County continues negotiations with new trash hauler

FCC Environmental Services will move one step closer to replacing Waste Pro as Buncombe County’s residential trash hauler at the Tuesday, May 7, meeting of the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners.

Commissioners will consider a new seven-year contract with the global waste management company, which — if ultimately approved at a meeting later in May — will be the county’s first new hauler since WastePro was hired in 2009.

For county residents, that means prices will increase to $28.65 a month in January, but will be less in subsequent years compared with a WastePro proposal that commissioners rejected in December. County residents now pay $25.16 a month to WastePro.

If approved after a second reading Tuesday, May 21, FCC will submit a transition plan to the county by July 1 and start waste collection Jan. 1, according to a staff presentation.

Barnardsville to get a bridge

After Tropical Storm Fred swamped a flood-prone area in Barnardsville in 2021, the rural community is finally getting a new bridge over Ivy Creek.

The existing bridge and culvert on Paint Fork Road near NC-197 is deteriorating, and the county secured about $6.5 million in various funding to rebuild the bridge, restore the stream and acquire necessary right-of-ways, according to a staff presentation.

The stream has moved significantly closer to several structures over the last 13 years due to frequent flooding in the area, and stream restoration design is underway using $2.75 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds. Another $2.8 million grant from the N.C. Department of Public Safety will be used for bridge construction, which will be handled by NCDOT. About $1 million from the Land and Water Fund is being used to provide flood relief and improve the flow of Ivy Creek, according to a county document.

Consent agenda

The consent agenda for the meeting contains 10 items, which will be approved as a package unless singled out for separate discussion. Highlights include the following:

• Transfer of two county-owned parcels adjacent to Interstate 240 to the N.C. Department of Transportation. Both parcels are remnants of larger tracts that were acquired by the state to build the highway. One parcel, a .07-acre tract, abuts I-240 westbound near Virginia Avenue. The other is .15-acres between I-240 eastbound and Hanover Street. The county deemed both too difficult to develop.
• Approval of a resolution supporting a $350,000 NCDOT project to add a turning lane for northbound traffic on NC-63 at Old Leicester Highway. No county funds are required.
• Acquire three conservation easements for $114,000, as recommended by the county’s Agricultural Advisory Board and Land Conservation Advisory Board. If approved, the county will spend $28,000 to procure easements on the Tone Hollar Farm near Weaverville, $40,000 for Sand Branch Farm near Black Mountain and $46,000 for the Light Center Conservation Easement near Black Mountain. All funds will come from the Open Space bonds, approved by voters in 2022.

The full agenda and supporting documents for the regular meeting can be found at this link. There will be a briefing meeting proceeding the regular meeting at 3 pm. The agenda was not posted as of press time.

In-person public comment will be taken at the start of the regular meeting, which begins at 5 p.m. in Room 326 at 200 College St., Asheville; no voicemail or email comments will be permitted. Both the briefing and the regular meeting will be livestreamed on the county’s Facebook page and be available via YouTube.