Odoriferous harbinger?
The Town of Carrboro estimates that roughly 10,000 gallons of sewage leaked into the stormwater system from an iron pipe that runs from Wendy’s to the sanitary sewer that runs down Greensboro Street.
To the company’s credit, the pipe was quickly repaired and by last week another 20,000 gallons were collected by the large green containment unit installed where the downtown stormwater drain emerges on Old Pittsboro Road. The unit remains in place to collect any residual sewage still in the system.
It’s hardly time to breathe a sigh of relief, though, because the incident is one of a few indications of late that parts of the town’s infrastructure are aging and in need of repair or replacement. A report on the proposed Weaver Street reconstruction, for instance, notes the need to replace aging water lines as well as concern about the condition of some sewer laterals.
Identifying what is failing underground is a difficult task. A recent waterline break off Main Street near KFC traveled clear to Maple Ave. before surfacing. And Wendy’s spent a good deal of time and money replacing its grease trap and sewer system in search of the leak.
As downtown grows up, crews building foundations will dig into substrata that in many cases may not have been breached in decades. Prepare to be enlightened.
A dubious ordinance
Granted, the town’s new anti-lingering ordinance is narrowly tailored to fit the specific situation on the corner on Davie and Jones Ferry roads. It may become, as intended, an important law enforcement tool to reduce the various public nuisances and harassments and address the concerns expressed among residents in the area that they do not feel safe.
But the ordinance has problems. Former Alderman Mark Dorosin paid a visit to Town Hall last week to argue to his former colleagues that the new ordinance is “constitutionally suspect†and asked that it be withdrawn. In defense of the ordinance, even Town Attorney Michael Brough, who drafted it, had to admit that the town was out in front of case law on this one.
Dorosin, a former civil rights attorney, said his main concern was that the ordinance does not distinguish between lawful and unlawful activity (which is a part of case law regarding loitering laws) and he rightly expressed concern that although the ordinance is racially neutral on the surface it is clearly aimed at the Latino men who gather at the intersection.
We agree with Dorosin and Alderman John Herrera that the law singles out a particular ethnic group and is not the way Carrboro should be doing business. The town, Herrera said, should not be contributing to the anti-immigrant climate and no matter how well intended, the ordinance would be seen by some as doing so.
Thankfully, the board added a one-year review to the law before it was passed.
This is not to say that nothing should be done about the day-labor site at Davie and Jones Ferry. The residents in the area and those who pass by have legitimate concerns about the conduct and the use of the site as a gathering and drinking spot after those who have picked up work have gone.
Their frustrations and that of the town’s law enforcement in eliminating the problem calls for a comprehensive, long-term solution.
One possibility being explored is to move the site and set up a more formal day-labor center. While we encourage the board to move forward with this idea, it should not be done hastily. The current site was established by custom by the contractors and laborers for its proximity to both N.C. 54 and the labor pool.
Switching the site to the Town Commons or other town property presents a number of challenges and costs to the town and should involve extensive public input, including neighbors, businesses and those on both sides of the day-labor transaction.