Just wanted to provide a quick update. We had some dialogue with our County Commissioner, Brad George last week. He brought our initiative and the petition up at the County Commissioners Meeting on Tuesday, February 20th. They took a vote and it was unanimous to draft a letter from the County Commissioners to State Senator Jackson and State Representative Smith urging the need for funding from the state.

Also, starting on Feb 26th Brad will become the county representative on the WMPO. The Wilmington Urban Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (WMPO) was created in 1973 when our region reached a population density threshold of 50,000 people to constitute the federally-mandated creation of a Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO). As a federally-mandated and federally-funded entity, the Wilmington MPO is tasked with providing a regional and cooperative transportation planning process that serves as the basis for the expenditure of all federal transportation funds in the greater Wilmington area. The WMPO is required to prepare long range transportation plans for the planning area with a minimum of a 20-year horizon. Additionally, the WMPO prepares an annual planning work program and assists with the prioritization of projects for inclusion in the State Transportation Improvement Program (outlines NCDOT’s funding for a 10-year period). Brad's hope is to advocate for improvements in our area of Pender County that is covered by the WMPO.

I asked him to keep us posted on any developments we can share with the community.