If town commissioners approve Langtree at the Lake's request to help bond millions of dollars in infrastructure costs for Langtree's $800 million development, could Mooresville taxpayers ever be left holding the bag if the project ultimately flops?
That's the question everyone wants an answer to -- and it's the one that commissioners were able to ask bond experts at Monday night's informational meeting on the special assessment improvement district (SAID) bonds. What information did commissioners take away from that meeting? Click here for the Mooresville Tribune's coverage: http://www2.mooresvilletribune.com/content/2009/feb/25/weak-economy-langtree-bonds-are-likely-tough-sell/news-local/
And don't forget: a public hearing on the matter is scheduled for March 2 at the town's regular monthly board meeting. It begins at 6 p.m. in Town Hall.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Feeling left out? Monday meeting will give Mooresville residents first glimpse into proposed Langtree financing
Langtree at the Lake – the $800 million mixed-use development in Mt. Mourne – was announced a couple years ago with much political and public fanfare.
But earlier this month, Langtree developers approached the Town of Mooresville, asking commissioners to consider issuing millions of dollars in bonds to pay for Langtree’s first phase of infrastructure. The request, unlike the original announcement of the project, slipped quickly and quietly onto the town board’s agenda.
Just a few months ago, Langtree was asking Iredell County to issue the bonds. (See http://thegattonreport.blogspot.com/2008/11/bonds-for-billionaires.html and http://thegattonreport.blogspot.com/2008/11/county-to-langtree-too-many-questions.html and http://thegattonreport.blogspot.com/2008/11/tice-says-she-voted-with-group.html and http://thegattonreport.blogspot.com/2008/11/corporate-welfare-so-what.html .) Langtree's proposal was met with some resistance at the county level, but it is unclear exactly why negotiations ended; the county took no official vote that definitively rejected Langtree's proposal.
The first public mention that Langtree intended to seek the issuance of the Special Assessment Improvement District (SAID) bonds from Mooresville instead of Iredell County was made just three weeks ago at the February town board meeting. Still, a public hearing on the matter will be held in just over a week from today, on March 2.
Langtree was scheduled to appear before Mooresville commissioners at the February meeting, but only to request annexation of about 143 acres in its development. Just before that meeting, however, a resolution was put before commissioners to call for a March 2 public hearing to determine if the town wants to move forward with helping Langtree form a SAID, which would allow the town to issue $15 million to $20 million in bonds to pay infrastructure costs related to the first phase of the project. If bonds are needed for the infrastructure of future phases, that number could jump to $46 million.
The resolution request apparently took at least one commissioner by surprise. “I appreciate the sense of urgency here, but it feels like a freight train is bearing down on us,” Commissioner Miles Atkins said at the board meeting, according to the Mooresville Tribune. “I think it’s incumbent upon us to not just drop the document (bearing a brand new resolution) down on the desk.”
Still, commissioners voted 5-1 that night (with Atkins opposing) to adopt the resolution, which set the public hearing for March 2.
But this Monday, Feb. 23, commissioners and the public will have an opportunity to learn more about the SAID financing that allows developers and municipalities to work together on infrastructure costs for private developments.
The N.C. General Assembly passed the SAID financing tool into law in August to help stimulate the economy. In essence, the law allows municipal governments to issue bonds on behalf of private developers. The bonds are sold, and the developers’ property is designated a SAID and put up as collateral. The developers – and eventually the benefitted property owners and merchants – repay the debt through property assessments. While SAID financing has been used for years in other parts of the country, Langtree developers are the first to take it for a spin in North Carolina.
This Monday’s meeting, which is open to the public, will be held at 6 p.m. in the Charles Mack Citizens Center. Commissioners are expected to hear presentations about SAID financing from several third-party participants at the meeting. Langtree will be on hand to answer questions but does not plan to make a presentation, according to a press release issued by the town this week.
Members of the public will not be allowed to comment or ask questions at Monday’s meeting. Instead, "This meeting is for town commissioners to hear presentations concerning the proposed SAID being requested," states the town's press release. "Scheduled presenters will discuss the legal framework associated with SAID and the financial investments associated with the designation."
Town Manager Steve Husemann said Monday's meeting "is an effort to make as much information as possible available to both the town board and the citizens.
"This is entirely new legislation," he said, "and we will all be learning about it together."
The public will be able to comment on the proposal at the public hearing, which is scheduled during the town’s regular monthly board meeting on March 2 at 6 p.m. in Town Hall.
But earlier this month, Langtree developers approached the Town of Mooresville, asking commissioners to consider issuing millions of dollars in bonds to pay for Langtree’s first phase of infrastructure. The request, unlike the original announcement of the project, slipped quickly and quietly onto the town board’s agenda.
Just a few months ago, Langtree was asking Iredell County to issue the bonds. (See http://thegattonreport.blogspot.com/2008/11/bonds-for-billionaires.html and http://thegattonreport.blogspot.com/2008/11/county-to-langtree-too-many-questions.html and http://thegattonreport.blogspot.com/2008/11/tice-says-she-voted-with-group.html and http://thegattonreport.blogspot.com/2008/11/corporate-welfare-so-what.html .) Langtree's proposal was met with some resistance at the county level, but it is unclear exactly why negotiations ended; the county took no official vote that definitively rejected Langtree's proposal.
The first public mention that Langtree intended to seek the issuance of the Special Assessment Improvement District (SAID) bonds from Mooresville instead of Iredell County was made just three weeks ago at the February town board meeting. Still, a public hearing on the matter will be held in just over a week from today, on March 2.
