossed their legs.The board reopened the search for a waste transfer station site last November after residents of the Rogers-Eubanks community protested original plans. The station will be used as a daily collection point for the county's garbage before it is shipped to an out-of-county landfill.Last month, commissioners narrowed the list of potential sites to three, all within a mile of each other just west of Orange Grove Road on N.C. 54.Strong applause followed many attendees' requests that the board delay site selection for at least 90 days and investigate other sites.Board Chairman Barry Jacobs said the tentative deadline for a decision is Dec. 11, nearly a month after the original date.Many reiterated the concern that commissioners are ignoring more sustainable solutions for disposing of solid waste besides shipping it to a landfill.Commissioners received a report in September from a waste management consultant that concluded the county does not generate enough waste to consider options like generating energy by burning garbage.Residents of Bingham, a township just north of the three sites, said rural Orange County has been unfairly targeted for public facilities.The Cane Creek Reservoir, located about 2 miles west of the proposed transfer sites, supplies water to Chapel Hill and Carrboro. The Orange Water and Sewer Authority also uses land in the area as part of its biosolids management program, which residents describe as spreading sludge"" in open fields.Resident Connor Blakeney said he thought that two potential transfer sites in Hillsborough were removed from consideration because of undue preference to the county's towns.""The pure volume and number of Hillsborough's objections do not make them right"" he said. Only louder."" Bingham residents said they were concerned a transfer station would jeopardize the rural character of the township and compromise resident safety on the area's small roads.""One can only hope that an OWASA sludge truck would not collide with a waste truck"" resident Myra Dodson said. Now that would be an embarrassing mess.""Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(11/14/08 5:00am)
HILLSBOROUGH —Michael Troy Lewis admitted to investigators that he stole from the two UNC football players he is charged with kidnapping.But he emphatically denied charges that he also tied them up and assaulted them with a knife.Officers involved in the case testified Thursday and the jury also saw video of Chapel Hill police investigator Lee Sparrow interviewing Lewis three days after he fled the scene of the alleged incident.Prosecutors and defense attorneys agree that Lewis and two women Tnikia Monta Washington and Monique Jenice Taylor met one of the players at a Franklin Street bar on Dec. 15.Lewis told investigators in the video that the two women were trying to solicit sex. Lewis said he then drove the three back to the player's apartment.The player wanted to be tied up and asked Lewis to participate in sex with him and the women Lewis said.Lewis said he told the player no and went into the living room.He said a second player later arrived at the apartment and joined the first player and the women. The players told investigators that a third player who Lewis didn't mention came into the apartment at the same time and went right to bed.While the women and two players were in the bedroom Lewis said he put some electronics from the apartment into a bag.But the prosecution is trying to prove that before robbing the players Lewis kidnapped two of them and held them at knifepoint.The player who first met Lewis at the bar told police the three suspects asked to wait at his apartment until another friend arrived officers testified Thursday.The player said one of the females made sexual advances and after moving into his bedroom tied him up and began to fondle his genitalia. When the player became uncomfortable and asked her to stop he said she punched him.Sometime later two other players arrived. One told police that he helped the other who was extremely intoxicated into a bedroom. He said he then saw a naked man — Lewis prosecutors say — in the hallway carrying a knife.The player told officers the man invited him into the other bedroom where one of the women pulled his pants down and pushed him onto the bed with the first player. The woman then bound the second player's hands and covered his eyes with a necktie.When the player resisted the man put a sharp object to his throat. Investigators later found a knife in the apartment.Investigators said the third player woke up to an unusual noise and saw a man clad only in socks walk in and out of his room. He pretended to be asleep and when the man entered and exited again called police at 3:25 a.m.The third player said the man then noticed the player was awake and put a sharp object to his throat tied his feet and hands and took his wallet.Police said they arrived on the scene about five minutes after receiving the call.Lewis told investigators that when police arrived he panicked bit the