At the start of an information meeting tonight about Carolina North, The Chapel Hill Town Council and members of the UNC Board of Trustees heard from citizens firing a handful of questions their way.
Thus commenced a small bout of "what do we do with these questions," that concluded with a promise from town leaders that answers will be found and posted on the town's website.
A few folks had questions about an airport that may or may not be proposed, eventually, for the rural community of White Cross. Others had questions about transportation and housing issues at Carolina North, the huge new UNC campus planned for 25 percent of the nearly 1,000-acre Horace Williams tract just north of the main campus.
Once questions from the citizenry are answered, they will appear here.
Additionally, council member Jim Ward suggested that future meetings allow more than just 10 minutes before and after for public comment.
Of note: the folks out at White Cross are organizing swiftly to oppose any airport that might be eventually proposed for their community. They're nervous because their area was tabbed in a 2005 airport site study, and now there are new rumblings about a new Orange County airport.
They came with signs and bumper stickers reading "No Airport" and sent just a handful of delegates to speak. And Mayor Kevin Foy made clear at the start of this meeting that it was about Carolina North planning, not an airport.
He said:
"We're not talking about the airport this evening so what I would ask is that people who want to comment, comment directly about the Carolina North project. If you want to talk about the airport, I think that's a topic for a different meeting. If you do want to talk about that, I'm not going to entertain that this evening unless it's in the context of Carolina North."
