Date: Sat, 26 Sep 2009 05:27:27 -0700 (PDT)
From: Meg Miller
Subject: Cole Park goes down hill…fur

Cole Park Plaza has never been a “gem” of North Chatham.  It’s always had many empty store fronts and that sort of “has been” look. But what’s going on there now is a bit troubling.  The old “OLIVE BRANCH” is now one really creepy bar, with blacked out windows.  If this is what liquor by the drink has brought our way, I’m sorry it passed.
I really can’t describe it to give the low rent feel this place has.  Next time you’re by, stick your head in and be your own judge and then back out the door slowly.

The former Ciao Bella space is now occupied by some “sweepstakes?” computer gaming parlor?  complete with fake brick walls and chandelier.  It too looks equally trashy.  And what makes this even legal?  Who goes to these places?

I go to Cole Park often, for one reason, Terrerros Restaurant.  I have spoken to the owner and he also has concerns about the clientele these new establishments will attract and how it will affect his business.

I hope these new businesses don’t make it.  I can’t imagine the bar having enough customers to support that huge space they are in.  I also hope the cops are keeping an eye on these places.  Mostly I hope they don’t have a negative effect on our friends at Terrerros.

Date: Sun, 31 May 2009 11:00:25 -0500
From: Tom Glendinning
Subject: Subject: Community Meetings on Potential Chatham Landfill

I address this issue as the founder of the NC Compost Council and the largest producer of compost in the state at one time (1988-1993) and someone whose corporate efforts were directed toward recycling before it became popular.

The proposed landfill meetings are sponsored by the county.  They may provide a solution to support of the trucking industry now used to transport waste across county and state lines.  However, the proposed solution will be flawed in design if it does not account for the most efficient and cost-effective strategy overlooked, yeh ingored, by officials and bureaucrats many times in the twenty-eight years that alternative were sought.

Composting is capable of recycling up to fifty percent (50%) of most waste streams at a stable cost.  The employees are billions of bacteria and fungi which do not even require a panut butter sandwich ofr wage.  The product has an infinite market saturation coefficient in horticulture and agriculture. A compost center can integrate town, county, business, industrial and agricultural wastes to produce its product.

The bids I submitted on waste contracts in the 1980′s and 1990′s had a the cost range of $ 25 – $ 35/ton.  This figure would be higher today, but would be offset by compost sales and volume processed.  Chatham alone does not have sufficient waste to justify a low tip fee, so other sources from outside would have to be admitted.  There are two active composting operations within the county now, whom, I am confident, would accept clean waste (paper, food, ground wood, etc.)  They benefit from the market I developed in the 1980′s, before they were in business.

Problems existed in the 1980′s and 1990′s blocking acceptance of composting as a major waste technology.  The ‘trucking firms,’ Waste Management and BFI, defended waste by maligning composting and providing misinformation by hired guns on the process and product.  They benefitted from this strategy by getting all the waste hauling, substation, and landfill contracts in the state and region.  The consultants yielded to this well funded push, and, further, had no experience in composting.  There may be two or four on the east coast who actually can design an effective and workable site.  The others are in it for the money without proper experience.

The second problem area was local government and bureaucracy.  The priority was to build empires, not serve the public good.  I.E., more salaries, more power.  More fees, more salaries.  Almost to a one, the local govts opened their own facilities because they were enabled to do so by the recycling law (biased toward local govts), refused competent outside contracts, and ran the projects into the ground.  One example was a town which spent around six million, that;s right $6,000,000, then closed the site because of odors and public opinion.  Had it been properly designed and installed, it would have saved taxpayers money over the years and served as an example of good recycling.  I can not think of another way to convince policy makers to vote for a trucking contract with WM or BFI other than to shut down the competition.  Strange that our one-time county waste manager used to be an employee of one of those firms who happened to date a county bureaucrat.

And how about the county tax administrator who lost a half billion of tax base records two days before the budget meeting.  Oh, that’s right, she went to work for Alamance County as tax administrator.  Oh, no, she was ‘encouraged’ to leave that job too.

