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County
redraws voting districts in 3-1 decision
By Randall Rigsbee
With one
commissioner objecting, the Chatham County Board of Commissioners on
Monday approved a plan to redraw the county’s voting districts.
Monday’s
action, said board chairman George Lucier, will make the districts
less confusing for voters and easier for the Board of Elections to
manage than the map which had been approved by a previous board in
November 2006.
The 2006 map
has never been implemented because there has not been an election
since it was approved.
The new map,
based on 2000 Census data which the board must use — reduces the
population difference between the biggest and smallest election
district from approximately 3.6 percent to 1.2 percent, making the
districts more equal, Lucier said.
Lucier also
noted that the 2006 map was tied to a referendum on district-only
voting, which voters rejected.
The
newly-approved map also allows commissioner Patrick Barnes to seek
re-election in 2008 if he chooses, which he would not have been
allowed to do under the 2006 district map. The 2006 map moved
Barnes, whose term expires in 2008, into a district with Lucier,
whose term runs until 2010.
Commissioner
Tom Vanderbeck cast the lone dissenting vote on a motion to
redistrict Monday night.
Vanderbeck, who has voiced
concern about the plan to redraw the lines, said it would "be nice
to right the wrong" of the 2006 map but said he could not support a
new map at this time without more public involvement and more
deliberation.
more- See Thursday,
December 6, 2007 paper:
Vol 87, No.53
Siler City
officials sworn in
By Angela Delp
Members of
Siler City’s Town Board, all of whom were re-elected to office last
month, were sworn in during a ceremony Monday night.
Judge Joseph
M. Buckner presided over the swearing-in ceremony, which got
underway with the swearing in of Mayor Charles Turner.
Turner has
served on the Siler City Board for 32 years, serving during that
time as commissioner, mayor pro tem and mayor.
"I’ve worked
with some good people during those years," he said. "Some of them
have gone on home now."
Turner
congratulated each of the board members.
"I love each
and every one of you," he said. "No one on this board seeks
self-interests but put the people of Siler City first and foremost."
Commissioners
Larry Cheek, Pat Perry, John Grimes and Helen Buckner were
re-elected to the board and were also sworn in Monday.
The
commissioners chose to be sworn in altogether, rather than
individually.
Incumbent
Mayor Pro Tem John Grimes was chosen by the board to continue
serving in that position.
Grimes vowed
to do the "best job I can."
"I will try to do as good of
a job as you have," he told Turner.
more- See Thursday,
December 6, 2007 paper:
Vol 87, No.53
Plans for new courthouse in Pittsboro begin to
take shape
By Randall Rigsbee
Judicial
officials have long warned that more court space is badly needed in
Chatham County and now, at least on paper, a new county building to
meet those needs is beginning to take shape.
On Monday,
Chatham commissioners met with architects from Corley, Redfoot, Zack
Inc., the firm designing a new $24 million ChathamCounty court
facility, to review preliminary plans.
Architects
Ken Redfoot and David Taylor presented commissioners with an
overview of the three-story court building, which is being designed
to be built on county property south of the existing Chatham County
Annex building in Pittsboro.
The
architects have been working with a team comprised of
representatives from the facility’s "user groups," including court
officials and law enforcement, and all groups have approved of the
proposed layouts, Redfoot said.
Plans for the
first floor includes space for the Clerk of Court’s office, a
magistrate’s office, Dept. of Juvenile Justice, probation and parole
offices, and a public defenders office.
The second
floor includes a jury assembly area, the District Attorneys office,
and space for future expansion.
The third
floor includes two courtrooms (one with a capacity for 150 people;
the other with a 200-seat capacity), a waiting area and lobby space,
a judges’ suite and two deliberation rooms.
The
architects explained that the courtrooms are, at least in the
initial planning stages, on the third floor in order to best utilize
natural lighting for aesthetic and energy-saving reasons.
A basement
area includes a port for transfer of inmates with a segregated
elevator, archival and storage space and room for expansion.
The new facility, which will
be predominantly brick, is envisioned by the architects as part of a
governmental campus with existing county facilities, a walkway
linking the new judicial center with the existing County Annex
building which houses the County Manager’s Office, the Tax Office,
the Clerk of Court and other county offices.
more- See Thursday,
December 6, 2007 paper:
Vol 87, No.53
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Jeff Davis
photos
Throwing out candy . . .
