Centralina Regional Council

Home for the Holidays: How Centralina Celebrates Around the Region

MaeLynn — Fri, 06 Dec 2024 14:23:35 +0000

Cooler air and the region’s first snow fall have officially ushered in the holiday season! After you’ve hung your wreath and written your wish list, get to know the region better by visiting the many sites and events that make this time of year feel extra warm and fuzzy. Centralina staff has a few recommendations to help you get started:

Debi Lee, Centralina Area Agency on Aging Assistant Director

In Mooresville:

“The Lake Norman Philharmonic puts on a wonderful show every year at the Charles Mack Citizen Center. They play all the best holiday music and it’s such a good time for people of all ages.”

Hillary Kaylor, Regional Ombudsman Program Manager

In McAdenville:

“You can’t beat the light displays in Christmas Town! It’s a beautiful walk and it gets me so excited to celebrate the holidays.”

MaeLynn Joyner, Communications Administrator

In Charlotte:

“I spend lots of time at the Whitewater Center throughout the year, but nothing tops ice skating there in the winter! I fall more than I skate, but the memories make it so worthwhile.”

Tisha Steen, Accounting Manager

In Kannapolis:

“Celebration of Lights is such a fun experience for families. It’s in a beautiful park and there’s so much to do, like roasting marshmallows or taking a ride on the Winterland Express!”

Zsuzsi Kadar, Community Economic Development Administrator

In Indian Trail:

“Extreme Ice Center is so much fun around the holidays. They host charity skating performances and bring in special guests for public skating, like Elf on the Shelf!”

About Christmas Town, U.S.A.

Each year, thousands flock to the Town of McAdenville, located in Gaston County, to witness the lights display that fills every street and home for the month of December.

Per the Town of McAdenville, “The tradition of the lights began in 1956, when the McAdenville Men’s Club along with Mr. W. J. Pharr, Pharr’s founder and president at the time, conceived the idea of using red, white and green lights to decorate the trees around the McAdenville Community Center.”

The display has since expanded beyond the Community Center, making this destination a must-see during the holiday season.

Photo Courtesy of the Town of McAdenville

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Capitol Corner: Introducing the Department of Government Efficiency

MaeLynn — Thu, 05 Dec 2024 13:26:02 +0000

As President-elect Donald J. Trump announced his nominees for traditional cabinet posts, he also announced his intent to create a Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Since a new federal agency can only be created by an act of Congress, DOGE will instead function as a presidential advisory commission. The name DOGE was deliberately chosen as a backronym to reference the popular internet meme and dogecoin, the cryptocurrency often promoted by Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Together, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will lead the new commission. 

While the creation of such a commission is historic, it is not unprecedented. Similar commissions date back to 1905 when President Theodore Roosevelt created the Keep Commission. Since then, Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Ronald W. Reagan, William J. Clinton, and Barack H. Obama also created advisory commissions to address the efficiency and effectiveness of the federal government. 

Musk and Ramaswamy state that their goal is to disband the DOGE by July 4, 2026. Until then the Commission plans to work closely with the Office of Management and Budget to pursue three types of reform: regulatory rescissions, administrative reductions and cost savings. DOGE will seek to drive change through executive action based on existing law rather than by passing new legislation. 

The commission will be charged with identifying duplicative programs, functional inefficiencies and unnecessary regulations. Reported first steps include targeting federal spending not authorized by Congress and trimming the workforce by requiring federal employees to work in the office five days a week (expected to result in numerous resignations) and by offering early retirement incentives. Federal regulations will also be subject to intense scrutiny. Due to recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions, many existing regulations may now exceed congressional authority and may instead be addressed in DOGE recommendations.

Although the DOGE purview encompasses the entire federal government, the commission is advisory in nature and does not have the authority to enact changes. The role of DOGE is limited to making recommendations. Budget cuts, significant policy changes and agency creations or eliminations require approval from both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate.

The House of Representatives plans to create a new House Oversight Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency in the 119^th Congress, and some Members of Congress are forming a DOGE caucus. The Senate has also formed a DOGE caucus that includes Senator Ted Budd (R-NC) as a founding member.

President-elect Trump’s inauguration is scheduled for January 20, 2025. Plans for DOGE will not officially be implemented before then and may change in the interim.

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ARPA/SLFRF Obligation Deadline Approaching

MaeLynn — Mon, 02 Dec 2024 15:59:04 +0000

The deadline for local governments to obligate funds received through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA or SLFRF if State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds ) is December 31, 2024. Local governments may not have completely spent their allotment; however, all units of government must obligate their entire allotment by the deadline through their grant project ordinance (GPO).

