|
|
|
Rainfall
raises reservoir
By Angela Delp
Sometimes, if
we’re lucky, the old saying "when it rains, it pours" is true.
No one in
Siler City is complaining about last week’s soggy weather.
After months
of record breaking temperatures and no rainfall, the town’s water
supply continued to deplete.
Recent
rainfall, conservation efforts and emergency water pumps has caused
the reservoir level to rise.
According to
Mayor Charles Turner and town manager Joel Brower, the reservoir,
which measured 13 feet, 7.5 inches below full last Wednesday, is now
4 feet 7 inches below full.
Turner said
although the ordinance says water restrictions are not in place
until levels drop below five feet, the town will remain on
restrictions.
He lifted
water shortage emergency conservation requirements Monday, October
29 because the reservoir has significantly increased in storage
capacity.
Brower said
last week, the town estimated a 69 day water supply, but that number
is now a bit less dire.
"We have
doubled that now," he said. "We are estimating at least 134 days
worth of water."
Brower added
state officials are concerned about lack of rainfall this winter and
spring.
"I feel we still need to
conserve, since we don’t know when it is going to rain again," he
said. "I have heard we have gotten ten inches less rain this year
than we usually get."
more- See Thursday,
November 1, 2007 paper:
Vol 87, No.48
Pittsboro
officials at odds
By Randall Rigsbee
Did Pittsboro
Mayor Randy Voller attempt to mislead the town board last week
during a pre-vote discussion on a moratorium on development?
After
reviewing an audio recording of the October 22 meeting, commissioner
Chris Walker believes Voller "misrepresented" the origin of a
proposed amendment to the moratorium ordinance.
Walker says
Voller, who is seeking a second term as mayor in the election next
week, said the proposed amendment came from the Economic Development
Board.
"I’m really
upset about this," Walker said in an interview Monday. "It disturbs
me. I personally feel this is pretty serious. We took action on a
misrepresented fact."
Voller, in an
interview last week, said he did no such thing.
"I would have
to respectfully disagree," Voller said.
Voller, who
is vice chairman of the Economic Development Corporation (EDC), said
the suggested amendment was prepared not by the EDC but by Pittsboro
town planner David Monroe and others.
"It came from our town
planner and our town attorney," Voller said. "I asked them to
prepare it for the board."
The
moratorium, which replaced a similar moratorium that had recently
expired, is aimed at giving town leaders time to complete ongoing
efforts to expand wastewater capacity.
more- See Thursday,
November 1, 2007 paper:
Vol 87, No.48
|
Jeff Davis
photos
What a difference a few days
make . . .
Rain fell in Chatham
County last week . . . and it couldn’t have come at a better time.
With residents on 50 percent water reduction, we all were cutting
back on our water usage. But the clouds rolled in and the rain fell,
and fell and fell some more. Some parts of Chatham received over
five inches of water and enough to where the Town of Siler City has
lifted their Stage three water restrictions and moved down to Stage
Two, a 20 percent reduction. In the top photo, part of the Siler
City reservoir is all but dry in a photo that was dated October 22.
The bottom photo was taken Monday, October 29, seven days later,
showing an ample supply of water filling up the reservoir bed.
County ban on
outdoor watering now in effect
By Angela Delp
While last
week’s welcome rainfall added approximately two feet to the water
level at Jordan Lake, Chatham County launched an outdoor watering
ban effective Monday, October 29 to conserve the resource as drought
conditions continue.
Stage 3-B
restrictions for county water customers are mandatory and prohibit
all watering of outdoor plants and lawns; filling or refilling of
swimming pools, fountains or ponds; vehicle washing, including
commercial car washes and washing of building exteriors, driveways
or other impervious surfaces.
Customers
should not operate water cooled equipment that does not recycle
water, except when health and safety are affected.
Customers
should not use water from fire hydrants except when putting out
fires or for public emergencies. Water also should not be used for
dust control or to compact soil.
