Despite Council recently backing out of a quarter of its funding, the W.C. Reid Center phase-one rebuild got the nod from Asheville after a lengthly conversation. Council voted 6-1 (Mumpower voting no) to stay on track with a new building for the facility rather than turning to a renovation of the existing structure. Mayor Terry Bellamy, expressing her preference for the renovation option, nonetheless voted in favor of new construction after Council agreed to commit to completing later phases of the project.
Also at the meeting, Council:
• Unanimously adopted new rules governing its appointees to boards and commissions.
• Passed a $60,000 budget amendment to pay for four new early voting sites for the upcoming general election.
• Heard from city staff who determined Council cannot give preference to local companies competing in a bidding process. But most projects that don’t exceed the $30,000 threshold governed by state law are awarded to local companies.
• Found out that the city had used more than 6 percent less energy during the last year, the equivalent of half the annual power usage of City Hall, and that 75 percent of municipal buildings showed an energy usage decrease over the year, according to a staff report.
For extensive coverage of the meeting, see the Sept. 16 issue of Xpress.
— Brian Postelle, staff writer
Before you comment
The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.