MINUTES
STATE
OF NORTH CAROLINA BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
COUNTY
OF HENDERSON JUNE 20,
2001
The Henderson
County Board of Commissioners met for a regularly scheduled meeting at 9:00 a.m.
in the Commissioners= Conference Room of the Henderson County Office
Building at 100 North King Street, Hendersonville, North Carolina.
Those present
were: Chairman Bill Moyer, Vice-Chair
Marilyn Gordon, Commissioner Grady Hawkins, Commissioner Don Ward, Commissioner
Charlie Messer, County Manager David E. Nicholson, County Attorney Angela S.
Beeker, and Clerk to the Board Elizabeth W. Corn.
Also present
were: Public Information Officer Chris S. Coulson, Assistant County Attorney
Jennifer O. Jackson, Planning Director Karen C. Smith, Planners Josh Freeman
and Nippy Page, Finance Director J. Carey McLelland, and Project Coordinator
Bill Blalock. Amy Brantley, Volunteer Coordinator, was present through the
Nominations.
CALL TO
ORDER/WELCOME
Chairman Moyer
called the meeting to order and welcomed those in attendance.
PLEDGE OF
ALLEGIANCE
Commissioner
Messer led the Pledge of Allegiance to the American Flag.
INVOCATION
Gus Martschink,
from the Hospital Chaplaincy Program, gave the invocation.
DISCUSSION/ADJUSTMENT
OF AGENDA
Commissioner
Gordon added one item - AMemo from the Village of Flat Rock@ that was
received yesterday. Added as AC@ under
Discussion Items.
Chairman Moyer
pulled Staff Report - AA@ - APlaque Presentation by the American
Cancer Society@. The person who was going to make the
presentation could not be here today.
Chairman Moyer
made the motion to approve the agenda with the two changes mentioned. All voted in favor and the motion carried.
CONSENT AGENDA
Chairman Moyer
asked Mr. Nicholson to comment on item AH@.
AH@ - Employee/Department
Recognitions
Mr. Nicholson
asked Chris Coulson to come out of the videotaping room for this item.
Chris Salerno
Coulson, Henderson County Public Information Officer, was chosen as one of the
winners in this year=s 2001 Awards of Excellence Program.
She received
the following awards: 2000 Report to Citizens (Annual Reports), Superior;
Activity Book (Special Projects), Excellent; for communities of under 500,000
population. Her entry was chosen from among 475 received from counties coast to
coast for this year=s awards program. Various public/private relations and communications firms judged
the entries.
The list of
award winners will be published in THE ART OF COMMUNICATION, NACIO=s newsletter,
and e-mailed to NACIO=s listserv group. The winners will also have their work displayed at a booth at the
National Association of Counties Annual Conference, July 13 - 17, 2001, in
Philadelphia, PA.
She was invited
to receive her award in person during the 2001 NACIO Awards of Excellence
reception on Friday, July 13, 2001, during the NACo conference in
Philadelphia. The reception ends a
great, day-long program of NACIO sponsored workshops designed specifically for
county communications professionals.
Commissioner
Ward made the motion to approve the Consent Agenda. All voted in favor and the motion carried. The CONSENT AGENDA consisted of the
following:
Minutes
Minutes were
presented for the Board=s review and approval of the following
meetings:
March
21, 2001, regular meeting (revised - formerly approved on May 8, 2001)
May
3, 2001, special called meeting
May
29, 2001, special called meeting
May
31, 2001, special called meeting
June
5, 2001, special called meeting
Request for
addition to State Road system
Staff had
received and reviewed road petitions to add the following roads to the State
Road system:
1.
Timber Cove Court (Sweetwater
Hills Subdivision)
2.
Sweetwater Hills Drive (Sweetwater
Hills Subdivision)
Richmore Estates
Variance - Draft Order
At the
Commissioners= meeting on June 4, 2001, the Board
considered the Application for a variance from Section 170-27 of the Henderson
County Subdivision Ordinance submitted by Richard C. Phipps, owner of a 28.58
acre tract on Old Homestead Road (SR#1212) in Henderson County, for a proposed
major subdivision to be called Richmore Estates.
The Board conducted
a quasi-judicial proceeding to consider the requested variance. After hearing all of the testimony the Board
discussed the matter and voted to approve the variance as presented. The Board also directed Staff to prepare
proposed findings of fact and conclusions consistent with the information
presented and with the Board=s discussion and
vote to approve the variance.
Mr. Nicholson
reminded the Board that they have 45 days from June 4, 2001 to adopt a written
order concerning the variance request.
The Order Granting
the Application for Variance is attached as a part of these minutes.
Tax Collector=s Report
Terry F. Lyda, Tax
Collector, had provided the Tax Collector=s Report dated June
13, 2001, for the Board=s information.
Tax
Refunds/Releases
The Board was given
a list of the tax refund (28) and release (209) requests from the County
Assessor=s Office .
