The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners will likely make short work of its upcoming meeting on Tuesday, May 3. There are no public hearings or new-business agenda items, and the bulk of the heavy lifting will be announcing four proclamations. However, one item of note on the consent agenda is a resolution to begin accepting bids for the sale of a 2.08-acre parcel owned by the county. The county’s website states its 2015 assessment value is $938,400, but the board’s proposed resolution indicates a recent appraisal value of $915,000, a figure Kathy Hughes, the county’s Clerk to the Board, says is from a private appraisal. Hughes says difference is likely due to different dates and appraising methodologies. The land is located at 32 Compton Drive, off New Leicester Highway in West Asheville, and is the former site of the Buncombe County Community Child Care Center. The property includes an 8,301 square-foot building. The sale of the land could help shore up a projected budget shortfall. The resolution is on the consent agenda and will not have discussion unless it is pulled for comment.
Proclamations include the following:
• Proclamation of UNC-Asheville Bulldog Basketball Champions
• Proclamation of Older American Month
Commissioners are also set to make the following board appointments:
• WNC Air Quality Board (1 reappointment), Vonna Cloninger
• Barnardsville Fire Department Relief Fund (1 reappointment), Jeff Austin
After the May 3 meeting, the Board of Commissioners is not scheduled to meet again until Tuesday, May 31. The agenda can be seen here.
I plan to visit the following meetings this week and next and read the following. Any support at these meeting would be helpful.
Good Afternoon Buncombe County Commissioners:
Good Evening Buncombe County School Board:
Good Evening Asheville City Council:
My name is Maureen Quinn. I have been a resident of Buncombe County for 24 years and have raised 2 children here. It is a great community to live and raise children. I have seen needed soccer centers come about, hiking and biking trails built, and the development of child-friendly parks. I believe it is now time to put a new aquatic center on the front burner. The Zeugner Center and the Rec Park pools are on their last legs.
As you all know, swimming is such an enjoyable sport. It is an excellent way to stay active and healthy throughout one’s lifetime. I teach parent-child classes, preschoolers, and school-age children to swim at the downtown YMCA part time. My mother, who is 82 years old, attends water aerobics 3 times/week. My daughter was on the swim team at Reynolds High School and found working as a water instructor at the YMCA very rewarding. My son, who will soon graduate from the Air Force Academy, told me learning to swim was one of the best and useful skills that he ever learned as a child. Many of his cadet colleagues have had to take mandatory swim lessons. The YMCAs are doing a great job, but there is a greater need for all people in our community.
We need a county-wide modern aquatic center. I read last year that money earmarked for an aquatics center had to be diverted over the past decade to build a jail, revamp the courthouse, and other priorities. I realize that there are multiple other needs within this community, but as a former public health nurse, prevention is key. Swimming, diving, and boating safety, are skills that can be used a lifetime to prevent accidents around the water, to build self-confidence and endurance, and to maintain a healthy lifestyle. This in effect will make a healthier community.
Please refer to page 3 of the handout, the last paragraph. It states, “The Greensboro Aquatic Center is a regional, multi-purpose, competitive aquatic facility that opened in September 2011… It has emerged as one of the top aquatic venues in the nation in its first year… It hosted 36 meets over its first year…. The economic impact of these and other events has been a tremendous boon to the local economy, generating an estimated economic impact of more than $41 million (source: Greensboro Convention & Visitors Bureau).”
Ideally, I envision a cooperative effort by the county, the city, and the school system to build an aquatic center in an area near AB Tech Campus or The Rivers Art District on a buslin that is easily accessible to all people. I envision student internships utilizing nursing, EMT, and business majors………. Please do something now……….. Begin this year……. Thank you.
Tell CITY council that you need that $4.2 MILLION they are stealing from taxpayers to GIVE to the Housing Authority, a FEDERAL
money pit already, yet CITY refuses to oversee the public housing DISrespect of Asheville…biggest bloated blight on the CITY.
Oh, weirdly incoherent realtor Fisher Caudle, you’re so funny and have no conflict of interest whatsoever!
not a realtor….so WHAT is my conflict of interest other than city improvement ?