The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners tossed off a thin agenda in short order at their April 2 session. The high point of the meeting came when Swannanoa resident Eric Gorney, a former candidate for a seat on the board, presented Commissioner David Young with a pair of pink flip-flops. During the public-comment period, Gorney spoke out against the county’s prospective zoning plan and accused Young of flip-flopping on the issue. Young opposed countywide zoning several years ago, but he told Xpress he has changed his position in response to widespread development in the county.
Stormwater Administrator Mark Goodson, who stepped into the new post two months ago, delivered a six-month update on the implementation of new rules adopted last September. (See “Commissioners Approve Storm-water Ordinance,” Oct. 4, 2006 Xpress). Goodson said he has set up systems for processing permit applications and answering storm-water complaints, a Web site for public education, and has delivered presentations to private and public groups. He is now trying to hire storm-water technicians.
“What are you seeing as some of the big challenges?” asked Chairman Nathan Ramsey.
“Water that we detain, we have to detain [for] between 48 and 120 hours. We have to use very small pipe for drainage, and there are maintenance issues,” said Goodson.
Commissioner David Gantt inquired, “When you’re talking to developers, do you see a lot of people who don’t know about these [storm-water-control] techniques, or do they not want to be bothered?”
“Mostly it’s a matter of education,” Goodson replied. “The simple methods are often things that haven’t been done here. One of the challenges is finding another place with the kind of terrain we have here that has implemented a storm-water ordinance.” That makes it harder to borrow solutions from other areas, he noted. “We will have to invent some of our own solutions. We can start with some of the ideas they use down east, but they were developed for flatland.”
Ramsey also inquired about the estimated cost of implementing storm-water controls. Citing U.S. Environmental Protection Agency figures, Goodson said it typically accounts for 25 or 30 percent of the total cost of preparing a site for development.
Other business
The commissioners formally approved a tax-increment-financing policy discussed at the board’s March 13 retreat. They also voted to create a Judicial Facilities Task Force, which will evaluate future needs and proposals. Both votes were unanimous.
In addition, they made the following board appointments: Jennifer Waite, Julie Strum and Judy McDonough (Nursing Home Community Advisory Committee); Sarah Foster, Ceasar Romero, Karen Gettinger, Joel Bender, Tim Laughlin, Barbara Mayer and Brenda Crisp (Adult Care Home Community Advisory Committee); and Lynn Hicks (Environmental Advisory Board).
a civil engineer is a person that wants curbs and gutters and drains to carry water..not manage non-point source storm water.
I always thought that a civil engineer was someone who was so good at Sim City that they just gave them a job doing it for real.