Carrboro Day is Sunday, May 2
The annual Carrboro Day Event is scheduled for Sunday, May 2nd, 2021. This year’s event will be presented in a virtual format with activities presented via YouTube and Zoom. Content will also be shared via the Carrboro Recreation, Parks, & Cultural Resources Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/carrbororec
Carrboro Day is an annual event that is traditionally held at Town Commons on the first Sunday in May. This event is about meeting your neighbors, learning about aspects of the Town’s history, connecting with the Town and learning about Town services, and taking a day to celebrate Carrboro! Special programming includes:
- MUSIC with SALUDOS COMPANY
- A POETRY READING IN THE ROUND
- STORYTIME WITH MR. KEITH
- HISTORICAL PRESENTATION - RICHARD ELLINGTON, LOCAL HISTORIAN
- HISTORIC DOWNTOWN WALKING TOUR
- VIRTUAL ART EXHIBITION - RENZO ORTEGA
Read more at http://townofcarrboro.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=1693 and visit www.carrboroday.com for details and content links.
Tune in and show us how you celebrate our community by using #CarrboroDay2021 on social media.
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Greene Tract Environmental Assessment Presentation Available for Viewing
In January 2020, the Town of Carrboro, Town of Chapel Hill, and Orange County adopted the Greene Tract Resolution for a Path Forward. This resolution initiated the drafting of an environmental assessment in order to obtain site-specific information on environmental and cultural conditions present on the Greene Tract.
Following a Request for Proposal and bid process, SynTerra was selected to complete the Environmental Assessment. Beginning in May 2020, SynTerra reviewed background information, conducted fieldwork, and completed an environmental analysis of the Greene Tract. The final assessment was presented to the local governments in July 2020.
Due to COVID-19 and limitations in conducting community outreach, the local governments and SynTerra agreed to produce a video to present the Greene Tract Environmental Assessment to the public. This video is now available for viewing at: https://www.orangecountync.gov/2127/Greene-Tract
Read more about this at http://townofcarrboro.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=1707
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Criminal Justice Debt Program
CARRBORO, N.C. – Residents needing assistance with fees and costs imposed due to criminal justice or traffic court involvement are now able to apply for relief through the Criminal Justice Debt Program.
The Carrboro Town Council voted on April 27, 2021, to officially join the program established in 2020 by the Town of Chapel Hill. The Town of Carrboro is providing $7,500 for participation through the end of the fiscal year with future appropriations to be determined through the annual budget process.
The Towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro Criminal Justice Debt Program provides criminal justice-related debt relief to community members who are taking steps to successfully reintegrate into the community but whose ability to do so is hampered by debt from court fees and costs.
The Carrboro Town Council affirmed its belief that it is important for local jurisdictions to address racial equity issues for members of the community seeking to reintegrate into the community. Court fees and costs have a disparate impact on the poor; and these costs and fees create barriers to community members seeking to reintegrate into the community; and African-Americans are disproportionately represented in the criminal justice system due to historic and structural racism, making this is a racial equity issue.
More at http://townofcarrboro.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=1706
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State Easing Outdoor Mask Mandate and Mass Gathering Limits
North Carolina is easing the mask mandate outdoors and increasing mass gathering limits in an executive order that takes effect at 5 p.m. Friday, April 30.
The order expires at 5 p.m. June 1. At that time, the state expects to lift additional COVID-19 restrictions if more North Carolinians get vaccinated and adhere to safety protocols in May.
“While our numbers are mostly stable, we have more work to do to beat back this pandemic,” Gov. Roy Cooper said in a news conference Wednesday, April 28. “Let’s work hard in May and get as many people vaccinated as we can before summer gets here.”
Access more information including the walk-in vaccine clinics every week at the Whitted Human Services Center, 300 W. Tryon St. in Hillsborough at http://townofcarrboro.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=1710
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Town of Carrboro and Music Maker Announce Freight Train Blues 2021!
CARRBORO, N.C. -- The Town of Carrboro, the Carrboro Tourism Development Authority, WUNC, Music Maker Relief Foundation, Soul Bag, and Artarie will present a livestream version of the annual Freight Train Blues Music Series, featuring concerts by “artist on the rise” (NPR Music) Amythyst Kiah, “enchanting new Appalachian voice [that] sounds like the soul child of Bob Dylan and Dolly Parton” Alexa Rose, sacred soul guitar master Johnny Ray Daniels, GRAMMY-nominated trio The Hamiltones, and Harvey Dalton Arnold, of southern rock legends The Outlaws each Friday at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time beginning May 14th.
The series, which typically takes place at Carrboro Town Commons, was filmed at The Fruit in Durham, NC and will be broadcasted on Facebook and YouTube is hosted by Hillsborough, N.C.-based nonprofit Music Maker Relief Foundation, whose mission is to tend the roots of American music. The series will also be streamed on Soul Bag (https://www.soulbag.fr/) and Artarie (https://www.artarie.com/)
Each installment of the series will open with a rare archival performance from one of North Carolina’s Piedmont blues masters. These legends have either been showcased at previous Freight Train Blues performances or performed in Carrboro over the years.
