This series of posts will be made weekly on Chapelboro to help inform our community about local government meetings. All meeting days, locations and times may be subject to change. Check town, county, and school district websites for additional information.

It’s still budget season for local government, with public hearings scheduled this week in Durham, Chapel Hill, and Chatham County – and Orange County Commissioners slated to hold more budget talks as well. But this week’s agendas go deeper too – particularly in Chapel Hill, where the Town Council will hear plans for construction on a site that’s noteworthy for being both very well-known and very secret, all at once.

Here’s a rundown of local government meetings this week in Durham, Orange, and Chatham Counties.

Orange County

The Chapel Hill Town Council has two meetings scheduled this week. On Thursday, May 19, council members will gather at 8:30 a.m. in the Chapel Hill Public Library for a meeting with the town’s legislative delegation – but the Council’s primary meeting will be Wednesday, May 18, virtually at 7 p.m. That meeting will begin with a public hearing on Town Manager Maurice Jones’ proposed budget for next year – then council members will hear a plan to redevelop Porthole Alley downtown, a plan to expand the Harris Teeter in Chapel Hill North, and a plan to replace the Hardee’s on 15/501 with a Fifth Third Bank. Perhaps most intriguing of all, though: Council members on Wednesday will also hear a plan to add an expansion onto Gimghoul Castle.

Click here for the Town Council’s full agenda.

Elsewhere, Orange County Commissioners will continue their budget discussion at a work session Thursday, May 19, at 7 p.m. in the Whitted Building in Hillsborough. And the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School Board is also slated to meet Thursday evening, beginning at 6 p.m. The full agenda for that meeting will be available at this link. (A quorum of school board members will also be present at a community meeting on Tuesday, May 17, at 5:30 in East Chapel Hill High School, though no votes will be taken. CHCCS superintendent Nyah Hamlett and Chapel Hill police chief Chris Blue will be on hand to discuss school safety and resilience, partly in response to a recent major fight on school grounds.)

Chatham and Durham Counties

Chatham County Commissioners are holding a pair of public hearings this week, to give residents a chance to weigh in on County Manager Dan LaMontagne’s budget proposal for next year. The first hearing will be Monday, May 16, at 6 p.m. in the Historic Courthouse in Pittsboro; the second will be Tuesday, May 17, at 6 p.m. at Wren Memorial Library in Siler City. Click here for links to the full agendas.

The Chatham County School Board has called a special session at 2 p.m. Wednesday, May 18, in the Chatham Park Conference Center, to hear from developers on the latest plans for Chatham Park. Get the full agenda at this link.

In Durham, the City Council has a trio of meetings scheduled this week, all at City Hall. The first is Monday, May 16, at 7 p.m. City Manager Wanda Page will present her proposed five-year Capital Improvement Plan, and council members will hold a public hearing on proposed stormwater rates for next year. Then on Wednesday, May 18, the Council will hold a special meeting at 2 p.m. to discuss proposals for federal COVID relief funds. And finally, the Council will meet one more time on Thursday, May 19, at 1 p.m. for a work session that includes a public hearing on City Manager Page’s proposed budget for next year. Get the full agendas for all three meetings here.

Finally, the Durham School Board also meets on Thursday at 6:30. The agenda will be available at this link.

Photo via the Town of Chapel Hill.

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