The proposed audit, presented to the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners on Jan. 17, would look at whether the city and county are complying with “federal and state laws, regulatory bodies, codes of conduct, court orders and consent degrees,” with a focus on damage caused to the Black community by noncompliance.
The new plans call for three buildings with a combined total of 585,360 square feet, as well as 463 parking spaces and truck loading docks. The project is tentatively scheduled to come before Asheville City Council for final approval on Tuesday, Jan. 24, where the public will be allowed to provide further input.
“I am quite hopeful that if I give as an individual to Asheville Planned Parenthood, I can recoup my money in a few years in the form of local school tax savings.”
The annual report and accompanying presentation were created by Buncombe’s Domestic Violence Fatality Review Team, which was formed in 2018 to prevent domestic violence deaths in the county.
Waste Pro, Buncombe’s waste management contractor, will bump the rate it charges customers for trash pickup by $1.62 per month at the start of the year. On Tuesday, Jan. 3, the company will also ask the county Board of Commissioners to authorize an additional rate hike of 39 cents per month in light of higher recyclable processing costs.
A quarterly update on the county’s strategic plan, shared with the Board of Commissioners during a Dec. 5 briefing, showed that three of the plan’s four primary goals in that area are not on track with county targets. Substance abuse deaths in particular have worsened since the plan was adopted in 2020.
“I’ve also noticed the same complaints year in and year out — high cost of living, low-paying jobs, lack of good jobs, homelessness, etc. And yet, for some reason I can’t begin to fathom, the same people and the same party keep getting reelected.”
Although an $870,000 trust fund exists to support the Buncombe County Public Libraries’ historical archives, manager Katherine Cutshall says she’s been locked out of accessing that money for years due to the county’s legal confusion.
Over 140 people responded to an Xpress questionnaire designed to learn more about Western North Carolina’s unaffilaited voters. Their answers show that, at least in WNC, the simple label of “unaffiliated” elides a wide diversity of ideologies and concerns.
As presented to the county Board of Commissioners Nov. 15 by Jennifer Teague, Buncombe’s aging and adult services program manager, the Asheville-Buncombe County Homeless Coalition called the first Code Purple of 2022 on Oct. 15 — the first day this year’s program went into effect. After evaluating the results of that first night, the coalition decided to extend entry times for Code Purple shelters.
In partnership with the WNC Farmers Market, the Asheville zoo launches its Educational Farmers Market Garden starting Wednesday, Nov. 16. The new exhibit focuses on sustainable relationships between agriculture and nature.
Complete Democratic control of the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners, a better-than-expected performance by Jasmine Beach-Ferrara and $70 million in new spending for county initiatives all emerged from this year’s midterm election results.
“In this economy, it takes a lot of nerve to even mention increasing taxes.”
“Our wealthiest households are not paying their fair share now, and these bonds will simply add to the inequity, asking disproportionately assessed lower-income households to continue to shoulder more than their fair share of the burden.”
Proposed changes on the agenda for the commissioners’ meeting Tuesday, Oct. 18, include adding staff and improving software to make the county’s assessment of home values more accurate, asking state legislators to expand a tax break some homeowners get under state law and increasing efforts to tell homeowners how to challenge their tax value.
In November’s general election, Buncombe County citizens will vote on two bond referendums that could together authorize up to $70 million in county borrowing for open space conservation and affordable housing projects.
Currently, Asheville prohibits the replacement of any manufactured home by another after its spot has been vacant for 180 days. City planners want to ease that rule and others to “stop the slow attrition of affordable housing units that are desperately needed in our community.”
The county’s Agricultural Advisory Board and Land Conservation Advisory Board are seeking $384,000 to fund six easement projects. Five easements would protect farmland in Asheville, Barnardsville, Leicester and Weaverville. The remaining project would help Hendersonville-based nonprofit Conserving Carolina secure an easement for Camp Woodson in Black Mountain.
Rural northern Buncombe County is the first area in the county to see the result of the American Rescue Plan Act’s quest to expand reliable broadband access. Buncombe is one of 81 NC counties that have received state funding to improve internet service.
Buncombe behavioral health manager Victoria Reichard noted that the county has received roughly $2 million of a more than $16 million lawsuit settlement, negotiated with pharmaceutical companies over their role in the opioid epidemic, this fiscal year. Of those funds, a county team has recommended about $518,000 in immediate spending.
Federal Treasury data shows that about half of the American Rescue Plan Act funds spent in WNC counties has been used on staff salaries. Nearly $98 million is still available to be allocated.