If your unit has not fully obligated all funds by having projects approved by the governing body, please make plans to have the GPO on the agenda as early as possible for approval prior to 12/31/2024. You will have until December 31, 2026, to complete projects and fully expend funding. Local governments may also want to review all ARPA/SLFRF records, policies and reports for completeness (keeping these until 12/31/2031). If you need assistance with spending plans or have questions regarding your ARPA/SLFRF program, reach out to Michelle Nance at mnance@centralina.org.

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Mooresville Fall Fest Introduces Employers to Job-Seekers

MaeLynn — Mon, 02 Dec 2024 15:53:30 +0000

On October 10, 2024, the NCWorks Career Center – Mooresville hosted a bustling Fall Fest that merged Mitchell Community College services with a dynamic job fair. The NCWorks Career Center – Mooresville organized the job fair with Mitchell Community College providing a welcoming venue for the event.

Like many NCWorks events, Fall Fest showcased a blend of traditional job-hunting activities that appealed to a diverse audience of students. This job fair specifically catered to senior students on the brink of graduation, helping them explore career opportunities and prepare for the transition out of college. In addition to outside employers, the college’s display highlighted its various departments, engaging newer students and the broader public to promote current offerings.

The job fair featured 10 employers across various sectors, including manufacturing, healthcare, finance and retail.

This event exemplified a successful Centralina Workforce Development Board (WDB) partnership, fostering connections between students, employers and community resources. For more information on resources, opportunities and successes with the Centralina WDB and our NCWorks Career Centers, visit https://centralinaworkforce.com/.

Looking for more? Download the free Centralina WDB Mobile App, available on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store.

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Grant Spotlight: Water & Waste Disposal

MaeLynn — Mon, 02 Dec 2024 15:20:16 +0000

The US Department of Agriculture’s Water & Waste Disposal Loan and Grant program provides funding for clean and reliable drinking water systems, sanitary sewage and solid waste disposal, and storm water drainage to households and businesses in eligible rural areas with populations of 10,000 or less.

Click here to learn more and apply.

Need Help with Grants?

Centralina provides comprehensive grant support to member communities. Grant preparation and administration can be a daunting and overwhelming process for local governments to undertake. Centralina can help you successfully secure funding for critical projects and priorities in your community.

Members can utilize our weekly grants alert, annual grants forecast, training videos and more. These resources, along with the grant support services our team provides to members, aim to enhance our region’s capacity to attract competitive funding for local and regional initiatives.

Interested in membership? Contact us today.

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City of Gastonia Reduces Barriers to Healthy Food

MaeLynn — Mon, 02 Dec 2024 15:05:11 +0000

On October 9, 2024, Centralina hosted a Fall Celebration and Awards Ceremony at Atrium Ballpark in Kannapolis, NC. This event highlighted the work of our organization and member communities, in addition to several people and programs that have made an exceptional impact in our community over the last fiscal year.

The first Region of Excellence category awarded was Cross-Community Collaboration. These awards are given to those who demonstrate the value of partnerships across communities in order to achieve better outcomes.

About the Program

City of Gastonia’s Farm to Table – Cultivating Opportunity began as a social justice proposal for a Dominion Energy grant that would bring together three unique organizations in order to serve a single cause: reducing the barriers to healthy food through community collaboration. Keep Gastonia Beautiful, which is both a City of Gastonia-recognized department and a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, received the grant from Dominion Energy for this project.

Approved in late 2022, work began right away for programming that would occur the following summer. Keep Gastonia Beautiful connected with the Gastonia Farmers Market and Healthy Highland/RAMS (Really Amazing Meals with Soul) Kitchen for what was thought to be fun summer programming for local youth. Instead, the program has entered classrooms, spread through the community and continues onward with plenty of momentum.

The project connects local farmers with a food-insecure community, educating citizens and local youth on the farm-to-table experience through various educational pieces. Each of the three agencies involved in Farm to Table- Cultivating Opportunity are highly invested in the future of the community, demonstrating discipline, commitment and perseverance – all of which are needed to sustain this long-term work within the community.

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Albemarle Engages Local Students in Project Next Step

MaeLynn — Mon, 02 Dec 2024 14:59:02 +0000

About the Program

Albemarle’s Project Next Step is a summer program designed to improve students’ access to innovative learning strategies and engage local students in quality, interactive enrichment opportunities with Stanly County Community College. By integrating academic enrichment with real-world experiences, the program was able to broaden the horizons of many Albemarle Middle School students and prepare them for future academic success.

Hosted by City of Albemarle Parks & Recreation, Project Next Step set out as a collaborative summer program between the department and Stanly County Schools. The collaboration was born out of the recognition that parks and recreation can play a vital role in bridging the gap between the academic and physical needs of students in the Albemarle community and beyond.