Roy Lowder of
the Chatham County Public Works department said although the
restrictions pertain to the whole county, they apply primarily to
Northeastern Chatham, which is served by Jordan Lake.
Regions of
Chatham served by Siler City water must abide by Siler City
restrictions.
"We have
people patrolling and looking for violators," Lowder said.
He added although recent
rainfall "helped" with the drought situation, "it isn’t nearly
enough."
more- See Thursday,
November 1, 2007 paper:
Vol 87, No.48
Relay tops in
raising donations
Chatham
County residents did it again in 2007, joining forces for the third
year in a row to make the Pittsboro and West Chatham Relay for Life
the top fundraisers in its population category.
The local
fundraiser for the American Cancer Society earned the number one
national award per capita for populations 50,000 to 59,000..
Together,
Pittsboro and West Chatham Relay events raised a total of more than
$302,500.
This means
Chatham County donated $5.04 per capita to the American Cancer
Society for research, advocacy and education in the population
category of 50,000 to 59,999.
The Relay for
Life steering committee for both events said they thank so many
Chatham County residents for giving their time, talents and hard
work in raising the money to make the national recognition possible.
"However, the important part
is the fact that your dollars are out there working to find better,
more effective treatments and methods of early detection of this
dread disease, cancer," the Relay for Life steering committee said
in a press release.
more- See Thursday,
November 1, 2007 paper:
Vol 87, No.48
|
|
Silk Hope
School to celebrate 100 years of history
By Spencie Love
Schools that
offer a special sense of community seem to inspire former students
to come back and visit—sometimes even to come back and stay and
stay. A number of teachers and staff at 100-year-old Silk Hope
School who were once students there have devoted much of their lives
to keeping the school going and making it thrive.
Paulette
Grumble and Cheryl Hargrove, heading up the committee that is
planning Silk Hope’s 100th birthday, were both
students at the school. Both returned immediately after college to
teach there. Mrs. Grumble, a fifth grade teacher, returned in 1973
after graduating from Western Carolina College. Mrs. Hargrove, a
third grade teacher, returned in 1976 after graduating from Elon
College. The two women were friends and neighbors when they were
children, often hanging out in each other’s homes. They have worked
together now for more than thirty years, their classrooms either
side by side or across the hall from each other. Hargrove insists
that Grumble can’t retire until she does. They returned and stayed,
both said, because Silk Hope School was simply a great place to be,
to teach and enjoy life.
Other former
Silk Hope students include Silk Hope’s current coach and athletic
director, Kelly Marshall, Beverly Ferguson, a kindergarten
assistant, Kay Jarman, the after-school program director, Denise
Bailey, a lunchroom staff member, and Cleta Coble, a
pre-kindergarten teacher.
Silk Hope
will celebrate its Centennial on Sunday, November 4th
at 2 p.m., offering a short program, a reception and plenty of time
to share memories. Many old photographs dating back to the school’s
beginnings will be posted on bulletin boards in the school’s halls.
A display case will hold artifacts from the school’s past, among
them old textbooks, a mascot costume, an athletic jacket, and a
mysterious wooden paddle. Though both Grumble and Hargrove admit to
having used the paddle in past years, neither will say exactly how
the wooden paddle to be on display survived.
The program will include
talks by Joe Hackney, Democratic Representative in the N.C.
Legislature and House Speaker, and also by former Silk Hope
principal, Rob Tharp. Hackney graduated from Silk Hope when it was
still a K-12 school in 1963. Tharp served as principal from 1989 to
2005. Not only Silk Hope alumni, parents and former staff are
invited to attend, but anyone who wants to witness a long-surviving
community institution celebrate its past. Commemorative items will
be on sale, or will be available to be ordered—shirts, caps, tote
bags.
more- See Thursday,
November 1, 2007 paper:
Vol 87, No.48
Subscribe
Today
In County .....
$20 per year
Out Of
County ..... $25
per year
for more information contact The
Chatham News - 919-663-3232
or The Chatham Record
-
919-542-3013
|
|
