Board sets 2010 dates for quarterly retreats
Davidson’s Town Board meeting on Tuesday night, Feb. 9, includes a vote on a series of budget amendments – including cuts needed to cover a budget shortfall at the town-owned MI-Connection cable TV system. The board also will hear presentations and vote on two regional projects: the Lake Norman Regional Bicycle Plan and Carolina Thread Trail.
The board also will discuss a possible contract with its Washington, D.C., lobbyist and consider approving a master lease at South Main Square as part of the town’s participation in a planned “green business” incubator.
Also on the agenda is a vote on a minor change in the master plan for Little Gate, a housing project off Jetton Street. Developer JCB Urban Co. is proposing to replace a previously approved three-story mixed-use building with a 2 1/2-story attached residential duplex, at Jetton Street and Davidson Gateway Drive. (See an article about the proposed change, with map and image, on our Real Estate page, CLICK HERE>
The meeting begins at 6 p.m. at Town Hall, 216 S. Main St.
Meanwhile, the board also has announced dates for its 2010 quarterly mini-retreats. They are March 17, Sept. 17, and Nov. 12. The locations and topics will be announced later.
BUDGET ADJUSTMENT
Town Manager Leamon Brice will present the board with a list of budget cuts totaling $276,140. The manager and town department heads identified those cuts last month in response to a request for additional funding from MI-Connection, the local cable TV and internet system purchased in 2007 by the towns of Davidson and Mooresville.
On Jan. 28, MI-Connection’s board, which included representatives from the two towns, discussed a projected budget shortfall this year of $576,604. The board designated members to contact the towns and request additional funding to make up the shortfall.
The two towns split the ownership of MI-Connection according to the number of customers in each town, 68.75 percent for Mooresville and 31.25 percent for Davidson. That means Davidson’s share of the cash required is about $180,000, and Mooresville’s about $396,000.
(Mooresville officials have said they will use a combination of budget cuts and the town’s cash reserves to fund their portion.)
Davidson’s budget cuts and savings include:
- $20,650 on insurance premiums
- $86,855 by not filling vacancies (1 police officer and 1 police records clerk)
- $25,285 by suspending D.C. lobbying contract last fall
- $15,000 by delaying economic development strategic plan
- $50,000 by delaying design of downtown parking deck
- $24,000 by delaying optional debt service on N. Meck Business Park
- $45,275 for supplies & miscellaneous
- $9,075 delaying a planned public art project
For more in the MI-Connection financial situation, see our Jan. 28, 2010 report, “Cable board revises budget, asks towns for cash.”
INCUBATOR PROJECT
The board also is scheduled to consider approving a master lease for offices in South Main Square Business Center as part of the town’s participation in the PIES business incubator project. (PIES stands for “Project for innovation, Energy and Sustainability,” and will have focus on “green businesses.”)
The incubator, which was announced in December, is a partnership of the town and Kathleen Rose, owner of South Main Square owner and an economic development consultant. At its Jan. 12 meeting, the board gave its formal OK to participating in the incubator.
The agreement under consideration Tuesday night calls for the town to sign a master lease for office space at South Main Square Business Center, 442 S. Main St. The incubator is recruiting start-ups, and plans to provide office space and business advice to help them grow here in Davidson.
VOTES ON TWO TRAILS
The board also is scheduled to see presentations from planners on two regional trail projects, the N.C. Department of Transportation’s proposed Lake Norman Regional Bicycle Plan and the Carolina Thread Trail.
The regional bicycle plan is the first of its kind in North Carolina, and is envisioned to encircle Lake Norman. Making the presentation will be Bjorn Hansen of the Lake Norman Regional Planning Organization and Lauren Blackburn, Davidson Town Planner.
Regional town boards are being asked to endorse the recommended routes now, and the state DOT is expected to give its final OK after that. But actual construction of any needed improvements would come later, when funding becomes available. See more about the plan on the Lake Norman RPO website.
The Carolina Thread Trail is a network of greenways and trails that would run through 15 counties
The board will then vote on two resolutions: One to adopt the Carolina Thread Trail master plan for Mecklenburg County, and another endorsing the Lake Norman Regional Bicycle Plan.
TOWN BOARD AGENDA
Here’s the full agenda:
TOWN OF DAVIDSON
BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
Town Hall Board Room – 216 South Main Street
February 9, 2010………….6:00 P. M.
CALL TO ORDER
ANNOUNCEMENTS
(a) Proclaim week of February 7 – 13th Scouting Anniversary Week”. (Mayor Woods)
CITIZEN COMMENT
CHANGES TO AGENDA
PUBLIC HEARINGS (None)
PRESENTATIONS
Lake Norman Regional Bicycle Plan (Lauren Blackburn/Bjorn Hansen)
Carolina Thread Trail (Lauren Blackburn)
Upcoming Census (Melanie Sizemore)
VII. CONSENT AGENDA
Approve Minutes January 12th and January 26th.