officer who attempted to arrest him and fled the scene.Lewis came to the police voluntarily Dec. 19 and was arrested although officers had told him there were no warrants for his arrest.Police lied to Lewis about the warrants in order to get him to come to the station which Sparrow said is not against written protocol and is a normal tactic.The defense says Lewis also called the police three times before he came to the station with his mother.Lewis33 faces at least eight years in prison if convicted. All charges against Washington were dropped and Taylor will face trial soon.The defense stressed that the three players were intoxicated during the incident and when interviewed by police hours later.The Daily Tar Heel is not identifying the football players because of a policy against naming the complainants in cases that involve sexual offenses.The prosecution is expected to call the players as witnesses when the trial resumes Monday.Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(11/04/08 5:00am)
The two candidates in the only contested Orange County Board of Commissioners race this election differ on development.And as high density developments spring up across the county this split could prove to be a deciding feature of their respective platforms.Kevin Wolff a Republican patent attorney who's taken two shots at Chapel Hill Mayor focuses on diversifying the tax base by promoting research and development and manufacturing. Bernadette Pelissier a Democrat and a former chairwoman of both the Orange-Chatham Group Sierra Club and Orange Water and Sewer Authority Board of Directors sees a future in an agricultural economy. Although Wolff declined an interview his online platform and a survey he filed for The (Raleigh) News & Observer's Under the Dome blog emphasize creating a diverse industry" business and residential tax base.Pelissier said she isn't sure a development like Buckhorn Village — the 1.14-million-square-foot retail center is slated to be built in Efland — will necessarily mean an improved county tax base.She said her primary concern is preserving the county's ""rural character"" through growth in areas such as the local food economy.""We should be trying to do as much as we can locally"" she said. Let's try to have more farm land.""Bonnie Hauser" head of a resident group opposing an airport in rural Orange County is the Pelissier campaign's treasurer.The candidates also bring different experience sets to the race.Pelissier is a long-time community activist. Her term as OWASA chairwoman came during the 2001-02 drought.She said her experience managing much of Chapel Hill and Carrboro's water has informed her opinions on how the county needs to grow.She's also a current member of the Orange County Planning Board and the Orange County Commission for the Environment.Wolff spent 13 years with General Motors and another 13 as a patent attorney. Wolff wrote that the current commissioners lack the expertise he developed in the professional world.Odds stack up against the Republican in a county in which John Kerry beat George W. Bush in 2004 by 34 percentage points.When Wolff ran for mayor he lost by more than a 40 percent margin each time.Pelissier has also raised more than $13000 for her campaign compared to Wolff's less than $3000.Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(11/03/08 5:00am)
Doogie Howser, M.D., and a group of friends linked arms and stood in the street as the motorcycles approached.We were actually singing" ‘We Shall Not Be Moved' but we were moved" said UNC junior William Kumpf, dressed as the title character from the 1990s television show.Despite such minor rebellions as police cleared Franklin Street of Halloween revelers at midnight, the event concluded in one town-sized sigh of relief.Changes implemented this year to downsize the Halloween celebration were largely successful, cutting the crowd size in half and dropping arrest numbers into single digits, Chapel Hill officials said. Police estimated the crowd at about 35,000 people, compared to 80,000 last year.It was as good as we could have hoped for"" said Lt. Kevin Gunter, spokesman for Chapel Hill police.According to a press release from Catherine Lazorko, spokeswoman for the town of Chapel Hill, about 350 police arrested only five people Friday night in the closed portion of Franklin Street, four for fighting and one for impersonating an officer. Police arrested 13 people in the same area during Halloween last year, when there also were more fights, drunk and disorderly charges, and cases of alcohol poisoning.The turmoil some residents predicted would occur when officers began to clear Franklin Street about 20 minutes after midnight never materialized.Most attendees moved to the sidewalks when officers asked. Those who stayed in the streets were quickly moved by 10 officers approaching on motorcycles, revving their engines, flashing headlights and leaning on horns — a tactic Gunter called a skirmish line. The horses officials planned to use to clear the streets at