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Board of County Commissioners Contact: Donna Baker Return to Orange County Home Page |
News Releases May/June 2004 Click on subject to read news release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 28, 2004 Contact: Muriel Williman Solid
Waste Services Schedule for Independence Day There will be no change in curbside recycling
service the week of Independence Day.
Please be sure to have your bin to the curb by 7:00 am on your
regular recycling day, or put it out the night before. The Orange County Landfill will be closed on Monday
July 5th in observance of Independence Day.
All services associated with the landfill such as electronics
recycling and mulch sales will also be closed. All landfill services
will resume normal hours of operation on Tuesday, July 6th. The staffed Orange County Solid Waste Convenience
Centers will be closed on Sunday July 4th.
They will re-open for normal hours of operation on Monday July
5th. Questions? Contact the Orange County Solid Waste Management Department (919) 968-2788 or email recycling@co.orange.nc.us. #
# # FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 22, 2004 Contact: Gwen Harvey Animal Shelter Management Change on July 1st “The County’s immediate goal is to ensure a
smooth and seamless transition with little or no inconvenience to the
public and absolutely no risk of injury to the animals.”
Those were the words of Gwen Harvey, Assistant Manager of Orange
County as the County moves toward assuming direct management of the
Animal Shelter on July 1st of this year.
In just under two weeks management of the shelter will move from
Animal Protection Society (APS) of Orange County, a local non-profit, to
Orange County. Concerns were raised in late 2002 over the
management of the Animal Shelter. After
an evaluation by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), much
public input and a task force recommendation, the Orange County
Commissioners decided in April 2004 to bring the administration of
shelter under the guidance of County Manager’s Office. Transition milestones included purchasing some of
the existing equipment from APS as well as the acquisition of start-up
equipment such as cat cages, exam tables and a microchip scanner.
Contracts have been authorized for spay/neuter surgeries for
shelter adopted animals and emergency rescue services for Chapel Hill
and Carrboro. Under the guidance of Joe Pulcinella as Shelter
Director, seven APS employees are staying on as County employees – of
the eight remaining positions, three have been filled and five are in
the final stages of completion. The County has been encouraged by the
response and overall competitiveness of the candidate pool. “The County staff has enjoyed notable cooperation
from APS staff on a myriad of details throughout this endeavor and this
collaborative spirit is expected to continue throughout the days and
months ahead,” said Harvey. Orange County will continue to emphasize and solicit the support and participation of community volunteers. Telephone numbers and hours of operation will remain the same. #
# # FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 16, 2004 Contact: David Hunt Board of Orange County Commissioners Meeting Time Change on June 23 The Orange County Board of Commissioners’ regular
meeting scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 23, 2004 at the
Southern Human Services Center, 2501 Homestead Rd., Chapel Hill, has been
moved up to start at 5:30 p.m. to allow appropriate time for all
items. As defined by State statute for a meeting change with
less than a 2 week notice, this time change is announced as a “Special
Meeting”. The agenda for the meeting is
attached. By Monday, June 21 the detailed agenda will be posted to the Orange County website. #
# # FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 10, 2004 Contact: David Hunt Board of Orange County Commissioners Meeting Location Change Meeting Location Change Due to the current law enforcement issue in the Northern Chapel Hill/Carrboro area, the work session for the Board of Orange County Commissioners scheduled for tonight June 10, 2004 at the Southern Human Services Center in Chapel Hill will be relocated to F. Gordon Battle Courtroom in Hillsborough. The start time for the meeting will remain 7:30 p.m.
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# # FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 3, 2004 Contact: David Stancil Orange County Lands Legacy Program Receives $639,000 Grant from USDA for Farmland Conservation Easements Orange County’s Lands Legacy Program, administered by the
Environment and Resource Conservation Department, has been awarded three
matching grants totaling $638,840 from the U.S. Department of
Agriculture’s Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program. The County had
applied earlier this year for funds to help acquire conservation
easements on three local farms. The
total acreage of these three easements is expected to be around 500
acres. Since its inception in April 2000, the Lands Legacy Program has
protected 1,090 acres of land, with another 300 acres pending
acquisition. Of this amount, Lands Legacy holds seven conservation
easements totaling 369 acres, with another 263 acres in three additional
approved easements that are nearing completion. Of Lands Legacy’s
current and pending easements, most are agricultural conservation
easements designed to protect prime and threatened farmland for future
generations. The three new easements would bring the Lands Legacy total
to 1,853 acres, with 1,131 acres in easements. Lands Legacy has to date received seven grants totaling $2.7 million
for the acquisition of lands for the preservation of natural areas and
wildlife habitat, nature preserves and future parklands, farmland,
watershed protection, and historic and cultural sites. These Federal and
State grant funds have been leveraged with over $4.0 million of local
funds to date, through voter-approved bond referenda in 1997 and 2001,
and other funding appropriated by the Orange County Board of
Commissioners. The USDA Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program (FRPP)
was part of the 2002 U.S. Farm Bill. In 2004, FRPP was appropriated
$87.5 million nationwide to assist local governments and land trusts in
the acquisition of agricultural conservation easements. North
Carolina’s share for 2004 is $2.3 million for the current fiscal year.
