On March 17, before diving into a review of the 2015 budget, Buncombe commissioners went into an emergency closed session to discuss an unnamed economic-development issue. Two days later, John Boyle with the Asheville Citizen-Times reported what it was about: At a cost of nearly $7 million, the county plans to buy a 137-acre plot on the French Broad River at Bent Creek “to entice an economic-development prospect.”
There are no details yet about that prospect, and Jon Ostendorff with the Citizen-Times has questioned whether commissioners were legally allowed to go into closed session or an “emergency” meeting to discuss a land deal:
“If they are buying a piece of property, that is a matter for public discussion,” N.C. Press Association attorney Amanda Martin told the Citizen-Times. A representative with the N.C Open Government Coalition also told the C-T that, while commissioners are allowed by state law to go into closed session to discuss economic development and real estate transactions and negotiations, an emergency meeting was not appropriate.
Henderson County owns the site, which it acquired as part of a water-for-land deal made with the city of Asheville and Buncombe in the 1990s when the three entities were part of the now-defunct Regional Water Authority. In recent years, the land had been tied up in a legal dispute between the governments, but Henderson put the property up for sale a few months ago, the Citizen-Times reported.
Buncombe commissioners may take action on the purchase at an upcoming regular meeting.
For more, see Boyle’s “Buncombe Buys $6.8M Site to Entice ‘Large’ Prospect,” and Jon Ostendorff’s “Buncombe Leaders Agreed to Land Deal in Private.”
For background on the land deal, see Jonathan Barnard’s 2002 Xpress story, “Water Signs,” his 2008 report “Bent Creek Property Focus of Water Talks” and David Forbes’ 2012 update, “Fate of Bent Creek Property May Play Unspoken Role in Water System Dispute.”
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