Blogs
Yesterday the Chapel Hill News reported without questioning a study* saying that the economic benefit of a new airport in Orange County could be four times the impact of the current Horace Williams Airport. Would a new airport be four times as big and have four times the
traffic? Who would want that? And for that matter, who the hell would
use it?
I understand the benefit of the current airport to the University, the hospital, and the state. But I just don't see how having an alternative to Raleigh-Durham benefits the average Orange County resident. Most of us don't have private planes, and when we need to fly, we use the commercial airport. The tax benefit to local government is negligible compared to other possible uses of the land.
I'm just not buying this.
* This figure ($53,000,000) was based on a consultant's study. But they don't say whose consultant. UNC? Orange County? I
have been disappointed to see that County staffers have been speaking
out in support of a new airport. I doubt they are on the same page as
the County Commissioners.
I attended a meeting at the White Cross Community Center last night. The meeting was held and attended by close to 300 concerned Orange County residents who discussed UNC’s possible THEFT of homes and homesteads through eminent domain.
Why do I call it theft? Well, many interesting facts were presented such as cost (40 MILLION), economic and ecological impact to our communities and of course, kicking people out of their homes and off their farms so rich dudes can fly in for ball games and not be inconvenienced by having to drive an extra 5 minutes from RDU! I implore anyone who cares about the environment, local economy, justice or not letting your fellow citizens get SCREWED to help STOP this Jackassary NOW!
You can educate yourself on the facts by reading the following: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sworangecounty
And citizenwill.org has a great summary of events here: http://citizenwill.org/2008/09/29/airport-conundrum-southwest-orange-county-community-wonders-why/
Thanks,
Ron Royster
Bill Thorpe cared about Chapel Hill enough to serve again on the Council. His point of view and good humor will be missed.
On Thursday evening September 25th, at 7 PM, the Chapel Hill Town Council held a special meeting at the Friday Center. In addition to all of the Council members (except Councilman Bill Thorpe who is absent due to medical issues) the Council Members were joined by UNC representatives Roger Perry (Chair, Board of Trustees), Bob Winston (trustee, Chair of the Building Committee) and Jack Evans, who is is chair of the Carolina North project for the University.
One of the important points that was made early by Roger Perry was that he and Bob Winston speak for the trustees and he gave assurances that anything that they agreed to in principle would be supported by the Trustees. Another important issue was that of timing. Roger pointed out that in July there will be 6 new trustees (out of 13) and that these new trustees would come in with little or no background. Thus he urged the Council to consider a timetable that would complete by the Council's summer recess the necessary steps (e.g., rezoning, development agreement?) to allow Carolina North to go forward.
It's today! Happy anniversary to all of you who make this community kick ass!
I've been too busy to organize a party, but you are are owed one. How does Wednesday, October 15th sound?
I'm also going to kick off another annual fund raising drive. This one is for 1 year's worth of hosting costs. Last fall you all raised $1,000 to help move the site from WordPress to Drupal. I think it was definitely worthwhile, as we are now reaping the benefits of a more powerful community platform. The new software uses a new host and that costs me $35 each month.
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