FRPP is administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS),
a branch of USDA. Over the past few years, the County’s Environment and Resource
Conservation Department, with assistance from the NRCS District
Conservationist and Soil and Water District staff, has been working with
a number of farms on potential easement acquisitions. A total of 19
farms across the County are currently on the interest list for
easements. At the time proposals were requested for the USDA funds,
three Orange County farms were ready to pursue the easements. These
farms will be identified in the next few weeks after owners are notified
of the grant and other preliminary paperwork is filed.
This is Orange County’s third grant for farmland easements. In
January, 2001, the N.C. Farmland Preservation Trust Fund awarded Lands
Legacy a grant of $107,000 for the purchase of an easement on the
71-acre Victor Walters farm in northwestern Orange County. In 2002,
Orange County received $784,155 from FRPP for three farm easements (Carl
and Elizabeth Walters farm, Lemola Ayrshire Farm, and the Ira Ward farm)
in southwestern and northwestern Orange County. An easement for
agricultural and natural resource conservation was donated in 2002 by
Carl and Eve Shy for land near Cane Creek reservoir. The FRPP grant funds will be matched by Orange County funds for
conservation easements. In early 2002, the Board of Commissioners
approved $3.0 million for easements to augment the 2001 Parks and Open
Space bond funds (which cannot be used for easements). The three farms in this grant are located in southwestern Orange (1)
and north-central Orange (2). Together the farmland to be conserved by
easement totals around 350 acres of active farmland. All of the farms
are evaluated by NRCS and County staff to ensure a history of good
resource management and all have active resource conservation plans. "We're thrilled to
again acquire federal support for our conservation easement purchase
program. These matching funds stretch local tax dollars as we preserve
our environment and make good on our commitment to help Orange County
farmers and other committed landowners,"
noted Board of Conservation easements place voluntary restrictions on the future use
of private property. Land that has a conservation easement remains in
private ownership, but limits certain kinds of intensive development
while protecting important conservation values, such as productive
farmland and/or natural areas.
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# # FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 26, 2004 Contact: Muriel Williman
Solid
Waste Services Schedule for Memorial Day There will be no interruption of curbside recycling service on the Memorial Day Holiday. Recycling will be collected on Monday, May 31, 2004 as regularly
scheduled. If this is your regularly scheduled recycling day, please be
sure to have your bin to the curb by 7:00 am or put it out the night
before. The Orange County Landfill will be closed on Monday May 31 in
observance of the Memorial Day Holiday.
All services associated with the landfill such as electronics
recycling and mulch sales will also be closed. All landfill services
will resume normal hours of operation on Tuesday, June 1. The staffed Orange County Solid Waste Convenience Centers will be
closed on Monday May 31. They
will re-open for normal hours of operation on Tuesday June 1. Questions? Contact the Orange County Solid Waste Management Department (919) 968-2788 or email recycling@co.orange.nc.us. #
# # FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 19, 2004 Contact: Donna Baker Orange County Board of Commissioners Meeting Addition Pursuant to North Carolina General Statute, the
Board of County Commissioners provide notice of the following changes in
the 2004 meeting schedule. An additional meeting has been scheduled for
Wednesday, June 2, 2004. This
regular meeting of the Orange County Board of Commissioners will be held
over lunch, starting at 11:30 a.m. at the Government Services Center,
200 South Cameron St., Hillsborough, NC. #
# # FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 5, 2004 Contact: Maria Hitt DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PREVENTION WORKSHOP FOR Wednesday,
May 19, 2004 A free Brown Bag Lunch seminar on Cultural Diversity and Domestic Violence will be held from 11:30-1:00 on Wed. May 19th at the First Community Baptist Church located at 509 Eno Street in Hillsborough. Staff from the Family Violence Prevention Center and the Orange County Rape Crisis Center will be the guest speakers. Attendees should bring their own lunch. For information, call Cathy Ferniany at 245-2414. The Brown Bag Lunch series is sponsored by the Advocates for Children Committee of Healthy Carolinians of Orange County. #
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