Approve Resolution Declaring Surplus Certain Personal Property. Exhibit VII (b)
Approve Resolution in Support of the Lake Norman Regional Bicycle Plan. Exhibit VII (c)
Approve amendments to Vision, Mission, and Values Statement Exhibit VII (d)
Approve amendments to Rules of Procedure to update Mayoral and Board Appointments. Exhibit VII (e)
Approve Resolution to Adopt Mecklenburg County’s Carolina Thread Trail Master Plan and proposed map. Exhibit VII (f)(f-1, f-2)
Approve FY 2010 Budget Amendments. Exhibit VII (g)
Approve Resolution Authorizing Sale of Personal Property by Online Public Auction Exhibit VII (h)
Approve Agreement and Certification for FIT Community Grant Application Exhibit VII (i)
Approve Minor Revision to the Little Gate Parcel N Master Plan Exhibit VII (j)( j-1) (j-2)
VIII. OLD BUSINESS
Consider Contract with McAlister & Quinn for Lobbyist. Exhibit VIII (a)(a-1)
Consider approving PiES Master Lease Exhibit VIII (b)
NEW BUSINESS
CLOSED SESSION
(a) To discuss a legal matter.
XI. ADJOURN
PAGE
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Our tax dollars are now being used to fund the failing cable system. Along with other cuts the town has deleted funding for two new planned positions in the Davidson Police Department. Our town has decided to sacrifice public safety in order to fund an entertainment venue, MI Connection.
It’s somewhat disappointing that local media has not picked up on the story of the cable debacle. However, the current issue of Business Today, an excellent publication with a Cabarrus bent, has an article entitled “Cable losses stun towns after foray into private business.”
This article is must reading for any Davidson Taxpayer: http://www.businesstodaync.com/Cable_losses_stun_towns_after_foray_into_private_business-a-1050.html
Joe, thank you for passing on the link to the Business Today article. Alan Hall’s (MI-Connection’s general manager) comment that “other than the economy, things are awesome,” reminds me of the old saying “other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?”
The economy is starting to grow again (5.7% GDP growth in the 4th quarter – the best in six years), and the truth is that MI-Connection’s primary competitors Time-Warner Cable and DirectTV have grown their subscriber base throughout this down economy. As taxpayers we need to demand results, not excuses, from MI-Connection.
The article correctly points out the the two Towns grossly overpaid for this asset in 2007. In today’s parlance they are “underwater.” That situation will not be resolved anytime in the next few years, if ever. Although I am 110% fatigued of bailouts, the reality is that the two Towns need to be working with the financiers of this purchase to seek a significant forgiveness in debt, and failing that they need to be working with Raleigh to get the state to absorb this loss.
Last night the Davidson Town Board approved $200,000 in budget cuts in order to be able to provide a subsidy to MI-Connection. Next year, unless performance of MI-Connection dramatically improves, the subsidy will be $2 million ($6 million projected negative cash flow x our 30% share). One simply cannot get $2 million out of a $7 million budget without significant layoffs and the wholesale elimination of multiple departments of the Town.
Our Town leadership needs to be more front and center in forthrightly explaining the problem we face, and quite frankly imploring citizens to sign up for MI-Connection. In the pages long press release that accompanied the announcement of the budget cuts, the request for citizens to sign up for MI-Connection was buried somewhere on around the 4th page. From the mayor on down the officials of Davidson need to shout this from the rooftops. MI-Connection does have a good product; they should not be afraid to promote it at any cost. The alternative is too costly.
Mr. Graham: 1) Why should the financiers forgive any of the debt? Davidson can simply raise property taxes to cover any and all shortfalls 2) And getting Raleigh to absorb the $100 million dollar mistake. Good luck with that too. Why should taxpayers living in towns besides Dav. and Moor. be forced to pay for the town’s bad investments
As far as getting folks to sign up for M-I connection…. 1) ATT U has far more selections, 2) I would thihk that folks that object of the towns stupid investment in entertainement would avoid M-I in protest 3) Most of the trucks I see on the road from M-I have “private contractor working for M-I”, many from out of state.
When we had ATT U put in, the tech workers that came to the house were all ATT employees and members of the Cmmunication Workers of America. I would think that most citizens of Davidson would want the M-I workers to be unionized so that their rights would be protected by a collective bargaining agreement. It works for ATT!
Rick, I agree with the gist of your questions. There is not any reason lenders or the state should support this endeavor on the parts of Davidson and Mooresville. My comment should have been qualified with “In the sole interests of the towns of Davidson and Mooresville…”. A tax increase (and it would be a whopper) is of course another option, and although painful for the citizens of Davidson and Mooresville, it would be the fairest approach in the sense that it does not penalize citizens of municipalities who did not take part in the cable purchase. Of course, there is some precedence for consequences being shared across a broad cross-section of citizenry. For example, our tax dollars are periodically used to fix the damage caused by hurricanes in coastal areas, even though we don’t live there. It is in the interest of all citizens of the state to keep the coastal counties viable. Maybe it is also in the interest of all the citizens of the state to keep Davidson and Mooresville as ongoing concerns.
Good point- But storms are nat. disasters. This reminds me of the Randy Parton Theater debacle. As far as not hiring tow police folks (clerk and one new officer) is that not like not paying your homeowners ins. so that you can pay your cable bill? Take care
JoeHutchens@gmail.com says “It’s somewhat disappointing that local media has not picked up on the story of the cable debacle.”
Davidsonnews.net has covered this story from the beginning, so the only inference to be drawn from this comment is that in his view, DNN is not “the media.” What’s “somewhat disappointing” to me is that after three years of receiving high-quality free local news coverage on DNN, there are still people who are happy to use the site to post their own opinions, but won’t acknowledge it as a legitimate media outlet.
News on the web is very likely the future of serious journalism. It’s time to give it the respect — and financial support — it deserves. If we don’t, JoeHutchens@gmail.com‘s complaint will become a self-fulfilling prophecy.