Davidson Coffee Chat at The Egg, Monday 9am

DAVIDSON, NC -- The Davidson Board of Commissioners invite all community members to attend a Davidson Coffee Chat on Monday, March 19 from 9:00-10:00 a.m. at The Egg at Davidson located at 231 Griffith Street in Sadler Square.

These coffee chats are informal meetings and are typically held the third Monday of the month so attendees can ask questions on issues and projects in the Town of Davidson. The next chat is scheduled for Monday, April 16 at 6:30 p.m. at The Egg at Davidson.

Commissioners will treat attendees to coffee and tea, but payment for all other orders is the responsibility of each individual.

We encourage all to attend.  For more information, please contact Town Clerk Carmen Clemsic at cclemsic@townofdavidson.org or 704-940-9614.

Board votes 3-2 to move forward on Beaty Street park

"On Tuesday, March 13, the Davidson Board of Commissioners voted to create a task force to develop 100% of the town-owned land on Beaty Street as a park. The compilation of the task force will be discussed at the March 27 meeting. The Davidson Board of Commissioners directed staff to work on the application process for the task force."

The above comment is from Christina Shaul, Public Information Officer for the Town of Davidson.  It comes after what was at times an unexpectedly raucous Board meeting Tuesday evening where the Davidson Board effectively ended the debate over what will happen with the 19 acres of Town land that has been the epicenter of much swirl and controversy over the past 18 months.

The previous Board's attempt to turn the wooded land off Beaty Street into a mini Birkdale known as The Lumonous project gave rise to the Save Davidson movement.  It sparked protests at Town Hall and led to repeatedly packed monthly Board meetings.  Multiple rounds of staff orchestrated feedback sessions could not make the sale to the public that the Luminous was a good idea.  The controversy eventually was a significant contributor to an election day rout at the polls for those who had pushed the project and other bad decisions.

At Tuesday's Board meeting after hearing again from several residents on the original purpose for the land being purchased for a park, particularly the bulk of it purchased from Venie Clontz, the new Board took a split vote to charge a new task force with deciding what type of park it will be and made the somewhat surprising move of saying 100% of the land will be as a park rather than charging the task force with determining how the land will be used.

The vote was 3-2 with Commissioners David Sitton, Matthew Fort, and Autumn Michael voting "for" the move and Commissioners Campbell and Fuller voting "against".  It should be noted that Campbell and Fuller weren't voting against the idea of the park but more the decision to have the vote last night and the idea of charging the task force with exclusively looking at the land as a park.

While clearly there is much to be decided before any final disposition of the land is determined, the decision last night takes some of the uncertainty about what will happen with this property out of the equation. Even coming as a split decision, this was a decisive move by the new Board.  It is sure to engender some consternation from the handful of people who supported the failed Luminous project, but it is hopefully a move that begins to close the book on this controversy.

Davidson Board Tuesday agenda...Beaty St Task Force, Fund Balance, Legislative Priorities, and Strategic Plan

The Davidson Board of Commissioners meets Tuesday  for its March regular meeting with another packed agenda.  Topics include...

• Beaty Street Task Force - Commissioners are looking to form a task force with direct citizen input to determine the correct disposition of the Town's 19 acre Beaty Street property.  This critical step was skipped by the previous Board in favor of going directly to the development community with an RFP designed to get what Town Hall wanted rather than what the community wanted.
• Fund Balance - Commissioners will here a presentation on the money in the Town's savings account known as its "find balance".  There is currently about $1.55 million in the account above the Town's self-imposed minimum threshold f 35% of its annual general fund budget.  An additional $925k is tied up as "assigned" to the new Town Hall public facilities project which is currently on-hold. (Some of this $925k has already been spend however, so the exact number ties up by this project is TBD.)
• Legislative Priorities - Each year the Town provides a list of priorities it would like to see the State General Assembly pass.  This year's list includes many of the same items seen in the past and is mostly about supporting what the NC League of Municipalities wants to get done in Raleigh.
• Strategic Plan -  Commissioners will discuss the updated Strategic Plan covering land use, economic development, historic preservation, affordable housing and other areas.  The changes highlighted in the draft document show subtle but significant changes towards these issues that should be welcome to citizens.

Check out the entire agenda here.  Download the Town's mobile app here.

