CHAPEL HILL Orange County Animal Services, in conjunction with the Hillsborough, Carrboro and Chapel Hill police departments, is holding professional and public information sessions on coyote management.

The sessions will take place Wednesday, Jan. 23, led by Lynsey White Dasher, urban wildlife specialist from the Humane Society of the United States. She will offer insights about how to humanely deal with coyotes, so they do not become more habituated and comfortable around humans and domesticated animals.

The free public session will be held from 7 to 8 p.m. at the Animal Services Center, at 1601 Eubanks Road in Chapel Hill. Registration is not required.

The county will hold the professional session earlier in the day to help policy makers and managers better understand issues that may affect Orange County residents, said Bob Marotto, Animal Services director.

Dasher helps communities find effective and humane solutions to human-wildlife conflicts. She specializes in species, such as coyotes, and her work includes research and data analysis for the Cook County Coyote project in Chicago, Ill., the largest study of urban coyotes in the country to date.

From Staff Reports

Hearing on new fire districts Thursday

CHAPEL HILL Officials want to hear what residents think about the creation of three revised fire districts in southern Orange County.

The new districts – Greater Chapel Hill, South Orange and North Chatham – will improve homeowners’ fire insurance ratings and coverage, while lowering their property insurance costs.

The information meeting will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday at the Southern Human Services Center, 2501 Homestead Road in Chapel Hill. A question-and-answer session will follow a short presentation.

The Chapel Hill Town Council is expected to discuss the new districts at 7 p.m. Monday, and the Orange County Board of Commissioners will hold a public hearing Jan. 24. The N.C. Fire Marshall’s office must have the new district contracts by Feb. 1. The changes take effect July 1.

The revised districts will be particularly helpful for 112 homeowners who now live in the North Chatham Fire Department district but more than six miles from the fire station. Those homeowners are rated Class 10 for insurance, which can double their bills or prevent them from getting insurance. None can sell their homes.

The North Chatham lots are only three miles from Chapel Hill’s Station 5.

The revised districts also will reunite the South Orange Fire District, which has been served by Carrboro since Chapel Hill annexations split the district.

Residents in all three districts will pay slightly higher fire taxes to pay for the adjustment or match existing Chatham County tax rates, county officials said.

For more information, contact Orange County Assistant County Manager Michael Talbert at 919-245-2308.

Staff Writer Tammy Grubb

No fires keeps

wreath green

CHAPEL HILL This year, the Chapel Hill Fire Department is proud to announce for the first time, the town did not suffer a single structure fire in the community during the month of December.

For the past decade the Chapel Hill Fire Department has sponsored a program entitled “Keep the Wreath Green.” During the month of December, the Fire Department hangs a lighted green wreath above Chapel Hill Fire Station 1, located at 403 Martin Luther King Jr, Blvd.

The purpose of the program is to raise fire safety awareness during the Holiday Season and reduce the number of fires in our community. The occurrence of a structure fire is symbolized by replacing a lighted green bulb with a red bulb.

From Staff Reports

Sculpture tour deadline Tuesday

HILLSBOROUGH Sculptors are invited to enter Hillsborough Sculpture Tour 2013. This will be the second time outdoor sculpture is exhibited throughout downtown Historic Hillsborough. The tour, sponsored by the Hillsborough Arts Council, will occur April 26, 2013 until April 2014.

The tour is open to all artists. Sculpture must be suitable for outdoor public display, stable, and free-standing. Renown sculptor Patrick Dougherty will select six winning sculptures. Each winner will receive an honorarium of $800. At the closing of the tour the People’s Choice Award will be announced based on spectator votes.

Entry forms and additional information are available on the Hillsborough Arts Council’s website HillsboroughArtsCouncil.org, and from the tour coordinator, Gail Cooley, at Sculpture@HillsboroughArtsCouncil.org.

The deadline for entries is Tuesday.

From Staff Reports