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Pittsboro highlights parks investments, new fire station site, police cadet hires and water-treatment upgrades
Summary
In the State of the Town recording, Pittsboro officials said they invested more than $1.5 million in parks, are building a new fire station near Eubanks Road, employed four police cadets who completed BLET and reported PFAS as undetectable after GAC filtration upgrades; the town also described a regional water-utility merger.
The Town of Pittsboro used its State of the Town recording to describe recent and planned investments in parks and public safety, upgrades to water treatment and organizational improvements.
The presenter said the town invested more than $1.5 million in park facilities over the last year, listing completed projects including refurbished tennis, pickleball and basketball courts at McClenahan Park; new permanent restroom facilities at Mary Hayes Barber Holmes Park funded through a donor; updates to Kiwanis Park; and a new playground at Rock Ridge Park. The town also opened a downtown pop-up park designed for 5–7 years and is completing ADA renovations and a new audiovisual system at the historic community house.
On public safety, the presenter announced a planned new fire station site near Eubanks Road, noting it would be the first new in-town fire station since 1976. The presenter described a police recruitment program that hired non-certified candidates as cadets, who attended basic law enforcement training (BLET) at Central Carolina Community College; the presenter said all four hires completed BLET, were sworn as officers and recently finished field training.
The presenter said the town invested more than $3 million to install granular activated carbon (GAC) filtration at the water plant, and reported that PFAS are now undetectable in the town's drinking-water system. The town also said it piloted an advanced treatment technology with private partners that showed promising results at a fraction of the cost, and that it pursued legal action against upstream polluters; the presenter stated the town believes the source of 1,4-dioxane in the Haw River "has been eliminated." The recording does not provide supporting documentation for that legal claim.
The presenter said Pittsboro completed an operational merger of its water and wastewater systems with the City of Sanford as founding partners in a regional Tri River utility system, which the town said will increase capacity and resilience. The presenter also said another Chatham County municipality has moved forward to join Tri River; the name cited in the recording is unclear and requires confirmation from town records.
Organizationally, the presenter said the town created its first strategic plan, is updating encroachment ordinances, refining capital-improvement planning, reviewing a new public-works work-order system and plans to pursue North Carolina law-enforcement accreditation for the police department. The town highlighted new equipment, deployment of hybrid vehicles across multiple town fleets, and expanded employee benefits including enhanced vacation rates, mental-health days, tuition reimbursement and additional retirement contributions.
The presentation closed with a request for residents to stay engaged through board meetings, social media and town communications.
