Web Run

Chatham backs $1.54M to start 4 school projects
[Apr. 19, 2005] The Chatham County commissioners agreed Monday to put up $1.54 million to start four new school projects in the next several years. The money, which will come from a $4 million pool of school impact fees the county has amassed, will be used for engineering plans and environmental impact studies. The school board will use the money to start immediately on additions to the cafeteria at Jordan-Matthews High School -- set to open by the next school year -- and a new elementary school in Siler City -- scheduled to open by fall 2006. A new middle school in northeast Chatham is planned to open in 2007, and part of Horton Middle School is set for renovations. By WEB RUN - Herald-Sun

Chatham extends impact fee hike
[Apr. 19, 2005] Two weeks after almost doubling the schools impact fee that Chatham County charges to build a new home, the county commissioners voted Monday to do the same for apartment buildings. Commissioners unanimously voted to raise the impact fee for building new multi-unit residential buildings to $950 per unit -- almost double the previous $500. The new fee will take effect for building permit applications received after 5 p.m. April 29. Builders who get their applications in earlier will pay the less expensive fee. By WEB RUN - N&O

Boom in golf course construction changes Chatham
[Apr. 10, 2005] Time was, if you wanted to get in a full 18 holes of golf in Chatham County, you had to play the same nine twice. Or drive about 30 miles between the front side and the back. And it still wasn't a sure thing, unless you happened to be a member at the Siler City Country Club or knew someone who was. It was the 1960s, and the Siler City club and the public Twin Lakes golf course in northern Chatham were the only game in the county. Each had nine holes. By WEB RUN - Herald-Sun

Chatham slashes proposed spending
[Mar. 29, 2005] The Chatham County Commissioners Monday slashed millions of dollars worth of school improvements from their spending priorities, including a new high school and three new high school auxiliary gyms. Faced with $153 million in county needs, commissioners heeded state officials' advice to lower their debt burden and chop their capital improvement project spending to $65 million. On their chopping block: A nearly $104 million hunk of Board of Education requests. By WEB RUN - Herald-Sun

Chatham board excited about business park opportunities
[Mar. 24, 2005] The Chatham County Board of Commissioners has given its approval to begin the design and permitting for the Chatham County Business/Industrial Park, located at a Siler City site behind Wal-Mart. The expected cost of the park project is $5,328,598 - which includes $3,724,571 for Phase I and $1,604,027 for Phase 2. The costs include the water system, sewer system and roadway estimates for both phases of the project. Already, the board has agreed to sell 30.39 acres of property for $375,000 so that a new Chatham Hospital could be built in Siler City. By WEB RUN - Sanford Herald

Chatham board to look at school, judicial needs
[Mar. 24, 2005] Commissioners held discussions on capital projects at Monday's work session, prior to its regular meeting. Discussions centered on school needs, a new Department of Social Services facility, a judicial facility, utility improvements, the business/industrial park and community college needs. Commissioners learned through a letter to Commission Chairman Bunkey Morgan from Central Carolina Community College President Matt Garrett that the N.C. Department of Labor, Division of Occupational Safety and Health (OSHA) has fined the college $3,800 and given until March 31 to correct the problem of asbestos tiles and lead paint at CCCC's Siler City campus. By WEB RUN - Sanford Herald

Runaway found in Chatham
[Mar. 18, 2005] Police canceled an Amber Alert for a 14-year-old California girl when she walked into the Siler City Police Department late Thursday night with the man she met on the Internet and said she was OK. Delia Marquez, 14, had last been seen getting into a red 1997 Pontiac Firebird outside her school in Vallejo, Calif., with two men Monday. According to Maj. Bill Harman of the Siler City police, Luis Duarte had been corresponding with the girl for about a month and picked her up at school. The girl had told a friend, and a police investigation led to North Carolina. Marquez and Duarte came in to the Siler City Police Department around 11:40 p.m. Thursday. By WEB RUN - N&O

