Two articles in today's Chapel Hill News highlight Chapel Hill's shrinking African American population.

In our lead story today, staff writer Tammy Grub reports on work of a new group trying to preserve the character of the historically black Northside community. In 1980, 1,159 black residents called the area home; by 2010, there were just 690.

We have long reported the trend and those who attribute it to student encroachment, gentrification and other causes. To be fair, many of the older residents have died and passed on property to multiple heirs who have chosen to sell. At the same time, some community leaders say black middle class homebuyers moving to the region have chosen to live in other areas, such as Durham, where there is a large, thriving black community and cultural scene.

But an essay by UNC business professor Michael Jacobs on today's editorial page points to another reason for black flight.

Of the 25 largest counties in North Carolina, only two saw declines in their black population in the past decade -- and Orange County saw the biggest drop. The professor, a former U.S. Treasury official, says high taxes, overreliance on property taxes, and high government expenditures have made Orange County unaffordable to people of moderate and less means.

The professor did not mention the rural buffer, the ring around the urban southern part of the county past which water and sewer lines may not go. Critics say the buffer, which has preserved Orange County's rural character, has also artificially constrained housing supply, further driving up costs.

And last night, Carrboro aldermen grappled with their own affordability dilemma as the renovations and new owners of Collins Crossing challenge one of that town's affordable rental communities. The aldermen have formed a task force to look for answers, though the mayor says it is too late to affect what happens at Collins Crossing, the former Abbey Court condominiums.

Orange County's cost of living is the story right now, and for years to come. Work is under way to course correct: infrastructure is coming to the county's economic development districts to lure industry. Chapel Hill and Carrboro are embracing mixed use to help shift the tax base. But it will take more to hold on to and grow Orange County's shrinking racial diversity. The question is whether our leaders and the public that elects them are willing to take it on.

Tell us what you think at editor@newsobserver.com. Let's keep the conversation going.

The Orange County Board of Commissioners will discuss Thursday whether to privatize the county’s curbside solid waste and recycling services.

The board will meet at 7 p.m. at the Department of Social Services, 113 Mayo St., in Hillsborough.

The idea came up earlier this year after the N.C. Supreme Court voided a Cabarrus County impact fees program, Assistant County Manager Michael Talbert said. The county is weighing its options, he said.

County Attorney John Roberts said the unique nature of the county’s recycling program makes it a target. The state Legislature and the appellate courts have moved toward limiting local authority over the last several years, he said.

While private companies don’t recycle as many types of materials as Orange County does, Talbert said they could provide curbside service to more homes that want it.

Talbert, Carrboro Town Manager David Andrews and Chapel Hill Town Manager Roger Stancil agreed the move also would have implications for joint recycling operations. The town managers said their respective boards want to hear from the commissioners before making any decisions.

The commissioners could hold a public hearing April 23. The change would go into effect until July 2014.

Grammarians may have noticed a misused verb in the first sentence of a story Monday about the Captain John S. Pope Farm in northern Orange County:

“Thomas Crisp Jr. stood at the edge of a wire fence Friday morning in northern Orange County, two bales of hay laying at his feet.”

Two readers took the time to email me about the error - using "laying" instead of "lying" - that was edited into the story late Sunday.

“Kindly assist in teaching by example the uses of lie-lay,” reader Wendy Smith wrote in an email.

For the record: The verb “lay” and its derivatives – laid and laying – require an active voice and a direct object (a person, place or thing). For example, “she laid the bales of hay at his feet.”

However, the verb “lie” and its derivatives – lay, lain, lying – take an indirect object: “The bales of hay were lying at his feet.”

As a former copy editor, I know how easy it is to make mistakes when you’re pressed for time. We stand corrected.

The Orange County Board of Commissioners voted Thursday to give the Historic Rogers Road Neighborhood Task Force six more months.

In the meantime, the county will nail down construction of a new community center.

“I don’t think anyone could say seriously that the work is done. When there’s a community center being built and when people are connected to sewer and can flush their toilets, then the work is done,” Commissioner Mark Dorosin said.

Financing for a $5.8 million sewer system is still on the table. The task force also will talk about the potential for development changing the neighborhood’s character and uses for the adjacent county-owned Greene Tract.

Due to the fatal wreck that took the lives of two Orange High School students, Friday's basketball games between Orange and Chapel Hill High School have been postponed and rescheduled for Thursday, Jan. 10.

