June 2010

Downtown Design Charette

I love how these things are always in the middle of the day!  As long as they're convenient for Pat Evans, I guess they're considered open to the public.  Anyway, I do hope to go after work (but will have babe in tow, so no promises).

WHERE: The Design Charette for the Downtown Development Framework and Action Plan will be held in the Great Room at Top of the Hill Restaurant, 100 E. Franklin St. (Enter from Franklin Street next to Walgreen's).

WHEN: There will be four discussion areas from 2 to 7 p.m. focusing on Urban Design, Infrastructure, Markets/Economic Development, and Catch All. There will also be presentations at 3:30 and 5:30 p.m. for those wanting to hear the concepts in whole.

WHO CAN GO: You. The charette, or community planning discussion, is open to property owners, business owners, residents and everyone interested in downtown's future. 

- http://www.chapelhillnews.com/2010/06/09/57545/help-guide-downtowns-future.html 

See also: http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs049/1101424482142/archive/1103449685494.html 

Date: 

Thursday, June 10, 2010 - 10:00am to 3:00pm

Location: 

Great Room at Top of the Hill Restaurant, 100 E. Franklin St., Chapel Hill

Carolina North US Army Corps of Engineers Info Session

Via postcard:

UNCCH invites you to attend a public pre-application information session for the Carolina North US Army Corps of Engineers Individual Permit Application. The University will describe the permit, the approval process, and work accomplished thus far. Representatives from the Army Corps of Engineers will attend. There will be a Q and A session.

Monday, June 21, Seymour Senior Center, 5:00-6:30 pm.  Contact info: Jill Coleman, 843-3246.  jcoleman@fac.unc.edu

And via Julie McClintock (for those who, like me, were wondering what the heck this is all about):

It is not commonly known by the public that UNC is seeking a 50 year Corps of Engineers permit which will document and assess impacts of all roads, greenways etc that will impact water courses on the entire tract of Carolina North.   

Date: 

Monday, June 21, 2010 - 1:00pm

Location: 

Seymour Senior Center

Ominous news for downtown Carrboro

Part of the latest Weaver Street Market newsletter states that Weaver Street Market has sold their property at the corner of Greensboro and Main Streets to Mark Pantlin of Raleigh. (This was the former location of WCOM and Community Realty.) Apparently they had high hopes for this high-profile property in the center of Carrboro, but finally resigned themselves to just taking the money and avoiding the hassle of a new venture and new development. I keep hearing the word "Walgreens" come up in discussions of this corner, so this makes me nervous.

Mark Pantlin on CorporationWikiA friend and I did a little research to see if we could find out more about this developer. Pantlin lives in Cary, and on a LinkedIn profile he says he is President of Pantlin Development. (But he only has one connection on LinkedIn, and the NC Dept of State says Pantlin Development was dissolved in 2009.) I found him on this neat CorporationWiki network map (at left), which also lists some other companies to which he may be related.  It also looks like he donated to the Republican National Committee in 2001 and to George Bush in 1999.  

Of more concern is the possibility of a national chain not just locating, but developing a lot (or multiple lots, probably) in the heart of Carrboro. Since it would be right across the street from an existing chain drug store, you can't even really argue that it's meeting some community need.

The Mill on the Carolina North Floss

As we watched the oily horror spread through the Gulf, some fiendish homeowner's demons launched a shock-and-awe assault on the homefront, leaving us at one point without hot water, air-conditioning, television, all kitchen privileges, or garage door opener.  We particularly missed the A/C as six behemoth heaters and dehumidifiers blasted hot air throughout kitchen and living room.   Our savings have taken a breathtaking hit, soon to be eased somewhat by a low interest credit union equity-line-of-credit.  (We need more credit unions and fewer ... but that's another blog.)

The link between the oil spill and the pushme-pullyou of A/C vs. floor-drying machines hit me like that hot slap of air on emerging from an air-conditioned building into 98-degree heat -- and it did so as I was looking across Penobscot Bay at 3 windmills on an island. And I'd noticed several others have popped up, more or less one at a time, around the Boston area, NH, and Maine. 

Primary Runoff Election

Date: 

Tuesday, June 22, 2010 - 2:30am to 3:30pm

Early Voting - Primary Runoff Election

Date: 

Thursday, June 3, 2010 - 4:00am to Saturday, June 19, 2010 - 9:00am

Location: 

Orange County Board of Elections, 208 South Cameron Street, Hillsborough

Vote Tuesday, no really

So there's an election again on Tuesday, in which Democrats get to select whether Elaine Marshall or Cal Cunnigham will run against US Senator Richard Burr in the fall. (I'm partial to Elaine, but I really don't care which one wins as long as he or she beats Burr.) Voters in the northern and western* part of Orange County will also be settling a near-tie for fourth place in the nonpartisan Orange County Board of Education race.  By all accounts (http://www.orangepolitics.org/2010/05/whats-at-issue-in-the-school-board-runoff), your choices seem to be dumb and dumber, so good luck with that!

I'm embarrassed to say that I didn't realize there would be one-stop early voting for this run off until it started a couple of weeks ago. You can only do it at the Board of Elections office in Hillsborough and it ends Saturday afternoon. Get the info at http://www.co.orange.nc.us/elect/onestop.asp or just vote on Tuesday at your own poll site like you would on any other election day.

With so little to draw people out, I wonder if this will be one of the state's lowest turnout elections ever? 

* Corrected 6/21/10. 

Library and Museum

Another bit of woolgathering speculation, this time prompted by headlines about the closing of the Chapel Hill Museum and letters linking it with the funding voted for library exansion as an either-or choice. 

In the town where I grew up, one room of the library was devoted to town history, a full gallery of maps, artifacts, letters, photos, etc.  In the process of visiting libraries for some academic research, I discovered that many town libraries house town-history collections of varying scope, often showcased around the building if not featured in a specific room.

Election Day

Date: 

Tuesday, November 2, 2010 - 2:30am to 3:30pm

dog kennel/new hope church rd.

Does anybody know what happened to the proposed dog kennel on New Hope Church Rd?

I still see signs up against it yet haven't heard anything in awhile.

Anybody know what happened?

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