The Mint Hill Times

A press release by the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library, as well as other media sources, have said that boards from Cornelius, Davidson, Huntersville, Matthews and Mint Hill met yesterday to officially vote on how much they will give the library to keep doors open. However, Mint Hill Board of Commissioners did not meet yesterday. They voted at the previous board meeting almost two weeks ago to give the library $175,000, as long as it is equitable to what the other towns are giving. As of now, the equitability is in question. Cornelius, the only other town that was willing to give the full $175,000 in cash, voted yesterday that the donation come with several conditions:

The Cornelius board approval came with a series of conditions. Chief among those is a need to work out an “asset transfer agreement” with the county equivalent to $175,000. The agreement could include a lien, an asset swap, or a promissory note, the board said.

Other conditions, according to draft minutes of Monday’s meeting, included:

• Commitment of the Library Board of Trustees to the Contingency Plan adopted by the Mecklenburg County Commission;
• That funds be released on the staggered schedule outlined in the Contingency Plan adopted by Mecklenburg County and only upon satisfactory completion of the conditions set forth in that document;
• Emergency support participation, either financial or in-kind, by the City of Charlotte and three other towns (in addition to Cornelius);
• The town attorney will review and amend the interlocal agreement as necessary;
• That a town representative be appointed to the Steering Committee.

Expect Mint Hill to follow suit and offer conditions to giving the library $175,000. After the break: Read the press release sent by the library, as well as the Memorandum of Understanding that four of the five towns approved yesterday. Continue reading »

Photo by Mark Larson (http://www.flickr.com/photos/marklarson/)

After the third meeting in less than a week yesterday between towns and library officials, a deal seems to be in the works to keep the Mint Hill library open. Library officials drafted a memorandum of understanding that calls for each town to give either cash or in-kind donations that will amount to more than $700,000 between the towns.
Mint Hill Town Manager Brian Welch attended the meeting yesterday as Mint Hill’s representative. He said the agreement between the towns and the library is not finalized because each town’s board will have to officially vote on the the plan. The Mint Hill Board of Commissioners have already voted to give the library a one time payment of $175,000 as long as it is equitable with what other towns are giving. Matthews has offered to allow the library to bypass lease payments on its building, which could amount to $200,000 in the next fiscal year. Davidson will likely offer some cash as well as in-kind donations. Cornelius will give $175,000, and Huntersville is expected give a token gift to the library.
Both Mint Hill and Cornelius may ask for something in return for the $175,000. This could mean that the library and towns work something out with the respective leases on the library buildings within the towns.
The Mint Hill Board of Commissioners will likely make a final vote on helping the library at its next meeting on Thursday.

Here’s a breakdown of what each library may give:

- Cornelius: $175,000 contribution
- Davidson: forgiveness of lease payment in the amount of approximately $37,000; and solicitation of additional donations to total $175,000
- Huntersville: in-kind contribution, yet to be determined
- Matthews: restructuring of lease to defer current payment to 2018 of $205,000
- Mint Hill: $175,000 contribution