Carrboro’s Light Agenda Heralds Heavier Issues to Address

GOVERNMENT; COMMUNITY

By Terry E. Cohen
Editor

The Town of Carrboro Council meets for the first time in 2023 this Tuesday, Jan. 10, at 7 p.m., with a seemingly light agenda of receiving and considering a variety of reports, setting a meeting calendar, making a county Schools Safety Task Force appointment and establishing a loading zone.

However, within the North Carolina League of Municipalities (NCLM) report are legislative priorities and advocacy items NCLM wants to advance throughout the state, including how municipalities can recover water clean-up costs from polluters, lower thresholds for voluntary annexations, expand revenue options beyond property taxes, and obtain state assistance for local towns and cities facing labor shortages that result in late audit reporting.

Such issues are relevant to local residents’ daily lives because of their environmental safety outcomes, economic impacts and transparency effects.

In an email to The Local Reporter, Carrboro Mayor Pro Tem Susan Romaine noted some of the other larger issues to come.

“Looking ahead, we’ll have a work session to set the stage for public input on Bolin Creek Greenway, Phases II and IV. Council will also have a retreat on Sat., Jan. 21, to prioritize implementation of our 2022-approved comprehensive plan,” Romaine said.

Romaine also mentioned that Carrboro elected officials will join those of other municipalities and of Orange County in an Assembly of Governments meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 24, at the Whitted Building, 300 W. Tryon St., in Hillsborough to discuss issues affecting multiple jurisdictions in 2023.

The Greene Tract, 167 acres (“more or less” per the Nov. 16, 2021, county resolution) of land publicly owned by Orange County, the Town of Carrboro and the Town of Chapel Hill, may well be on that agenda. Over numerous decades, the property has moved from an original intent as a landfill to interlocal agreements for blending together preserved nature, affordable housing, recreation and a school siting. The Rogers-Eubanks Neighborhood Association (RENA) and the Marian Cheek Jackson Center (MCJC) have raised the profile of the tract’s history, future and relationship to the historically black neighborhood of Rogers Road in the planning process.

The Town of Carrboro Council meets at Town Hall, 301. W. Main St.

Michelle Cassell contributed to this article.

Terry E. Cohen is the editor of The Local Reporter. She also writes articles for a global media firm on topics related to Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) in business and industry.

Michelle Cassell is a seasoned reporter who has covered everything from crime to hurricanes and local politics to human interest over the course of 35 years.