midnight didn't make it — the trailer bringing them to Franklin Street broke down on N.C. 54 — but the motorcycles, more than 100 officers on foot, and several police cars and buses seemed to do the trick.Carolina Athletic Association President Andrew Coonin, dressed as an oversized baby, briefly resisted police efforts to clear Franklin Street. Coonin stood before oncoming motorcycles shouting, Don't touch me."" Officers nudged Coonin onto the sidewalk within a few seconds. Duke University senior Jake Hartley took a more passive approach" strolling before the motorcade in full Jesus garb and parting the crowds with waves of his arms before officers asked him to move onto the sidewalks.Gunter said no one was injured or arrested by the time officers fully cleared Franklin Street at 1 a.m. an hour and half earlier than past years.The early ending was part of the town's Homegrown Halloween campaign — a series of safety restrictions intended to reduce the size of the event and keep it local.New policies introduced this year included no bus services to park-and-ride lots and closing and rerouting traffic on streets surrounding downtown.Many attendees still seemed to enjoy themselves.A roving mob of techno dancers wizards break dancers Bill Clintons and even a Daily Tar Heel kvetching board bounced to trance music in the middle of Franklin.They were followed by a ping-pong team that ripped serves across a table strapped to the back of a friend" and a wanna-be Mayor Kevin Foy.Others said the event was a let-down.""It seemed less crazy"" UNC junior Trevor Ollar said. People were much less rambunctious than they were my freshman year.""Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(10/30/08 4:00am)
A young woman in dark purple scrubs paid her respects Wednesday evening to a knee-high cross on the corner of South Columbia Street and Mason Farm Road.This intersection is where UNC Hospitals radiology imaging specialist Valerie Hughes33 was struck and killed by a Chapel Hill Transit bus Monday afternoon. It's also one of the most dangerous in Chapel Hill" pedestrians and officials said.Traffic signaling at the intersection simultaneously indicates for pedestrians to cross and vehicles to turn onto Columbia.It's often unclear that vehicles are legally required to yield to people crossing. Passengers on the bus that struck Hughes said it was turning left onto South Columbia from Mason Farm and hit her in the crosswalk. ""I've walked across there many times" and I've had to stop because somebody is about to run me down" resident Richard Steele said. They blow the horn at me like I'm the person that's doing something wrong.""Residents said the intersection is dangerous because so much traffic turns left onto South Columbia" instead of going straight across the intersection onto small unmarked Westwood Drive. Most four-way intersections in the state operate the same way said Kelvin Jordan a traffic engineer at the N.C. Department of Transportation who coordinates with Chapel Hill.But because so little traffic continues onto Westwood there isn't a left turn signal that holds traffic so pedestrians can cross freely said Kumar Neppalli Chapel Hill's engineering services manager. The South Columbia and Mason Farm intersection has been under review and was already planned to be modified next year" he said.He said his department hung up a large ""yield to pedestrians sign"" in response to multiple telephone and e-mail complaints about safety at the intersection.But residents said the sign often goes unnoticed by preoccupied drivers and pedestrians.Resident Karen Hurka-Richardson said the intersection has put her in danger countless times. ""I wish I had contacted Chapel Hill earlier"" she said. I feel like that death could have been prevented.""The N.C. Department of Transportation is already conducting a complete system review of traffic signals in Chapel Hill" expected to be completed in the next few weeks.The review includes an evaluation of signal timing and traffic flow which could contribute to accidents like Hughes' Jordan said.He added that his department will also look into how Hughes' death could have been prevented as part of a standard post fatality investigation.As he walked across South Columbia on Wednesday" resident Tim Ross said the intersection's traffic signals are what put pedestrians in danger.""Right here"" he said. I've just about been hit myself.""James Willie Orr" an eight-year Chapel Hill Transit driver who was behind the wheel of the NS-route bus that struck Hughes is on unpaid administrative leave said Stephen Spade director of Chapel Hill Transit. Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(10/22/08 4:00am)