The Board had pulled these requests at the May 16, 2001 meeting to
address a couple of questions concerning specific requests. Staff has reviewed these requests and
provided the Board with the following information:
Tax Refunds - Mills River Partners - An E-Mail
from the former County Assessor
was
attached providing information related to this item. This appeared to be a judgement call made by Mr. Baird that the
difference in assessment did not justify the appeal at the Property Tax
Commission.
Tax Releases - Carolina Concrete
Designs - This was the correction of a double
listing that was filed under both a personal
and business name with both the IRS and County. A Schedule C was filed with the
IRS to remove the property from the business listing and now the county
needs to do the same.
Henderson County
Financial Report - May 2001
and Cash Balance
Report - May 2001
The Henderson
County Financial Report for May was presented for consent information only, as
was the Cash Balance Report for May.
Henderson County
Public Schools Financial Report - May 2001
The Henderson
County Public Schools Financial Report for May was presented for consent
approval.
NOMINATIONS
Notification of
Vacancies
The Board was
notified of the following vacancies which will appear under Nominations on the
next agenda:
1.
Alliance for Human Services - 1 vac.
Mr. Ward has been
serving as the Board=s representative on that Board. Chairman Moyer stated that term is expiring
and asked Mr. Ward if he would be willing to continue to serve. He stated he would. Chairman Moyer made the motion to reappoint
Commissioner Ward to the Alliance for Human Services Board. All voted in favor and the motion
carried.
Nominations
Chairman Moyer
reminded the Board of the following vacancies and opened the floor to
nominations:
1.
Nursing/Adult Care Home Community Care Advisory Committee - 1 vac.
There is one
vacancy for position # 4. Jack Reed was
nominated at the last meeting.
Commissioner Hawkins stated that we had finally received a response back
from Mr. Adams, whose name had previously been placed in nomination, and he
indicated that he must decline appointment to this Committee. Commissioner Hawkins nominated Dottie
Effinger for position # 4. There were
two nominees for one position so the Clerk to the Board was asked to poll the
Board.
Ms. Corn polled the
Board and Dottie Effinger received four of the five votes so she will be the
Board=s nominee to position # 4, whose name must
now go out to all the Nursing Homes before actually appointing her.
2.
Mountain Area Workforce Development Board - 4 vac.
There were no
nominees at this time so this item was rolled to the next meeting.
3.
Land-of-Sky Regional Council Advisory Council on Aging - 1 vac.
The Board had
previously appointed Larry Boone to serve in this spot but he is not eligible
as the person must be over 60 years of age.
Mr. Nicholson distributed an application of someone who was willing to
serve in this capacity - Mr. Bernard Brodsky.
Commissioner Gordon
made the motion to appoint Bernard Brodsky to this vacancy. A vote was taken and the motion carried
unanimously.
4.
Equalization & Review - 3 vac.
There were no
nominees at this time so this item was rolled to the next meeting.
5.
Retired Senior Volunteer Program Advisory Council - 1 vac.
There were no
nominees at this time so this item was rolled to the next meeting.
6.
Juvenile Crime Prevention Council - 18 vac.
Commissioner Messer
made the motion to reappoint Dr. Kohlan Flynn, Chief Donnie R. Parks, Sgt. Ben
McKay, Ms. Merrie Oxley, Ms. Polly Penland, Ms. Karen Couch, Mr. David Nicholson,
Ms. Gwen Rice, Mr. Kevin Lauritsen, Mr. Spence Campbell, Mr. Jim Gaillard, Ms.
Margo Nagel, and Ms. Terri Wallace and to appoint Robby Goolsby to replace
Shelia Devine as the Health Dept. representative. Commissioner Messer agreed to continue to serve as the Board=s
representative. A vote was taken and
the motion carried unanimously. Larry
Harmon will continue to serve as staff to the Board.
Positions # 10, #
19, and #21 are still vacant.
7.
Henderson County Zoning Board of Adjustment - 1 vac.
There were no
nominations at this time so this item was rolled to the next meeting.
Commissioner
Hawkins asked a question of the Legal Staff regarding this Board - Subsequent
to the Board zoning the entire county, representatives were required of each
zoning district, what is now the legal make-up that is required of the Board.
Ms. Beeker
explained that she would have to look at the Zoning Ordinance to see if any
amendments will be necessary in light of the Board=s recent zoning
action. The law states that you must
have one representative per zoning area.
We now have one zoning area, so it will be at the Board=s discretion to
decide how to structure that Board. There is a minimum of five members.
8.
Henderson County Board of Health - 3 vac.
Commissioner Gordon
explained that the current appointees to all three positions are willing to
continue to serve. She placed all three
names in nomination, Dr. David Chapman, Mr. Jon Laughter, and Mr. Bobby P.
Huskey. A vote was taken which was
unanimous in favor.
9.
Mountain Valley Resource Conservation - 1 vac.
Commissioner Ward
made the motion to reappoint Mr. J. B. Osteen.
A vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously.
10.
Jury Commission - 1 vac.
Commissioner Gordon
made the motion to reappoint Ottilie Koehler. A vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously.
