Your chance to pre-register for best annual conference available to municipal officials -- Connect CityVision 2017 -- ends at midnight Friday. Haven't registered? Pause what you're doing and make it so via our easy registration page. After deadline, all questions about conference attendance should be directed to events@marianneangelirodriguez.com. Day-of registration will also be available.
As anyone who has attended past CityVision conferences knows, it's your best chance to join with hundreds of municipal officials from across North Carolina to network and learn best practices for connecting to technology, to neighboring cities and towns, to regional projects and organizations, and to influential leadership skills. The annual conference also is where members elect officers and make any constitutional or bylaw changes. There's no other event like CityVision. Register now!
It's been a great year for municipalities at the N.C. General Assembly, with major successes made possible only through tireless advocacy from North Carolina's municipal officials. Please join us for a legislative session wrap up webinar on Tuesday, Aug. 22, from 2-3 p.m. to learn what happened in the 2017 long session and what to expect at the legislature in the upcoming months. Click here to register. Questions regarding registration should be directed to events@marianneangelirodriguez.com or League Government Affairs Coordinator Karen Waddell at (919) 715-0950 or kwaddell@marianneangelirodriguez.com.
Gov. Roy Cooper issued two additional vetoes this week, just ahead of the General Assembly's reconvening. Those vetoes included a bill the League has written about in past bulletins: SB 16 Business & Agency Reg. Reform Act of 2017, which sought to clarify state stormwater rules with language stating that, if an existing development is redeveloped, stormwater mitigation would apply only to the additional impervious surface. The governor in his veto message stated: "We should make it easier, not harder, for state and local governments to protect water quality, whether through stormwater safeguards or by giving public health departments the ability to revisit wastewater permits if needed. Rolling back ways to protect water quality is dangerous." The legislature had approved the bill during its Aug. 3 session. Another bill lawmakers passed that day, HB 770 Various Clarifying Changes, also received a veto this week.
The General Assembly reconvened at noon on Friday, though media outlets including the Insider State Government News Service reported that votes aren't expected until late next week. While the primary focus will be redistricting, lawmakers may also consider bills in conference committees and overrides of six vetoes the governor has issued since the end of June.
The application period for pre-disaster mitigation (PDM) and flood mitigation assistance (FMA) is now open, N.C. Emergency Management announced this week. The deadline for the state to have received letters of interest from local governments is Sept. 14. "Please note that FMA priorities and evaluation methodologies are quite different from last year," Emergency Management noted in a letter to officials on Wednesday. The state agency subsequently emphasized the importance of local governments closely reviewing this 2017 FMA fact sheet. Questions should be directed to Emergency Management officials Nick Burk at (919) 825-2301 or Sharon Winstead at (919) 825-2356. Relevant documents:
Several North Carolina municipalities were among communities included in a new funding round announced by the N.C. Rural Infrastructure Authority this week. According to a press release, the funding requests include commitments to create 429 new jobs. Associated private investments would add up to $367 million. Funds awarded support local job-creating projects like infrastructure improvements and building reuse. "These investments will help our rural communities prepare for and win business," said Commerce Secretary Anthony Copeland. Awarded municipalities include Conover, Mocksville, Bessemer City, Laurinburg, Albemarle, Hendersonville, Lexington, Claremont, Fayetteville, Wallace and Dunn.
Break out the headphones: a new episode of the Municipal Equation podcast is here. The rundown: On a summer day last year in Burgaw, a farmer named Michael Lanier snapped a photograph of bright, new life on his family land and put it up on social media. The next day, a massive crowd beyond anything he'd imagined turned out for an in-person look. This farmer had unwittingly stumbled upon an amazing public engagement opportunity, and when he tried it again this year, an even bigger crowd showed -- thousands of people. So when one of the state's biggest city governments did something similar recently, the response was off the charts. It nearly got unruly at times. But it wasn't just about civic engagement. It was more innovative, an example other cities can follow.
We go in depth on the latest Municipal Equation, the League's biweekly podcast. All episodes are on the League's website, or at soundcloud.com/municipalequation. Subscribe on iTunes, and please leave us a friendly review and help spread the word. Municipal Equation is also available on podcast apps like Stitcher, Overcast and TuneIn, among many others. If you have an idea for the podcast, pitch it to League Advocacy Communication Associate Ben Brown.
Here We Grow is your stage for telling all of North Carolina and the world about your efforts and successes improving your town and the state's economy. Garner and Kannapolis are among towns making repeat use of it. Head to herewegrownc.org to read about how Garner, in a first-of-its-kind public-private partnership, is brewing up great results for its historic downtown. And check out the development that Kannapolis expects with the sale of a city-owned parcel. There are scores of other stories at Here We Grow, to which your town can easily contribute. Becoming a part of Here We Grow also affords your town customizable presentation tools that help you explain to your residents why the economic development work you're doing is so important. Don't have a login yet? If you're one of our member municipalities, send an email to about@herewegrownc.org and request one.
