Orange County Voice has joined leaders throughout the county in asking our commissioners to fully fund both school districts within Orange County.  The group is encouraging the commissioners to slow down on non-essential spending in solid waste, county offices, and parks, and, if needed, to draw upon the county's well-funded reserves to make up the difference caused by state cuts to education.  To view our letter to the commissioners, click here.

Our comments were sensitive to issues raised by the interim county manager: that the county's spending is not sustainable and that several cumulative tax increases lie ahead.  The county dipped into savings five separate years to balance its budget.  We believe that it is important to explore possible options to contain non-essential spending, so that the county can remain affordable.  For more, click here.

In addition, OCV's Bonnie Hauser has raised questions about the need to modernize school funding, in order to assure that our public schools are funded first.  Such modernization will take time, leading Bonnie to ask that the commissioners make schools a priority and fund them immediately.  For more, click here.

Orange County's commissioners will finalize their budget on Thursday, June 17, so there is still time to write to write to the commissioners and voice your view.  To write to the commissioners, click here.

• TTA will inaugurate an Orange-Durham hourly express route (ODX) peak service (hours: 6-9 AM and 4-7 PM) that will run from Mebane, Efland, and Hillsborough to Durham and back.  Phase I will start August 2014, and run from the North Hills Shopping Center Park-and-Ride, in Hillsborough, to the Duke/VA hospitals and Durham Station.  Phase II is tentatively scheduled to begin in early 2015, and will expand the service westward on Highway 70, to Mebane (via Efland), in the morning; back to Hillsborough on I-85; then on to the Durham stops.  Phase III will add a stop at a yet-to-be-built Mebane Park-and-Ride.

• Orange Public Transit (OPT) will provide hourly service in mid-day (10 AM-2 PM), along Highway 70 between Mebane, Efland, Buckhorn, and Hillsborough.

• OPT will inaugurate once-a-week  service:  1A eastward along St. Mary Road up to Highway 57, westward to Highway 86, and southward to Hillsborough; and 1B westward along Highway 70 to Efland, arcing northeast back to Highway 86, then southward back to Hillsborough.

• OPT will extend the service to the Central Orange Senior Center so that service starts earlier and returns later, to allow seniors to spend more time at the center.

• OPT will inaugurate an Efland-Hillsborough commuter route service during peak periods, to connect with the Triangle Transit ODX service described above.  This service will also provide an employment commuting-oriented service for northern Orange County transit-dependent residents who have employment destinations in the southern part of Hillsborough.

• OPT will provide an extension to Cedar Grove for commuters using the current 420 route to Chapel Hill.

• OPT will expand the existing Hillsborough circular service for an additional hour daily.

 

OPT will be providing the additional services described above with its current fleet of buses.  Additional buses are not programmed to be procured until 2016, and later. 

 

To learn more about the county's plans or to provide feedback, please contact Alex Castro.

  Hidden Treasures: Chestnut Ridge Camp and Retreat Center

This group has started a "village2village2village"community, with seven neighborhood/community groups within the Chapel Hill town limits.  Contacts are now being made with seniors in Carrboro.  In June, an introductory lunch, as well as an upcoming "Port-a-Pub" event, will be held for Aging in Community start-ups.  Communication by way of Facebook and other social media sites will keep the various communities informed.  Several challenges have been met by using the resources available through the Department of Aging.  An informational brochure on the program has also been developed.

Bingham Township Project EngAGE Group
Contact:  Gail Alberti at gesa@embarqmail.com
This group has met with the Orange County Sheriff's Department and their SALT (Seniors and Law Enforcement Together) representative, to exchange information.  Brochures and refrigerator magnets containing information about Project EngAGE and Meals on Wheels were given to the SALT representative to deliver to the seniors they visit.  Project EngAGE volunteers have also offered to meet with neighborhood groups about concerns.  Future meetings with church leaders are planned.

Northern Orange Project EngAGE Group
Contact:  Norma White at n.b.white@embarqmail.com
This group consists of volunteers from Schley, Caldwell, Hurdle Mills, Eno, Rougemont, Cedar Grove, and Efland/Cheeks.  A Community Watch Program for the Caldwell, Hurdle Mills, Cedar Grove area was initiated for the purpose of improving security and safety for area seniors.  A decorated float with Project EngAGE will be made for the Caldwell 4th of July Parade.  Information about Project EngAGE was given out at the Schley Grange, and a bookcase was set up at the grange hall for senior information brochures and copies of the Senior Times.  Other issues of concern include the northern expansion of Meals on Wheels, transportation issues, and an interest in improving the use of community centers in both Cedar Grove and Efland/Cheeks so that they can function as activity centers for seniors in those communities.  Banners and posters with Project EngAGE to use at community events were also a suggestion.    

• closing the landfill in 2012 (done)
• providing more barriers to vermin and odors (done)
• cleaning up 45 identified dump sites throughout the community  (mostly done)
• providing remaining families with water service (agreed upon, although  hookups to homes not completed)
• providing sewer service to this historic neighborhood (planning underway)

We are excited about the groundbreaking on this community center and the promise it brings to the future of the Rogers Road community.  The center is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2014, and be used for after-school programs, summer camps, computer classes, and a host of other events organized and managed by the community.