Ah, well, such is the wisdom of county government.  My problem is that I have a long memory.  My other problem is that I have developed a shorter fuse the older I get.

Is is time to hold a citizen’s meeting on the county budget?

Tom Glendinning
You know where to find me, boys (& girls.)

Date: Mon, 11 May 2009 15:13:48 -0700 (PDT)
From: tim keim
Subject: Forgetting Earth

Published in the Chapel Hill Herald Sun May 9, 2009

FORGETTING EARTH
by Tim Keim
MAY 5, 2009

I’m not quite sure how I came to juxtapose species extinction with Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), but the more I think about it, the more sense it makes. Species extinction and AD share a common root. Researchers have identified environmental factors as one of the chief causes of AD. The environmental factors in AD and species extinction are, in general, the human created disturbance and pollution of the delicately balanced composition of our air, water and soil; the building blocks from which we and our host (Earth) are made.

During the Post War Period, literally thousands of chemicals were formulated and loosed upon the environment. Their uses are myriad, and the study of their power to mutate human genes is now an established field of science. Because of the dollar signs in the eyes of corporate capitalists, neither thought nor care was given to the life threatening toxicity of these novel preparations. Government abdicated its responsibility to protect us (and still does) in favor of the industrial dominance that Americans enjoyed as victors in WWII. “To the victors go the spoils† now carries an ironically sinister and  opposite meaning.

For some time I’ve been wondering why we don’t seem to understand the gravity of the slow motion health and environmental crises in which we now find ourselves. I’ve puzzled, bemused, to witness swelling calamity on so many fronts, and still our preoccupation with stuff and material pursuits captivates us to the exclusion of the tsunami that gathers.

According to current estimates, the incidence of AD will quadruple in the next 50 years.
AD strikes a new victim every 70 seconds.

A United Nations study in 2002 predicted that 25% of the Earth’s animals will disappear in the next 30 years. (http://www.well.com/user/davidu/extinction.html )

The results of both species extinction and AD are frighteningly parallel: Holes in the ecosystem of our gray matter and holes in the web of life that keeps us alive. What we are losing is the memory of the miraculous mystery of Eden with which we have been bequeathed.

Some everyday examples: The fact that we commonly consume supermarket produce    laced with toxic chemicals and health wasting fast foods is clear evidence that we’ve forgotten the delicious, life-giving foods that fortified our ancestors. The fact that people no longer remember when the rivers in Chatham County, (and all over the country), ran clear is another case of planetary Alzheimer’s. As we forget what nurtured us and no longer value it, the planet is forgetting how to produce the ecosystems that nurture us. Still another: Not only have we forgotten, but we’ve aggressively forsaken the sacrosanct life cycles that keep our soil healthy. Again, we’ve traded them for synthetic chemicals that are killing our rivers and smothering our coastal oceans with dead zones. Stop me please! Burning coal, the most polluting fossil fuel, warms the globe, slowly choking all living things. Don’t be fooled, “clean coal† is a transparent ruse. With Rome ablaze,
we, the collective Nero, fiddle with no sense of urgency about our future.

All components of our life-support systems are under attack: From us! Pogo, the newspaper comic character was right, “I have seen the enemy, and it is us†.

The slow degradation of the specialized gases, liquids and solids that are custom-made to support human life raises so little response from us. Is it the siren of greed and the tubercular consumption it breeds that anesthetizes us to a predicament so perilous? Have current pollution levels already numbed our instinct to survive?

We are currently in the grip of the greatest extinction since the dinosaurs.. In Chatham County alone there are 17 species quietly fading from our memories (http://www.fws.gov/nc-es/es/countyfr.html ). These beings represent unique, and perhaps indispensable expressions of the Divine Will that keep the web of life intact.  Tattered, incomplete ecosystems are gravely dangerous places.

Will the erosion of our brain power lead us to accept a less than a livable Chatham County? How near are we to the final environmental compromise that will endanger our ability to survive?

Leaving our plant and animal cousins defenseless now will also leave us without defense hereafter.

