Skip to page body Home Recreation & Enjoyment Services & Publications Projects & Initiatives Business & Development Mayor & Council Connect & Engage

February 2015


(view as pdf)

                      

                                      

Past issues

Bike & Hike With Our App

 Sunshine Week

Kite Craze

Intersection Upgrade

Watch Your Water

Healthing Along

Hot Tips: Time to Change

 Compost It!

Constructing New Sidewalks

Operation Medicine Drop Returns

 As Lovely As a Tree

 
Sk8 Cary Workshop

 Safe Water

 Booze It & Lose It

Cultural Connection

BUD Bits



Bike & Hike With Our App

We’ve launched our Bike & Hike app which features our numerous and fantastic greenway trails and bike routes; it is available for free download from the Apple and Google Play stores (search BikeHike-Cary). It’s a mobile version of our popular print Bike & Hike map that is available in locations throughout Cary, including Town facilities, bike shops, the Chamber of Commerce and Cary Town Hall. The app provides residents and visitors to the Town with fast and convenient information about biking and hiking routes and trail conditions.

Users can find their perfect route and trail by entering the name of a particular route or trail or a keyword; selecting desired amenities or features associated with a particular route or trail; or defining a preferred range for the length of trail. The results list returns a profile for each trail or route that can be viewed in a list or on a map. Clicking on the entries takes the user to the trail profile. The ‘Find Me’ button uses geolocation and puts the user’s coordinates in the location field; this allows the user to identify other routes or trails nearby. The user is able to save search results to “Favorites” for easy retrieval. The app also has a feedback option, so you can alert us to issues related to or on the trails and routes.

“Bike & Hike” at www.townofcary.org

Sunshine Week

 

As we do each year, we’ll be celebrating Sunshine Week from March 15-21. This national initiative promotes the importance of open government and freedom of information. The public’s right to attend meetings and access documents that are considered “public record” as determined by our NC General
Assembly are important aspects of open government.

Sunshine Week is a great way for us to promote awareness of your rights under state law. It’s also an opportunity for us to hear from you on how and where we can improve. This year as part of Sunshine Week, we’re providing educational opportunities for staff and elected and appointed officials. Doing so ensures that all who carry out business on behalf of the Town understand the importance of the “sunshine” laws. We also maintain a web page to answer your questions, help make it easier for you to make public records requests and know your rights under the law. It’s part of our ongoing commitment to be open, transparent and accessible.

“Sunshine Week” at www.townofcary.org

Kite Craze

We’re celebrating 20 years of our annual Kite Festival! Head over to Bond Park’s multipurpose field on March 21 when you’ll find music, concessions and kite flying. Registration for the kite flying contest starts on-site at 12:30 p.m.; the Festival starts at 1 p.m. All who participate in the free kite flying contest are eligible for certificates and awards in a variety of categories for all ages and experience levels. We’ll announce winners at 2:30 p.m. Of course, participation in the contest isn’t required; we encourage spectators, too. For those who need or want kite flying tips or help with mending kites, we’ll have an expert kite flyer on hand.

“Kite Festival” www.townofcary.org

Intersection Upgrade

Join us at the Senior Center on March 19 anytime between 4-7 p.m. when we’ll review the final design plans for improvements that are coming to the Cary Parkway and High House Road intersection. We’ll share with you information about turn lanes to be installed, features of the landscaping and hardscaping, and more. Project staff will be available to discuss the plans and answer questions.

“Cary Parkway and High House” at www.townofcary.org

Watch Your Water

One benefit of Aquastar, our innovative system that collects multiple remote meter reads daily, is that it allows for better leak detection. As a utility customer you can use the Aquastar web portal to view up to 13 months of water usage data. In doing so, Aquastar can help you identify leaks and reel in wasted gallons that add to your water bill. As part of our annual Fix a Leak Week campaign, during our Kite Festival on March 21 we’ll have an Aquastar booth inside the Bond Park Community Center from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. We’ll have staff onsite to help you access your account and set a leak alert. Stop by and learn how to get the most from this online tool.

“Fix a Leak” at www.townofcary.org

Healthing Along



Our Cary Senior Center is hosting its Annual Health Fair on March 19 from 9:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Ages 50+ can visit with health and wellness experts, get health screenings, have a pharmacy consultation and more.

“Senior Center” at www.townofcary.org

Hot Tips: Time to Change

Daylight Savings Time is a great time to check the safety devices in your home. We’ve got the following tips to help you: 

  • Be certain that your smoke and carbon  monoxide detectors are operational. 
  • Change batteries, and replace all smoke detectors over 10 years old and carbon monoxide detectors over 8 years old.
  • If you have a fire extinguisher, check the gauge to make sure it’s fully charged and in the operating range. 
  • Keep your fire extinguisher in a readily accessible location. It is of no use if you’re keeping it in the box or at the back of a cabinet.

If you have questions or concerns about fire safety or emergency readiness in your home, call us and schedule a home fire safety inspection; our Fire Department offers the inspections free of charge to all Cary residents. Contact our Community Risk Coordinator, Alicia Dismuke at (919) 460-4958.

