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Schools

School System Requests Budget Increase
Orange County Schools Superintendent Patrick Rhodes recommended a $1.8 million increase, or 8.35 percent increase compared to last year’s budget figure to the school board March17. Rhodes' budget recommendation would add 1.39 cents to the tax rate.
Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools recommended to its board a $6.8 million increase next year which could be funded in part by increasing the county's per-pupil spending, adding 2.62 cents per $100 valuation to the county tax rate. An increase in budget funds would go mostly toward expected state increases in teacher pay and benefits and a change in the state's requirements for the number of exceptional children's program positions.

The board will hold public hearings on both the operational and capital budget proposals at 6 p.m. April 7 and 7 p.m. April 10 in the auditorium of A.L. Stanback Middle School, 3700 N.C. 86 South, Hillsborough. The Orange County Board of Commissioners is scheduled to adopt its budget in June. For the full story, click here.

School Board Member Whitling Resigns Following Embezzlement Charges
Following a February 14 arrest and facing charges of embezzlement in excess of $100,000, false pretense, corporate malfeasance and obstruction of justice, Orange County school board member Dennis Whitling resigned February 18. His bail was set at $75,000 then reduced to $10,000. According to a search warrant, a Durham Police Department investigator applied in December for access to Whitling's personal bank account information. Detective Cpl. Bennie E. Bradley wrote that Whitling left a Durham firm owned by Thomas J. Stevens in 2007 to start his own business and may have stolen more than $58,000 from the law office where he worked from 1984 to 2007. Bradley also said that in 2006 and 2007, Whitling wrote himself checks for more money than was authorized. The alleged incidents occurred between December 2005 and September 2007. The law firm reported them in November. For the full story, click here.

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Orange County

Orange County to Vote on Transfer Tax in May
The Orange County Board of Commissioners recently voted unanimously to put a 0.4 percent land transfer tax on the May primary ballot. About 10 audience members at the board meeting opposed the transfer tax by wearing stickers or holding signs, and a dozen people spoke before the board, many opposing the transfer tax. The other revenue option being considered by the Commissioners was a 0.25 percent sales tax increase. According to a poll recently conducted for the County, when asked which tax they would support, 48 percent of respondents said they would support the sales tax compared to only 32 percent for the transfer tax. Nevertheless, the Commissioners placed only the transfer tax on the ballot. For the full story, click here.

Dispute over Permit Condition in Carrboro Development Project
Attorneys for Northwest Properties and the Town of Carrboro presented evidence in front of Superior Court Judge Allen Baddour concerning a dispute over a permit for a 77,000-square-foot center on Jones Ferry Road. The argument was over a condition for the permit which prohibited an entrance to the center from Barnes Street. The Shoppes at Jones Ferry is planned to include a 50,000-square-foot Harris Teeter grocery store and other retail space along Jones Ferry Road and Barnes Street. Without the disputed Barnes Street entrance to The Shoppes there would be one entrance into the center. Northwest Properties says its client, Harris Teeter, will pull out of the project unless there are two public driveways into the property. The Town of Carrboro is arguing that this entrance would increase traffic flow into a residential area and could cause safety problems for those residents who live on Barnes Street.

Northwest Properties is asking Baddour to strike the condition that restricts access to the shopping center from Barnes Street. The judge said he would read all of the evidence before making a decision. He will most likely make a decision out of term and out of session. For the full story, click here.

Downtown Chapel Hill Parking Solution Request Expedited
Members of the Chapel Hill Town Council and the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership have agreed to expedite the request of property owner P.H. Craig to rezone parking areas behind The Courtyard shopping center. Since Courtyard owner Spencer Young purchased the property in 2005, Craig and Young have yet to reach a lease agreement and Craig closed his parking lot property to Courtyard use over the summer. As a result, Courtyard tenants have complained that the struggle between the business owners has reduced the already limited parking. Although the Council has agreed to expedite the request, Craig has not been given an indication of when the spaces would be available if the changes were approved. For the full story, click here.

Downtown Chapel Hill May Get Farmers’ Market
The Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership, local farmers and the Town's Parks and Recreation Department are working to establish an afternoon farmers’ market on top of the Wallace Parking Deck this spring. Organizers say the proposed market, which would follow the models of farmers’ markets in Carrboro, Hillsborough and Fearrington Village, would support the partnership’s goal of increasing downtown traffic. In addition to the fresh produce, flowers, meats and other farmers’ market products to be sold, organizers are also considering featuring live music and entertainment, as well as offering downtown business and restaurants the opportunity to sell their products. For the full story, click here.

Church’s Expansion Proposal Could Bring Park-and-Ride Lot
The Orange United Methodist Church at 1220 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. brought expansion plans before the Chapel Hill Town Council during its February 18 meeting. The church, almost 180 years old, is proposing to build a 57,000-square-foot addition and 188 extra parking spaces on the 16-acre site. The construction will include a new worship space, classrooms, a youth facility and administrative offices. Currently, the sanctuary has a capacity of 240 seats and the campus has 110 parking spaces. The Planning Board requested the council to encourage the church to consider a park-and-ride facility at the site. The board reasoned that it's a good location for one because, among other reasons, it is on the bus line and a park-and-ride lot would help the town meet its goal of increasing the number of residents who take advantage of the bus service. For the full story, click here.