Date: Fri, 3 Apr 2009 12:31:42 -0400
From: Glenn Woolard
Subject: Robeson Creek Report to the Pittsboro Community — Thursday –
April 23 — 6:30 pmcha

Robeson Creek Report to Pittsboro Community — Thursday night — April 23

A Robeson Creek Report to the Pittsboro Community will be conducted by the Robeson Creek Watershed Council and the Chatham Extension Center of the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service on Thursday night, April 23.

A social with refreshments and snacks will start at 6:30 pm.  Council members, Town of Pittsboro, and stream restoration partners will be available to answer questions.  Various exhibits displaying the work that has been completed, work that is still in progress, and work planned for the future will be available for viewing.  The presentations will be from 7:00 to 8:30 pm followed by a time for questions and answers.  The program will be in the auditorium downstairs in the County Agriculture Building in Pittsboro.

The presentations will include an historical perspective on the Robeson Creek Watershed Council, water quality issues in Robeson Creek, the stream stewardship program, and next steps.  Water quality concerns will focus on the total maximum daily load both nonpoint source and point source, biological impairments, stream monitoring of  both stormwater and macroinvertebrates, and implementation of stormwater best management practices.

Presenters will include Karen Hall, Water Quality Group Extension Associate with North Carolina State University; and Catherine Deininger, Haw River Assembly Stream Coordinator.  Tentative panel participants for questions and answers will be Dan Line with NC State University, David Monroe with the Town of Pittsboro, and Paul Clark with the NC Division of Water Quality.

There will be no registration fee, but please call Jane Tripp, Extension Secretary, at 919-542-8202 and register before April 23 so we can make plans for the food for the social.

You can also register at the Chatham County Extension Center at the County Agriculture Building in Pittsboro.  Office hours are Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

For more details, call Glenn Woolard, County Extension Director, at 919-542-8202, email to glenn_woolard@ncsu.edumailto:glenn_woolard@ncsu.edu or visit our web site at http://chatham.ces.ncsu.edu/.  More information on the Robeson Creek Watershed Restoration projects can be found at http://www.ncsu.edu/srp/robeson.html
North Carolina State University and North Carolina A&T State University commit themselves to positive action to secure equal opportunity regardless of race, color, creed, national origin, religion, sex, age, veteran status or disability. In addition, the two Universities welcome all persons without regard to sexual orientation. For accommodations for persons with disabilities, contact Glenn Woolard, County Extension Director, at 919-542-8202, no later than five business days before the event.

Glenn Woolard
County Extension Director
Chatham County Center
N.C. Cooperative Extension
919.542-8202

Date: Mon, 9 Feb 2009 14:52:09 -0500
From: Glenn Woolard
Subject: How to Sell Your Timber Workshop — Thursday — February 12 — 7
pm — Pittsboro

A How to Sell Your Timber Workshop will be held on Thursday, February 12, at 7:00 pm.  The workshop will be in the auditorium downstairs in the County Agriculture Building in Pittsboro.  The workshop is being conducted by the Chatham County Center of the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service.

Learning from experience can be very expensive when it comes to timber sales, many of which are once or twice in a lifetime occurrences. Years of growth and value are accumulated in a mature timber stand, and the combined annual income from all those years is frequently marketed in a single transaction. When and how you sell your timber can influence how much money you make, your overall financial plans, the cost of forest regeneration, and other management objectives.  Too much is at stake for you to sell timber without an understanding of the timber selling process.
Robert Bardon, Forestry Extension Department Leader at North Carolina State University; will give the presentation from 7:00 to 9:00 pm.  The presentation will include how timber is bought and sold, fair market value, how to find the appropriate timber buyers, what trees to sell and why,  current timber market price trends, and how to get advise from a professional forester.

The registration fee will be $5.00 per person in advance or at the door.  Please call Jane Tripp, Extension Secretary, at 542-8202 to pre-register.  The fee includes workshop materials, advertising, and refreshments.  Make checks payable to: Chatham County Cooperative Extension.  Mail to: Cooperative Extension, PO Box 279, Pittsboro, NC 27312-0279.

