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Wednesday, April 24, 2002
Town Officials Delay Improvement Plans
By Erika Heyder
Staff Writer
Chapel Hill officials are working to
prioritize capital improvements projects
in light of the release of the town’s 2002-
03 proposed budget, which includes
delaying some projects.
Bill Stockard, assistant to the town
manager, said the town’s original $1.2
million budget for its Capital
Improvements Plan -a 15-year finan
cial strategy to meet the town’s major
infrastructure needs - has been
decreased by 60 percent.
The 2002-03 recommended Capital
Improvements Plan budget is $478,000,
$238,000 of which will come from the
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town’s general fund. The remaining
$240,000 will come from money
already in the town’s Capital
Improvements Fund.
No discussion was held concerning
the plan or the town’s budget at
Monday’s Chapel Hill Town Council
meeting, where Town Manager Cal
Horton presented his recommended
2002-03 budget for the first time.
But talks have been ongoing for
months about both topics, especially
because the town expects to face a $2.9
million revenue shortfall for the 2002-03
fiscal year, $1.4 million of which stems
from money Gov. Mike Easley has with
held from the state’s municipalities.
“A lot of things had to be cut back
because of budget restraints,” Stockard
said.
Despite the cutbacks, town officials
say they have prioritized capital projects
so the most important ones can go for
ward next year.
Projects that have a council mandate
or have legal requirements that need to
be performed or completed are at the
top of the lists.
Some of the projects that have been
given top priority are improvements to
the Hargraves Recreation Center and
the A.D. Clark Pool as well as the con
struction of a community gym at
Meadowmont Elementary School.
Other secondary projects include
resurfacing sidewalks, making improve
ments to town and public works facili
ties, placing new traffic lights and beau
tifying cemeteries.
“Most of the CIP budget involves
debt payment on facilities like the pub
lic works facility,” Stockard said.
Facilities requiring debt payments
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include the Inter-Faith Council Center
and anew town transit facility.
Council member Flicka Bateman
expressed concern about the town’s lack
of funds. “We’re trying to work with
what we have, but we have more needs
than money to pay for it all,” she said.
Stockard also is worried about how
the town will manage to fund many of
its important projects with a significant
amount of funds expected to be with
held by the state government.
“It all depends on what the govem
ment releases back to the local govern
ments,” Stockard said.
Stockard said finding ways to increase
some public salaries and return money
to the Capital Improvements Plan are
town officials’ top priorities during the
budget crafting process. The town plans
to finalize its budget before July 1.
“We would feel lucky to do more.”
The City Editor can be reached
at citydesk@unc.edu.
Developments in the War on Terrorism
Police Testify on Pearl Kidnapping
■ Islamic militant Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh admitted
his role in the kidnap-slaying of reporter Daniel Pearl ITT P V 1
and said he expected to be extradited to the United
States, two police officers testified Tuesday, the second tt&CK.S
day of testimony against Saeed and three other men.
94 Washington-Area Airport Workers Arrested
■ federal authorities have arrested 94 workers at two Washington-area airports on charges
of fraudulently obtaining airport security badges. 'There will be zero tolerance of security
breaches at our nation's airports,' said Attorney General John Ashcroft.
Germany Says It Crushed Terror Cell
■ Germany claimed Tuesday it crushed a terror cell led by a London-based cleric linked to
Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network, arresting 11 suspected Islamic militants in raids
throughout the country.
Commuter, Freight Trains
Collide in Calif., Killing 2
The Associated Press
PLACENTIA, Calif. - A freight train
plowed head-on into a Southern
California commuter train during the
morning rush hour Tuesday, hurling
people out of their seats. Two people
were killed and at least 260 were injured.
Authorities were investigating how
the trains ended up on the same track. It
was the nation’s second deadly train
wreck in less than a week.
The accident happened just after 8
a.m., 35 miles southeast of Los Angeles.
The southbound Metrolink train was
traveling from Riverside, Calif., to San
Juan Capistrano, Calif., with more than
300 passengers when it collided with a
Burlington Northern Santa Fe freight en
route from Los Angeles to Clovis, N.M.,
with 67 loaded containers.
Commuters were hurled from their
seats by the thundering impact, and pas-
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sengers, many of them bleeding, scram
bled to help others out of the double
deck Metrolink cars. “I was thrown for
ward onto my knees with my face into
the seat, and I was just confused. I just
saw darkness, and I didn’t know what
happened,” passenger Kim Bailey said.
Passenger Bill Marin said some riders,
apparendy thinking the train had reached
its next station, stood up when it came to
a halt and were the most seriously injured.
Robert Kube, 59, of Moreno Valley,
Calif., died at the scene. Another pas
senger, a 48-year-old man, died at a hos
pital. His name was not immediately
released. Officials said 162 people were
taken to hospitals; 19 were reported to
have serious injuries.
The National Transportation Safety
Board sent investigators from Washington,
D.C. It was the worst accident in the nine
year history of Metrolink, which carries
32,000 passengers on 128 trains daily.
Campus Calendar
Thursday
noon - The Office of the Provost
invites you to meet with the architects
from Polshek Partnership who are plan
ning the Arts Common. Three mem
bers of the firm will be in the Pit until 1
p.m.
Find out about the planning process
and help shape the future of the Arts
Common.
8 p.m. - Following the Thursday
production of “Twelve Angry Men,”
Company Carolina will be hosting a
round-table discussion on the current
criminal court system with Raleigh
lawyers Benji Taylor Jones and Bryan
McGann, from the law firm of Smith,
Anderson, Blount, Dorsett, Mitchell, &
Jemigan, LLP.
The show is in 203 Bingham Hall;
student price is $5, general public is SB.
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RO. Box 3257, Chapel Hill. NC 27515
Katie Hunter, Editor, 962-4086
Advertising & Business, 962-1163
News, Features. Sports, 962-0245
One copy per person; additional copies may be
purchased at The Daily Tar Heel for $.25 each.
© 2002 DTH Publishing Corp.
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