In a special Chapel Hill Town Council meeting Wednesday, Town Manager Maurice Jones explained that Chapel Hill activated the Emergency Operations Center, closed many public facilities, suspended public meetings until March 30 and has moved to the Saturday route schedule in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
To limit the spread of COVID-19, or coronavirus, the Town of Chapel Hill has canceled all advisory board, commission and town council meetings until further notice, including a council budget work session originally scheduled for March 18.
Following the resignation of Chapel Hill Town Council Member Rachel Schaevitz, the council is accepting applicants to fill the vacant seat while also looking at decreasing the number of seats on the council from nine to seven.
Orange County and Carrboro have just declared state of emergencies in response to the ongoing COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.
The Town Council unanimously passed the motion authorizing a memorandum of understanding with Grubb Properties for the East Rosemary Downtown Redevelopment Project. Additionally, the Council also passed a motion to move forward in an incentive agreement with Well Dot, Inc. (Well).
Paying homage to the Chapel Hill Nine's courage and the Civil Rights Movement in the Town of Chapel Hill, a new marker went up on West Franklin Street on Friday.
"Within three weeks of going fine-free, Chicago Public Library saw a 240 percent increase in returned materials and an increased number or new users," said Meeghan Rosen, the assistant director of Chapel Hill Public Library.
The 15-member council has seats for each elected body, including representatives from the Orange County Board of County Commissioners, Hillsborough Board of Commissioners, Carrboro Town Council and Chapel Hill Town Council. A fifth designated seat goes to a representative from the Orange County Agricultural Preservation Board, whose role is to represent agriculture and farming.
“I think folks who don’t see themselves represented when it comes to the suit-and-tie culture of a town council, might be able to see themselves and their stories represented in the poems that I share, in the clothes that I wear, in the music that I listen to, in the performance art that I do for the community."
Though the future of Silent Sam remains in limbo, the Town of Chapel Hill doubles down in their position that the statue does not belong on the campus of UNC or anywhere else in Chapel Hill.
After voters approved a $10 million housing bond, Chapel Hill is now trying to piece together how to issue it.
With more office spaces, vendor locations and parking decks, the proposed plan brings change to downtown Chapel Hill.
In a recent town meeting, Chapel Hill Community Arts and Culture details how they plan to lead by example, and plan events that are not only more sustainable, but inclusive as well.
The Town of Chapel Hill is creating a Fund for Criminal Justice Debt for the neediest defendants. The fund will include $20,000 that will be used to help defendants pay their court debts. Council members hope the fund will help defendants reintegrate into society.
"'One question is, do we go down to seven?" he said. "Another question is: what do we do with the vacancy?'"
Carrboro is the only jurisdiction that has an official climate action plan, while both Chapel Hill and Hillsborough are currently developing theirs. All three towns have individual goals and areas of focus, but wider county collaboration through the Orange County Climate Council is beginning to take shape.
The development of the Short Range Transit Plan began in September 2017. The six goals of the plan are to improve transit mode shift, increase ridership, create high-frequency transit corridors, emphasize equity, improve weekend service and enhance the convenience of living without a private vehicle.
Since the 2002 Greene Tract resolution was adopted, several different land-use needs have been suggested, but no development has started on the lot.
“He’s not a hero for some of the community, he’s not my hero because I’m an African-American, he’s not the hero of women because he heralded women’s rights, he’s not the hero of the immigrant because he fought for their rights,” Richards said. “He’s not the hero of soldiers or those who would do war because he fought for peace. He is the hero of all of us.”
Over the next few days, organizations in Orange County will host events celebrating and honoring Martin Luther King Jr. These events will include a memorial banquet, an NAACP rally and even more.
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