By Beth Mechum
Staff Writer
At the Carrboro Board of Alderman meeting Tuesday night at Town Hall, the board honored a request from the Goddard School to postpone its next public hearing until Nov. 17. Representatives from the school want more time to meet with the Carrboro Planning Board before they again bring their plans before the aldermen and public.
The public hearing initially had been moved to Tuesday night, after the aldermen came up with more questions than answers at the Sept. 24 meeting. Traffic concerns in the Winmore neighborhood kept the board from approving a minor modification to the Goddard School conditional-use permit.
In other business, the board approved a request that would allow residents of the Cedars neighborhood to keep chickens on common land within the neighborhood.
Alderman Randee Haven-O’Donnell wanted to make sure there was a point person before approving the request, in case problems arose with the livestock.
Jacquie Gist, who lamented that her husband is already researching getting chickens online, assured Haven-O’Donnell that would not be a problem.
“The Cedars have been working long and hard on this; they are very well organized and ready to go, and they have several point people,†she said.
The board also was asked to approve an in-kind use request for two meetings at the Century Center from Transition Carrboro-Chapel Hill. Many of the board members expressed concern that they’ve waived too many fees for the Century Center and that regulations previously put in place for using the Century Center have gotten lost in all the requests.
“Transition Carrboro-Chapel Hill is a worthy cause to waive fees for, but I am concerned that we have guidelines for the use of the Century Center,†board member Lydia Lavelle said. “We’re getting to a slippery slope, where we subjectively decide when to waive fees and when to not.â€
Mayor Mark Chilton suggested the board postpone deciding on whether to waive the fee to allow him more time to think about it. Town Manager Steve Stewart also suggested the aldermen come up with some guidance so the town could revisit the original guidelines.
The board received a report on the long-range plan for Chapel Hill Transit and were asked to provide input. All board members expressed their desire to make transit in Carrboro a priority in the long-term future.
In other action:
Emily Scarborough was appointed to the Appearance Commission/Neighborhood Preservation District Commission, Eric Allman was appointed as the Recreation and Parks Commission’s representative on the Greenways Commission, Nina Butler and Geoff Gisler were appointed to the Environmental Advisory Board and Robin Michler was appointed to the vacant seat on the Transportation Advisory Board.
The Carrboro Police Department is receiving $35,646 in grant revenues from the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant to purchase two dogs. Also, the 319 federal grant application approved by the board in February to pursue watershed restoration has been approved for funding. The allocation award totals $200,000.