Chatham Chatlist Highlights

Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2008 15:47:56 -0400
From: Rita Marley-McKenzie
Subject: land tax

To bounce off Doug’s post,

There is also a deep discount for the elderly on land taxes. They need to fill out the application found at the tax office. It’s called the Homestead Exemption. Call the tax office for more details and/or see the webpage below.

Here’s the link to the webpage:
http://www.chathamnc.org/Index.aspx?page=481

Click on Homestead Exemption Application.

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Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2008 15:23:09 EDT
From: Bruce Paradis
Subject: RE:  property tax and more

I just can’t help myself, I just got to put in my two cents.  To all  those who are anxious about rising property taxes and to those who want more and more amenities.

To those who want a swimming pool for those two  dozen who will use it and for those thousands who will pay for it with their  property taxes, I say wake up, and for those who want mass transit for a handful  of riders so the rest can pay for it, ditto, for bike and walking trails,   and anything else to make your pathetic little life comfortable go ahead,   someone else will pay.
that’s all. good nite. I’m too sick to think about it anymore.

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Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2008 14:44:23 -0400
From: Karen E Tiede
Subject: Factory farming

“All I am asking is if you must eat meat don’t support these corporations ie:, McDonalds, KFC that do nothing to practice humane alternatives to factory farming.”

According to Temple Grandin, it is McDonalds that has done the very most to make sure cows are slaughtered under humane conditions. McDonalds has worked with her to develop a checklist for slaughterhouses that ensure fear-free butchering, as much as possible; no beef is sold through McDonalds that is not processed through an approved slaughterhouse.

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Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2008 15:50:21 +0000
From: Meg Miller
Subject: Need mower advise/comment

Morning all-

My husband is one of the “recyclers” some of you don’t care for. About a month he brought home a manual mower from the recycle center. I don’t know if it was in the bin or the swap shop, I stopped asking years ago because I’m trying not to encourage his hobby (half of what he brings home I take to the Thrift Store eventually). Frankly if it stays out of the land fill I don’t care who gets it.

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Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2008 10:03:44 -0400
From: Al Cooke
Subject: Eating food that’s still alive!

When you pick lettuce, beans, corn, tomatoes, or any other fruit or vegetable, it doesn’t automatically die. When you bite a fresh apple, it’s still alive!

Actually fresh produce continues to age (and deteriorate like the rest of us) when it is picked. But having lost its connection with the plant and photosynthesis, carbohydrates being used up by respiration are not replaced. Water is transpired but not replaced. Quality declines. To preserve quality for later - and do it safely - you may need to know how to properly kill and preserve your bounty.

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Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:37:14 -0400
From:  Gene Smelik
Subject: Pittsboro Water Supply

This is a response to Chatlist entry #14 from Chatlist #3151 entitled “Pittsboro Water Supply”.

The subject of excessive trihalomethanes in the Pittsboro water supply has been popping up in the news and on the Chatlist periodically over the past two years. From conversations with our customers in Pittsboro, it does seem likely that the switch to chloramines will happen in the near future. This move should reduce the THM levels at the cost of having alternative chemicals in the water with yet unknown by-products and impacts on human health.

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Date: Mon, 16 Jun 2008 18:53:54 -0400
From: Debra Henzey
Subject: Chatham County adopts new budget with proposed increase reduced by 35%

Chatham Commissioners Reduce Tax Increase by 35 Percent

PITTSBORO-The Chatham County Board of Commissioners adjusted or eliminated several county budget items to lower the property tax increase to 3.6 cents, which is 35% less than the 5.5 cents the proposed
budget had recommended. The adopted tax rate for 2008-09 will be 65.3 cents per $100 of property valuation.

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Date: Mon, 16 Jun 2008 16:26:59 -0400
From: Mark Barroso
Subject: Re: Linda Cooper

Linda Cooper wrote:

You advocate and do all you can do to limit development. Not control it. After all, controlling it would mean designing areas of the county where business development would be encouraged such as the area north of Pittsboro at the bypass.

After the previous County Commission approved every scheme that came before them, they are now doing exactly what Ms. Cooper suggests. A New Major Corridor Ordinance is before the Planning Board that will
encourage commercial development in certain areas that make sense. This is supported by people like me and the Chatham Coalition, which have never been against growth but managing it for the benefit of all by
demanding environmental, aesthetic and compatibility standards from developers.

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