Read more at http://townofcarrboro.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=1684
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Arbor Day is Friday, April 30
Photo Caption: We thought it might be fun to glance back to 2019 Carrboro Arbor Day when Mayor Lydia Lavelle planted a tree with Carrboro Elementary School students. This year, a tree will be planted at Anderson Park by our Public Works Department.
Friday, April 30, is Arbor Day in Carrboro, as proclaimed by Mayor Lydia Lavelle. On Arbor Day, we celebrate trees and honor their essential role in the ecology of our planet.
“I urge all residents to help protect our trees and forests and to support our town’s urban forestry program,” Mayor Lavelle said. “Further, I encourage all residents to plant trees to promote the well-being of present and future generations.”
As the Arbor Day Foundation states, “Trees provide the very necessities of life itself – they clean our air, protect our drinking water, create healthy communities, and feed the human soul.”
Carrboro has been long been recognized as a Tree City USA by The National Arbor Day Foundation.
Read Mayor Lavelle’s full proclamation about Arbor Day at http://townofcarrboro.org/DocumentCenter/View/9063/2021-Arbor-Day
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Feedback Invited on Regional Transportation Plan
News from Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization (DCHC MPO)
If you’re interested in the future highway, bicycle, multi-use paths, and transit projects for our region, you’re invited to give your feedback now on a proposed amendment to the region’s long-range transportation plan.
The Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization (DCHC MPO) is now seeking public feedback on a proposed Amendment #3 to the Comprehensive Transportation Plan (CTP). The CTP identifies future highway, transit, rail, bicycle, pedestrian, and other transportation projects for this region over the next 30 years and beyond.
The DCHC MPO is amending the CTP to add a network of bicycle/pedestrian paths along major roadways; identify high-capacity transit, such as bus rapid transit, along the region’s major travel corridors; ensure that the CTP supports local bicycle plans; and improve roadways in fast developing, rural areas.
Residents and other stakeholders are asked to provide comments by reviewing the proposed Amendment #3 http://www.dchcmpo.org/programs/ctp/default.asp#tabs4 at the DCHC MPO website and providing comments directly by email (see email below) no later than Tuesday, May 25. Residents and stakeholders may also directly address the DCHC MPO Board on proposed Amendment #3 on Wednesday, May 12, beginning at 9 a.m. during their virtual board meeting http://www.dchcmpo.org/
For more information about the CTP Amendment #3 OR to speak at the public hearing, contact DCHC MPO Principal Planner Andy Henry at (919) 560-4366, ext. 36419 or by email at andrew.henry@durhamnc.gov
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Town Council Update
Meeting agendas and updates are issued from the Town Clerk’s Office. To receive these by email or text, sign up for Carrboro Town News at townofcarrboro.org/signup
Civic involvement is a valued tradition in our community. Reach the Town Council with your ideas, views and questions at council@townofcarrboro.org
Coming Up
The Town Council will meet virtually at 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 4, to consider the agenda https://bit.ly/3gTujYi also available at carrboro.legistar.com
To view, livestream at carrboro.legistar.com or YouTube.com/CarrboroNC OR Cable TV 18 (in Carrboro). To speak at the meeting email publiccomment@townofcarrboro.org
Catch up on more Council news by reading the summary from the April 27 meeting at http://townofcarrboro.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=1708
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Carrboro is Breastfeeding Family Friendly Community
CARRBORO, N.C. -- Mayor Lydia Lavelle has proclaimed the Town of Carrboro to be a 2021 Breastfeeding Family Friendly Community.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Family Physicians, and other leading health organizations, breastfeeding is the optimal food for infants.
The local designation supports parents and childcare staff to continue breastfeeding and offering expressed milk, when returning to work or school, and supports childcare staff with on-site breastfeeding facilities or spaces.
“By providing a supportive and welcoming environment, a breastfeeding friendly community encourages families of all races, ethnicities, and family structures to initiate and continue optimal infant feeding/nursing,” Mayor Lavelle said.
The Carrboro community is proud to have attained broad support and direct community actions - UNC Women’s Hospital, and a birthing center, Women’s Birth and Wellness Center, have attained Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative designation; the Orange County Health Department has received the NC Breastfeeding Coalition Mother-Baby Clinic Award; and childcare programs in our community have been designated breastfeeding-friendly.
Read the proclamation at https://www.townofcarrboro.org/DocumentCenter/View/9062/2021-Breastfeeding-Friendly-Community-Proclamation and learn more about how the Town of Carrboro is helping families to thrive by ensuring that they receive community support to develop and sustain healthy lifestyles.
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Carrboro - A Palette of Programs
Looking for fun and interesting things to do in town? Check the monthly newsletter of the Carrboro Recreation, Parks and Cultural Resources Department at
http://www.ci.carrboro.nc.us/DocumentCenter/View/1913/Monthly-Events-Newsletter?bidId=
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