“The goal is simple: to simplify and consolidate,” explained County Attorney Michael Frue. “Everyone needs to understand that there is no service change. There is no change in tax rate. We have 35 service districts for 20 tax districts. That’s the mess we’re trying to correct.”
The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners will be flooded with public hearings regarding the county’s fire and ambulance service districts at its Tuesday, Oct. 20 meeting.
While the number of women in politics has definitely grown over the last few decades, “Politics is still a gendered space,” says Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics. “Women see these institutions and don’t see a lot of people that look like them in charge, and that may lead to a reluctance to run for office.”
As of March 31, there were 2,386 kids in foster care in the 28 western counties. While innovative agencies and evolving state standards are making strides in streamlining the system and reuniting families, the available resources can’t keep up with the growing numbers of children needing foster care.
“I say, if we want to feed the tourists red meat, then let’s put the slaughterhouse on Pack Square — with lots of windows and tours on the hour.”
They’ve heard funding requests from nonprofits and others, they’ve seen the budget draft, and they’ve considered the public comments. Now, at the Tuesday, June 16 regular meeting, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners will vote on the finalized budget for the 2016 fiscal year.
The Buncombe County Planning Board initially approved the plans for the Maple Trace subdivision in November 2014. At that time, the design called for 140 household units to be built in a rural Weaverville community with traffic directed through two exists. However, revisions to the plan have residents concerned that poor visibility and high traffic may result in dangerous driving conditions.
Identifying the challenges facing the Future I-26 project is fairly straightforward; implementing the needed improvements is more complicated. So how does an ordinary highway become an interstate? And when might the stretch north of downtown Asheville make the interstate grade?
On April 14, representatives from 43 nonprofits requested funding from Buncombe County, as part of the county’s community development grant program. But these organizations make up only 9.6 percent of the total nonprofits in the county. Others rely on privately funded grants and donations, as well as individual donations — both small and large. Each organization must constantly work to grab and hold the public’s attention. And in a city like Asheville, it seems there’s never a shortage of worthy causes.
On Tuesday, April 21, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners held two workshops: one to hear nonprofit funding requests and the other to facilitate discussion with the Buncombe County Fire Chiefs Association.
“Triple kudos to the city’s Transportation Department!”
Tensions ran high at the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners’ April 7 meeting, as board members butted heads over a proposed policy change concerning closed sessions.
For the Swannanoa Valley Museum, the spring season is an excellent time to remind people of what came before and the foundations that facilitate growth.
Around 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 31, a brush fire caused by unknown sources in the Ridgecrest area of Buncombe County erupted across the ridgeline. Spurred by gusty winds and dry conditions, the blaze soon spread across the mountains bordering Black Mountain, destroying several homes and forcing residents to flee to safety as state and federal Park Service officials, along with firefighters from across Western North Carolina, came in droves to battle the wildfire.
The Buncombe County Industrial Facilities and Pollution Control Financing Authority will hold a meeting on Tuesday, March 31, to consider the approval of financing new machinery for the Plasticard-Locktech International facility at 605 Sweeten Creek Road. The meeting will be held at noon at 46 Valley Street in downtown Asheville.
At the March 3 Buncombe County Board of Commissioners meeting, row after row of young attendees equipped with swim goggles waited to hear news on the Zeugner Center pool and the promise of a new aquatic facility.
And they didn’t have to wait long for their questions to be answered.
At its March 3 meeting, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners plans to hear four rezoning requests — three near Weaverville and one in Swannanoa.
“There is absolutely no validity to this whatsoever,” the sheriff states. “If somebody calls you and tries to collect money, [saying they’re] from any government entity at the threat of arrest — [know] that [neither] the IRS nor the Sheriff’s Office call and give you an opportunity to pay … any kind of fee or fine that would result in you being arrested.”
The 1.5 million children enrolled in North Carolina’s public schools this year will not be the only ones receiving grades soon. State officials plan to release a performance-based, letter-graded report card for each school, starting Feb. 5, and for some education leaders in the Asheville area, anticipation is high. Chip Craig, vice chairman of the […]
The public-comment stretched nearly three hours at the Feb. 3 Buncombe County Board of Commissioners meeting, as a tsunami of local residents expressed their displeasure with two recent and highly controversial county decisions — the planned closure of the county’s only indoor aquatic center, Zeugner, and the equestrian revisions to the animal-control ordinance. Citizens — including goggled […]
Look for the goggles at the next Buncombe commissioners meeting: A group called “Save Zuegner, Save Our Swim Teams” is trying to get swimmers, coaches and likeminded people to come to the Feb. 3 meeting and speak about the Zuegner Center, which will shut down forever at the end of the swim season this year. […]
