The Chatham County Board of Commissioners took steps in making county-wide broadband closer to reality on Monday by reaching a tentative agreement allowing MetaWave Media to research broadband coverage in Chatham County.

The agreement outlines the need for broadband in Chatham County, as well as the county’s limited broadband services that "are at prices unaffordable to many."

The agreement also addresses the need of broadband services in Chatham County to "aid and encourage the location of manufacturing enterprises and industrial and commercial plants in the county, increase the population and the value of taxable property, and the business prospects of the county."

"For us, this is a big deal in Chatham County," Lucier said. "It’s not going to be possible for us, especially in the western part of the county, to draw in developers without [broadband].

Within the agreement, MetaWave is expected to assess the current levels of high-speed internet coverage throughout the county, including areas planned to be covered in the next three to five years.

In addition, MetaWave will calculate an average monthly cost for a variety of available services within each area.

Siler City officials are launching a new effort to beautify and clean-up the town, including lawns at abandoned homes.

Everyone in Siler City government is doing their part to clean up the town.

Recreation Director Don Dones is in charge of seeing the playgrounds and ball fields are policed.

"Teams that use our fields are responsible for cleaning them up," Dones said. "We have garbage cans on site, and the users are supposed to see all trash is picked up after every event."

Director of Planning and Community Development Jack Meadows and Code Enforcement Director Charlie McLaurin have had some specific complaints about tall grass, some weeds being "head-high" complainants have suggested.

The first recourse is for town officials to talk to landowners and homeowners if they can be contacted.

"There was an overgrown property at 105 College Street that was in foreclosure," Meadows said. "We could not contact the owner, who was said to now live in Nevada, but the bank sent a man over to mow it."

There are many other sources of complaints, including livestock.

The town’s website (www.SilerCity.org) is up-to-date and easy to use and to answer questions.

The staff at the Code Enforcement Office include Meadows, McLaurin and Support Specialist Dee Lee Thompkins. "We are part of a team here," Meadows said.

Mayor Charles Turner says the town’s push to clean up is "long overdue."

He says the townspeople tend to be very cooperative, but it is the few who make the town look bad.

With celebrations in several neighborhoods, Siler City partied with a National Night Out Tuesday evening. Live bands in played for folks gathered in partnership with the Siler City Police Department to stomp out crime. Look in next week’s paper for complete coverage.

Central Carolina Community College will see major expansion in Chatham County as construction for three new buildings gets under way this summer.

At its July 29 meeting at the college’s Lee County Campus, the board of trustees accepted the low bid of Monteith Construction Corp., of
Monroe, to build the college’s new Siler City Center. The base bid was $3.3 million and total contract amount, $4.16 million. The project, designed by Hobbs Architects, of Pittsboro, will be paid for by Chatham County.

Since 1984, the college has operated the Siler City Center out of the former Henry Siler Elementary School. The 24,500 square-foot Center will
greatly increase the space for industrial and adult education.

The building will meet the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED energy efficiency Silver certification, or higher. Construction is scheduled to
start in late August at the site in the Central Carolina Business Campus.