By Sarah Mansur

The Carrboro Board of Aldermen will consider the question of using eminent domain tonight

Last week Alderman Sammy Slade requested information from town staff on the legal feasibility and the potential costs of eminent domain, which empowers local governments to take private property for public use. Mayor Mark Chilton said the topic is not listed as an agenda item for tonight, but residents should expect to hear a conversation about it. The meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. in Carrboro Town Hall, 301 W. Main St.

Former Alderman Dan Coleman first raised the possibility of using eminent domain to acquire the Collins Crossing apartment complex on Jones Ferry Road.

Collins Crossing has a large population of Hispanic day laborers and Burmese immigrants. Massachusetts-based management company Aspen Square Management purchased Collins Crossing, formerly known as Abbey Court, in June 2012. Since then, rent increases have forced some residents to find cheaper housing elsewhere.

Board members and community activists worry that the complex is the last affordable housing complex in town.

NOTE: If you'd like to reach Sarah Mansur regarding this story, please contact her at sarah.mansur91@gmail.com

Alderwoman Jacquie Gist says she never thought she's get so excited about parking.

But Gist is very excited now that the Town of Carrboro has bought the former Andrew-Riggsbee Hardware Store property at 203 S. Greensboro St. for $600,000. The town will continue using the 0.88-acre site for free parking. It has about 90, two-hour spaces.

The town has been leasing the gravel lot, which fell into foreclosure within the past six months, Mayor Mark Chilton saiys The town’s sealed bid was the highest of a handful of bidders, he says.

'The minute we started renting that parking lot, it filled," Gist told us Monday as the town prepared to close on the deal. "And the (nearby) businesses were really happy we were renting it."

The town's purchase wasn't unanimous. We'll have more on this story and hear from the dissenter in tomorrow's Chapel Hill News.

Read more in our full story, now online at http://www.chapelhillnews.com/2013/03/19/75538/carrboro-buys-former-hardware.html

By correspondent Sarah Mansur

The Carrboro Board of Aldermen voted unanimously Tuesday to affirm a bus policy that supports the use of bus advertisements as a public forum, including religious and political ads.

This discussion was prompted by an ad by the Church of Reconciliation on Chapel Hill Transit buses calling for an end to U.S. military aid to Israel. Alderman Dan Coleman, a member of the Transit Partners Committee, presented the resolution. Alderman Sammy Slade proposed an amendment to the resolution that would differentiate between commercial and non-commercial advertising, but the board voted against his amendment

The board agreed on the importance of a public forum, even if controversial issues are involved.

"The enemy is those who believe in justice, but don't stand up for what they believe in," said Mayor Mark Chilton, citing a speech from Martin Luther King, Jr. "There is a lot of value to being confronted with things we don't agree with."