COUNTY
COMPREHENSIVE PLAN (CCP)
Chairman Moyer
reminded the Board that they planned to come up with a Steering Committee at
this meeting.
Commissioner Ward
suggested expanding the CCP Steering Committee from five to seven members,
including Bill Blalock as the Chairman.
He made the motion to expand that Committee as above. All voted in favor and the motion carried.
Chairman Moyer
nominated Ted Pearce and Dixie Blumer.
Commissioner
Hawkins nominated Jack Lynch, Hall Waddell, and Wayne Carland.
Commissioner Gordon
nominated Larry Collins.
Commissioner Messer
nominated Paul Prosky.
The Clerk to the
Board was asked to poll the Board.
There were seven nominees for six vacancies. Following the vote, the Clerk announced that the Board=s appointees were:
Ted Pearce, Dixie Blumer, Jack Lynch, Hall Waddell, Wayne Carland, and Paul
Prosky.
Bill Blalock gave
the Board a brief update on the CCP Project Plan.
C
Board of Commissioners= Workshop, June 7th
C
Approved Project Plan
C
Approved (in principle) Goals
C
All potential Steering Committee Nominees (4) had been contacted and
briefed.
All
agreed to serve if appointed
C
10 Comprehensive Plan Consulting Firms were investigated. Final 3 were interviewed. A selection was
made and staff is moving forward with contract negotiations. Contract
finalization on hold pending approval of funding in FY 01-02 Budget.
C
Project Plan revised.
C
Working on identifying Community Committee members
C
Glossary of terms in development
Mr. Blalock had
asked for the following action today:
C
Appoint 4 additional members to the Steering Committee (along with
himself as Chairman). The Board had just appointed 6 additional members, making
a seven member Board.
C
Schedule a workshop the week of July 2nd for a Joint Board
of Commissioners and CCP (hopefully no later than the week of July 9) Steering
Committee meeting regarding goals clarification. The Board will set this under AImportant Dates@.
He explained that
he hoped to have a contract back to the Board at the July 2 for approval from a
Consulting Firm.
JACKSON PARK
Angela Beeker
explained that at a recent meeting of the Board, concerns were raised by the
Board regarding the maintenance of order in the County parks. The Board asked staff to investigate
measures that could be taken in this regard, including security in the park and
amending the Park Ordinance. The Board
was given a proposed rewrite of the park rules which she will address a little
later. She asked Mr. Nicholson to
address the security issue and Mr. Harris to address the operational
issue. She and Mose Highsmith will then
address the park ordinance or answer any questions.
The Parks &
Recreation Advisory Committee did consider this at their meeting yesterday
evening. Mr. Harris and/or Mr. Highsmith will address that because they both
attended that meeting.
Increased Security
David Nicholson had
been working with the Sheriff to provide additional officers at Jackson Park,
both during the week as well as on Sunday afternoon. Staff will be tracking those costs and will be able to pay for
added security out of the Recreation department budget on a contract basis. He
has also asked Mr. Harris to make sure that Recreation Staff is there in the
evenings as well as on Sunday afternoons.
Mr. Nicholson, Mr.
Harris, Ms. Beeker, and Mr. Highsmith toured the park to look at some
additional security items. They may add
a couple of gates to keep people out of certain areas when activities in that
area cease.
Mr. Nicholson
explained that we have a set of rules that we use for our soccer programs. One thing Staff is going to do is issue
those rules in English as well as in Spanish.
He has asked Ms. Coulson to coordinate it with the Department of Social
Services and some of their interpreters to translate them into Spanish so we=ll be able to
provide the rules to our Hispanic community.
Operational Issues
Rick Harris
discussed a few changes in the operation of the parks to help maintain order in
the parks.
He stated that
Staff has moved toward trying to get Jackson Park a little more organized. Through that organization they brought in
what was an on-going free-play situation in Jackson Park where people would
just show up and play on the fields - Blue Ridge Community College had always
run the Hispanic Soccer League and it expanded - so when they came into the
park, staff realigned it into a league format and they pay for the use of the
field. It is an Adult Soccer League,
populated mostly by Hispanics. It is a
league in it=s first year. It is a big event, on Sunday afternoon the Hispanic population
really come out for the game.
The Recreation
Advisory Board looked at the changes last evening and approved the rules and
regulations as written by Mose Highsmith.
They did have three things they would like to be addressed at a later
time for possible amendments:
1.
A helmet law for bicycles and skateboards.
2.
A leash law for animals in the park
3.
A law making pet owners responsible for their pet=s waste.
There also was some
discussion regarding picnicking in the park and where that should be allowed
and not allowed.
Mr. Harris
explained that all his staff wear a cell phone and have the Sheriff=s Department on
their speed dial for quick access and reporting of any incidents in the park.
Commissioner Ward
spoke regarding Mr. Harris, stating that he had a problem at the park and he
stepped forward and addressed it personally.
He didn=t delegate it to another person. He took time out of his own schedule and
stepped up and answered the situation.
Mr. Ward spoke well of the character of our employees, and especially
our Department Heads.