Major Projects Come to Fruition in Hillsborough
Several Orange County services, including the register of deeds, land records, tax assessor and tax collector offices, will move into the Gateway Center, scheduled to open April 30. Pam Jones, the county’s purchasing director, said the offices will close March 14 at 5 p.m. and reopen the morning of March 19 on the building’s second and third floors. The Gateway parking deck will open to the public in mid-April. Of the deck's 400 parking spots, 200 will be occupied by county employees and 200 will be available for pay-by-the-hour parking. County employees will temporarily use the Weaver Street Market parking lot until the lot is opened to the public.

David Stancil, environmental resource and conservation director, said plans for Fairview Park, located on Rainey Avenue, appear to be on schedule and could move into the construction process "probably before Thanksgiving." Lori Taft, director of parks and recreation, said the town is optimistic about its application for a $500,000 grant to the N.C. Parks and Recreation Trust Fund for Fairview Park. For the full story, click here.

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The Triangle

Chatham County Approves Water Rules
Chatham County commissioners adopted new rules February 19 to promote year-round water conservation. The revisions allow about 5,000 households in northeastern Chatham served by the Jordan Lake Treatment Plant to apply a total of 1 inch of water on two specified days a week. Residents who get water service from Cary and county water customers outside the northeast are not included in the new rules. Irrigation systems must have automatic controllers and moisture sensors and watering landscaping or using water to clean vehicles, equipment or hard surfaces to the extent that water pools or runs onto adjacent property or public right-of-way is prohibited. Losing water through plumbing leaks that can be readily identified and repaired is also prohibited and all leaks must be repaired within 10 days of being detected. For the full story, click here.

Residents Challenge Mixed-use Project Development
Following a decision by the Cary Town Council to approve a mixed-use project near the Prestonwood Country Club, nineteen residents have been engaged in a yearlong battle challenging the decision. In December, the Charlotte-based development company Crosland declared intentions of seeking attorneys’ fees if the case is dismissed and considered frivolous. A March 5 hearing is scheduled in Wake Superior Court. The 41-acre project is expected to be similar to Raleigh's North Hills and will include apartment units, townhouses and more than 100,000 square feet of commercial and office space. Residents say that will bring too much traffic and result in an urban feel to the area of mainly suburban residential subdivisions. For the full story, click here.

Corps Cuts Water Flow from Lake to Help Raleigh
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has agreed to cut nearly in half the amount of water that flows out of drought-ravaged Falls Lake to extend water supplies for the city of Raleigh. Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker lobbied congressmen for help. The lake is about 8 feet below normal level and the city has implemented mandatory water conservation. Meeker told WRAL-TV the reduction of 17 million gallons a day would last at least through March and retain as much as 500 million gallons of water in the lake. The reduction could be extended for up to a year. Rep. David Price told The News & Observer of Raleigh that the Corps acted unusually fast.
From the Herald Sun

Census Estimates Released, Big Growth in Wake County
The Census Bureau released its annual population growth estimates last Thursday for counties nationwide. Wake County led the Triangle in 2007 adding 38,841 people. This jump made it the seventh fastest growing county in the nation for 2007. Over the past seven years, Wake added 205,124 residents, putting it on pace to become North Carolina’s largest county very soon. See the table below for other Triangle county growth figures.

County	Pop. Increase ('00-'07)	Percent
Durham	256,500	14.9
Orange	124,313	7.6
Chatham	61,455	24.6
Johnston	157,437	29.2
Wake	832,970	32.7
Triangle	1,400,000	34

Durham Greenfire Development Deal Delayed
The Durham City Council agreed March 3 to delay a decision on the nonbinding "deal points" that would have launched the final negotiations for Greenfire Development’s $284 million downtown redevelopment project. A city-owned parking deck and two parking lots would be redeveloped as a mix of residential and retail. The deal also includes turning the Hill Building, now home to SunTrust bank, into a hotel and the former Woolworth's department store site into an office tower. City officials said Monday they're generally supportive of the concept, but community feedback, which has included testy public meetings and sharply worded letters to city leaders, led the council to delay the deal. For the full story, click here.

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State

North Carolina Debt Capacity has Grown
According to the Debt Affordability Study, created by a panel of state officials and legislative appointees, North Carolina state government has more room to borrow money than it did last year because tax revenues keep growing and old debt is being paid off. With an increase over the average of $384 million last year, the state can issue an average of $479.4 million in new debt each year over the next decade. State Treasurer Richard Moore, the panel's chairman, said he's still concerned that lawmakers keep creating new debt that doesn't require voters to approve the borrowing. The so-called "special indebtedness" usually has slightly higher interest rates than voter-approved debt.
From The Herald Sun

N.C. Cities to Discuss Neuse Basin Water
The state Division of Water Resources will lead a project including cities across North Carolina and state water planners to develop a long-range model of water use from the Neuse River basin. John Morris, director of the state agency, said plans by individual local governments to withdraw more water may look fine in isolation, but they do not take into account withdrawals in other parts of the basin that affect water supplies farther downstream. The agency is preparing overviews for most of North Carolina's major river basins, to which it will refer when making regulatory decisions about proposed water withdrawals and planning for increased water use, and the project is expected to take about two years to complete. For the full story, click here.