“Fire Safety” at www.townofcary.org

Compost It!

Don’t miss our free compost workshops from March 5-7 at our Compost Education Center in Bond Park. In anticipation of the glorious blooms of spring, we’ll speak with you about how you can grow a beautiful lawn and garden - ones that will be the envy of the neighborhood. If that’s not incentive enough to come to the workshop, we’ll also give each participant three bags of compost, two guidebooks and 30 minutes of question and answer time with a compost expert. Registration is required; multiple timeslots are available.

“Compost Solutions” at www.townofcary.org | (919) 469-4301

Constructing New Sidewalks

This spring we’ll begin construction of sections of sidewalks, which will result in an additional 1.5 miles of sidewalk in our community. Locations where work will take place include: Queensferry Road from Govan Lane to Edinburgh Drive; Edinburgh Drive from Queensferry Road to Glasgow Drive; Southeast Cary Parkway from Coorsdale Drive to Thurston Drive; Southeast Cary Parkway from Hampton Valley Drive to Seabrook Avenue; Felspar Way at Autumngate Drive; 1500 Piney Plains Road; and Southwest Cary Parkway between Cork Harbor Drive to west of Kilarney Drive. The project will cost approximately $787,400, including $75,600 for pedestrian signal improvements.

“Sidewalk Project List” at www.townofcary.org

Operation Medicine Drop Returns

In the spirit of National Poison Prevention Week, March 15-21, our Police Department encourages you to spring clean your medicine cabinets and potentially save a child’s life. National studies show that removing unnecessary medications from a home can significantly reduce the chances of accidental child poisoning. On March 21 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m., you can properly dispose of unused or expired medications
- no questions asked - at sites throughout our town. Police will be on hand to answer poison control questions.

Once we have drop off locations for the March 21 event, we’ll post them on the web site.
We host pill take back events twice a year; at last spring’s event, we collected over 450,000 pills.

“Operation Medicine Drop” at www.townofcary.org | (919) 460-4917

As Lovely As a Tree

On March 21, celebrate the benefits and beauty of our trees as we observe Arbor Day on the lawn of the historic Ivey-Ellington House, 135 West Chatham Street. We open the free event with a tree dedication at 11 a.m., followed by crafts, educational activities and entertainment until 2 p.m. While supplies last, we’ll offer a free seedling to each attendee. Our certified arborist will be on hand to offer tips for proper planting and caring of the seedling and to answer any other questions you might have about trees.

“Arbor Day” at www.townofcary.org | (919) 469-4301

Sk8 Cary Workshop

Join us at the Bond Park Community Center on February 25 from 6-7:30 p.m. for our second public workshop about our skate park. Our design consultant team will present concept plans and a site analysis of the existing skate park. They’ll also get additional feedback from you to help complete the master plan design and report.

“Sk8 Cary Master Plan” at www.townofcary.org

Safe Water

Each March we join neighboring municipalities and temporarily suspend the use of ammonia in our water treatment process. We do this to comply with the State’s requirement that all water systems that add ammonia to cleanse their systems temporarily switch to chlorine only to flush the systems; this helps ensure that our drinking water is safe. If you use water for kidney dialysis, fish aquariums and other chlorine-sensitive uses, please be aware that from March 1-April 1, the water may contain chlorine, ammonia or a mixture of both.

“Switchover” at www.townofcary.org | (919) 469 4090

Booze & Lose It

Don’t press your luck this St. Patrick’s Day. Our police officers are poised to staff Booze It & Lose It checkpoints throughout our town in the days leading up to and on St. Patrick’s Day. Celebrate smart. Consider taking advantage of C-Tran’s extended service hours or call a taxi. If you see someone who is driving erratically, save a life and call 911 immediately. Most importantly, be a friend by taking the keys if you know someone is about to drive drunk.

At any time during the year, you can report unsafe drivers to our Traffic Safety Team via the Town’s Road Watch Hotline at (919) 319-4521.

“Traffic Safety Team” at www.townofcary.org

Cultural Connection

Marvelous Music Family Series: Mr. Blue Shoes (March 7, 3 p.m. Cary Arts Center) (919) 462-2055.

Marvelous Music Mainstage Series: The Celtic Tenors (March 20, 7:30 p.m., Cary Arts Center) (919) 462-2055.

Visit www.townofcary.org and on Twitter @TOC_Fun for more

BUD Bits

Softball League Registration begins March 9; practices are in April and games are May-
June. Teams are 50+ and 60+. (919) 469-4061

Registration begins March 4 for Applause! Auditions & Design Team interviews for The Phantom Tollbooth Auditions for ages 8-18 are March 16-17; Design Team Interviews for ages 10-18 are March 18; times for both are 5-9 p.m. all days. Rachel.baranski@townofcary.org for an appointment.

Check out our School’s Out Program Guide available online and at local libraries, Town of Cary staffed facilities, and the Cary Chamber of Commerce. Registration is open for Cary residents and nonresidents. “Program Guide” at www.townofcary.org.