Davidson's new "popular" logo.

Local business owners are being invited to apply for grants of up to $300 each per quarter this year to help pay for advertising, in exchange for promoting Davidson using advertising templates that incorporate a new town logo. The town has a total of $5,000 this fiscal year to pay for the matching-grant program.

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At Wednesday's reception, from left, Charlotte Mecklenburg Library chief Charles Brown, Davidson and Cornelius branch manager Ellen Giduz and John Zika, manager of the North County Regional Library, in Huntersville. (Bill Giduz/DavidsonNews.net)

With donations now at $148,200, task force says it will extend fund-raiser until it meets $175,000 goal.

By DAVID BORAKS
DavidsonNews.net

Fifteen years ago, Davidsonians dedicated a new public library branch on the Village Green. When library supporters gathered Wednesday to mark the anniversary, the celebration was as much about community as it was about books or a building. And that sense of community is as strong in 2010 as it was in 1995, Mayor John Woods told about three dozen people at a reception Wednesday evening.

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Bedsheet banners on the Fleming home on Concord Road promote the library campaign. The signs rib their neighbor, saying "Even the guy from Wisconsin bought a library brick. Have you?" (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

An all-day 15th anniversary celebration is planned today (Wed., Sept. 29) at the Davidson library branch on the Village Green, with music, kids’ programs and an evening reception. It’s part of the Davidson Library Task Force’s 8-week campaign to raise $175,000 to keep the branch open this year amid county funding cuts. The campaign is in its final week, and still needs $55,000 to meet the goal.

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Carter Busse (left) and Carter Shea met Mayor John Woods (left rear) and former mayor Randy Kincaid Monday. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

The community is continuing to chip in – and chip away – at the $175,000 target for fund-raising to keep open the Davidson library branch for the rest of the year. And those efforts are producing some cute stories, like this one:

Carter Busse and Carter Shea share not only a name, but also a birthday. Well, almost. And this year, the two Davidson 8-year-olds decided to forego presents, and instead ask their pals for donations to the Library Task Force fund drive.

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The Purcell House (left) at Lorimer and Hillside and Edna Falls' store on Mock Road are up for historic landmark status. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

Commissioners also will vote on 2 affordable housing plans and a taxicab permit and consider a letter to NC DOT supporting high-occupancy toll-lanes on I-77.

Davidson’s Town Board will hold a public hearing and votes Tuesday night, Sept. 14, on proposals to give historic landmark status to two local properties: the modernist-style Purcell House at Hillside Drive and Lorimer Road, and the Jim Crow-era Falls Store at 300 Mock Road on the West Side. The board also will vote on affordable housing plans for the Davidson Bay and Walnut Grove developments, a permit for a taxi company, and consider endorsing the concept of high-occupancy toll lanes on I-77.

Also on the agenda, the board is expected to approve a permit for Mooresville-based Lake Norman Taxicab. The meeting begins at 6 p.m. at Town Hall, 216 S. Main St. Read the full story

Hiring continues at Town Hall after last spring’s big layoff and restructuring, and the newest employee is a department head. The town manager announced this week that Kathryn Spatz has been hired as the new Parks & Recreation manager, while other new hires have been announced in public works and planning.

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Chris Graham of Davidson Day School talked to the group about the access path next to the school's football field, as Town Manager Leamon Brice listened. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

A new nature preserve off Griffith Street behind Davidson Day School could provide the town’s first public canoe and kayak access to Lake Davidson, as well as a wooded walking trail. Under an agreement hammered out recently between the Town of Davidson and the private school, the new park will occupy about 8 acres off Jetton Street, and be managed by the town.

Also participating in the park project will be the Davidson Lands Conservancy, which has received a $14,000 grant from the REI Foundation for the canoe launch, a short access trail and signs.
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Updated 12:07 p.m.
Property tax bills are going out this week, and the town of Davidson is reminding residents that they’ll see a new fee for collecting recyclables and other solid waste.

Davidson’s Town Board approved plans to charge the fee when it adopted the town budget in June. It approved the actual fee schedule at its July 13 meeting. (See fees below). The property tax rate is unchanged this year. Read the full story