Will Mooresville back bonds for Langtree?

Developers of Langtree at the Lake, the $800 million mixed-use development in Mt. Mourne, will ask the Town of Mooresville on Feb. 2 to annex 142 acres in their development. It's a move that, if approved, could pave the way for the town to back the issuance of millions of dollars in bonds to pay for Langtree's infrastructure costs.

Langtree asked Iredell County in November to back $46 million in bonds. But the developers "ran into resistance ... partly because Langtree would be the first in the state to use the new financing method," the Charlotte Observer reports today. Click here for the Observer's full report: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/275/story/491835.html

The Report covered this story extensively when the proposal was before Iredell County's board of commissioners. For that coverage -- including an explanation of the new type of "special assessment district" financing -- click on the links below:

http://thegattonreport.blogspot.com/2008/11/bonds-for-billionaires.html

http://thegattonreport.blogspot.com/2008/11/county-to-langtree-too-many-questions.html

http://thegattonreport.blogspot.com/2008/11/tice-says-she-voted-with-group.html

http://thegattonreport.blogspot.com/2008/11/corporate-welfare-so-what.html

In other news...

The Lake Norman Times continues to closely follow the Lake Davidson Working Group meeting that was closed to the public and press last week. For the latest on that story, follow the links below:

WAS LAKE DAVIDSON MEETING ILLEGAL? Expert says closing meeting to public violated law; officials say rule doesn't apply:
http://thelakepaper.com/articles/2009/01/21/news/news001.txt

BOAT HORSEPOWER OFF INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT? Working Group comes to consensus on land-based section, still pushing for water-use restrictions:
http://thelakepaper.com/articles/2009/01/21/news/news002.txt

Members of Lake Norman Marine Commission oppose restrictions on Lake Davidson:
http://thelakepaper.com/articles/2009/01/21/news/news003.txt

Atkins walks out of meeting that may have violated state law

Mooresville Commissioner Miles Atkins refused to attend a Lake Davidson Working Group session this morning after the group shut the public and the press out of the meeting, the Lake Norman Times reports today.

The group maintains that it does not fall under the requirements of the state's open-meetings law. But at least one legal expert disagrees. To read more, click here: http://thelakepaper.com/articles/2009/01/15/news/news001.txt

To read North Carolina's Open Meetings Law (NCGS 143-33C), click here: http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/ByArticle/Chapter_143/Article_33C.html

Feds to Town: Pay up.

The U.S. Department of Justice has told the Town of Mooresville and its police department to repay $4,862 in asset forfeiture funds that former Police Chief John Crone used to pay airfare costs for a Mayor’s Youth Council trip to New York City.

Also, the town received the results of its outside forensic audits into Crone's Cops for Kids program today - more than six months after commissioners ordered the probes. The audit results will not be released until the State Bureau of Investigation has reviewed them and determined that their release will not compromise the state's ongoing criminal investigation.

In an e-mail to commissioners today, Town Manager Steve Husemann said that the town recently received a letter from the Department of Justice, "asking the town and MPD ... to reimburse (the local asset forfeiture) account and provide (the Deparment of Justice) with confirmation of said repayment.

"This really does not have a financial impact on the town," Husemann said. "Drug Forfeiture funds can be used only for certain purposes, and we will pick a clearly eligible purpose to fund with this money."

Husemann also said that the town has requested that Crone write a check for the entire amount from the Cops for Kids bank account.

For the complete story on Crone's use of the federal money, click here: http://thegattonreport.blogspot.com/2008/09/former-police-chief-violated-federal.html

Husemann, in today's e-mail, said that town staff "had been waiting to announce the Department of Justice request with the results of the accounting study." However, he said, "we just received the accounting study today."

Husemann said he decided to release the information about the federal request when the Mooresville Tribune asked for an update on the Cops for Kids situation. "I don't want to withhold any information," said Husemann, adding, however, that "we do not plan to release the accounting study until the SBI determines that it has no relevance to their investigation and until (Town Attorney) Steve Gambill determines that any personnel information is redacted."

Continued Husemann: "We have no desire to hold up the release any longer than we have to. I have not yet seen the accounting report and have made this decision without knowing the content."