The Mecklenburg Union Metropolitan Planning Organization voted unanimously Wednesday night to add the N.C. DOT’s proposed I-77 widening project to the region’s long-range transportation plan and priority list. The vote was uneventful, but the meeting wasn’t, as toll opponents packed a meeting room in the Charlotte Mecklenburg Government Center continuing their fight against the widening project. Read the full story

Cornelius businesses and homeowners with security alarms have been slow to register them, Cornelius officials said this week, and that could mean penalties when the town begins enforcing its new false alarm ordinance next week. Read the full story

Charlotte Mecklenburg Utilities workers repaired a water line Wednesday morning. (David Boraks/CorneliusNews.net)

A water main broke on North Main Street/NC 115 in Cornelius early Wednesday, cutting water service to customers in the area, including homes, businesses and the Lake Norman YMCA. Read the full story

By DAVID BORAKS
CornelusNews.net

Cornelius’s 2013-14 budget is largely complete, holding taxes steady and including money for major projects including streets, sidewalks, and park improvements. But commissioners on Monday put off a final vote on the plan, waiting to hear about possible revenue losses when the county revises the 2011 property revaluation. Meanwhile, town officials said they’re also looking at a potential $20 million bond referendum, as early as this fall. Read the full story

Aerial view shows the location of Pender Pointe, off John Connor Road. Click for details.

Commissioners on Monday approved a rezoning for Pender Pointe, a single-family home to be built off John Connor Road in the Peninsula neighborhood. The board also held a public hearing on the 2014 budget – where only one resident spoke – and debated but took no action on two other hot local issues: I-77 widening and the empty Board of Commissioners seat. Read the full story

Developers Kevin Mahl and Jamie Rolewicz have formally begun construction on Hyde Park on Bailey, a complex of “upscale, spacious storage suites” at Cornelius Commerce Park, off Bailey Road.  They and local leaders celebrated with a groundbreaking Friday, May 17, at the site. Read more in REAL ESTATE & HOME»

The Cornelius Town Board is expected to vote Monday, May 20, on a rezoning to allow a single family home off John Connor Road. The board also plans a public hearing on the 2014 budget, and depending on public feedback, commissioners could decide to vote on the plan afterward. Read the full story

E3D organizer Pat Millen (fifth from left) received a check for $10,320 from Peninsula Community Foundation chair Todd Wiebusch. With them are others associated with both End Davidson’s Digital Divide and the foundation.

The Lake Norman community is responding to the technology challenge issued earlier this year by Davidson-based nonprofit E3D, which wants to put computers in the hands local schoolkids who lack them. Organizer Pat Millen says help is coming in big and small ways – from donors as large as the Peninsula Community Foundation to events like the Biggest Lemonade Stand Day Ever planned in Davidson Saturday.

The Peninsula Community Foundation recently presented E3D with a check for $10,320 to help fund the group’s goal of helping close the digital gap among families in local schools. Working with local social service and school leaders, E3D is identifying students at public schools in Cornelius and Davidson who lack computers and internet connections.

RELATED COVERAGE

May 17, 2013, DavidsonNews.net, “How to end the digital divide: lemonade stands and foundation grants”

Feb. 27, 2013, DavidsonNews.net, “E3D’s goal: Eliminate Davidson’s Digital Divide.”