Davidson Wildcats win A10 tournament, heading to the Big Dance

Update: From Davidson Sports Information Director Joey Beeler, the Davidson men’s basketball team is expected back on campus around 11:45 pm.

Led by the Senior/Freshman duo of Peyton Aldridge and Kellan Grady, the Davidson Wildcats beat the Rhode Island Rams 58-57 Sunday afternoon in Washington, DC to win the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament.  In the process Davidson gets the conference automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

Starting the season expected to finish in the middle of the A10 pack, the Wildcats entered the A10 tournament a 3 seed and beat the nationally ranked Rhode Island Rams for the second time in a 10 day span.  When the NCAA brackets are released later on Sunday, Davidson along with the Rams and most likely St Bonaventure will give the A10 a very respectable three teams to make the championship field.

This win gives Davidson's its first A10 Tournament Championship and second trip to the NCAA in the the past 4 seasons.

In an on court post game interview, Coach Bob McKillop said the team played with "joy" and had been playing that way for much of the 2nd half of the season.  This tournament win certainly brings a lot of joy to the Wildcat faithful and certainly ranks as one of the high points in program history

Check back for more info on when the A10 Champions should be rolling back into town.

Davidson Police seek help in accident that damaged Christian Aid Society Cemetary

Friday afternoon, aShortChronicle was made aware of an incident that occurred at the Christian Aid Society Cemetary off of Ridge Road.  Several grave markers were damaged in what appeared to be an incident involving a vehicle.  After inquiring with the Town, the Town of Davidson put out the below press release Friday even a little after 630pm.

DAVIDSON, N.C. – The Davidson Police Department seeks information in an ongoing investigation of an incident that transpired late on Wednesday, March 7. Here are the details:

  1.  At 11:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 7, Davidson Police Officer Better clocked a vehicle traveling east at 50 miles per hour (mph) along Griffith Street, a street with a speed limit of 25 mph. Officer Better attempted to pursue this vehicle as it went onto Beaty Street, but lost sight of the vehicle and per protocol, ceased his pursuit.

  2.  At 3:00 a.m. on Thursday, March 8, Davidson College Campus Police found a car matching the description of the vehicle seen by Officer Better damaged and abandoned on Ridge Road.

  3.  At 4:00 a.m., the Davidson College Campus Police found damage at the Christian Aid Society cemetery on Ridge Road.

“The Davidson Police Department is conducting an investigation into the owner and driver of the vehicle in this unfortunate incident,” said Davidson Police Chief Penny Dunn. “We believe the speeding driver Officer Better attempted to pursue drove from Beaty Street onto Ridge Road, lost control of his vehicle on the dark roadway and in the process, damaged several headstones at the Christian Aid Society cemetery. We appreciate the assistance of Davidson College Campus Police in this investigation.”

If you have any information related to the owner or driver of the vehicle in this incident, please email Davidson Police Detective Jay Stokes at jstokes@townofdavidson.org<mailto:jstokes@townofdavidson.org> or call 704-892-5131 (main police line) or 704-940-9633 (direct line).

Please Consider Assisting Christian Aid Society

The Christian Aid Society cemetery, located on Ridge Road, sustained damage during this incident, including the destruction of several headstones. If you would like to provide assistance in the form of volunteer hours or monetary contribution, please call Erving McClain, the president of the board of the Christian Aid Society, at 704-896-7729.

Save Davidson saves low income elderly $28,496 in Town fees charged due to "clerical error"

Or, at least that's what can be saved for homeowners incorrectly charged the Town of Davidson's exorbitant solid waste fee over the past several years.

In a press release sent out last week, Save Davidson announced that it had identified examples where homeowners eligible for the Homestead Exclusion on property taxes had been incorrectly charged Davidson's $201 solid waste fee.  Per Davidson's ordinance, Homeowners who qualified for the Homestead Exclusion should also be exempt from this fee.

Davidson's solid waste fee is by far the highest such fee in the Lake Norman area.  The fee was implemented in 2011 to raise additional money needed to offset the subsidies required after the ill conceived decision to enter the cable business and form Mi-Connection.  The controversial fee is seen as a particularly regressive tax and has been a sore subject since its implementation.  That's particularly true in Davidson's Westside community.

From the Save Davidson press release...