When the Orange County landfill closes in 2011 the 80000 tons of garbage produced locally each year will all roll through a building in the southwestern part of the county.That building will sit on one of three sites Orange County commissioners named Tuesday in the latest development of an almost yearlong search for a new waste transfer station.All three remaining sites lie on a mile-long stretch of N.C. 54 near Orange Grove Road.The seven other potential sites from the commissioners' list of 10 have been removed from consideration including a location in the Rogers-Eubanks community — home to the landfill for the past 36 years.A strong reaction from that neighborhood led commissioners to scrap plans last November to build the transfer station on Eubanks Road. The board then hired a consulting group Olver Inc. to perform the reopened search for a suitable site.The transfer station will serve as a collection point for trash before it is shipped out to an out-of-county landfill.Commissioners informed their site choice with two rankings of the 10 potential sites. One was based on the site's impact on surrounding communities" including criteria such as proximity to schools and environmental justice. The other focused on criteria that include technical concerns such as access to major transportation routes. Only the three selected sites ranked in the top six of both lists.Chairman Barry Jacobs said the next step is to gather public input in the coming months.""This is not the end of the public comment process"" he said. This is just the beginning."" Commissioners said they plan on holding at least one public information session in November before a final decision" scheduled for Nov. 18.Although Jacobs said the date for a final decision is tentative Commissioner Alice Gordon said she wanted to act soon" before the new board of commissioners takes over and the landfill reaches capacity.""What will happen if the landfill fills up and we don't have a transfer station sited?"" she said. ""Then the trash will just pile up.""Forty-five people signed up to address the board at Tuesday's meeting"" although time for public comment only allowed for six.Tuesday's meeting was the seventh work session in a drawn-out siting process that has routinely attracted more people than the meeting room can legally hold. Several residents and officials said they are glad the project has taken a substantial step forward. Assistant County Manager Gwen Harvey found Olver President Bob Sallach after the meeting. ""Congratulations"" she said. You just had triplets."" Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(10/15/08 4:00am)
Commissioners received a new ranking of potential sites for Orange County's waste transfer station Tuesday night.The new list drawn from criteria that include community concerns such as environmental justice significantly reorders the previous ranking.The new top four sites are located along a mile-long stretch of N.C. 54 near Orange Grove Road.The Eubanks Road site home to the county landfill since 1972 dropped four spots to No. 8. The two previously top-ranked sites which are in one of Hillsborough's economic development zones fell to the fifth and sixth spots on the list. Both lists were generated by a consulting group Olver Inc. which the board hired last November.The previous ranking met intense criticism from the public for only taking technical concerns such as site size and access to major transportation routes into account.And commissioners had also objected" saying Olver strayed from the established plan by delaying consideration of how a site effects the community around it.Commissioners said they plan to cut the list to no more than three sites next week using both the old and updated rankings and gather public input on their selections. They also said they did not want to include Olver in the upcoming public comment period of the siting process.""People will feel like they have not been heard if they have to talk to somebody who talks to us"" Commissioner Moses Carey said.Although the board still plans to make a final decision Nov. 18, commissioners stressed that their priority is making the right choice rather than rushing the process.If the process extends into December, the final siting decision could fall in the hands of the new members of the Board of County Commissioners elected on Nov. 4.It would be nice to have it done before we change boards"" Chairman Barry Jacobs said. But I think it's more important that we do it right.""Once commissioners select a final site" they will follow the normal approval procedures for a new development including a traffic impact analysis and an environmental impact assessment.The siting process was opened in November after commissioners scrapped original plans to locate the transfer station on Eubanks Road.Residents of that neighborhood have advocated removing the Eubanks site from the list of potential locations since then. Carey said he might not be present at the board's critical meeting next week. Nelson said he could be late. Jacobs said he reluctantly" would be at next week's critical meeting.""In the interests of full disclosure" I don't have any conflicts that day" Jacobs said. But I sure wish I wasn't going to be there.""Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(09/17/08 4:00am)
