Seaforth delivered the week's most dominant performance, scoring 50 points and recording its second shutout of the season.
The result also provides a useful comparison with second-ranked Chatham Central. One week after the Bears defeated North Moore 54-28, Seaforth held the same opponent scoreless. North Moore dropped to 0-5, so neither victory carries great opponent-adjusted value, but the Hawks' 50-point margin and defensive performance separate them from Chatham Central for another week.
Seaforth has won three consecutive games since losing 48-21 at Southeast Alamance. During that streak, the Hawks have defeated Princeton 70-56, Northwood 22-15 and North Moore 50-0.
The Hawks have scored 211 points through five games-42.2 per contest-and their 4-1 start is the best in the young program's history. Quarterback Duncan Parker has accounted for 1,423 total yards in the games for which complete statistics have been entered. Receiver Noah Fuller leads the team with 127.5 receiving yards per game, while Mason Pooley has a team-high five touchdowns.
Why Seaforth remains No. 1: The Hawks have played the county's strongest overall schedule, own a head-to-head victory over Northwood and just shut out an opponent that scored 28 against Chatham Central.
Chatham Central survived its closest game and extended the best start in program history.
The Bears entered Winston-Salem as the favorite but received a determined challenge from a Phoenix team that fell to 1-4. Chatham Central generated only 195 offensive yards-101 passing and 94 rushing-but made enough plays to earn its first Greater Triad 1A/2A Conference victory.
Quarterback Brooks Albright again led the offense. He completed 9 of 14 passes for 101 yards and a touchdown, then rushed 11 times for 65 yards and two more scores. Gavin Williams caught three passes for 48 yards and a touchdown.
Albright did not reproduce his six-touchdown performance against North Moore, but his ability to make plays through the air and on the ground proved decisive in a six-point road victory.
Chatham Central's official 5-0 record includes a forfeit against Graham, but the Bears have won four games on the field. Three of those victories have come away from Bear Creek, including a 29-8 win at Jordan-Matthews and a 14-0 shutout at East Columbus.
Why the Bears remain No. 2: Chatham Central is unbeaten, but its schedule has not been as difficult as Seaforth's. The Bears also allowed 24 points to a one-win Winston-Salem Prep team one week after surrendering 28 to winless North Moore.
Still, the margin between first and second is narrow. Chatham Central has shown more offensive versatility than it possessed early in the season and has repeatedly found ways to win.
chathamjournal.com/2026/09/20/chatham-county-football-power-rankings-seaforths-shutout-strengthen...
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10 things to watch at the Sept. 21 Chatham County commissioners meeting
Chatham County commissioners face an unusually consequential agenda Monday, with decisions involving the Enbridge natural-gas pipeline, a 238-home subdivision, countywide zoning rules, farmland preservation and the government’s long-term space needs.
The work session begins at 1 p.m., followed by the regular session at 6 p.m. in the Historic Courthouse Courtroom in Pittsboro. Here are the 10 most important items to watch, ranked by their potential impact.
1. Will commissioners formally oppose the Enbridge pipeline?
Commissioners are scheduled to vote on a resolution opposing Enbridge’s proposed natural-gas pipeline through Chatham County.
County documents describe the project as a 12-inch pipeline extending approximately 28 miles from Siler City to Moncure. The proposed route could cross the Haw River and affect agricultural land, forests, wetlands and other waterways.
Before the vote, commissioners will receive a report from the county’s Agriculture Advisory Board. County records say approximately 100 people attended an Aug. 18 hearing, where 13 participants in the Voluntary Agricultural District program and 28 other residents spoke against the project. The advisory board estimates that 23 enrolled farms could be directly or adjacently affected.
The resolution would authorize the county to participate in permitting proceedings, coordinate with residents and advocacy groups, educate property owners about condemnation and take other lawful steps to oppose the project.
What to watch:
Whether the resolution passes unanimously.
Whether commissioners add stronger language or specific legal instructions.
How much money or staff time the county is prepared to commit.
Whether county officials discuss joining or supporting challenges before state regulators.
The resolution would establish an official county position, but it would not independently stop the pipeline or revoke state authority over utility projects.
2. A zoning amendment could create a local pipeline review
A separate zoning amendment would require certain natural-gas and liquid-fuel pipelines to obtain a special-use permit in Chatham’s R-1, R-2 and R-5 residential districts.
This could give the county a formal evidentiary process for considering compatibility, environmental effects and other site-specific issues. Pipelines would remain permitted by right in other zoning districts.
Enbridge attorney Matt Rhoad has challenged whether the county possesses the legal authority to impose such a requirement. That objection raises the possibility that approval could lead to litigation or a jurisdictional dispute with the company and state regulators.