The founding and continued purpose of Save Davidson is to attain transparency in the process and business done by and for the Town of Davidson.  An example of recent Save Davidson efforts and success is attributed to Donna Pollack, Treasurer of Save Davidson.  Pollack discovered and then questioned the Town of Davidson regarding erroneously billing citizens who qualify for the Homestead Exclusion for the Davidson Solid-Waste Fee of $201, which was instituted to off-set costs from the town owned cable company.  Citizens with income of less than $29,500, and who are 65+ years of age or who are totally and permanently disabled qualify for the exemption.  The Town of Davidson Ordinance, adopted on July 12, 2011, specifically states that citizens who qualify are not subject to the solid-waste fee.  “In many cases, this fee represents 25-35% of these residents’ tax bills.” Donna Pollack says and adds, “I fear this fee may have been a factor in property foreclosures in past years and we are advocating not only for citizens to be reimbursed but also for an investigation into possible process breakdown that allowed these citizens to be charged in error.”  According to Elizabeth Wilson, a family member of a resident being erroneously charged, “We’ve approached Town staff and former elected officials on many occasions regarding this fee and our concerns were dismissed and not addressed.” 

Well, now it appears those concerns and process issues are being given the attention they deserve.

aShortChronicle contacted the Town this week to find out more on how this happened and if a resolution was in the works.  The good news is that attempts to resolve the issue are under way.

Per Public Information Officer, Christina Shaul...

"When the budget ordinance pertaining to the new solid waste fee was passed in 2011, we informed both Mecklenburg and Iredell counties of the “Homestead” exemptions, and it seems that most of the appropriate exemptions were made. Due to a clerical error, Mecklenburg County resumed including the Town of Davidson solid waste fee on the property tax bills for certain parcels that should have been exempted.

The town will contact parcel owners within the next week to explain the situation and provide assistance in rectifying it."

In an email dated February 26th provided by Shaul to aShortChronicle, Town Finance Director Piet Swart outlines the scope of the "clerical error" behind the problem.  In the email to Town Manager Jamie Justice and Town Attorney Cindy Reid, Swart indicates 44 total parcels are impacted with 34 being impacted in the current budget year.  Per state statute, taxpayers can request refunds for taxes assessed due to a clerical error up to a five year limit.

The operative word here being "request".  These refunds will not be automatically issued.  Instead, taxpayers must request them.  That is due to the state statute, not Town policy.  To facilitate the request process, the Town has been working with the County to identify the taxpayers and will be sending out letters with instructions on how to make the request.  If all impacted taxpayers make the necessary requests, the total refunded by the Town will be $28,496.  Those letters are expected to go out on Monday.

It is certainly unfortunate this situation went on for as long as it did, but thankfully it seems to be on the way to being corrected.  Save Davidson deserves a lot of kudos for making that happen.  Sometimes it takes a forceful voice to make positive change with the activist roup showing that to be true on multiple occasions in 2017.  With its sustained involvement on local issues like this one, the group is continuing to have a positive impact.  That is great to see.

Davidson Rotary hosts Blarney Bingo Fundraiser - March 15th

The Rotary Club of Davidson is hosting a Fundraiser Bingo on Thursday, March 15th at Sweet Magnolia Estate, 10101 Bailey Road Cornelius NC 28031. Proceeds benefit the Davidson Cornelius Child Development Center Capital Campaign.

The Master of Ceremonies is Cale Evans from the popular improv group Now Are the Foxes. Enjoy appetizers and a cash bar featuring beer and wine. Event is from 7-10. The event cost is $50/person, $90/couple or $300/table of 8. Please buy early to support DCCDC as we believe this will be a sold out event!

Please purchase tickets from a Rotary Club of Davidson member, on our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/events/1153285794774068/

Davidson Cornelius Child Development Center provides high-quality, affordable early education and care for any child of our community without regard to race, ethnicity, religion or socioeconomic status. They are the only center in North Mecklenburg area that offers 5-star, full-time, affordable early education and child care with scholarship support for children age 6 weeks to pre-K. For more information please visit https://www.dc-childdevelopmentcenter.org/capital-campaign

The Rotary Club of Davidson would like to raise $10,000 for DCCDC to assist in their goal to expand their playground. For any questions regarding this event or our community service efforts in LKN please contact Frances Dawson President Rotary Club of Davidson 704-701-7599 frances@homesoflkn.com