County seeks tax allies
[Mar. 17, 2005] Some Chatham County commissioners will try to win a local business group's support for more taxing power today, despite being told earlier this week that they will face opposition at the state level. Commissioners Mike Cross and Patrick Barnes will meet with the Chatham County United Chamber of Commerce board this afternoon in Siler City. They're seeking the chamber's support to pursue legislative approval for a land-transfer tax, which would let the county collect money on almost all land transactions. State Rep. Joe Hackney, who represents Chatham, Orange and Moore counties, told the commissioners that getting approval would be difficult. By WEB RUN - N&O

Antiques store watches global shifts
[Mar. 15, 2005] For the first few years they were in business, Jacques and Wendy Dufour went to France three or four times a year, each time filling a massive shipping container with antiques to sell in their Chatham County shop. Those trips have dwindled to just one a year, the result of a disheartening confluence of local and international factors that have forced this husband-and-wife team to evolve by necessity. Their situation is a stark example of how international politics and economic constraints can affect a small, family business. One thing has remained constant. The store is still named "French Connections," despite urgings from Dufour's family that he change it to something less likely to draw anti-European sentiment. By WEB RUN - Herald-Sun

Land transfer tax long shot, Chatham told
[Mar. 15, 2005] A tax some officials say is the best way for Chatham County to fund about $150 million in needs could be difficult to get through the General Assembly, state Rep. Joe Hackney warned county commissioners. During a meeting with the commissioners, Hackney said he'd push for the 1 percent land transfer tax, but noted that history is not necessarily in its favor. "Every time I guess somebody tries it and the political situation is assessed, and it either goes or it doesn't," and it usually doesn't, Hackney told the commissioners. "We'll do our best to check it out and give you the best honest report we can give you." By WEB RUN - Herald-Sun

DA named superior court judge
[Mar. 15, 2005] Gov. Mike Easley named Orange-Chatham District Attorney Carl Fox as a new superior court judge for the two counties Monday. The governor also named Fox's senior assistant district attorney, Jim Woodall, to be interim district attorney. Both men will be sworn in to their new offices March 23. Fox, 51, will fill a new position created by the N.C. General Assembly in 2004. He will join Wade Barber as the second superior court judge in Orange and Chatham counties. Superior court judges handle both felony criminal cases and civil lawsuits and spend about half the year handling cases in their own district and about half a year handling cases in nearby districts. By WEB RUN - Herald-Sun

Fox moves to the bench
[Mar. 15, 2005] Orange-Chatham District Attorney Carl Fox is taking a new seat in the District 15-B courthouses. Three and a half months after funding became available for a new Superior Court judgeship, Gov. Mike Easley appointed Fox to the bench. The move makes room for assistant district attorney James Woodall to step in as lead prosecutor on an interim basis. Fox, who has been district attorney in Orange and Chatham counties since 1984, will be sworn in March 23. His appointment ends several months of speculation and political jockeying among lawyers interested in the new post. By WEB RUN - N&O

Land transfer tax long shot, Chatham told
[Mar. 15, 2005] A tax some officials say is the best way for Chatham County to fund about $150 million in needs could be difficult to get through the General Assembly, state Rep. Joe Hackney warned county commissioners Monday. During a meeting with the commissioners, Hackney said he'd push for the 1 percent land transfer tax, but noted that history is not necessarily in its favor. The General Assembly hasn't allowed counties to enact land-transfer taxes -- which are a percentage of the property's worth that's tacked on to the price of the land when it's sold -- since the 1980s, he said. Currently, just a handful of counties, including Dare and Currituck, have the tax. By WEB RUN - Herald-Sun

Pittsboro eyes continuing building freeze
[Mar. 13, 2005] To build, or not to build. That's the question Pittsboro board members will ponder tonight when they discuss whether to keep a freeze on major residential subdivision construction for another year. Since 2001, the town has imposed a moratorium off and on on new development because it couldn't shoulder the sewage capacity from new developments. In March 2004, the town commissioners decided not to approve subdivisions with more than six lots for a year unless the developments could handle their own sewage. By WEB RUN - Herald-Sun