You can also register at the Chatham County Extension Center at the County Agriculture Building in Pittsboro.  Office hours are Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

For more details, call Glenn Woolard, County Extension Director, at (919) 542-8202, email to glenn_woolard@ncsu.edu or visit our web site at http://chatham.ces.ncsu.edu/

Employment and program opportunities are offered to all people regardless of race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability.

Glenn Woolard
County Extension Director
Chatham County Center
N.C. Cooperative Extension
919.542-8202
http://chatham.ces.ncsu.edu

Date: Mon, 09 Feb 2009 10:50:05 -0500
From: Dwain Ritchie
Subject: Old Dam

I was wondering if there is anyone out there who can tell me about a dam across Landrum Creek.  It is south of Jay Shambley Rd.  It is a very old dam with a hand stacked rock wall on a portion of it.  Does anyone know the history, when it was built, etc.?

Thank you,
Dwain Ritchie

Date: Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:33:30 +0000
From: mike resnik
Subject: Small business introduction: Collins Mountain Grading

COLLINS MOUNTAIN GRADING, (919) 929-3324, mikeresnik@bellsouth.net.
Website: www.collinsmountaingrading.com

I am Mike Resnik, and I write to introduce my business, Collins Mountain Grading. First I want to thank Gene for producing the Chatlist and for providing small businesses this opportunity. I also want to thank my friends and customers for voting Collins Mountain Grading Chatham’s Best for the past three years.

WHAT I DO (AND HAVE DONE). 1. Land clearing (usually small areas with few trees larger than 12† breast height) for “jungle taming†, yard enlargement, building sites, gardens, fence lines, farm roads, trails, and long and short driveways; 2. Land grading to level or improve landscapes, or to solve drainage problems; 3. Backfilling, spreading and moving dirt, gravel and topsoil; 4. Ditching for footings, water lines, and French drains; 5. Driveway and subdivision road grading, construction and re-construction; 6. Small pond construction and renovation.

My equipment has been ideal for most of these projects; for others a bigger machine could certainly have done the job faster. But, as many people have remarked, I am very skilled, and this has enabled me to get the job done within budget. My business has expanded enough to justify the regular employment of a very able and hard working assistant, Ken Withers, who does most of the hand work–chainsawing, shoveling, raking, placing rip-rap, etc. Sometimes we collaborate with other grading contractors with bigger equipment. (We also carry workers compensation
as well as general liability insurance.)

MY EQUIPMENT. I have a medium sized “bobcat† with removable, over the tire steel tracks. Weighing about 7500 lbs and powered by a 57 horsepower diesel, the machine looks and acts like a small “bulldozer†. It has a number of attachments, including grading and digging buckets, a forklift, a brush grapple and a small backhoe for digging ditches.. I sometimes use my farm tractor for grading longer roads and driveways. Finally, I have a medium sized dump truck for carting brush, logs, up to 6 tons of dirt or gravel and pulling my equipment trailer.

Please do not sell my little “bobcat† short. More than one customer and professional grader has used the term “amazing† to describe what I can do with it. On the other hand, when bigger equipment is needed, I will rent it or enlist the help of another operator.

ABOUT ME. For 39 years I was a philosophy professor at UNC-Chapel Hill, specializing in Logic and Philosophy of Mathematics. I retired formally in June of 2006, but still retain some ties with UNC and academic philosophy. My wife, Janet, whose pottery you may know, and I have lived on our farm on Collins Mountain Road since 1967. We have been busy clearing pastures, building barns, studios and rental houses, and raising horses and timber ever since. Janet gave me my first “bobcat† as an anniversary present. I learned to use it on our farm by clearing pasture land, digging two small ponds, building a three quarter mile road to our children’s house sites, clearing and landscaping their lots, and excavating their basements. My business was born when our son, Dmitri, suggested that I “stop pushing over OUR trees and go push over somebody else’s.â€

MY COMPETITVE ADVANTAGES. I am in this business because I enjoy the challenges it provides. I will dedicate myself to doing a good job for you. My equipment is suited for working on a small scale; my “bobcat† can get into most backyards. My rates are very reasonable; you can probably hire me for an afternoon for not much more than you can rent anything like my equipment, and get more done to boot. Finally, although my business is growing very nicely, I am still available. I can promise you that if you call or email me I will respond as soon as possible. If you decide to use me, I will be able to turn to your job within weeks rather than months. This is probably one reason why in the 2006, 2007 and 2008 Chatham Journal-Chatlist Surveys, Collins Mountain Grading was voted Chatham’s best grading service.

