By Randall Rigsbee

Many seats in Chatham Central High School’s Polly O. Yow Auditorium were empty Monday night for the third of three forums on a county proposal to regulate development along Chatham County’s major highways.

But the modest-sized crowd of about 75 county residents in attendance for the two-hour session raised a number of concerns and questions about the plan, including how the proposal will affect the rights of property owners and the impact the plan might have on economic development.

 The proposal, which was developed by the Board of Commissioners-appointed Major Corridors Task Force over the past year, would impact seven major roadways: US 1, US 15/501, US 64, US 421, NC 87, NC 751 and Pittsboro-Moncure Road.

The task force’s recommendations include designating the major corridors into two “overlay” types: commercial nodes (or districts); and scenic overlay districts. Commercial development would be encouraged in the commercial nodes but not in the scenic overlay districts.

Higher development standards are recommended in the scenic overlay districts to encourage commercial uses to locate in the commercial nodes.

The aim of the proposal is to ensure commercial development is designed to promote or retain Chatham County’s rural character, explained Loyse Hurley, president of Chatham Citizens for Effective Communities, a citizen group which hosted the Monday night forum in conjunction with the county.

One major goal of the plan is to “promote an appropriate balance between development and conservation of open space,” states a printed summary of the task force’s recommendations which was available for residents who attended the forum.

“Another important purpose is the promotion of good air and water quality by preserving tree cover and natural landscaping,” according to the summary. “Further, the recommended design requirements for node overlay districts will ensure high standards for commercial developments in Chatham County.”

Most in the audience who spoke Monday questioned aspects of the plan.

County resident Barbara McCoy praised the dedication of the task force members for their work but called the plan itself an “invasion of individual property rights” which “goes beyond normal zoning that we have seen in the county so far.”

Congressman Bob Etheridge, in a letter to The Chatham News/Record, pledged his help to Siler City and Chatham County as local leaders grapple with the economic blow from the pending loss of jobs and revenue when Pilgrim’s Pride closes its local operation.

Meanwhile, Siler City Mayor Charles Turner has penned a letter to N.C. Secretary of Commerce Jim Fain asking for assistance from his office to help town leaders in their efforts to bring more industry to the town.

The overall impact of the loss of Pilgrim’s Pride, Turner wrote, “is hard to comprehend at this point. The direct effect on the Town of Siler City initially brings our focus on the loss of one of our largest water and sewer customers served by the Town’s utility system. A shortfall of $1.2 million annually in revenues is projected in our water and sewer fund. It appears that this loss will have a significant impact on water and sewer rates for the remaining customers on the Town’s system.”

more- See Thursday, March 27, 2008 paper: Vol 88, No.16

By Randall Rigsbee

After many months of research, including a series fo community meetings across the county, a proposed Economic Development Strategic Plan for Chatham County will be revealed for public feedback in April.

The Chatham County Economic Development Corporation will host two meetings to unveil the draft plan:

·                  April 8 (Tuesday), 7-9 p.m., County Agriculture Auditorium in Pittsboro

·                  April 10 (Thursday), 7-9 pm, Western Chatham Senior Center in Siler City

Interested residents are encouraged to attend either meeting. No registration is required. 

“In light of the recent announced plant closings in Siler City, our efforts to create jobs in Chatham County are more critical than ever,” said Jamie Nunnelly, chair of the Economic Development Corporation.  “We have to be strategic, targeted, and united behind a vision of what is possible.”

According to Dianne Reid, president of the Economic Development Corporation, “The draft plan uses a policy approach to address the county’s economic development challenges.  It presents a roadmap for repositioning the county as a preferred location for businesses.” 

The April meetings will include the presentation of preliminary recommendations and ask for public reaction and feedback. The plan identifies existing and potential types of industries, called clusters, which should be targeted for growth. It also offers suggestions for reorganizing the Economic Development Corporation so that it is poised to effectively implement the strategic plan.

more- See Thursday, March 27, 2008 paper: Vol 88, No.16

It's spring, but chill still threatens crops

Area farmers took precautions earlier this week to protect their crops from a sudden return of  wintery weather.

