The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners will consider a number of issues at its first meeting of 2012, including a “Mental Health Services Report,” a proposal to rename the Smokey Park Bridge in memory of Capt. Jeff Bowen and a rezoning request.
The report will look at the role of substance-abuse and mental-health problems among the inmate population at the Buncombe County Detention Center. Almost 70 percent of detainees committed their crime while under the influence of a substance, or to obtain a substance, according to a PowerPoint presentation released ahead of the meeting.
Jeff Bowen, a 13-year veteran of the Asheville Fire Department, died on July 28, 2011, while working to put down a fire on the top floor of the Mission Hospitals building on 445 Biltmore Ave., the location of the hospital’s cancer center. It was the first time an Asheville firefighter died in the line of duty since 1982.
Commissioners will vote Jan. 3 to decide if they will formally request the North Carolina Board of Transportation to dedicate the Smokey Park Bridge in his honor. The move is supported by a number of groups, including the Asheville Fire Department and the Buncombe County Firefighter’s Association. The bridge crosses the French Broad River just west of downtown Asheville, forming a link between I-26, I-240 and Patton Ave.
Commissioners will also weigh in on a rezoning request by Norris “Max” Clubb to allow for commercial development of a 1.27-acre tract located at 1910 US Highway 70, just west of its intersection with Warren Wilson Road. County planning staff and the Planning Board recommends approving the request, noting in a report that surrounding land is already being used for commercial development.
In addition, the commissioners will consider an “Economic Development Report” and honor Buncombe County Library Director Ed Sheary for being named “Director of the Year” by the North Carolina Public Library Directors Association.
The board will meet at 4:30 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 3, in the commissioners’ chambers, located at 30 Valley St. A short pre-meeting review of the agenda will begin at 4:15 p.m.
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