At its meeting Monday night at Town Hall, the Chapel Hill Town Council agreed to the purchase of a 10-acre parcel adjacent to the Town Operations Center on Millhouse Road. The town has been interested in the parcel for years since it is between its transit and public works facilities. Purchase price on the property was $525,000.
In other action Monday night, the council:
• honored the Tar Heels Men Basketball Team with a proclamation. Athletic Direct Dick Baddour and center Tyler Zeller were on hand to accept the honors;
• approved a plan to use a $732,519 federal grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to renovate 15 apartments at the South Roberson neighborhood and replace appliances in the Eastwood, Caldwell-Church and Oakwood neighborhoods;
• approved changes to the town’s land-use ordinance to allow more flexibility in accepting payments-in-lieu to satisfy recreational space requirements for developments;
• authorized an agreement to extend the jurisdiction of the UNC Department of Public Safety into defined non-campus areas of the town under certain circumstances.
Speaking in favor of the jurisdiction change, Chapel Hill Police Chief Brian Curran said it would allow UNC police to better assist the CHPD, especially in emergency situations.