Michael Beal, owner of Kildee Farms in Ramseur, sprayed his strawberry crops Tuesday morning to protect to protect them from a freeze.

“I usually don’t have to do this until the first of April,” he said, in an interview Monday. “But since spring came early this year, we’ve got quite a bit of root on the plants and we’ll have to protect them.”

Beal said some strawberry farmers depend on e-mail alerts from a strawberry specialist at North Carolina State University.

“When he receives cold weather alerts, he passes them onto the growers,” he explained. “We then check forecasts and air temperatures.”

As temperatures Monday night dipped below freezing, Beal said he would have to take the precaution on his crops “sometime after midnight.”

“Depending on the air temperature, we may continue to do so until 9 or 10 the next morning,” he said. “When the ice slips off the plant, it’s safe to stop pumping the water.”

Beal explained in a typical year, he might pump water to protect his strawberries from cold weather at least four times a year.

“There is no science to it,” he said. “I plan to read my e-mail alerts and watch the forecast when I get off work today.”

While hardly unprecedented, the chilly weather earlier this week even gave many in Chatham County another brief glimpse of snow.

Gail Hartfield, meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Raleigh office, said radars showed only “very small amounts of snowfall in the area” Monday.

“The ground is too warm for snowfall to stick or freeze,” she said.

Hartfield said temperatures in Chatham County remained in the 40’s for much of Monday.

more- See Thursday, March 27, 2008 paper: Vol 88, No.16

Elections board to sell unpopular equipment

The Chatham County Board of Elections on Tuesday voted to sell 50 controversial Ivotronic DRE “touch screen” voting machines.

The equipment won’t be sold until after the May primary or, if a second primary is necessary, in June.

 At a BOE forum in February 32 county residents unanimously spoke out against the continued use of DRE (Direct Record Electronic) “touch screen” voting machines in county elections.

On Tuesday, the Board of Elections also voted 2-1 (chair Maja Kricker and Laura Heise voted in favor; Craig Bray voted against) to use paper ballot optical scan devices as the county’s primary (default) system for the May primary as a result of citizen lack of confidence in the DRE equipment.

This means that Chatham voters will use paper ballots and optical scanners in both early one-stop voting and on primary election day, May 6, unless an individual voter specifically requests to cast his or her ballot on one of the county’s 50 DRE machines.

The voting equipment to be used in the November general election was addressed by the Board of Elections’ Tuesday vote. The board voted 2-1 in favor of proceeding with selling the 50 DRE machines and purchasing some 20 to 25 Automark machines to replace the DREs.

The Automark equipment will be used as the American Disability Act complaint equipment.

Since February, the board has been researching whether or not they could sell Chatham’s 50 DRE machines, bought in 2006, and replace them with 20 to 25 Automark voting machines by November.

Kricker commented at the meeting that she doesn’t expect there to be a problem selling the DREs. Mecklenberg County may purchase them or one of the other 14 North Carolina counties that use DREs exclusively. 

Automark machines, Kricker said, in an interview earlier this week, are helpful to disabled voters and comply with American Disability Act guidelines, as DRE voting machines do. Like DREs, they use “touch screens”

However, unlike DREs, Automark machines record votes on paper ballots that can be processed in optical scanners. They contain no mechanism that counts votes electronically as DREs do.

The major complaint against using DREs made by several Chatham voters as well as by many voters around the country has been the unreliability of counting votes purely by electronic means.

Many citizens and computer experts have pointed out that electronic errors can and do occur, and that DREs allow no real paper trail for a recount—as optical scanners and paper ballots do and as Automark machines also do.

Kricker said she has looked into the preliminary costs of selling the county’s 50 DRE machines and buying 20-25 new Automark machines and believes the county can break even if they choose to do so and “not have to spend extra money.”

more- See Thursday, March 27, 2008 paper: Vol 88, No.16