The goal of the program was to support and encourage the well-being and academic enrichment of Albemarle Middle School students. Many of these students previously believed that college was not an option for them due to a variety of circumstances. Project Next Step provided science, technology, engineering, arts and math learning experiences as well as field trips to colleges and universities so that students could visualize their own success and feel confident in their ability to learn and excel.

Albemarle Parks and Recreation staff provided a safe, structured environment for 53 middle school students over the summer. The program consisted of a diverse group of staff and participants. Fifty-one of the participants surveyed acknowledged that they had never been selected to participate in a program before Project Next Step.

This project connected academic concepts to real-world experiences and used Stanly County as a learning lab for participants. For example, during a visit to Juneberry Ridge, a local farm, students observed the connections between science and agriculture, spent time engaging with nature and completed hands-on activities with animals. Students were also able to ask questions and engage with local agricultural professionals. This experience, like many of the others during the summer, provided them an opportunity to connect their interests to potential career opportunities.

The project also utilized nature and recreation to create positive impacts on quality of life. For example, participants completed a hike at Morrow Mountain, and while some participants were initially anxious about hiking, all completed the trek and were proud of their efforts. Several students took pictures of the mountain behind them as a reminder of what they had accomplished. They talked about what helped them complete this challenge and how the experience provided them with personal tools to overcome other challenges.

By the end of this 60-day program, opinions had changed and the majority of students believed that college was an option for them. Through Project Next Step, the impacts of cross-community collaboration were put on full display. Not only did this program broaden the horizons of Albemarle Middle School students, but it used local resources and forged important community relationships.

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Helene FEMA Public Assistance Technical Support

MaeLynn — Wed, 13 Nov 2024 18:41:17 +0000

In response to the FEMA-4827-DR (North Carolina Helene Disaster Declaration), Centralina Regional Council has partnered with High Street Consulting to provide expert guidance on the intricate and challenging post-disaster Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Public Assistance (PA) recovery process.

The following links provide information relevant to local government units, such as navigating the FEMA PA program, understanding FEMA hazard mitigation requirements, best practices for debris management and more.

FEMA Public Assistance Guides

These files contain FEMA-produced PA documents that may be beneficial to local government units navigating the FEMA-4827-DR.

Helpful Tech Support Guides

These files contain documents prepared by contracted subject matter experts working with Centralina and other councils of government on Helene FEMA PA damage assessments and recovery planning. These documents have been curated to assist local government units in navigating complex and often confusing FEMA regulations in a more succinct and clear manner.

Helene Regulatory Documents

These files contain regulatory documents related to FEMA-4827-DR, North Carolina Senate Bill 743 – The Disaster Recovery Act of 2024 – Part II and the Hurricane Helene Disaster Recovery Fund established in Section 4.1 of S.L. 2024-51.

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The Local Government Issue: Strategic Planning

MaeLynn — Tue, 12 Nov 2024 15:46:02 +0000

Our November newsletter is dedicated to local governments and the tireless work they do to help our region thrive. In this Insight, we’re highlighting one of the services we provide to local governments so that they can reach their organizational goals.

From 2020 to 2022, we supported the City of Albemarle in developing a three-year strategic plan. Many local governments have taken the same step as their communities grow and needs change. In addition to Albemarle, Anson County and Gaston County have called on Centralina for assistance in navigating the process.

Strategic planning is necessary for any organization’s success, but going through the process can be daunting and demanding for local government staff. As part of Centralina’s meeting facilitation services, we offer help with strategic planning that will reenergize your staff and encourage productive discussions to ensure your goals are met.

Are You Ready for Retreat Season?

Centralina staff serve our member communities by designing and facilitating effective meetings for a range of group sizes, subject matter and formats. We work closely with clients to define specific meeting objectives, develop a customized, outcome-oriented agenda and design interactive activities to engage participants and meet desired objectives. Whether it’s a one-time event or a series of public engagement activities, we work with you to find the right approach to get results.

Let’s get to work.

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The Local Government Issue: Land Use Planning

MaeLynn — Tue, 12 Nov 2024 15:35:14 +0000

Since 2019, state legislation has required that municipalities hoping to enforce zoning regulations have and maintain a land use plan. Land use plans capture the vision, values and goals of a community in order to create a strategic direction that guides planning decisions. Lately, we’ve worked with Dallas, Stanley, Wingate, Albemarle and Locust to set their teams up for success.

Land use planning provides communities with an opportunity to integrate land use practice with other local priorities such as transportation connectivity, parks and recreation, infrastructure investment and economic development. Coordinated planning helps communities create vibrant places that meet the needs of current and future residents.

Centralina has the experience necessary to support local governments with land use planning efforts and can assist with the creation or updates of land use, small area and corridor plans. Our experts provide technical assistance to your community on diverse aspects of the planning process that lead to a winning plan.

Your future starts today. Get in touch with Centralina to kick things off.

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