“This is a straight rezoning, not a project,” Mayor Esther Manheimer said. “A sidewalk is not a requirement we can make.”
![](https://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/City-Council-June-25-2024-330x248.jpg)
“This is a straight rezoning, not a project,” Mayor Esther Manheimer said. “A sidewalk is not a requirement we can make.”
“We’re creating a budget that has recurring expenses,” Mayor Esther Manheimer said. “You’ve got to have a source of revenue that continues year after year.”
The mayor shared her enthusiasm about a potential business improvement district, or BID, in the city’s downtown.
More than 200 river rats, advocates, conservationists and economic stakeholders from a seven-county region filled Ferguson Auditorium to celebrate their successes and discuss ways to continue cleaning up one of the world’s oldest water ways to maximize its environmental and economic sway.
The event included the presentation of this year’s John Cram Arts Leadership Award to Gail and Brian McCarthy.
Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer led a chorus of support for the 83-year-old city landmark, which was forced to close temporarily July 5 after its heating, ventilation and air conditioning units failed.
Residential customers pay higher rates for water than do commercial or industrial water consumers — $4.77 and $4.20 per cubic foot for single-family and multi-family housing, respectively, compared to as little as $2.29 per cubic foot for large manufacturers. Several members of Council said that the discrepancy was troubling.
Tom Tesser was one of several commenters from the Asheville Coalition for Public Safety, a recently formed advocacy group that looks to build support for the APD. Five of the nine speakers on budget matters sought larger salaries for police officers and shared their personal experiences of downtown crime and safety issues.
Council to vote on switch to public ‘work sessions’ Tuesday, Feb. 14.
This new funding, to be voted on by City Council during the regular meeting of Tuesday, Feb. 14, would come on top of more than $1.4 million the city has already budgeted for bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure along the I-26 corridor.
Much of the presentation focused on the shortcomings of how local governments and service providers currently collaborate to address homelessness.
An agreement between Asheville and the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office, approved by City Council in a 4-1 vote Jan. 24, will allow the APD to use a county-operated camera network to monitor the public.
Asheville’s water may be restored, but the spigot of information from city officials is still clogged.
Asheville City Council will consider establishing an “independent review committee to analyze the events and circumstances leading up to, and throughout the duration of, the recent prolonged water outage.” The group would evaluate Asheville’s emergency response, identify infrastructure needs and recommend policy changes to make the city more resilient.
During the Jan. 3 meeting of the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners, Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer fielded questions about the chain of events that left tens of thousands without water over the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.
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.
“More resources without strategy that apprehends the true nature of the challenge won’t get the public safety and public health job done.”
The mix of working artists and arts advocates resulted in a lively, productive discussion.
General election candidates for the 2022 Asheville mayoral race share their positions with Xpress.
While current city ordinances place some restrictions on panhandling, in most instances it is a legal means of making money. Bill Davis, spokesperson for Asheville Police Department, says police had received 95 calls for panhandling this year as of Aug. 17, the majority of which were requests for wellness checks out of concern for those in need.
About 100 people attended the Sept. 8 event — the first of its kind hosted by the Asheville Area Riverfront Redevelopment Commission — at New Belgium Brewing Co. The gathering was prompted by recent reports on the French Broad River’s economic importance and bacterial contamination.