Of the top four potential sites for a new waste transfer station the first two are in Hillsborough's economic development district number three is adjacent to a mobile home park and number four has been home to a landfill for 36 years. Orange County Commissioners say something went wrong.Now the board members are taking the siting process into their own hands" voting Tuesday to apply criteria immediately that would take into account factors such as environmental justice and a site's proximity to schools and parks.""This process is our process"" Commissioner Moses Carey Jr. said at the outset of the meeting. It's not the contractor's process. We know what we want to happen tonight — and that's what we should do.""After the motion Tuesday" the board rather than Olver Inc. will decide which three or four of the ten possible sites will remain options.Olver previously planned to evaluate a site's social effect on a community after the commissioners removed a number of sites from the list of ten based on technical criteria which includes proximity to roads and environmental factors. The board hired Olver in November to conduct a search for a waste transfer station site to replace the Orange County landfill which is expected to reach capacity in 2011. More than 200 residents enough to violate the room's fire code packed the meeting to protest the current ranking of potential sites.Neloa Jones — who has advocated for the elimination of the Eubanks site — was interrupted by applause when she asked the commissioners to strike Eubanks Road from the list without further delay.The board did not move to do so despite Jones' request further public comment and signs at the back of the room that read" ""Take Eubanks Road off the list!""Residents who live close to other potential sites on the list also are concerned about the effects of a transfer station near their homes. Judi Loberg owns an event space for retreats" weddings and therapy on property adjacent to the third-ranked site" which is located on N.C. 54.She said a waste transfer station's noise and smell would put her out of business.Residents across the street of Crawford's Mobile Home Park said the added traffic of a transfer station would be reason enough to relocate. ""I'd move"" said Doris Tackett, who has lived at Crawford's for 10 years and has built a wooden porch around her mobile home. That'd be a mess out there.""Hillsborough Mayor Pro Tem Michael Gering cited concerns about the top two sites' locations in the town's economic development districts. Commissioners said there was a substantial misunderstanding between Olver and the board. Chairman Barry Jacobs said he was confident that community-specific criteria would reorder the current ranking of potential sites.""Some that previously" for instance had been number four might become number 10 just for example he said.Olver President Bob Sallach said Olver used a combination of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recommendations and past experience to develop their siting process for the waste transfer station. Obviously they were looking for something different than what we've done" he said. It's just a question of not in my backyard.""Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(09/16/08 4:00am)
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(09/10/08 4:00am)
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(08/28/08 4:00am)
Economic downturns are starting to settle in closer to home despite months of insulation from national trends.
Orange County's unemployment rate reached an unprecedented level - 5.1 percent - in July, according to a report released last Friday by the N.C. Employment Security Commission.
The new number is the highest in 18 years of available records.
"Nobody is immune to what's going on here," said Larry Parker, spokesman for the NCESC. "It's sort of taken a little longer to hit them there."
Orange County's predominance of public employers, which tend to respond more slowly to economic trends than the private sector, has helped minimize the region's unemployment in the past.
Only two of the county's top 10 employers -- Harris Teeter and BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina - are private, said Aaron Nelson, president of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce.
The county also saw a large number of new entrants into the labor force, according to the report.
"It's not the first time that we've had an increase in both employment and unemployment," Parker said. "It's a lot of factors. We've got more people employed and more people out of jobs than ever before in North Carolina history."
Parker said the growing labor force is a sign of continued, if slightly diminished, economic optimism.
"We're still getting job orders in a lot of our offices," he said. "We're just not getting them at the pace that we've been used to for the past few years."
Even in its worst month, Orange County has the seventh-lowest unemployment rate in the state. In some rural areas in North Carolina, rates are almost double that of Orange County.