Langtree was scheduled to appear before Mooresville commissioners at the February meeting, but only to request annexation of about 143 acres in its development. Just before that meeting, however, a resolution was put before commissioners to call for a March 2 public hearing to determine if the town wants to move forward with helping Langtree form a SAID, which would allow the town to issue $15 million to $20 million in bonds to pay infrastructure costs related to the first phase of the project. If bonds are needed for the infrastructure of future phases, that number could jump to $46 million.
The resolution request apparently took at least one commissioner by surprise. “I appreciate the sense of urgency here, but it feels like a freight train is bearing down on us,” Commissioner Miles Atkins said at the board meeting, according to the Mooresville Tribune. “I think it’s incumbent upon us to not just drop the document (bearing a brand new resolution) down on the desk.”
Still, commissioners voted 5-1 that night (with Atkins opposing) to adopt the resolution, which set the public hearing for March 2.
But this Monday, Feb. 23, commissioners and the public will have an opportunity to learn more about the SAID financing that allows developers and municipalities to work together on infrastructure costs for private developments.
The N.C. General Assembly passed the SAID financing tool into law in August to help stimulate the economy. In essence, the law allows municipal governments to issue bonds on behalf of private developers. The bonds are sold, and the developers’ property is designated a SAID and put up as collateral. The developers – and eventually the benefitted property owners and merchants – repay the debt through property assessments. While SAID financing has been used for years in other parts of the country, Langtree developers are the first to take it for a spin in North Carolina.
This Monday’s meeting, which is open to the public, will be held at 6 p.m. in the Charles Mack Citizens Center. Commissioners are expected to hear presentations about SAID financing from several third-party participants at the meeting. Langtree will be on hand to answer questions but does not plan to make a presentation, according to a press release issued by the town this week.
Members of the public will not be allowed to comment or ask questions at Monday’s meeting. Instead, "This meeting is for town commissioners to hear presentations concerning the proposed SAID being requested," states the town's press release. "Scheduled presenters will discuss the legal framework associated with SAID and the financial investments associated with the designation."
Town Manager Steve Husemann said Monday's meeting "is an effort to make as much information as possible available to both the town board and the citizens.
"This is entirely new legislation," he said, "and we will all be learning about it together."
The public will be able to comment on the proposal at the public hearing, which is scheduled during the town’s regular monthly board meeting on March 2 at 6 p.m. in Town Hall.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Atkins resigns from Lake Davidson Working Group
Not long after Mooresville Commissioner Miles Atkins walked out of a Lake Davidson Working Group meeting because it was closed to the public and press, the commissioner has resigned from the group.
Be sure to check out tomorrow's Mooresville Tribune for further details...
Be sure to check out tomorrow's Mooresville Tribune for further details...
Mooresville "greenway" meeting scheduled for tonight
Interested in a greenway for Mooresville?
Be sure to join the discussion tonight at 7 p.m. in the Peddler Room of the Charles Mack Citizens Center.
Here's some information that was passed along to me today regarding a potential greenway for the Town of Mooresville. I haven't had time to verify all the information, but if it's all accurate, it's very interesting:
The Town of Mooresville has a 2008 Greenway Comprehensive Master Plan. Almost 100 percent of people surveyed said they'd like a greenway in Mooresville. In the master plan, one mile of greenway is proposed to be built within the next four years. Four more miles could be built from 2013 to 2020.
The four-mile stretch is projected to cost $1 million.
The proposed greenway would begin at Liberty Park and follow Dye Creek. The proposal also recommends a total of 22 miles of greenway that would connect downtown to Brawley School Road, but that is not part of the 2009-2020 projections. Eventually, the Carolina Thread Trail could connect to Mooresville's greenway, which could tie together the greenways of more than 15 counties.
Be sure to join the discussion tonight at 7 p.m. in the Peddler Room of the Charles Mack Citizens Center.
Here's some information that was passed along to me today regarding a potential greenway for the Town of Mooresville. I haven't had time to verify all the information, but if it's all accurate, it's very interesting:
The Town of Mooresville has a 2008 Greenway Comprehensive Master Plan. Almost 100 percent of people surveyed said they'd like a greenway in Mooresville. In the master plan, one mile of greenway is proposed to be built within the next four years. Four more miles could be built from 2013 to 2020.
The four-mile stretch is projected to cost $1 million.
The proposed greenway would begin at Liberty Park and follow Dye Creek. The proposal also recommends a total of 22 miles of greenway that would connect downtown to Brawley School Road, but that is not part of the 2009-2020 projections. Eventually, the Carolina Thread Trail could connect to Mooresville's greenway, which could tie together the greenways of more than 15 counties.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Town approves Langtree annexation; Lake Davidson Working Group releases draft agreement
- Mooresville's town board agreed to annex about 143 acres of the Langtree at the Lake property, which opens the door for developers of Langtree -- the $800 million mixed-use development in Mt. Mourne -- to ask the town to back bonds to pay for the development's infrastructure. For more on that, read the Mooresville Tribune's article here: http://www2.mooresvilletribune.com/content/2009/feb/04/town-approves-langtree-annexation/news-local/
- The Lake Davidson Working Group has released a draft interlocal agreement. Here's the article, by the Lake Norman Times: http://thelakepaper.com/articles/2009/02/04/news/news001.txt
And here are other articles from the Times that you may be interested in:
- MI-Connection board gets revised budget figures for 2008-2009 fiscal year http://thelakepaper.com/articles/2009/02/04/news/lake_business_news/biz003.txt
- MI-Connection board OKs fee increases http://thelakepaper.com/articles/2009/02/04/news/lake_business_news/biz004.txt
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