There was plenty of candy
thrown out at Pittsboro’s annual Christmas parade Sunday afternoon.
And plenty of it was picked up by kids . . . and adults along the
parade route. Above, Jazmyn Kirk, with reindeer antlers and a
Rudolph nose, throws out a handful of the sweet stuff to any takers
Sunday. Siler City’s Christmas parade is Thursday evening at 7 p.m.
with Bennett holding theirs Saturday beginning at 4 P.M.
Chatham
officially ends ISP proposal
By Angela Delp
In a closed
session in September, the minutes of which were unsealed Monday, the
Chatham County Board of Commissioners withdrew an economic incentive
which had set aside for ISP Minerals, the company which had proposed
a controversial mining operation in Siler City’s extraterritorial
zoning jurisdiction.
County
attorney Kevin Whiteheart sent a letter to the company dated
November 7 to notify ISP Minerals that the county incentive would be
terminated.
Chatham
County Commissioners voted in 2006 to award $525,000 in economic
incentives to ISP Minerals to open a mining operation in Siler
City’s extraterritorial jurisdiction.
"Approximately 389 days have elapsed since the Economic Incentive
Agreement was signed, and since that time, it is abundantly clear
that ISP Minerals has abandoned its plans for a mining operation in
Siler City," Whiteheart wrote.
He listed the
following points as evidence the plans have been abandoned: failure
to complete mining applications with state agencies, failure to post
a $500,000 mining application fee, failure to submit site plans or
applications for land disturbing activities, failure to submit
requested documents to the appropriate entities and expiration and
expiration of the 401 Certification issued by the NC Division of
Water Quality.
Also cited
among these points was the fact that ISP is allegedly opening a new
mining operation in South Carolina.
ISP attorneys
Eric M. Braun and Ann Anderson told Judge Kenneth Titus that ISP
abandoned the Siler City project May 15, 2007.
"Chatham
County desires to re-allocate the $525,000 set aside for incentives
to other businesses which want to come to Chatham County," he wrote.
Whiteheart
added that the Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to withdraw
the economic incentives once intended for ISP Minerals.
On Monday,
Siler City officials discussed the matter during a Town Board
meeting.
Siler City
town manager Joel Brower said copies of the letter were sent to
county commissioners, county manager Charlie Horne, Chatham Economic
Development president Dianne Reid and attorney John Runkle but a
letter was not sent to Siler City.
Mayor Charles
Turner said it is "disturbing" that a copy of the letter was not
sent to the town.
"The county commissioners
always talk to us about working together but they’ve made it clear
they don’t want to work with us," he said. "This is a slap in the
face to me and my board."
more- See Thursday,
December 6, 2007 paper:
Vol 87, No.53
Lucier is
board’s new chairman
By Randall Rigsbee
Chatham
County commissioner George Lucier is the board’s new chairman.
Lucier was
elected chairman at the beginning of the board’s Monday, Dec. 3
meeting. Each December the board selects a chair and vice chairman
to serve one-year terms.
"Is it okay
to vote for yourself?" Lucier joked with his colleagues as he raised
his hand to make the decision unanimous.
"It’s
certainly an honor to be elected chair and I’ll do my best to serve
the interest of Chatham County for the coming year," Lucier said.
Lucier was
elected to the Chatham County Board of Commissioners in 2006. He is
a former chairman of the county Planning Board and for the past year
has served as the Board of Commissioners vice chairman.
Lucier takes
the reins from commissioner Carl Thompson, who held the chairman
post for the past year. Thompson is currently on a medical leave of
absence and is expected to return to his board post in January.
Commissioner
Mike Cross was unanimously elected vice-chair.
He thanked
his colleagues for their "vote of confidence."
Cross was
elected to the Chatham County Board of Commissioners in 2004.
The board
also unanimously renewed the appointment of Sandra Sublett as clerk
to the board.
"Congratulations, Sandra,"
Lucier said. "I hope you accept.
more- See Thursday,
November 29, 2007 paper:
Vol 87, No.52
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