The Carrboro Town Council welcomes a new poet laureate and planning director, recognizes National Mentoring Month, and celebrates a national award for its budget. Staff then walk the council through the town’s greenhouse gas inventory, acknowledge that Carrboro is unlikely to hit its 2030 reduction target (although it has made great strides to decrease emissions) and field questions about EV fleet upgrades, rooftop solar, and geothermal options for key buildings.

The council swears in members and bids farewell to a departing colleague, culminating in renaming the Green Neighborhood Grant in her honor.

The council denounced recent ICE activity, clarified local police don’t participate, and urged residents to use trusted resources and 911 for emergencies. Members also unanimously affirmed immigrant community safety and approved a countywide housing-rights resolution before adopting the Downtown Area Plan 6–1 amid calls for more outreach and emergency access planning.

The council links the downtown plan to UDO updates, weighing simpler zoning, incentives for taller buildings, and the new down‑zoning limits. Members back stronger flood and stormwater mandates while protecting affordability goals, revisit the 1,000‑unit affordable housing target, and hear a firm stance to allow data centers only with conditional rezoning and a community benefit agreement.