What to watch:
Whether commissioners approve the special-use-permit language as written.
Whether the county attorney addresses Enbridge’s legal objections.
Whether commissioners separate the pipeline provision from the broader ordinance package.
Whether the board discusses how the requirement would apply to an application already moving through state review.
The Planning Board unanimously recommended the package Sept. 1.
3. State law forces Chatham to eliminate parking minimums
The zoning package extends well beyond the pipeline controversy.
Session Law 2026-39, effective Jan. 1, 2027, generally prohibits local governments from requiring a minimum number of off-street parking spaces for developments and structures. Chatham County staff consequently proposes removing the minimum parking standards from Section 14 of the county zoning ordinance.
Developers could continue building parking, while accessibility, fire-safety, stormwater and driveway regulations would remain. The county, however, generally could no longer dictate a minimum number of spaces.
The package also would:
Allow family cemeteries and community gardens in every zoning district.
Update the definition of bona fide farms to include certain products derived from animal waste, such as fertilizer and biogas.
Allow commercial breweries and distilleries through special-use permits in several business districts.
Eliminate the waiting period for resubmitting some applications after denial or withdrawal.
Create or revise definitions for public utilities and pipelines.
What to watch is whether commissioners criticize the loss of local control over parking or identify development areas where the state mandate could create congestion or spillover parking.
4. Whispering Creek brings 238 homes to Bynum Ridge Road
Commissioners are scheduled to vote on the first plat for Whispering Creek, a 238-lot conservation subdivision covering 288.6 acres off Bynum Ridge Road.
The property is already zoned R-1, meaning this is not a rezoning decision. Commissioners must determine whether the subdivision plan complies with the applicable development standards.
Plans call for public water from TriRiver Water and a privately operated wastewater-treatment system using subsurface drip dispersal. The development would have two entrances and public roads.
Traffic projections estimate approximately 2,243 daily vehicle trips, including 170 during the morning peak hour and 219 during the evening peak. The applicant’s traffic consultant projected that the busiest affected portion of Bynum Ridge Road would eventually carry about 3,400 vehicles daily.
The Planning Board recommended approval 7-2, with one recusal. NCDOT has confirmed a reduction in the Bynum Ridge Road speed limit from 55 mph to 45 mph.
What to watch:
Whether commissioners accept the applicant’s traffic analysis.
Whether additional road or entrance improvements are required.
How the private wastewater system would be monitored over the long term.
Whether concerns raised in the Planning Board’s minority report influence the decision.
Recommended conditions would require the first phase’s final plat to be recorded by Jan. 1, 2029, and the second by Jan. 1, 2031.
5. County government could begin shifting west of Pittsboro
During the afternoon work session, commissioners will consider accepting a space-needs master plan covering at least the next 20 years.
The plan developed by Hobbs Architects and The Wooten Company centers on more than 270 county-owned acres near U.S. 64 West and Renaissance Drive. It envisions a phased government campus connected to existing facilities by new internal roads.
The first phase identifies an approximately 30,000-square-foot administration building and a 40,000-square-foot public-services building. The conceptual site could accommodate additional buildings totaling as much as approximately 140,000 gross square feet during that phase.
The plan would retain the Historic Courthouse, Justice Center and Performance Building in downtown Pittsboro while eventually vacating or repurposing several aging or underused properties.
What to watch:
Whether commissioners approve the campus concept without changes.
How the county would pay for planning, roads, utilities and construction.
What would happen to vacated downtown property.
Whether a traffic-impact study identifies needed U.S. 64 improvements.
Which departments would move first.
Approval would not appropriate construction money. It would establish the framework for engineering, design and future capital budgets.
6. Will the county continue its $799,002 early-learning initiative?
Commissioners must decide whether to continue the Chatham County Early Learning Initiative following a six-month pilot conducted from January through June.
The fiscal 2027 budget already contains $799,002 for the program, but staff is seeking direction before committing to a full year.
The pilot supported 121 NC Pre-K slots, 20 wraparound-care opportunities at three elementary schools, transit assistance and professional-development stipends. It also expanded language-development training, provided resources through the Family Resource Center and offered compensation assistance to a small group of early educators.
County materials identify $22.74 an hour as the targeted living wage for early-childhood educators in Chatham County.
What to watch:
Whether commissioners seek clearer outcome measurements.
Whether the program focuses on adding preschool seats or retaining educators.
Whether the county plans to fund the initiative beyond fiscal 2027.
Whether additional families can actually access transportation and wraparound care.
