Requests outlined by Buncombe County Schools Superintendent Tony Baldwin and Asheville City Schools Superintendent Gene Freeman sought county government spending increases of up to $27.9 million, representing a nearly 32% jump from the county’s current contribution.
The Buncombe County Board of Adjustment will consider a special use permit for a proposed terminal expansion at the Asheville Regional Airport Wednesday, May 11.
By far the biggest contributor to Buncombe County’s spending growth in fiscal year 2022-23, accounting for $14.6 million of a projected $20.4 million in new general fund expenses, is salaries and benefits.
During an April 19 briefing, the county Board of Commissioners heard a presentation by the nonprofit Trust for Public Land about the feasibility of issuing $70 million in bonds for housing and land conservation, which in this case would require approval through referendums of Buncombe voters.
As of April 9, nearly 83,000 Buncombe County residents — about 40.3% of all voters — had registered as unaffiliated, compared with about 75,000 Democrats (36.5%), 46,000 Republicans (22.4%) and 1,700 Libertarians (0.8%). The shift represents an unaffiliated increase of nearly 15 percentage points since the 2008 primaries.
Candidates for the Buncombe County District Attorney Democratic 2022 primary share their positions with Xpress.
In an effort to boost recruitment, Buncombe County Sheriff Miller is asking the Board of Commissioners to approve a salary increase of up to $7 per hour — roughly 37% — for detention officers. Since last January, 83 officers have resigned from the jail, while only 64 have been hired.
As outlined in an April 5 presentation to the Board of Commissioners by Tim Love, Buncombe’s director of economic development and governmental relations, the county is exploring a nearly $221,000 contract with the school’s Development Finance Initiative.
The company intends to construct an 89,000-square-foot Ingles Market at the former Kmart location on Patton Avenue, along with a 6,500-square-foot Ingles pump station and 55,000 square feet of additional retail space.
As presented to the Buncombe Board of Commissioners during a March 29 work session, County Manager Avril Pinder hopes to expand her current staff of over 1,600 employees by more than 70 in the next budget cycle, which starts in July.
“Residents’ health shouldn’t have to suffer when there are practical alternatives to open burning.”
Eighteen nonprofits aiding mountain residents with services like housing, diapers, food, the arts, education and advocacy receiving more than $13.9 million of Buncombe County’s ARPA funding.
Many areas of rural mountains in NC have limited internet access or people are forced to rely on satellites. Infusion of funds may change that.
According to a presentation available before the meeting of Tuesday, March 15, the county hopes to “impact 2,800-3,150 affordable housing units by 2030,” including 1,500-1,850 new rental units affordable for households making 80% or less of the area median income ($42,100 for an individual or $60,100 for a family of four).
The volunteer Civil Service Board, which has authority over employee grievances, agreed with the city’s argument Feb. 22 that five workers had shown insubordination by refusing COVID-19 vaccination or weekly testing in October. Asheville has since suspended its “test-or-vaccinate” policy effective March 2.
Stay up to date with projects working their way through the Asheville and Buncombe County development processes — as well as when and where to comment on them — through the Xpress development roundup.
Conducted by the ETC Institute, a Kansas-based consultancy, a recent survey aimed to evaluate resident perceptions of the county and its administration.
Many Western North Carolina residents who spoke with Xpress say they shared their negative responses after COVID-19 vaccination with health providers. But they also say their concerns have been minimized or ignored, driving a lack of trust about the vaccines and the broader medical establishment.
The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners members unanimously voted Jan. 4 to extend the county’s indoor mask mandate through Wednesday, Feb. 16. The extended mask requirement does not contain any language regarding enforcement, nor does it specify the type of face covering that residents should wear, despite health experts saying cloth masks are insufficient against the omicron variant of the coronavirus.
The Jan. 4 agenda for the county Board of Commissioners lists “a discussion of Board of Commissioner districts and structure,” accompanied by a letter of engagement with Raleigh-based law firm Poyner Spruill dated Dec. 1.
“The best solution? Get the county to add a permitting aspect to the OU zoning structure, something that requires event-venue managers to request (and pay for) a permit for any commercial gathering of more than 20 people.”