The Park Ordinance
A copy of a revised
Park Ordinance was presented for the Board=s review and
discussion. While discussing the
provisions in the current Ordinance, it became apparent to staff that a
complete rewrite of the Ordinance may be the best way to comprehensively
address all of the issues. It also became apparent that some amendments to the
enforcement section of the Code would be helpful to enforce the Park
Ordinance.
David Nicholson
stated that Mr. Highsmith took this on as a personal project. Mr. Highsmith highlighted the changes
proposed in the park ordinance and then answered questions from the Board.
Major changes were:
Organization
of the ordinance itself to make it more user-friendly and enforceable.
A
new definition section, clarifying some of the terminology in the ordinance.
A
new paragraph was added - ANo person over the
age of six years shall enter any restroom, washroom, or locker room designated
for the opposite sex.@
Some
changes in the sanitation section make-up.
Some
changes dealing with traffic - expanding it so it adopts all the NC Traffic
Laws to be enforceable in the county parks.
Change
of the speed limit in the park to 10 m.p.h., unless otherwise posted. This
would make the speed limit in the parking areas 10 m.p.h.
Allowing
vehicles to be parked and driven only in designated areas.
ACause or permit a vehicle to obstruct the
flow of traffic, cause or permit a vehicle to be parked unattended or abandoned
overnight, and stand, sit, congregate or in any way block or cause a hazard for
vehicles in any roadway or parking area except as may be specifically
designated by the Director during special events.@
Addition
of several provisions about bicycles, essentially that riding must be done on
the right-hand side of the road, ride in single file if riding on a road, don=t ride anyone on
the handlebars, if riding after dark a light is needed, and don=t leave bicycles lying
around.
Mr. Highsmith
stated that the Recreation Advisory Committee would like to come back at some
time and add a provision about helmets for bicycles, skateboards, and scooters
in the park.
Included
under ARecreational Activities@ - bathing, swimming,
boating, fishing. These things are prohibited unless otherwise allowed by the
Director of Parks and Recreation. However, fishing is allowed unless it is
prohibited by the Director.
Inclusion
of a section dealing with occupying a reserved area without authorization.
Include
not allowing public nudity in any area of the park, nor sexual conduct - just
to spell it out in the ordinance.
The
addition of a provision regarding amplification of music - AProduce or emit any
amplified speech, music, or other sounds that annoy, disturb, or frighten park
users without a permit from the Director.@ This provision does not apply to events
organized by the department.
A
change in operating policy regarding opening and closing times which shall be
determined by the Director and posted for public information. Any area of the
park can be closed at any time or for any period as necessary at the discretion
of the Director.
The
Director is also authorized to issue permits if he deems necessary, and
likewise can revoke permits.
Mr. Highsmith
stated that Westfeldt Park was discussed at the Advisory Board meeting last
night and in the proposed changes that will be forthcoming with regard to the
bicycle helmets and the leash law, they will likely include that law enforcement
officers with a park in their jurisdiction have the authority to eject
somebody. That would allow Fletcher
Police Dept. to eject somebody from Westfeldt Park.
Angela Beeker spoke
up at this time and stated that she felt that should be added now instead of at
a later time.
It is permissible
for the Board to adopt the Park Ordinance at this meeting. It would have to pass by a unanimous vote,
or else be subjected to a second reading. If the Board wishes to roll the
consideration of the Ordinance to another meeting, staff believes that the
increased security and the change in operations of the parks would help to
maintain order in the interim.
There was much
discussion.
Mr. Nicholson recommended that the Park Ordinance be given
serious consideration at this meeting in order to maximize the available tools
to law enforcement and to park staff in dealing with the issues raised by the
Board.
Commissioner Messer
talked about the possibility of the Board being asked to close Westfeldt Park
for a period of time, to get some underbrush cut to help open up the park for
safety reasons. Fletcher has agreed to
help get this done and get the Park ready to open back up. We might be able to
get some State assistance. As more is
known, this will be brought back to the Board for discussion and approval.
Commissioner Messer
then made the motion for the Board to approve the draft Park Ordinance as
presented by Mose Highsmith, including the amendment proposed by Commissioner
Hawkins and the two amendments proposed by Angela Beeker, making it effective
today. All voted in favor and the
motion carried.
Commissioner Ward
expressed appreciation to the Sheriff=s Department, Mose
Highsmith, Mr. Harris and his Staff,
and our Attorneys. The way our Staff has stepped up to work on this issue in a
quick manner shows the quality of Personnel Henderson County enjoys.
Award presented to
Rick Harris
While Mr. Rick
Harris was present, Chairman Moyer presented him one of the 8th
place ribbons our team won in the recent Mayor=s Cup Raft
Race. Mr. Harris participated in the
race but did not stay for the awards ceremony.
Clean up on other
Ordinances
Angela Beeker
informed the Board that Section 1-14 of the Violations and Penalties Section
for the entire Code needs some changes.
