Council appoints planning commission members; will reconvene on water issue Thursday

It was a lengthy session for Asheville City Council on Aug. 28, and it’s not technically over: Council will reconvene Thursday, Aug. 30, at 4 p.m. to discuss changing the language of the water system referendum. At Tuesday’s meeting, Council appointed Joe Minicozzi and Holly Shriner to the powerful Planning and Zoning commission, among many other matters.

Moffitt: Council’s proposed referendum on water system “serves no purpose”

On July 31, Asheville City Council members asked staff to draft a referendum that lets residents vote on a possible transfer of the city water system to the Metropolitan Sewerage District of Buncombe County. But according to Buncombe County Rep. Tim Moffitt, who chaired a state legislative study commission on the matter, he does not need a referendum to know the where folks in the City of Asheville stand on this issue. (photo by Max Cooper)

City will go forward with referendum on water system transfer

At a worksession this afternoon, July 30, Asheville City Council directed staff to craft a referendum for November’s ballot asking voters to weigh in on a possible transfer of the Asheville water system to the Metropolitan Sewerage District. The city is also communicating with MSD, studying the financial impacts of a merger and trying to arrange a meeting with local legislators. (photo by Max Cooper)

Reluctant Partners: Water system/MSD documents

The city of Asheville, the Metropolitan Sewerage District of Buncombe County, and Henderson County officials have been negotiating and discussing the possibility of merging Asheville’s water system with MSD. Here are a few documents related to the topic. For more information, see “Reluctant Partners: Asheville, MSD Take Tentative Steps Toward Merger” in the Aug. 1, 2012 issue of Xpress.

Flashback: A little history about timbering in local watersheds


In a March 12 Asheville Citizen-Times article, Rep. Moffitt suggests, “Selective timbering under the auspices of a professional arborist is the best thing for a watershed.” Moffitt chairs a state committee that’s considering stripping the city of Asheville of the water system, creating a new regional authority to own and manage the system, handing it off to the Metropolitan Sewerage District, or leaving things the way they are. Here’s a flashback at the controversy over a late-1980s clear-cutting contract in the 21,000-acre North Fork Reservoir watershed.
(A file photo of clear-cut logging at the North Fork Reservoir in the late 1980s.)

Public gives legislator­s an earful on water system

The public weighed in on the fate of the city’s water system today, Feb. 23, with the majority telling a study group of four legislators that the utility should remain in the city’s hands. (In this photo, Asheville City Manager Gary Jackson and City council members Jan Davis, Esther Manheimer and Chris Pelly talk with Henderson County Commissioner Charles Messer. Photo by Bill Rhodes)

LIVE: Coverage of Mountain Voices Alliance water-system forum

Tonight, Feb. 20, Mountain Voices Alliance is hosting an open forum about the future of the Asheville-Buncombe water system from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at Jubilee! in downtown Asheville (46 Wall St.). For live dispatches via Twitter, follow staff reporter @MaryCaitlinByrd or #avlh2o or click through for a live feed and streaming video.
(Photo by Bill Rhodes)
Barry Summers (right) and Rep. Tim Moffitt discuss issues during a break at the forum.