News About Town: The Planning Conference for the Board of Commissioners starts Friday. Pursuant to NC open meeting laws, the meeting is open to the public but there will be no portion for public comment. Items of note include: Properties of Significance with Existing “By Right” Zoning; Residential Construction and Overcrowded Schools; 4-Year Terms for Mayor and Board of Commissioners; and Hiring a Lobbyist. The full information packet can be found here.

News Around Town: The third annual Sandy Marano Memorial Build is underway with Habitat for Humanity. Sandy, an employee of Habitat and active volunteer in the Matthews community, lost a battle with breast cancer in 2016. Each year, in honor of Sandy, the Greater Matthews Habitat hosts a Women Build event, a program for women to become more involved in building affordable housing. More details to volunteer are here. Purchase a tee shirt to support the build here.

One Fun Thing: Last week we asked if you, dear readers, if you’d watched a Board of Commissioners meeting online. We received a very small sample of responses (high five to those of you who participated!) and the responses were across the board: two (40%) people said yes, one person (20%) said no, one (20%) person said they didn’t know about it, and another (20%) said not yet, but they’d like to. The video is now posted on the Town website beside the meeting agenda and minutes or on the Town’s YouTube Channel.