Mr. Highsmith has suggested a change to add a paragraph under A-2 - to
make it clear that a Sheriff=s Deputy or a Law
Enforcement Officer could just simply arrest or cite the person for a violation
of the ordinance on the spot.
Ms. Beeker took
this opportunity to add a couple of other clean-up things:
Paragraph A - she
added a sentence concerning violation of a parking or traffic violation being
an infraction.
Paragraph 1 - Ms.
Beeker stated AIt used to say that you can issue a warning
ticket and if you commit a similar violation within 6 months, they could swear
out a warrant, we=ve made it so that all three - 1, 2, and 3
now are optional so an enforcement agent could just issue somebody a warning
ticket ... and if they violate again then they still could go and either ask a
deputy to arrest or cite them or swear out their own warrant, so we made it a
little bit more flexible, again trying to make not only the park rules more
easily enforced but all of our Code as well.@
Chairman Moyer made
the motion to approve the amendments as presented. All voted in favor and the motion carried. These amendments were
necessary to make the Park Ordinance that the Board just took action on work
more effectively.
UPDATE ON PENDING
ISSUES
This is an effort
to keep the lines of communication open.
It gives the Chairman an opportunity to bring the Board up to date on
issues that occur between meetings. It
is also the time to ask for direction so that we can develop our public
position on current and upcoming topics.
This will also be
an opportunity for Commissioners to report on related committee work and
assignments.
The topics to
discuss at today=s meeting were:
1.
HB #1440 - David Nicholson
Mr. Nicholson
provided the Board with a copy of House Bill #1440 which contains amendments to
the William S. Lee Act. This law
provides economic incentives to attract industries to the State of North
Carolina. We have used the tax credit
provisions in our recruitment of industries to our community.
Mr. Nicholson had
spoken to Scott Hamilton of the Committee of 100 about these proposed
amendments. The amendments limit tax
credits to Tier One, Two and Three Counties.
It would eliminate tax credits to Tier Four and Five Counties. Henderson County is a Tier Five County. Should this bill become law, a valuable
economic development tool will be lost for our community. He requested that the Board go on record
against House Bill 1440.
Commissioner
Hawkins made the motion to authorize Chairman Moyer to write our Legislators and
voice the Board=s opposition to this bill and any similar
bill. All voted in favor and the motion
carried.
Adjustment to the
agenda
Commissioner
Hawkins asked that the Board consider Discussion Item AB@ - Hospital Lease
Extension next, since the Hospital Attorney was present. It was the consensus of the Board to do so.
HOSPITAL LEASE
EXTENSION
As follow up to the
Board=s joint meeting with the Hospital Board of
Trustees on June 14, 2001, the Board of Commissioners wanted an opportunity to
further discuss the Hospital=s request to extend
the term of the attached Lease Agreement for 50 years. That request was contained in the letter
from the Chairman of the Hospital Board of Trustees dated March 30, 2001.
Angela Beeker
stated that part of the reason for this request was that it affects the
financing. She recommended that the
Board at least extend the lease to be co-terminus with the pay-off on the
revenue bonds that are about to be issued. The Board could choose to extend it
50 years, as requested, but Ms. Beeker felt that the Board might want to put
some check points/mile markers in along the 50 year time. The current lease goes to the year
2013.
Commissioner
Hawkins felt that it was advisable, at a minimum, to extend the lease to be
co-terminus with the financial obligation that the corporation is about to
take.
Ms. Beeker stated
that until the financing calendar is finished and we know when the project is
actually going to start and the financing issues, she advised the Board not to
actually vote today but maybe just
agree in principle to make it co-terminus.
Following
discussion, Commissioner Hawkins made the motion to agree to at least extend to
June 30 of 2023 the lease agreement that was originally signed in 1998 and
change Section 3.3 (renegotiations) to June 30, 2018. All voted in favor and the motion carried.
Sharon Alexander,
Attorney for the Hospital informed the Board that one of the issues that Bond
Council reminded the Attorneys of is that once the bonds have been issued that
any changes to the lease are probably going to be prohibited without bond
holder approval. This was just for the
Board=s information.
Commissioner Gordon
discussed briefly the issue of bequests and that she would like to have more
information regarding that following the Hospital Board=s Retreat in
August.
INFORMAL PUBLIC
COMMENTS
There were none.
MILLS
RIVER/FLETCHER LAND USE STUDY - Proposed Future Land Use Map
Nippy Page
presented the Proposed Future Land Use Map for the Mills River/Fletcher Land Use
Study as recommended by the Planning Board on May 29, 2001. During the presentation of the Study at the
March 21, 2001 Board of Commissioners= meeting, the Board
requested that the Land Use Map be presented when completed. Revisions to the Recommendations and the
Land Use Definitions contained in the Mills River/Fletcher Land Use Study were
also discussed as the Planning Board revised them in conjunction with the
drafting of the Map.
In drafting the map
it became necessary to further develop and refine the definitions in
conjunction with the map and the
recommendation had to be refined.
These definitions are specific to this study, are evolving and on-going.
