(A summary of decisions made by the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners:)

AWARDS AND PROCLAMATIONS. County Manager Harry Jones recognized Sheriff Jim Pendergraph for 35 years of service to Mecklenburg County. The Board also proclaimed February 2006 as Black History Month in Mecklenburg County and February 26 - March 4, 2006 as CIAA Week in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County.

PUBLIC APPEARANCE. The following people addressed the Board on items not appearing on the agenda:

• Reverend Willie Simpson on Wee-Kare.
• Robbie Harrison on Alcohol Awareness Month and underage drinking.

APPOINTMENTS. The Board made the following appointments:

• Robert Cannon to the Bicycle Committee
• Donna Dukes to the Domestic Violence Advisory Committee
• Ralph Boral, Mike Brannon, Christy Bryant, John Greenwood, Joy Marshall, and Patricia Murphy to the Information Services and Technology Committee
• Debi Powell to the Mint Hill Planning Board

SCHOOL BUILDING SOLUTIONS COMMITTEE. The Board approved the process for the School Building Solutions Committee and appropriated $75,000 from unrestricted contingency to fund a portion of the cost of this process. This 35-member stakeholder group is chaired by former N.C. Governor Jim Martin and is charged with building a school capital package the community will support. The Committee will work from March 10 to July 1, and will operate in an open and inclusive manner. The Board also endorsed efforts to seek private donations to pay for the estimated remaining $102,500 cost. County staff has issued a Request for Proposal to engage a project management contractor to manage this effort.

COMMUNITY POLL. Related to the School Building Solutions Committee, the Board received and appropriated a $25,000 grant from Advantage Carolina to conduct a community poll to determine the reasons why voters rejected the $427 million school bond referendum in November 2005. The poll data will be provided to the School Building Solutions Committee in late-March.

IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT. The Board appropriated $236,700 in federal funds to pay for the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office partnership with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. These funds, which are paid to Mecklenburg County for housing federal inmates in the Mecklenburg County jail, will pay the cost of deputies work in identifying illegal immigrants who are arrested and processed in the Mecklenburg jail.  Deputy sheriffs will be certified to perform certain immigration enforcement functions, including expediting deportation.

ELECTRONIC MONITORING PILOT. The Board recognized and appropriated $248,100 to conduct an electronic monitoring pilot effort to increase jail capacity. The pilot will divert low-to-moderate risk inmates using electronic tracking devices. Funding will come from excess federal payments to Mecklenburg County for housing federal inmates in the County jail.

MOUNTAIN ISLAND LAKE SYMPOSIUM. The Board received an update on the March 16 symposium on protecting the region's drinking water source, Mountain Island Lake. The symposium will be held at the Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The purpose is to discuss current coordination efforts to protect this drinking water source and consider expanding these efforts to adjacent lakes.  Participants include elected officials and staff from the cities and counties surrounding Mountain Island Lake as well as planning commission members and representatives of the N.C. general assembly.

FY2006-2007 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROCESS. The Board deferred, until March 8, taking action on recommendations from its Effective & Efficient Government Committee and staff to develop a capital improvement plan and budget annually rather than biannually.

 

The Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners met in the Charlotte Mecklenburg Government Center on Tuesday, February 21, 2006. The meeting was televised live on The Government Channel, cable channel 16 and rebroadcast on WTVI at Midnight. The meeting is scheduled for re-telecast at various times on the Government Channel and GOV-TV, digital cable channel 232.