"There are some people that have lost jobs who live in Orange County," said Moses Carey Jr., an Orange County commissioner. "We have unemployment lower than our sister counties around us, but that doesn't mean that everybody's fine and everybody's happy."
A spokesman for BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina said the insurance giant is actually growing in the Triangle.
Jason Wall, manager of upscale Chapel Hill restaurant Lantern, said although speciality restaurants are usually some of the hardest hit by shifts in the economy, his business has been unaffected.
But the effect of a struggling Orange County economy is still apparent to Wall.
"When I drive around town it seems like a lot of people aren't very busy," he said.
In an e-mail to local leaders this week, Nelson said the high unemployment rate was not an immediate threat.
"Now, while things are going well, it is a good time to talk about and plan how we might respond if things did tighten up considerably," he said in the e-mail.
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(08/20/08 4:00am)
On July 11, there were 45 inmates too many in the Orange County Detention Center.
Sheriff Lindy Pendergrass told the Orange County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday that the overcrowding problem is not going to go away.
On average in the past 13 months the jail has had 33 inmates above capacity, he said.
Pendergrass said he expects the number of inmates to continue to grow, possibly up to 300 in the next few years, more than twice the current capacity of 129.
"For the past five years we've told you that we really need more space," Pendergrass told commissioners. "There's no way that we can maintain it unless you all can give us some renovations or some directions in which you want us to go."
A number of factors contribute to the current overcrowding.
The facility houses both federal and state prisoners, some of whom are waiting to be transferred to the N.C. Department of Correction, which is also at capacity.
"Backlog complicates the problem," Pendergrass said. "Because DOC has no room, when they can let five out, they can let five in.
"We don't want them in our jail, waiting to catch the prisoner bus."
Orange County has a contract with the federal government to hold 75 inmates that generates $2.5 million to $2.8 million yearly, Pendergrass said.
"I can't see us just saying goodbye to that because the tax bill is going to have to pick it up," Commissioner Moses Carey Jr. said.
The jail also holds an increasing number of female prisoners, who require separate cells and facilities.
Chairman Barry Jacobs said there are funds in the commissioners' capital investment plan, which will be finalized in October, for the construction of additional cells.
Carey stressed that Orange County's prisoners are still in good health, despite the overcrowding.
"What the sheriff is saying is that we're not treating our prisoners inhumanely," he said.
According to an N.C. Department of Health and Human Services report, the jail met all sanitation, personal hygiene and health care requirements. But the overcrowding does leave inmates with personal square footage below standards.
The July inspection also sites a problem with inmates sleeping on the floor in front of emergency exit doors and using the doors as clothes lines, problems which Pendergrass told the board he has rectified.
"I invite anybody to come over and walk through and see," Pendergrass said. "We keep it clean and we do treat them real good."
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(04/22/08 4:00am)
Multimedia: Rogers Road - A community in question
Residents of the Rogers-Eubanks community, who have lived next to the Orange County Landfill for 35 years, are concerned about their health.
And as the search for a waste-transfer station site continues, many are trying to clarify the impact the county's trash has had on the quality of their air and water.
(04/18/08 4:00am)
The difference between an Efland farmer and a Chapel Hill banker couldn't be more clear.
But many residents aren't sure if area-specific representation will be good for the county as a whole.
Tuesday's early voting marks the first county commissioner race since a 2006 move to allocate seats between two voting districts. Previously, all commissioners were elected at large.
The board also will expand by two.
Current commissioners said they hope the change will diversify the board.
Some, however, are nervous that the redistricting will divide the county.
Chairman Barry Jacobs said he is concerned that commissioners might be more preoccupied with their districts than with the county as a whole.
"I've been told that by elected officials, former elected officials and managers," he said.
Steve Yuhasz is one of four candidates competing for the seat available in district two, which represents the northern, more rural part of the county outside of the Chapel Hill-Carborro area.