Josh Freeman
presented the map, explaining the legend and discussing the map in some detail. He discussed the Planning Board
recommendations with the Board:
$
The entire 100 year flood plain be preserved as open space. That would be contingent upon some sort of
re-evaluation of the flood plain, especially if it will be translated into a
flood ordinance.
$
Some additional open space on the outside edges of the flood plain,
partially to account for the inaccuracies of the current flood map, also there
may be some additional areas besides the flood plain that should be preserved
as open space and those should be identified.One area left out of the
agriculture facilities component of that mixed use recommendation is the
critical area of the watershed, just to the west of the #191/#280 South Mills
River intersection. They recommended
that be preserved as open space with very little use.
$
Starting at the South Mills River intersection, they recommended a
combination of some form of commercial use along the highway. Just beyond those
areas, they call for some mixture of medium to high density residential with
commercial and community facilities mixed in.
South of that some light residential.
Moving North some similar recommendations around Butler Bridge Road and
Jeffries Road and surrounding the Glenn Marlow Elementary School, again
Regional Commercial at the intersection of #191 and #280 at the Northern
intersection and also a few nodes along #191 toward the Buncombe County
line. Just to the West of the Airport
is a significant area of open space they recommended. Some of the area should be reserved for airport expansion at some
later date. Moving across the flood plain toward #25 South and I-26 they
recommended Industrial just South of the flood plain. Moving South toward the Naples interchange they call for Regional
Commercial. Around the Hospital they
recommended a series of mixed uses, Commercial and Community facilities and
medium and high-density residential.
Beyond that, moving to the East into the Bearwallow area they recommend
light residential.
There was much
discussion of the map and the Planning Board recommendations.
Chairman Moyer had
talked with Scott Hamilton of the Chamber of Commerce and asked him to get in
touch with Karen Smith regarding the work that was going on with this, so it
can be coordinated with the work the Chamber is doing on trying to find
industrial sites in the County. Mr. Moyer also stated that the map is not
property line specific. You don=t get into specific
properties until you get into the next stage of looking at the various issues.
Josh Freeman
pointed out two areas of the map that Staff did not color in - the flood plains
South of the South Mills River intersection, it was intended to be green. The Planning Board did not vote on that
because they voted on the map as is.
But Staff=s intention was to color that area
green. It may need to go back to the
Planning Board. The area just to the
East of the Railroad Track, near Park Ridge Hospital, that was also intended to
be shaded green.
No action was
requested at this time; however, the Board had previously discussed holding a
work session to discuss the Mills River/Fletcher Land Use Study in more detail.
Chairman Moyer
stated that the recommendation would be for the Board to hold a work session on
this prior to meeting jointly with the Planning Board and he would ask the
Board to set that work session under AImportant Dates@.
Chairman Moyer
called a five minute technical break, to change videotapes.
PUBLIC HEARING - on
Rural Operating Assistance Program
The purpose of this
public hearing was to consider the Rural Operating Assistance Program for
Fiscal Year 2001-2002. The total amount
of the grant is $98,655 and is operated by Apple Country Transportation.
Commissioner
Hawkins made the motion for the Board to go into public hearing. All voted in favor and the motion carried.
Mr. Nicholson had
informed the Board that Apple Country Transportation did not provide the grant
information to him in time for his review of their proposal before he left
town. The majority of the information
contained in the agenda packet is the standard information that the Board
receives year after year. However, Mr.
Nicholson expressed concern over the beginning of their proposed deviated fixed
route. According to their information,
this program would begin in September.
However, they have indicated that they only have funds for six
months. After they expend these funds,
additional funding would be sought from local governments, he assumed that
meant Henderson County. He stated that
he could not support the request as submitted and thought it would be a mistake
to begin a program and only have funds for a six month timeframe. He hoped that the request would be better
explained to the Board during the public hearing.
Javonni Burchette, from Apple
Country Transportation, came forward to address the request.
The Department of
Transportation asked that they call a public hearing. Each year the NC Department of Transportation allocates what they
call Arural operating assistance program funds@ to county
transportation providers in each region of North Carolina. Last year Apple Country Transportation
received $92,684. This year the
Department of Transportation is allocating $98,655. This is all contingent upon Legislative approval of the State
Budget. Apple Country Transportation
recommended using the funds next year as follows:
EDTAP $53,523
WorkFirst
5,382
Rural General Public 39,750
Total = $98,655
Chairman Moyer
asked Javonni to explain the 24 passenger bus and what they intend to do with
it.
Javonni explained
that EDTAP monies would continue to be used for disabled employment
transportation, adult day care, meal sites, and medical appointments which
amounted to about $48,000 last year.
WorkFirst monies
would continue to be used for those persons needing to get to work by trying to
get off welfare or other government assistance programs which amounted to
approximately $9,000 last fiscal year.
Additional monies could be used under the DSS WorkFirst contract of which
$9,000 went unused last year.
Rural General
Public would continue to be used for Saturday shopping trips as well as making
available ridership for any person living within 1.5 miles of an existing
route. Last year only 2 of the monies
allocated were used for this purpose.
