Andy Baker has spent the last 17 years building a home for himself, his family and many others through his development projects in Western North Carolina. Originally from Michigan, Baker graduated from Purdue University with a degree in forestry before pursuing a career in real estate development. Earlier this year, the Southeast Regional Land Conservancy […]
The structure, previously known as the Haynes Building, is over 50 years old and has been vacant since 2015. The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners will vote on a memorandum of understanding with A-B Tech regarding the demolition at its regular meeting Tuesday, Nov. 15.
“For the equivalent expenditure of about $20 per family per year, we can leave a land legacy of which our children and grandchildren will be both thankful and proud.”
According to figures shared with the county Board of Commissioners by Dr. Shuchin Shukla, a physician and opioid crisis educator with the Mountain Area Health Education Center, Buncombe’s rate of overdose deaths has exceeded the statewide average since at least 2016. In 2021, the county suffered 45.2 deaths per 100,000 residents, compared with 35.8 deaths per 100,000 for North Carolina as a whole.
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.
Buncombe County’s current indoor mask mandate has been extended three times after going into effect Aug. 18. Robert Pressley, the only Republican on the Board of Commissioners, has thus far been the only member opposed in any of those votes.
At its Oct. 19 meeting, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners also will consider spending $394,000 to support conservation easements on eight farms throughout the county.
At its regular meeting that evening, the Board of Commissioners will invite public input on its application for $750,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
“The funds would be used to help farmers and others in the county place their grasslands and forests under conservation easements to preserve them for future generations.”
“Faced with significant development pressures, we must do what we can to protect some of the region’s natural habitat and biodiversity, as well as our most productive farmland.”
“Permanently protected farms have helped preserve a portion of the county’s rich farming heritage, kept intact part of the rapidly vanishing agrarian landscape, maintained the viability of local food supply and created new opportunities for agritourism.”
According to a presentation available before Board of Commissioners meeting on Thursday, Nov. 5, 67 lodging businesses have been delinquent in reporting or remitting occupancy taxes due March through September, with an additional 29 establishments yet to report at least one month of taxes during that period.
The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners has a busy few weeks coming up, with several meetings planned as well as the swearing-in of its newly elected member, Miranda DeBruhl.
At its April 19 meeting, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners will consider a zoning ordinance that could allow more asphalt plants to be built in the area.
