PITTSBORO — The town’s board of commissioners voted at its regular meeting Monday to endow Pittsboro’s new Boys & Girls Club with authority over town-funded recreational programs.
“As this board knows, there’s a lot to be desired in our recreation programming here in Pittsboro,” Town Manager Chris Kennedy said, “both in terms of additions of parks and other facilities, as well as programming itself, which we do exactly zero of.”
The town hopes to eventually sponsor recreational activities for its residents, Kennedy said, but its current staff is not robust enough to launch any programs. Instead, Pittsboro will outsource such duties to the Boys & Girls Club via a performance agreement.
“Commissioner (Kyle) Shipp devised this agreement,” Kennedy said, “where there’s an exchange of dollars ... to basically pay $30,000 from the town to the Boys & Girls Club in exchange for recreational services they provide until we provide such services ourselves.”
Pittsboro’s Boys & Girls Club has not yet officially opened for business. The club — to be hosted by Kiwanis at its facility on Credle Street — is tentatively scheduled to begin operations at the start of the next school year. Both Kennedy and Shipp serve on the club’s advisory board and said they are looking for ways to familiarize the public with the Boys & Girls Club and its services.
“We’re looking at ways to engage the Boys & Girls Club and try to get them to fit into the Pittsboro community,” Kennedy said.
Both Chatham County and the town of Siler City have parks and recreation departments; Pittsboro does not have its own department.
The club’s allocation from the town for recreational services will be effective September 1, 2021.
• Developer Graham Scott Oldham requested the board rezone about 13 acres at 3151 U.S. 15-501 North from residential agricultural to highway commercial conditional. The land currently hosts Poultry Villa Landscaping and Supplies, but Oldham plans to develop a commercial shopping center.
The News + Record incorrectly reported in a previous article that the board addressed Oldham’s petition in its April 26 meeting. In fact, the board deferred action until Monday when it voted unanimously to approve Oldham’s request.
• SDA Bio Inc. requested approval to construct a two-story, 4,904 square-foot biotech research laboratory at 25 Deegan Drive with an accessory office and storage building. The company also requested a sewer allocation of 50 gallons per day.
According to the applicant, the laboratory will host only one employee with potential for a second in the future. The location will primarily serve as a transfer hub for biomedical agents, but no hazardous materials will pass through the site and no products will be manufactured.
The board of commissioners voted unanimously to approve SDA Bio’s request.
Commissioners’ meetings can be accessed via Zoom from the town’s website, pittsboronc.gov. Interested residents may also watch the meetings on YouTube live streaming, and most meetings since 2015 have also been uploaded to YouTube. Viewers can find the channel by searching YouTube for “Town of Pittsboro.”
Reporter D. Lars Dolder can be reached at dldolder@chathamnr.com and on Twitter @dldolder.