Therefore, $12,000 would be used for this purpose alone. Apple Country Transportation would like to
begin a deviated fixed route which would start up in September of this year and
run 6 am until 8 am and then again from 4 p.m. until 6 p.m. for anyone needing
to get to work or other places of business throughout the day. This fixed route would start and end in the
county. This service would be provided
with the newly awarded 24 passenger bus from the Department of Transportation
to Western Carolina Community Action, Inc.
This service would run for a period of 6 months with the remaining 6
months funding sought out from local government. The cost to run this service would be approximately $27,750 for
six months which includes driver time, insurance on the bus, maintenance, gas,
bus stop signs, advertising and administrative costs.
This deviated fixed
bus route plan is to be done on a trial basis for 6 months. Following much discussion, Javonni suggested
that the bus could be run 2 hours per day for 12 months instead of the planned
4 hours per day for 6 months. She was
willing to be flexible with the plan, she was open to input, stating that it is
up to the County how the bus will be used.
Javonni will continue to meet with the Advisory Board to work on this
plan and keep the Board updated on the progress of the development of the plan.
The Board had a number of unanswered questions.
Public Input
1. Paul Stepp - Mr. Stepp stated
that we=ve been exploring public transportation for
over five years. It has taken three Directors
at Apple Country Transportation to come up with one that has a vision for
expanding Apple Country=s services. They are considered by the State to be our
public transit provider. We have a bus now and he suggested a year
trial, thinking a good year trial would be best.
The bus routes have
to be worked out.
2. Karn Smith - Ms. Smith is the
Executive Director of the Council on Aging.
She has sent a letter to Javonni regarding EDTAP funding. It appears that the monies were not spent
last year. This was very surprising to
her because there are so many needs in this County for elderly and disabled
transportation that she could not conceive of a reason why we would not use
that funding for that purpose. Ms.
Smith just recently found out that those funds can be used for reimbursing
people for mileage for transportation.
She stated that we need to spend that money, that is dedicated for
elderly and disabled transportation, on elderly and disabled transportation for
those people she feels are underserved in our County.
Chairman Moyer
asked if the Board needed to take any action.
Mr. Nicholson explained that the Board needs to approve the filing of
the application which has to be in Raleigh soon. At this point in time the
Board would be approving the allocation of funds.
There was very much
discussion regarding the use of the funds.
Partly because all counties will have the ability to transfer WorkFirst
funds to be used to provide Rural General Public transportation services or to provide
transportation services to the elderly and disabled (EDTAP), the Board
recommended the following change in allocation of the funds:
EDTAP $55,000
WorkFirst 10,482
Rural General Public 33,173
Total = $98,655
Javonni was in
agreement, feeling that might be a more workable allocation plan.
Chairman Moyer made
the motion to approve the allocation just recommended by the Board, allowing
more flexibility. All voted in favor
and the motion carried.
Commissioner
Hawkins made the motion to close the public hearing. All voted in favor and the motion carried.
LETTER FROM VILLAGE
OF FLAT ROCK - add-on by Commissioner Gordon
Chairman Moyer
stated that he was not sure that all the Board had received a copy of this
letter and apologized if they had not.
Commissioner Gordon
had received a copy of a letter yesterday from Mayor Hicks concerning a meeting
Flat Rock Village Council had last Thursday night. Commissioners Moyer and Gordon attended that meeting. The issue of County Zoning on Hwy. # 25
corridor was discussed. The result of
the discussions was a request from the Village of Flat Rock for a continuation
of re-evaluating the land use and zoning on that particular corridor. They have asked to be included in that
discussion with our Planning Board and any other interested parties and they=ve also asked that
the Board make a commitment to hold off on any other zoning decisions until
there is an opportunity for that study to be done up to a period of five
months. The 5 months came about because
we=re talking about a very small area and don=t anticipate this
to be a major project for the Planning Board.
Some citizens are already working on ideas for this area.
She requested that
the Board of Commissioners approve the request to have this area reviewed and
agree to the 5 month period for review of that area, see if we can come up with
something that everyone can agree on for all the parcels on that corridor.
Chairman Moyer
stated that further discussions with Mayor Hicks became more specific, asking
that the review be along South Hwy. #25 but only 300 feet back off the road.
Mr. Moyer expressed to Mayor Hicks that the Board would be willing to sit down
and talk with them, no guarantee, they both recognize that whatever they would
come up with would come back to the Board of Commissioners and back to the Flat
Rock Council and either Board could say no we don=t want to go
further.
There was much
discussion. Chairman Moyer stated that the issue is that the Board of
Commissioners would not look to rezone any properties that are in this corridor
for a period of up to five months.
