A new EMS base and library could be coming to the corner of Haywood Road and Interstate 240 in West Asheville if the Buncombe County officials can figure out how to pay for its plans on land owned by Asheville City Schools.
The county Board of Commissioners voted 6-0 on Aug. 6 to instruct staff to move forward with finalized architectural plans, seek a partnership with Asheville City Schools (ACS) and research how to fund renovations. Commissioner Martin Moore was absent.
The former site of Asheville Primary School, which closed in 2022, would also house an upgraded maintenance facility for ACS near the back of the 4.77-acre property, according to the plans. ACS would like to move its school nutrition administration to the site, which is now housed at the ACS administration building at 85 Mountain St.
For the county, the top priority is an Emergency Medical Services base. Plans show a two-story, 16,800-square-foot EMS station would be located on the corner of Argyle Lane and Haywood Road, with five truck bays, sleeping quarters for 14 responders and a triage room for walk-up emergencies.
The base would be attached to a two-story, 25,000-square-foot library at the corner of Haywood and the I-240 on-ramp. The library would be similar in size to the new East Asheville Library, rebuilt in 2021, said Robert Brown, general services director for the county, and would replace the existing West Asheville Library at 942 Haywood Road.
“To me, the EMS facility is nonnegotiable. As we look at our response rates and we look to improve those and as West Asheville continues to grow, we absolutely cannot take our foot off the gas pedal on moving forward on that,” said Commissioner Amanda Edwards.
At a work session Aug. 5, Asheville City Board of Education members expressed some reservations about allowing county facilities on the site without getting anything in return. The school board is scheduled to vote on whether it supports the county’s plan at its meeting Monday, Aug. 12.
“We can’t give away something for nothing. So if what we have is property … for EMS to be put there, that means destruction of property that is now housing services for us,” said school board member Amy Ray at the Aug. 5 work session.
“I thought that if we were giving up a portion of our property so that the county could build something on that site, there would be a quid pro quo, and we would be receiving something in return. If what we are receiving in return is designs [for prekindergarten and maintenance facilities] but no funding to implement those designs, that’s not a return,” she added.
County Manager Avril Pinder assured the ACS board that the funding details have yet to be explored, and county staff simply wanted to be sure both the school board and county commission were on board with the concepts before negotiating a funding plan.
Commissioner Al Whitesides took issue with Ray’s stance that the county owes the school district for use of the property.
“Everything we’re doing is for the taxpayers of Buncombe County. Right? We paid for it. They want to sell it to us? That makes no sense to me as a taxpayer. I’ve got a problem with that,” he said.
Pre-K hub at Hall Fletcher Elementary
Another major part of the negotiations is establishing a prekindergarten “hub.” After discussing that possibility with ACS Superintendent Maggie Fehrman and her team, Pinder said it was more feasible to locate a pre-K school at Hall Fletcher Elementary, less than a mile away.
Pre-K plans call for a one-story, 29,000-square-foot building on the field along Wellington Street that would house 18 classrooms for 268 students.
While ACS board members had doubts about building a brand-new facility when the district’s other schools had space amid declining enrollment, the plan was well-liked by county commissioners.
Commissioner Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, who serves on the county’s Early Childhood Committee, said the county has been talking about a large pre-K hub for years.
“I think this represents the most concrete vision of how that could come to pass,” she said.
“If we’re ever going to get universal pre-K — and we need that for the workforce — it’s going to start with a hub,” Whitesides added.
It is unclear how a hub would be funded and operated if built on ACS property with county dollars, but those details could be worked out, Pinder said.
Commission Chair Brownie Newman suggested that any significant progress on the pre-K building should await the school district consolidation study, scheduled to be completed in January.
If the N.C. General Assembly forces the school districts to consolidate, there might be lots of empty classroom space that could be repurposed, Newman noted.
“Can we repurpose an existing elementary school? If the answer is no for really good reasons, then I’d say this is a really good thing,” he said.
County establishes short-term rental committee
More than 100 people answered Buncombe County’s call to join an ad hoc committee reviewing short-term rental (STR) regulations that were put on hold by the Buncombe County Planning Board in May.
Commissioners, who established the committee at their Aug. 6 meeting, narrowed the list of potential candidates from 113 to 17, including two members of the Planning Board — Chair Nancy Waldrop and member Ken Kahn. The committee could consist of between seven and 11 members, according to the establishing resolution.
Newman was grateful there was so much interest in the committee and thanked everyone for applying.
“We know this is an important issue in the community and an issue a lot of people are very interested in. As outlined in the resolution language, we wanted to have different perspectives of various stakeholders participating in this process,” Newman said.
Newman sorted his nominations for the committee into real estate professionals, short-term rental owners and community members interested in how STRs affect the supply of housing stock in Buncombe County. Commissioners are scheduled to interview the 15 non-Planning Board candidates before the commission meeting Tuesday, Aug. 20, when final decisions will be announced.
So they are spending millions on renovating schools while at the same time talking about merging the county school with the city school system. How does this make any common sense?
County Commissioners needed another project to continue their tax and spend approach to “leadership”. Vote them out.