Orange County Commissioner Barry Jacobs was elected to a fifth term as board chairman Monday.

Commissioner Earl McKee was elected to the position of vice chairman.

Jacobs, who joined the commissioners in 1998, served as chairman in 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2008. He also has served as vice chairman.

McKee was elected to the commissioners in 2010.

The board also swore in its newest members Monday – Mark Dorosin, Renee Price and Penny Rich. They replace Valerie Foushee, who was elected to the state Senate in November, and Pam Hemminger and Steve Yuhasz, both of which lost their primary bids.

Former commissioners Chairwoman Bernadette Pelissier also was sworn in for her second term.

Chapel Hill resident Jim Groves was chosen Monday to lead Orange County’s Emergency Services department.

Groves will replace retiring Director Frank Montes de Oca. He starts his new job Jan. 22.

County Manager Frank Clifton said in a news release that more than a hundred people applied for the job.

“Jim brings many years of boots-on-the-ground experience, along with a connection and true understanding of the community, which will be an added benefit for our residents,” Clifton said.

As Emergency Services director, Groves will lead the Fire Marshal’s Office and a 119-member staff that meets the county’s emergency medical, communication and management needs, while working with other local, state and federal agencies.

He also will oversee a major expansion and upgrade to EMS and 911 Center services.

Groves has worked since 2006 as senior manager with ICF International in Durham. The consulting firm specializes in emergency service response programs and inter-agency collaboration. He also served three years as Lee County’s emergency services director, 10 years as the emergency management coordinator for Durham County and was a member and assistant chief of Durham’s Parkwood Volunteer Fire Department from 1984 to 2004.

A solid waste transfer station jointly operated with Carrboro and a pay-as-you-throw system were among a consultant’s recommendations Monday night to the Town Council.

Bob Dick, vice president of SCS Engineers, outlined 18 immediate, short-term and long-term steps for handling the town’s solid waste when the Orange County Landfill closes July 1.

Chapel Hill could begin shipping its waste to Durham in April or May at $42.50 per ton, or it could sign a three-year contract with Waste Industries at $41 per ton, Dick said. To make the transition to shipping its waste, the town also should spend $380,000 this year and $341,000 in 2014 on new compactor trucks, employees, fuel and a routing study, he said.

Dick recommended the town continue working with Orange County to handle its recycling, yard waste and white goods. He also suggested asking Carrboro about sharing the cost to build a waste transfer station beside the Town Operations Center on Millhouse Road.

The study does not recommend outsourcing commercial or residential trash pickup or building a new landfill.

Voting has begun on Orange County's half-cent sales tax for a future light rail and expanded bus service. Sunday saw Part 2 in staff writer Tammy Grubb's 5-part series looking at the transit plan, which includes a 17 mile rail line between Chapel Hill and Durham, bus rapid transit on MLK Boulevard, and an AMTRAK train station in Hillsborough. 

We have also begun running letters and guest columns on the transit plan, including a point/counterpoint series that began Sunday. Orange County Commissioners Bernadette Pelissier and Earl McKee weighed in for and against the referendum. Here are excerpts.

Pelissier: "Some feel that the plan is not perfect. Some say we only need buses. We already have buses that are not on time because of traffic congestion. Some say we will still have congestion. The transit plan is not meant to solve all our congestion problems. Some feel that we do not need light rail between Orange County and Durham County. Yet, the majority of Orange County citizens who leave Orange County for work go to Durham County and vice-versa. Some feel that light rail costs too much. What about the cost of new roads? How can buses operate efficiently within congested roadways?" (Read full essay here.)

McKee: "The proposed light rail system is a regional system in name only. A Chapel Hill to Durham light rail connection provides limited service on one leg of the Triangle Region and no service to other Triangle communities or the RDU Airport without multiple bus transfers where bus service already exists. ... We need to invest our transit funds to build a truly regional bus system reaching most of our population centers and our outlying communities. For a fraction of the cost of light rail, we can increase bus hours, reduce wait times, add new routes and expand bus service into other communities with growing commuter populations. These actions taken together will increase ridership and create a truly regional transportation system without placing an undue burden on the taxpaying public." (Read full essay here.)

What do you think of the transit plan. Please send your letters (up to 300 words) to editor@newsobserver.com by 5 p.m. Wednesday to help get them all published by Election Day.  Thanks.