Please visit my website (www.collinsmountaingrading.com). I think you will find it entertaining as well as informative.

Thank you for reading this.

Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2008 16:42:34 +0000
From: Alice Jones
Subject: Woods School on Andrews Store Road

I think Woods School can certainly be an asset to the community, but does it have to be SO UGLY? The landscape has been mutilated, and the building is a glaring monstrosity. When I  drive down Andrews Store Rd. at night, the multitude of bright lights and wasted energy is overwhelming. However, I guess it will fit in quite well with the upcoming “city of Briar’s Chapel,” which will complete the destruction of that beautiful forestland and peaceful country road. There’s no accounting for bad taste.

Alice Jones

Date: Thu, 7 Aug 2008 08:52:40 -0400
From: Ryan Elting
Subject: seeking advice re: capturing rainwater for gardening

If you do decide to go with the $50 rain barrels from The Rain Barrel Company in Durham, and you have a way to transport several (like a pickup or something), I’d love to join in and help pay for gas and get a couple for my house.

I’ve been wanting to get up there for a month or so now, but have found it almost impossible to fit in my schedule since I work way south of Pittsboro, and they only sell the “cosmetically flawed” barrels on Tuesday 11-7 and Wednesday 9-3:30 p.m.  Let me know if this might work.

Thanks and good luck – Ryan Elting

Date: Wed, 06 Aug 2008 11:41:45 -0400
From: Laura Lauffer
Subject: Sustainability and GreenBuilding Courses, CCCC Fall Register Now

CCCC Pittsboro Fall GreenBuilding Classes

Registration Now Open, Ongoing. 542 6495 ext 223

Basic Residential Construction Techniques: (with emphasis on Alternative Energy and Green Building). This course is designed to educate students on the basics of building principles, with a focus on green building and energy efficient construction. Areas of instruction will include site location, foundation, and framing, HVAC, exterior trim, electrical, plumbing, finish choices, code information and the permitting process. Instructors Judy and Mike Harrelson. materials and text required (CCCC bookstore) 08/19/08 10/21/08 Tuesdays 6:00P – 9:00P Fee 56.25

Intro to Photovoltaic System Design: This course will prepare the student for PV installations either for personal use or as professional development. The successful student will also be prepared to take the NABCEP (North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners) Entry Level Certificate Exam immediately after the course. Instructor David DelVecchio. Textbook required, CCCC bookstore 08/27/08 10/29/08 Wednesdays 6:00P – 9:00P 61.25

Water Conservation and Reuse. Learn principles and techniques for the conservation and reuse of water. The use of green infrastructure may be applied by the individual, community and region, involving the private sector and business enterprise. The course will cover stormwater, wastewater and home water conservation. Instructor Dr. Hal House 08/21/08 12/04/08 Thursdays 6:30 – 8:00P 56.25

Carpentry, Electrical and Plumbing Students will learn the NC State building codes and the skills necessary to perform basic construction with an emphasis on sustainable and low impact building techniques and materials. Instructor Kevin Meehan 09/16/09 12/02/08 Tuesdays 7:00P – 9:00P 56.25

Green Home Design and Construction Students will be introduced to various design and building strategies that can be utilized in a green home. Offered by GreenPros Thursday 10/16/08 8:00A – 5:00P 150.00

Solar Hot Water Systems Students will be instructed in the different types of solar hot water systems, as well as system parts and installation options and methods. Offered by GreenPros Tuesday 12/04/08 9:00A – 1:00P 80.00

For more information about the Green building program at CCCC contact Laura Lauffer, Program Coordinator at 542 6495 ext 228