Angela Beeker
informed the Board AYou as a
Board cannot legally commit yourself by agreement to such a freeze
because it=s a matter of exercising your governmental
powers and you can=t contract away that discretion. The only way that you could legally obligate
yourself to actually freeze considering zoning applications or rezoning
applications as they would come up would be through the exercise of a
moratorium which then would require a public hearing, blah, blah, blah. Until you would enact such a moratorium the
Planning Department and the Planning Board are going to be obligated to bring
forward applications in accordance with the time limits that are currently in
place in the Zoning Ordinance. So I
think that the most that you can tell Flat Rock is that you understand what=s trying to be
accomplished but you=ll have to consider them on a case by case
basis as they come up, you agree on principle with everything that they=re trying to
accomplish. So that=s just - those are
some general comments that I have.@
Chairman Moyer
stated that he felt that the Board could indicate to the Planning Board that if
somebody comes in tell them we are studying this area and we would prefer that
any application for rezoning be held off.
I think most people will work with us.
Angela Beeker asked
AFor clarification, with this study, are you
talking about just identifying - like - similar to the Mills River except we=re doing it on
parcel by parcel.@
Mr. Moyer answered ANo, this would be
parcel specific.@
Angela Beeker - AIt=s parcel specific
but you=re not gonna actually be picking out zoning
classifications at this time, or are you?@
Chariman Moyer - AWe may well.@
Angela Beeker - ABecause the reason
I ask is then which zoning district should be used, the ones that are currently
in the ordinance or proposed in the rewrite is a question that I think Planning
Staff has and then would this just become a part of the County Plan like Mills
River is going to be.@
Chairman Moyer - AI would certainly
hope so. That=s the intent but I think if you take it step
by step like we did in Mills River you would identify what would be commercial,
what would be whatever and if everything works out and we=ve finished our
Zoning Ordinance by then, then we can put the
labels on just like we did on Mills River.@
Following
discussions, Commissioner Gordon made the motion that the Board direct the
Planning Board, to request the participation of Flat Rock and the City of Hendersonville, to study the current
County Zoning on the Hwy. #25 corridor between Hendersonville and Flat Rock
with the parameter of 300 feet on each side of the road and that we would like
to have that done within no more than a 5 month timeframe and within the legal
restraints placed upon the Board of Commissioners they will try to avoid taking
any action with respect to rezoning of the area during that 5 month
period. A vote was taken and the motion
carried unanimously.
Chairman Moyer
stated he would call Mayor Niehoff and explain the Board=s action
today.
Karen asked for
clarification. Chairman Moyer explained
AI would like initially that we will send a
letter to the Mayors, both Mayors indicating the action we=ve done - that we
recommend that this in accordance with the motion be done through the Planning
Boards and see what their comments back and then we can start the process. We=ll send a letter as
to what the parameters will be {to the Planning Board}@.
IMPORTANT DATES
Chairman Moyer
stated that there were at least four dates the Board needed to set:
Comprehensive
County Plan Workshop - The Board set this for July 5 at 3:00 p.m. to meet with
the Comprehensive County Plan Steering Committee.
Solid Waste
Workshop - The Board set that for July 26 @ 3:00 p.m.
Zoning Ordinance
Rewrite Workshop - The Board set that for July 11 at 9:00 a.m.
Budget Workshop -
The Board decided not to adjourn this meeting but to continue it to June 21 at
2:00 p.m. for the purpose of a Budget Workshop.
Land Use - Setting
Priorities (Open Use) - The Board set this for July 10 at 4:00 p.m.
Request for Public
Hearing for new road names
Chairman Moyer made
the motion to set that public hearing for July 2 at 7:00 p.m. All voted in favor and the motion carried.
Set Public Input
Session on Proposed Abandonment of Portion of Macedonia Church Road
(SR #1835) Bobby A.
Johnson & L. D. Pace, Petitioners
Chairman Moyer made
the motion to set the Public Input Session for July 2 at 7:00 p.m. All voted in favor and the motion carried.
CLOSED SESSION
Chairman Moyer made the motion for the Board to go into
closed session as allowed pursuant to NCGS 143-318.11 for the following
reasons:
1.(a)(3) To
consult with an attorney employed or retained by the public body in order to
preserve the attorney-client privilege between the attorney and the public
body, which privilege is hereby acknowledged.
To consult with an attorney employed or retained by the public body in
order to consider and give instructions to the attorney with respect to the
following claims:
Bobby
W. Finley v. Henderson County; Commissioners, Sheriff and Jail
(US
District Court, Western District, Asheville Division, 1:01CV86-MU-1)
Henderson
County et al. Vs. Asheville-Buncombe-Henderson Water Authority,
et
al. (Henderson County, 01-CVS-344)
American
Woodland Industries, Inc., et al. vs. Muriel Offerman,
Secretary
of Revenue, State of North Carolina, and all 100 counties
(including
Henderson County) (Wake County, 01-CV-002978)
Commissioner
Hawkins made the motion to adjourn closed session at approx. 1:00 p.m. All voted in favor and the motion carried.
Commissioner
Hawkins made the motion to continue this meeting to tomorrow, June 22 at 2:00
p.m. for the purpose of a Budget Workshop.
All voted in favor and the motion carried.
Attest:
Elizabeth W. Corn,
Clerk to the Board
William L. Moyer,
Chairman