  Last Call for Leaf Collection!
The final round of loose leaf collection will begin on Monday, Feb. 22. Place loose leaves, free of limbs and debris, behind the curb or drainage ditch for collection no later than 6 a.m. on Feb. 22 to ensure leaves are collected. Find out which neighborhoods have been collected at townofchapelhill.org/leaves. Leaves that are left after your route has been completed will not be collected.
To dispose of leaves after leaf collection has ended, place them in a yard waste cart or other rigid container or 30-gallon, 50-pound weight limit brown paper bags for curbside collection with yard waste. Leaves in plastic bags will not be collected.
UNC COVID-19 Dashboard
Orange County COVID-19 Update
State COVID-19 Dashboard
 School and childcare workers eligible for vaccine Feb. 24
Childcare workers, educators and school personnel in pre-K through grade 12, including private and charter schools, will be eligible to receive a COVID vaccine beginning Feb. 24. Other frontline essential workers listed in Group 3 will become eligible March 10.
Orange County continues to register individuals in Groups 1 and 2 (healthcare workers and long-term care providers and anyone 65 or older). The county will announce its plans for registering the other essential frontline workers from Group 3 soon.
More information: orangecountync.gov/getyourshot
Transit Service to Vaccination Clinics
Chapel Hill Transit provides service to two UNC Health vaccination clinics and the Orange County Health vaccination clinic at the RR Lot.
Routes FCX, S, and N provide service to the UNC Friday Center. From Friday Center Drive, customers can walk to the back of the center to access the UNC Health vaccine clinic. GoTriangle’s routes 800, 800S, and 805 also stop at the Friday Center along NC-Highway 54.
Chapel Hill Transit operates GoTriangle’s 420 route, which provides service to the UNC Health vaccine clinic in Hillsborough.
Chapel Hill and Carrboro residents who are unable to access fixed route service or need to access the RR Lot can use EZ Rider to access these vaccination points (you don’t need to be an EZ Rider customer). Book your trip by calling (919) 969-4979 or completing an online form.
Chapel Hill Transit asks that customers do not ride the bus if they are sick or have been in contact with someone with COVID-19. Face coverings are required on Chapel Hill Transit vehicles.
 Town Parking Spaces to Close
The Town of Chapel Hill will close the lower portion of the Rosemary-Columbia Parking Lot (26 spaces) beginning on Monday, February 22. This area will be used for a construction lay-down and storage site for several years. This site will support the reconstruction of the 137 E. Franklin St./136 E. Rosemary St. (CVS Plaza) building and the construction of the East Rosemary Parking Deck, and potentially serve as a support site for the construction of a new office building where the current Wallace Parking Deck is located once it is authorized by Council.
 Feedback on Street Path
Have you used Chapel Hill's first temporary in-road ‘street path’ on Honeysuckle Road and Booker Creek Road? Share your feedback with an online survey. Town staff will evaluate the street path, and if it is deemed a success, the Town will install them on other roads in the community and possibly explore making them permanent.
The street path, which links trails at Cedar Falls Park to the Booker Creek Greenway, is a six-foot area on the side of the street intended to delineate an area for people to walk, run, and roll on a road that does not have dedicated sidewalks or bicycle facilities.
Use the street path as if it were a sidewalk – walk, run, and roll in both directions. Normally in the absence of a sidewalk pedestrians should walk facing traffic, but the street path should be treated as a sidewalk that lets people walk either direction.
 Historic District Commission Needs New Members
The Historic District Commission has two vacancies. General responsibilities of the Commission are to guide physical change within the historic districts of Chapel Hill in such a way as to promote, enhance, and preserve the character of the districts. Most Historic District Commissioners “have demonstrated special interest, experience, or education in history or architecture;” however, anyone with an interest in historic preservation or history may serve. All members must reside within the planning jurisdiction of Chapel Hill. Appointed members meet once or twice per month and are eligible to a 3-year term. More information is available online:
 Improving HDC Procedures
The Chapel Hill Planning Department is working on aligning the Land Use Management Ordinance (LUMO) with the Historic District Design Principles and Standards.
Staff is proposing to amend Historic District Commission (HDC) sections of the LUMO to improve HDC procedures and provide clarity to decisions of the HDC. Learn more about this project at a Public Information Meeting scheduled for 5:15-6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021.
 Photo by Mike Legeros
Fire Departments Rescue Stranded Hiker
The Chapel Hill Fire Department responded at around 7:40 p.m. on Feb. 15 to the report of a hiker cut off from the Mason Farm Preserve Trail due to high water and darkness.
Water Rescue Technicians from the Chapel Hill and White Cross fire departments used one of Chapel Hill Fire’s Rescue boats to bring the hiker to safety. A total of 19 responders assisted with the incident: 11 Chapel Hill firefighters on two engines, one ladder truck, one water rescue unit, and two battalion chiefs; four White Cross firefighters on a rescue SUV; two EMS personnel from Orange County Emergency Services; and one police officer each from UNC Police and Chapel Hill Police.
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