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 is a busy one in local government, with several big topics on the table. In Carrboro, the Town Council will tackle the timeless issue of downtown parking, while next door, the Chapel Hill Town Council addresses rising costs for the new parking deck on Rosemary Street. Orange County Commissioners will consider following the towns and approving an extension of the water/sewer boundary along 15/501. And in Durham, the controversial-but-effective ShotSpotter tool is back on the table, as the City Council continues renewing the program for another three years.
Here’s a rundown of local government meetings this week in Durham, Orange, and Chatham Counties.
Orange County
The Carrboro Town Council has a busy week, beginning Tuesday, March 5 with their regular meeting at 7 p.m. Their agenda on Tuesday is a light one, but there’s one significant item: council members will get an update on public parking enforcement, and discuss the possibility of paid parking in the future. Then, the council will reconvene for special closed-session meetings on Thursday and Friday, March 7-8, at 5:30 both days; the public agenda provides no details, but the meetings may be related to the ongoing search for a new town manager. (Marie Parker has been serving as interim town manager since Richard White’s departure last fall.) Click here for links to all three agendas.
The Chapel Hill Town Council meets at 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 6. Council members will consider approving another $3 million for the Rosemary Street parking deck project; that would bring the total cost to $51 million, further limiting the town’s ability to pay for other large projects in the short term, but town staff are projecting the deck will effectively pay for itself by 2033 with generated revenue. (The deck is set to open later this spring.) In addition, the Council will discuss a proposed new framework for advisory boards; and they’ll hear from residents who want the town to rename streets that are currently named after white supremacists. Click here for the full agenda.
Orange County Commissioners will meet in the Whitted Building at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 7. Commissioners will consider extending the Chapel Hill-Carrboro water/sewer boundary down 15/501 to the Chatham County line; that’s the same measure that the Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and Hillsborough town boards all approved in recent meetings. (Its technical name is the Water and Sewer Management, Planning and Boundary Agreement, or WASMPBA for short. If county commissioners approve the extension, the only agency left to weigh in will be OWASA; their board is set to consider the measure on April 11.) Get the board’s full agenda here.
The Orange County School Board meets in the Whitted Building at 7 p.m. Monday, March 4. Tops on their agenda: board members will hold a work session to discuss mid-year data on student attendance, discipline, and academic performance. Get the full agenda at this link.
And the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School Board is also holding a work session this week, 6 p.m. Thursday, March 7, in the Lincoln Center. Superintendent Nyah Hamlett will present her budget recommendation for next year; board members will discuss their legislative goals for the General Assembly; and the board will consider closing the district’s Virtual Learning Academy – which was expected to enroll about 200 high schoolers, but currently serves only 44. Click here for the full agenda.
Chatham and Durham Counties
The Chatham County school board is holding a budget work session at 5 p.m. Monday, March 4, at the Central Services Office in Pittsboro. Get the full agenda at this link.
The Durham City Council meets twice this week. First, council members will gather for their regular meeting at 7 p.m. Monday, March 4, with an agenda that includes a new three-year contract with the ShotSpotter program. ShotSpotter is a tool designed to help police identify the location of gunshots when they get reported; the city recently concluded a one-year trial of the program and council members recently heard a report on its effectiveness. Then the council will reconvene for a work session at 1 p.m. Thursday, March 7, with an agenda that features an annual report on transit from GoDurham and a public hearing on next year’s budget and the city’s five-year capital improvement plan. Click here for links to both agendas.
Durham County Commissioners also meet Monday, March 4, beginning at 9 a.m. Commissioners will get the results of last year’s resident satisfaction survey and discuss a plan to promote tourism in Durham. Get the full agenda at this link.
And the Durham school board will convene on Thursday, March 7, beginning with a special closed-session meeting at 4:30 followed immediately by a regular open-session meeting at 5:30. The agenda will be available at this link.
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