This is a copy of Mayor Martin’s Declaration of a State of Emergency, which is set to take effect on March 25 at 8am. If you’re interested, you can also find a copy of our Emergency Management Ordinance (which provides the authority for the Mayor’s declaration) at this link.
There were two big projects before the Planning & Zoning board last night. Here are some of my thoughts: Adding a Story to Chronicle Mill As a bona fide history nerd, I certainly appreciate the value and importance of buildings such as Chronicle Mill. Especially given the mill’s importance to the history of Belmont in…Continue Reading “Why Do We Plan?”
Property Taxes in Belmont Among the Highest in Gaston County Outside making zoning and development decisions, setting the property tax rate in Belmont is one of the city council’s most important jobs. And, if you’re like me, you just got your tax bill in the mail and may be experiencing a little sticker shock based…Continue Reading “Let’s Talk Taxes”
Sitting in Tuesday night’s City Council meeting, two things stuck out to me: Municipal Service Districts First, the conversation about the Main Street program in general and Municipal Service Districts (MSD) in particular was pretty interesting (for anyone so inclined, the relevant part of the meeting starts at 49:00). What was fascinating to me was…Continue Reading “Of Kiosks and Facebook”
One of the bigger projects I have been involved with over the last few months is the new Parks and Recreation Master Plan (draft final version as of this writing). The last Belmont Parks master plan was updated in 2003 (!) and obviously quite a bit has changed since then. The consultant we hired conducted…Continue Reading “Planning the Future of Belmont Parks”
From the Executive Summary of the City’s Operational Efficiency Assessment: Ultimately the strategy and direction for the City are set at the top by the Council and key members of leadership through the articulation of a set of strategic parameters such as the mission, vision, values, and goals… The City of Belmont currently does not…Continue Reading “What Are We REALLY Doing?”