Reporting activities, Interests and News of the People of Chatham County ©2014 The Chatham News Publishing Company, Inc- All Rights Reserved Thursday, November 20, 2014 Siler City, NC- Vol. 95 No. 3 USPS 101-160 Driver hits school bus Jeff Davis photo I’ll take this one . . . Braxton Tickle climbs on a garden tractor with a modified front end loader at the Hart’s Pumpkin Festival Saturday. Braxton was running from tractor to tractor until he found one just his size. The weekend was perfect for the festival, with blue skies and sunny days. For more photos on the Pumpkin Festival see page 10-1. By John Hunter A Pittsboro teen faces driving charges following a threevehicle accident on Monday involving a Chatham County School bus. According to Patrol Lt. Richard Merritt of the Siler City Police Department, a Chatham County School bus transporting 37 students between the ages of 5- and 10years-old to Virginia Cross Elementary had stopped to pick up a student at the intersection E. 11th Street and Loves Creek Church Rd. The bus, driven by Michelle Womble, was facing westbound on E. 11th Street, and all of its lights were functional and its stop arm was deployed. Several cars had Nov. 20, 2014 Edition Newspapers set deadlines for Thanksgiving The Chatham News and The Chatham Record newspapers will have early deadlines for the Thanksgiving edition dated November 27. Deadlines for all classified display, motor vehicle ads, real estate display ads, service directory, society news and church news will be Friday, November 21 at noon. The deadline for retail block ads, classified line ads and legal ads will be Monday, November 24 at noon. The newspaper the week of Thanksgiving will be printed and delivered on Tuesday, November 25. Duke Energy plans coal ash storage Company eyes site in Brickhaven to house 12 million tons By John Hunter Duke Energy is planning on moving up to 12 million tons of coal ash for storage in clay mines in Chatham and Lee counties. The company made the announcement last week and, though the news is fresh, concerns from county residents are mounting. Under the plan, up to 12 million tons of coal ash could be stored in the Brickhaven Mine in Moncure over the next five years. But before any work can begin, the North Carolina Department of Environmental and Natural Resources (NC DENR) must approve Duke Energy’s coal excavation plan. Duke Energy plans to remove ash stored at the Asheville Steam Electric Plant, the Dan River Steam Station in Eden, the Riverbend Steam Station in Mount Holly and L.V. Sutton Steam Electric Plant in Wilmington. All basins at those sites must be closed by August 1, 2019, under North Carolina’s Coal Ash Management Act. “This milestone reflects Duke Energy’s commitment to moving forward as quickly as practicable in a safe and environmentally sound way to address the enormous task of long-term coal ash storage in North Carolina,” Lynn Good, Chatham Park revisions set for Monday hearing By Bill Willcox A public hearing will be con- ducted Monday, Nov. 24 on a rezoning case for Chatham Park, as the developer is applying to add 45 acres to the 7,200-acre property and also submitting a revised master plan. The public hearing will be held at 7 p.m. during the regular meeting of the Pittsboro Board of Commissioners. The location will be on the second floor of the Chatham County Historic Courthouse. The 45 acres are spread across the northernmost section of the Chatham Park property. Some are doughnut holes surrounded by Chatham Park land while a section on the northern corner is bordered on the south by the Chatham Park, but also abuts private property. Four of the parcels are less than one acre; the other two are 21 and 23 acres. The larger parcels are in the area of Bynum Beach Road. The submittal of a master plan is required as part of the rezoning case. “If we add 45 acres we have to resubmit the master plan,” said Chatham Park consulting planner Philip Culpepper. “It is a new rezoning case.” He said the rezoning provided an opportunity to revise the master plan, with most of the changes intended to provide clarity and better organization within the document. But members of Pittsboro Matters claim the changes are a direct result of their current lawsuit challenging significant deficiencies in the June rezoning approval for Chatham Park. Pittsboro Matters Vice Chair Jeffrey Starkweather said most of the changes came about after he was deposed by CPI attorneys on October 23. “During approximately six hours of deposition testimony,” CPI’s attorneys wrote in a subsequent legal document cited by Starkweather, “[Pittsboro Matters] clarified the alleged deficiencies in the zoning map amendment and Master Plan, provided a greater level of specificity as to those alleged deficiencies, and identified new deficiencies not raised in the complaint.” As a result, CPI “took the testimony into account when drafting, and ultimately submitting, the Nov. 20, 2014 Edition president and chief executive officer of Duke Energy said in a released statement. “We are devoted to being good neighbors to the communities we serve and good custodians of our shared environment,” Good continued. During the initial phase of excavation, Duke Energy will move 5.1 million tons of ash from the four plants, which will take up to 18 months. Duke Energy is planning to send the majority of the initial 3 million tons of coal ash excavated from Riverbend to the Brickhaven Mine in Moncure, with some of the waste possibly being stored at a mine in Sanford as a backup location. Later, Duke plans to put an additional 2 million tons of ash in the open-pit mines in Moncure and Sanford from On Monday, the Chatham County Manager’s Office presented a proposed sevenyear Capital Improvements Plan (CIP) for 2016-22 that includes revisions to projects already in the CIP and newly funded projects, including an expansion and renovation of the Animal Shelter and several school projects. Residents can provide feedback at a public hearing on Dec. 1, at 6 p.m. in the Historic Courthouse in Pittsboro. Copies of the proposed CIP are available on the county website (www.chathamnc. org) using the Quick Links box on the homepage. Printed copies will be available in the three county libraries by the afternoon of Nov. 20. “We are pleased to announce that the recent upgraded bond rating to AAA by Standard and Poor’s and to Aa1 by Moody’s had a very positive influence on the interest rate and amount of premium, $1.38 million, received on the bonds for the new Agriculture & Convention Center,” said County Manager Charlie Horne. “This is a substantial amount that we do not have to repay.” Horne added that the Board of Commissioners will hear public input and could make changes in the CIP before adopting it. The CIP is adopted annually to provide a long-term plan for funding capital needs, such as facilities, equipment and other projects costing at least $100,000. The CIP considers both capital and operating costs and is the county’s major planning tool for projects. The CIP is an important factor in the county’s high bond ratings. In 2006, the county began setting aside funds in a capital reserve, which has allowed the county to issue debt for a number of county facilities when interest rates have been at historic lows and construction costs dropped during the economic downturn. The proposed CIP includes all of the school projects that were in last year’s adopted CIP, but one was revised and Nov. 20, 2014 Edition County seeks input on CIP Jeff Davis photo Wet Ride . . . An old Model A travels down the road in Pittsboro last week during a rain shower. The car, and passengers, were part of a club called the TarWheel A’s, based out of Raleigh. The members of the club bring out their Model A’s and tour North Carolina. Nov. 20, 2014 Edition