Parks

Mapping the New Work on the Bolin Creek Greenway

Improvements and extensions to Bolin Creek Greenway have been in the works for years, and as Phase III of the project gets underway, the Town of Chapel Hill has released an interactive story map that will allow folks to track the project's progress. 

I've embedded the map below, and you can check out a larger version of it on the town's website.

Board of County Commissioners Tour of Blackwood and Twin Creeks Properties

[Update: This event will begin at 10:00 am. -- Eds.]

Members of the Orange County Board of Commissioners have been invited to attend an informal tour of park space at Twin Creeks and Millhouse Road on Wednesday, December 31, 2014.  The tour will start at 2:00 p.m. at the former Julia Blackwood house, 6823 Millhouse Road in Chapel Hill.  A majority of the Orange County Board of Commissioners may attend this event.

Date: 

Wednesday, December 31, 2014 - 10:00am

Location: 

6823 Millhouse Road

Chapel Hill's New Parks and Recreation Master Plan: Your Input is Needed!

The Town of Chapel Hill's Parks and Recreation Department is starting the process of updating their master plan. The current plan is almost 9 years old, and is considered out-of-date. The Town is partnering with Site Solutions (a Charlotte-based firm) to develop the new plan, which will take into account the Town's changing needs and current economic situation.

Call it what It is: Free Land

On the surface, it is perfectly reasonable to agree with the IFC’s decision to take the University up on its offer to lease the land at a rate of $1 per year. However, there continue to be many unanswered questions that when addressed will shed an entirely different light onto the issue. I’ve listed some, but not all of those questions below.

1. Why is UNC being so generous?
2. What is UNC getting out of this extremely philanthropic act?
3. What are the criteria Chris Moran states the IFC used to select this area?
4. What criteria were used to select the previous sites that were ultimately rejected and where is the evidence the criteria were used before the previous sites were rejected?
5. What is to happen to the men who are turned away from using one of the planned 20 emergency beds?

Helping Homeless Men

I watched Monday night's public hearing on the IFC's proposed new shelter on Homestead Road with dismay. Every time the IFC identifies an affordable parcel of land appropriate for a new Homestart shelter, the neighbors object. Although the Town Council does a good job of responding to the concerns of neighborhoods, this time we have a pickle. The shelter has to move. It cannot stay downtown and achieve the type of service the town and the IFC want to provide to our homeless male population. To help promote a more positive dialogue, I'd like to propose that we stop talking about "the shelter" and begin discussing the various services currently offered by the IFC and the new proposed services.

The current shelter offers three primary services: overnight beds, job and life counseling, and meals. Those who wish to spend the night at the shelter must be clean and sober, and they have to be inside by 8:00 pm and gone by early morning. Counseling is obviously used by those who desire the service. Meals are available to men, women, and children, whether they stay in the shelter or not. Many of those who use the meal service are the underemployed. 

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