He thinks the redistricting will ensure representation for northern Orange County.
"Certain people in basically what is the O.C. school district area have felt that they didn't have a voice," he said.
"The district two residents haven't had anyone who is directly accountable to them."
Although candidates also stressed the importance of internalizing the needs of the county as a whole, the districts are dramatically different areas with unique needs.
Luther Brooks, another district two candidate, is opposed to the land-transfer tax, which is more popular in district one.
He said he thinks that the majority of district two shares his sentiments.
Brooks said he also thinks that northern Orange County has been shortchanged on recreational facilities.
"It's not been developed like the soccer fields and parks in the southern part of the county," he said.
Bernadette Pelissier, one of three at-large candidates, said she was worried about factionalism on the board - "a tug-o-war for money and services and programs."
"My concern is that then people's expectation is someone elected from a district is supposed to concentrate on a district," she said. "I don't see that as productive."
The redistricting also forces candidates to choose between running for a district-specific seat or an at- large seat.
Candidates said their decision depends on their relationship with the districts.
"I think that my philosophy of government is more reflective of district two thinking," said Yuhasz, who has lived and worked in Hillsborough for the past 25 years.
Jacobs said commissioners have traditionally come from the rural parts of the county and more recently from the Chapel Hill-Carrboro region.
Pelissier said she is running as an at-large candidate because she wants to represents the county as a whole.
"We're all interdependent," she said. "The pie might come out of the oven bad if you only worry about one part."
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(04/11/08 4:00am)
The atmosphere at a public information session about the siting of a new waste transfer station became increasingly tense as Thursday night wore on.
(03/31/08 4:00am)
When the Pilgrim's Pride plant in Siler City closes its doors, 836 workers will be laid off, chicken growers will lose contracts with the company and local retail revenue will dip.
The plant's June closing is expected to create a ripple effect throughout Chatham County.
County officials now are scrambling to fill the vacuum the poultry giant will leave.
But for one population, the plant's closing will have a particularly sharp bite: Workers won't be able to participate in many federal and state programs designed to assist the unemployed if they are undocumented.
"Things like unemployment insurance and federal retraining programs tend to require proof of citizenship," said Jeffrey Starkweather, a member of the Chatham County Economic Development Corporation's board of directors.
The board will unveil a general plan for economic development next week.
Siler City Mayor Charles Turner said he hopes another company will buy the processing complex and allow workers to keep their jobs.
"I have no idea," Turner said when asked what undocumented immigrants might be forced to do if the plant does close. "I have a job search committee that is working hard on that now."
Pilgrim's Pride spokeswoman Karla Harvill denied that any of its employees are undocumented and working in the U.S. illegally.
But many find that unlikely when documented and undocumented Latinos make up 9.6 percent of Chatham County's total population, according to the 2000 census.
A manager in the Pilgrim's Pride hatchery, reached through voice-recorded message in Spanish or English, declined to comment about undocumented workers in the plant.
Local chicken farmer and live bird distributor Bob Hancock, who contracted with Pilgrim's Pride until 2001 and has been in the market for decades, said he thinks the undocumented workers' futures are up in the air.
"It's hard to really put a finger on what's really going to happen," he said. "Some have said they're going to go back . almost immediately."
Starkweather also noted that for immigrants whose children were born here and are natural citizens, the prospect of leaving the U.S. presents a Catch-22. Heading home involves obtaining expensive passports for their children and proving that they were born in the U.S.
"They've got to go someplace," Pittsboro Commissioner Pamela Baldwin said. "We have to have a way of the undocumented workers being documented with green cards so they can go find jobs in other places."
Another manager in the Siler City plant, who declined to give a name because Pilgrim's Pride policy prevents him from speaking to the press, hasn't even begun to think about what he'll do when Pilgrim's Pride moves out.
"I've been so busy concerned about my people; I'm concerned that the people who work here that they'll be able to continue their livelihood."
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.