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.
This week, the spotlight is on the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School Board, as the district deals with a bus-driver shortage that caused massive headaches last week. The board is holding a public hearing this Thursday to get residents’ feedback on a number of proposed options to address the shortage in the long term. (Some of those proposals have already drawn mixed reactions.) Beyond that, Orange and Chatham County Commissioners will each meet with their respective state-legislative delegations, while the Chapel Hill Town Council continues its budget talks and Durham County Commissioners consider an incentives package for a company that’s promising to bring 600 jobs to the area.
Here’s a rundown of local government meetings this week in Durham, Orange, and Chatham Counties.
Orange County
Orange County Commissioners are holding a legislative breakfast with state lawmakers on Monday, February 27. County commissioners will urge State Sen. Graig Meyer and State Reps. Allen Buansi and Renee Price to prioritize eight key issues:
- better funding for mental and behavioral health services;
- Medicaid expansion;
- racial equity in criminal justice;
- a nonpartisan process for redrawing legislative district lines;
- strengthening gun restrictions, including a red-flag law and a law allowing counties to ban concealed carry in parks;
- fully funding the Leandro plan for K-12 schools;
- greater funding for school facility construction and maintenance;
- and other educational priorities, including higher teacher salaries and local control over school calendars.
Click here for a detailed list of the county’s legislative priorities.
Speaking of education, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School Board will meet on Thursday, March 2, at 6:00 p.m. in the Southern Human Services Center. Superintendent Nyah Hamlett will unveil her budget plan for the next school year, and the board will get an overview of the district’s capital investment plan for the next 10 years – but the most immediate concern is addressing CHCCS’ nagging bus-driver shortage. District officials have already approved a pay raise for new drivers, but they’ve also suggested other possible options – including consolidating bus stops, changing the start times for some elementary schools, and adjusting transportation for magnet-school students. Thursday’s meeting will feature a public hearing where residents can weigh in on those options. Click here for the full agenda.
Orange County’s three town boards also meet this week – each with agendas that are shorter, but no less substantive.
The Hillsborough Board of Commissioners will meet Monday, February 27, at 7:00 p.m., with an agenda that includes a discussion of how to allocate $43,000 in affordable-housing funds. Get the full agenda at this link.
The Carrboro Town Council meets at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, February 28, to receive updates on the town’s efforts to mitigate climate change and promote equity. Click here for a link to the agenda.
And the Chapel Hill Town Council is holding a work session Wednesday, March 1, at 5:00 p.m. in the Chapel Hill Public Library. There’s only one agenda item this week: council members will continue their budget discussion following a recent retreat. Get the full agenda here.
Chatham and Durham Counties
Like their Orange County counterparts, Chatham County Commissioners will hold their annual legislative breakfast at 9:00 a.m. on Monday, February 27, meeting with Chatham’s state-legislative delegation to discuss priorities for the coming year.
The Pittsboro Board of Commissioners also meets on Monday, February 27, in the Chatham County Agriculture and Conference Center. After a closed-session meeting at 6:00 p.m., commissioners will convene in open session at 7:00; their agenda includes a resolution calling for Medicaid expansion at the state level.
Finally, it’s a busy week for Durham County Commissioners, featuring a two-day budget retreat on Tuesday and Wednesday, February 28 and March 1. Before that, commissioners will hold their regular meeting on Monday, February 27, beginning in open session at 7:00 p.m. after a closed-session meeting at 6:00. Their agenda includes a resolution supporting Durham’s LGBTQ community and denouncing two anti-LGBTQ bills in the General Assembly – as well as a public hearing on an incentives package with the Finnish company Kenpower, which is planning to build a new $41 million manufacturing and distribution facility in town that’s slated to create 600 new jobs. Get the full agenda here.
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