7. More than $1.13 million could protect 342 acres of farmland
Commissioners will consider allocating $1,130,266.68 from the county’s farmland-preservation fund.
The money would support five Triangle Land Conservancy projects totaling approximately 288 acres, an adjustment to the Dry Creek project and $75,000 in organizational assistance. The full motion describes approximately 342 acres receiving protection.
The five new projects include farms in Silk Hope and Staley, along with donated conservation easements near Silk Hope and Pokeberry Creek.
One financial detail deserves attention. The presentation lists a package total of $1,154,866.68, while the motion requests $1,130,266.68. The $24,600 difference represents a Dry Creek adjustment commissioners already approved in July and are not being asked to fund again Monday.
What to watch:
Whether commissioners approve the full allocation.
How much federal, state and private money county funds will leverage.
Whether commissioners establish a preferred annual funding level.
How the county prioritizes properties when requests exceed available money.
The easements would not open the farms to the public. Landowners would retain ownership, but incompatible development would be permanently restricted.
8. A $250,000 mobile clinic could take health services on the road
Public Health officials are asking commissioners to authorize the purchase of a mobile health-clinic trailer from Tesco Specialty Vehicles for up to $250,000.
The proposed unit would include one or two examination rooms, laboratory and intake areas, a restroom and accessibility features. Possible services include vaccinations, well-child visits, flu clinics, testing for sexually transmitted infections, behavioral-health care and health education.
Staff has identified more than 34 possible deployment locations and at least 10 potential partner organizations. The clinic initially would operate monthly, to expand to twice-monthly service.
What to watch:
How much of the purchase price will be covered by grants.
Which communities and sites receive priority.
Whether the county has sufficient medical staff to operate the unit.
How success will be measured.
Whether the frequency of service is enough to affect access in underserved areas.
Staff says previously allocated county money would cover costs not paid by grants, with no new General Fund appropriation required.
9. A Bear Creek permit raises a due-process question
Commissioners face two related votes involving Lockley Holdings and Bear Creek Fabrications at 1656 Campbell Road.
Lockley seeks a special-use permit to use 3.9 acres of a 10.02-acre tract as a contractor storage yard and staging area. The Planning Board recommended approval 7-2.
Before deciding the permit, commissioners will vote on adjoining landowner John Ruth’s request to reopen the quasi-judicial evidentiary record. Ruth contends that post-hearing research uncovered information and witnesses that were unavailable during the June 15 hearing.
Five residents previously opposed the project, citing truck traffic, speeding, noise and a school-bus stop near Campbell and Vernie Phillips roads. The applicant says the proposal would not materially increase traffic and would create a more organized storage area with buffers, a landscaped berm and directional signs.
What to watch:
Whether commissioners reopen the evidentiary hearing.
What qualifies as genuinely new evidence.
Whether the applicant receives an opportunity to respond.
Whether the board immediately decides the permit if reopening is denied.
Because the case is quasi-judicial, commissioners must rely on competent, material and substantial evidence—not general political or policy preferences.
10. Nearly $5 million for school roofs sits inside a larger budget package
A fiscal 2027 budget amendment on the consent agenda would increase the General Fund by approximately $6.62 million.
The package includes a $4,998,318 project ordinance for school roof work identified in the county’s capital plan. It also contains library and Council on Aging carry-forwards, sustainability grants and tax credits, $196,000 for a state-required law-enforcement bonus and other departmental adjustments.
Approximately $5.59 million would come from appropriated fund balance, with another $228,000 drawn from contingency.
What to watch:
Whether a commissioner pulls the amendment from consent for discussion.
Which school roofs are receiving work and on what schedule.
How the withdrawal affects the county’s remaining fund balance.
Whether the board explains why it did not fully incorporate the expenses into the original budget.
Because it is on the consent agenda, the entire package could pass without a detailed public presentation unless a commissioner requests separate consideration.
Also worth following
The board will hold public hearings on three rezoning requests, amendments to the county’s special-use-permit process and a federal transportation grant requiring a local match of $37,500 or 10%.
The rezoning hearings concern:
13.145 acres near U.S. 64 West and Ridge View Road, from R-1 Residential to Regional Business.
Property at 3756 Corinth Road in Moncure, from R-5 Residential to R-1.
The RTP Gardens proposal off Bob Horton Road and U.S. 64, from R-1 to a conditional Regional Business district.
Those land-use matters are expected to be referred to the Planning Board rather than decided Monday.
The work session also includes updates on opioid-settlement spending and a regional wildlife-crossing study. Those are primarily informational items, not immediate spending or development decisions.
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14 hours ago
