Government
Tonight, the Chapel Hill Town Council is expected to enact fees on users of their park and ride lots. This fee is in response to UNC’s decision to start charging at their own park and ride lots. Leaving Town-owned park and ride lots free would create a traffic nightmare, so the Town is trying to start their own permit program. I’m sure that the extra revenue that will be generated from this fee is also a consideration, especially in a tight budget year.
While most people (75% by CHT estimates) who use the park and ride lots are affiliated with UNC, there is a sizable minority who do not use the park and ride to travel to campus. UNC students and employees will pay for their permit through UNC (because of taxing and payroll deduction issues), and that money will then be given to the Town. Non-affiliated users will purchase their permits directly from the Town. The resolution being considered tonight sets the fee at $250/year, or about $1/weekday.
I understand the importance of implementing the fee, but there are two major issues that have not been addressed:
As Terri Buckner describes in her commentary in yesterday's Chapel Hill News, we could be seeing the end, as we know it, of our very successful recycling program in Orange County.
Some will say that since the county has already privatized recycling
in the urban areas, this proposed expansion to county residents should
not create any concerns. But if all recycling in Orange County is
privatized, the current system is effectually dead, including all the
outreach and education, the goodwill recycling and composting at public
events like Hog Day, the dedicated staff constantly seeking new markets,
and the service to both school systems that has always been handled by
the county. In other words, we'll be left with the same kind of
recycling program that everyone else in the state has.
In 1997 as
part of the state's required plan, we adopted a goal of 61 percent
waste reduction. We're just a smidgeon away from achieving that goal (59
percent). We've accomplished something amazing, something worth
fighting to protect.
Many of us were very disturbed by the Yates Building incident in
Chapel Hill last year and wondered how the police were trained to deal
with public events and demonstrations. How do the police do arrests?
What crime and other public safety issues do we have in Chapel Hill?
Well, here's a chance for you to find out how our officers are trained
and what they do.
For the last
year I've been working with the Community Policing Advisory Committee and the Chapel Hill Police Department to dramatically
revamp its Citizen's Police Academy. The new Academy will give participants an
inside look at the police department and its work. You'll get to operate a
simulator and see what it's like to respond to a domestic call that turns
violent, sit in a squad car, watch the SERT and K9 teams in action, and talk to
the Chief of Police about tough issues. Along the way you'll learn about the
Department's work, how you can help make a safer community and much
more. Participation will involve attending one evening session on April 24 or 25
as well as an afternoon session on Sun. April 28.
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