N.C. Sierra Club calls Cary a 'Cool City'
The Town of Cary joined the likes of 49 other cities and counties in North Carolina last week when the town was dubbed a “Cool City” by the North Carolina Sierra Club.

Kara Craig, N.C. Cool Cities coordinator, and Tim Reed, a Raleigh architect and cochair of the Sierra Club’s Capital City Conservation Committee, presented a certificate of recognition to Mayor Harold Weinbrecht on Thursday affirming the town’s distinction. The honor recognized Cary’s participation in the Sierra Club’s Cool Cities program, which aims to encourage cities and counties to commit to reducing emissions of greenhouse gases by 7 percent by 2012 from their 1990 levels.

Craig said Cary had shown its commitment to environmental protection by installing LED lights in all 151 traffic signals in town and using solar-powered school zone signs. The town also uses energy-efficient lighting at Town Hall, Craig noted.

“It’s been a long time coming to recognize Cary for this initiative,” Reed said. “As a co-chair with the Capital City Conservation Committee, we are thankful that you’re taking the next step in recognizing that the day-to-day operation of what we do impacts our environment.”

Council OKs changes to town's animal policy
The Town Council on Thursday unanimously approved a series of 11 recommended policy changes submitted by the Animal Issues Task Force and aimed at addressing concerns over animal sheltering.

Council member Erv Portman suggested the task force in June as the council had spent the spring debating whether to extend its animal-sheltering contract with the SPCA of Wake County or sign a new contract with the Wake County Animal Shelter. The task force worked for eight weeks to develop a report, which was presented to the council on Sept. 11.

The adopted changes include:

• Increasing the registration fee for an unaltered pet from $20 to $50.

• Decreasing the registration fee for an altered pet that has been micro-chipped from $10 to $5.

• Developing a registration drive and including information that no citations will be issued solely based on lack of past registration.

• Investigating the feasibility of conducting a registration drive for spayed or neutered animals during which registration fees would be waived.

• Offering one-week passes to owners of altered pets interested in membership at local dog parks.

• Reviewing ways to streamline the registration process to make it more convenient for residents.

• Offering discounts and, or rewards programs to encourage spaying or neutering pets through volunteer groups.

• Funding animal control through the normal budget development process.

• Education efforts by the volunteer group to include listing low-cost spay/neuter options.

• Evaluating available grant opportunities on a case-by-case basis.

• Continuing to work to eliminate the feral cat population when complaints are received from residents.

Firm asked to study Cary Parkway-High House Road options
An engineering firm has been asked to explore three options for improving the intersection of Cary Parkway and High House Road.

On Sept. 11, the Town Council awarded the Cary Parkway and High House Road Alternative Intersection Improvement study to Martin/Alexiou/Bryson. The firm was asked to consider various ways the intersection might be improved to decrease traffic backups, which are expected to possibly double by 2020.

According to the firm’s study, the current delay at the intersection is about 1 minute, 18 seconds during the morning rush and 1 minute, 36 seconds during the evening rush. Those times could respectively jump to 2 minutes, 31 seconds and 3 minutes, 50 seconds unless changes are made.

Martin/Alexiou/Bryson presented seven options to the Town Council in September. The council on Thursday asked the firm to further study three of those options, one of which considers adding two traffic circles on High House Road and adding a median with U-turn points on Cary Parkway.

To view the full report, visit townofcary.org/op/en09-048report.pdf.