Engaging With The Town Of Cary

At Toward Zero Waste Cary, we engage with you, our community, on an almost daily basis. We know that local environmental issues such as the lifespan of our landfill, single-use plastics, a broken recycling system, and food waste are important to you, and we have been working hard to address these issues, but we can’t do it alone. Our town government needs to hear from you! 

There are many ways you can engage with the Town of Cary to let them know what is important to you. Use any and all of these methods, and use them often!  

By Phone

Residents may always call 311 and report comments/suggestions to be passed on to the Town Council, the Mayor, or Town Staff. 311 also has an online submission portal, available here: https://services.townofcary.org/. 

By Email

The Environmental Advisory Board is a group of 10 citizen volunteers appointed by the Town Council to advise on ways to “reduce the use of and impact on our community’s natural resources” and to “identify and assess policy alternatives for the Council to consider …” Read more about the EAB here.

You can email the entire board here: [email protected]. You can also reach individual members from the roster .

Emailing council members is a great way to engage. We find that emailing individual council members is more likely to get a response than using the full council email. However, if you are short on time, the below address is a great way to reach the entire council at once.

[email protected] (goes to all 6 representatives and the Mayor)

Find your representatives: https://vt.ncsbe.gov/RegLkup/ 

District A [email protected] 
District B [email protected] 
District C [email protected] 
District D [email protected] 
At-Large [email protected] 
At-Large [email protected] 
Mayor [email protected] 

By Snail Mail

Town Council
c/o Town of Cary
P.O. Box 8005
Cary, NC 27512-8005

By Speaking Out During Public Meetings:

Every EAB meeting reserves time near the beginning for Public Speaks Out. The board will listen intently but will not typically respond. From experience, we know that these comments help guide future conversations and goals. The EAB meets monthly, usually on the second Tuesday night. Please consider speaking out to the EAB as often as possible.

Per TOC:

The Environmental Advisory Board will hold a hybrid meeting. The meeting agenda will be available by 5 p.m. on the Friday before the meeting. The agenda will include instructions on how to submit comments for citizen comments.

For any public interested in listening to the meeting, please call 1-650-479-3207 and enter the access code (TBD) when prompted, followed by #.

Instructions for submitting comments to the Environmental Advisory Board’s Citizens’ Comment Period:

The public may submit written comments for the Public Comment agenda item. Comments should be sent to [email protected] and have Public Comments for _(insert the date here)_____ Meeting in the subject line. Comments received by noon on __(the meeting date)__ will be summarized at the meeting and a full copy of the comments will be provided to members prior to the meeting. Comments received after noon but prior to the start of the meeting will be provided to members the following day. All comments will be an exhibit to the minutes.

Written comments:

Written comments received before noon on the meeting date will be provided to the Council members and will be summarized aloud by the Town Clerk during the applicable portion of the Council meeting.

To submit, either:

  1. Email [email protected], or
  2. Submit a 311 online request and select “Comments for Council Meeting”. https://services.townofcary.org/ 

Verbal comments:

You may sign up to speak at a meeting (either in person or via phone), by calling 919-469-4000 before noon on the meeting date. If speaking in person, you are not required to sign up.

Public Speaks Out:

Public is permitted to speak out during specific times at any council meeting. Time is allotted at the beginning of each meeting for general comments (“Public Speaks Out”), and within the agenda for specific items (Public Hearings). Whether or not you will speak during the general Public Speaks Out time or regarding a specific agenda item, you will sit in the reserved seating area, near the front on the right. Take a card which you will find on the seat, or in the pockets in the back of the seats, and fill it out. You will give this card to the clerk when approaching the podium to speak so she can record your name and address in the minutes. You will have three minutes. A timer will indicate when you are nearing the end of your allotted time. It is a good idea to have a written copy of your comments (and any other data you wish to share) to give to the clerk as she will make sure it gets to council members.

Guidelines Per Town of Cary:

  1. PUBLIC SPEAKS OUT(one hour total time limit; 3 minutes per speaker)
  2. Public Speaks Out is the Town Council’s opportunity to hear comments from as many citizens as possible. During Public Speaks Out, the Town Council receives comments and refrains from speaking. If a citizen comments about an issue that appears to be something that can be addressed by staff members, Council may ask the manager to have an appropriate staff person follow up.
  3. Thanks to everyone in the audience for respecting the business meeting by refraining from speaking from the audience, applauding speakers, or other actions that distract the meeting.
  4. Anyone who wants to speak during Public Speaks Out should do the following:
    • Take a seat in the reserved seats;
    • Complete the contact information card located at the seat;
    • When it is your turn to speak, proceed to the town clerk from the aisle behind the clerk, and give the clerk your completed contact information card and any handouts you have for the Town Council;
    • Step to the podium next to the clerk; state your name clearly;
    • Be concise; avoid repetition; limit comments to three minutes or less; designate a spokesperson for large groups; direct comments to the full Town Council and not to an individual Town Council member

By Meeting One On One:

Another great way to engage with the town is to sit down and have a conversation with your council member or the mayor. A meeting can be arranged using the request form on the Town of Cary webpage found here.