[10:43] oh thank you

[11:24] very much

[11:33] thank you

[11:47] foreign

[12:35] one nation under God indivisible with

[12:39] liberty and justice for all you remain

[12:42] standing for a moment of silence

[12:44] remember those are four souls who've

[12:46] lost in Texas

[12:58] thank you emergency

[13:01] foreign

[13:18] job well done

[13:20] it was excellent thank you

[13:25] um ethic statements in accordance with

[13:27] the code of ethics adopted by the

[13:29] council all council members have a duty

[13:31] to conduct the Affairs of the governing

[13:33] body and an open and public matter free

[13:35] of conflicts of interest

[13:37] is there any item on the agenda the

[13:40] outcome of which we'll have a direct

[13:42] substantial readily identifiable

[13:44] Financial impact for any member kids or

[13:47] her family or close business

[13:49] associations

[13:51] there is for me whenever we discuss

[13:54] um the town property off of E Street

[14:00] does Indiana member have a financial

[14:01] interest in any public contract coming

[14:03] before the contract Council day

[14:06] not here again there being none all

[14:09] board members of a duty and obligation

[14:11] to vote

[14:14] it will now help see this in the

[14:16] comments

[14:17] first up Lynn Swann

[14:24] yes right here remember we have three

[14:27] minutes yes sir

[14:31] [Applause]

[14:33] I'm here to address the recreation in

[14:35] Parks budget

[14:36] the recent notice on Facebook by Nathan

[14:39] West caught my attention because the

[14:42] items scheduled for attention in the

[14:44] wreck and park budget plan being

[14:46] presented do not address much needed

[14:50] maintenance and Improvement issues that

[14:52] need current attention at Lake Tomahawk

[14:56] the drain pipe that was used to connect

[14:59] drainage for the new ecosystem water

[15:03] retention pond

[15:04] is stopped up

[15:07] not the town nor the crew installing the

[15:10] retention Pond took the time or effort

[15:13] to unstop that pipe

[15:17] while I'm on the subject of rainwater

[15:19] runoff

[15:20] the rain drains down from the upper

[15:22] level of the parking lot at the pool

[15:24] house and Crosses that drain that I just

[15:27] mentioned but it goes straight down the

[15:29] middle of the paved access and then it

[15:32] runs into the lake there or it comes out

[15:36] onto the walking path and pools there on

[15:39] the walking trail

[15:41] another issue regarding money allocation

[15:44] for wrecks and Parks as it also relates

[15:47] to storm water issues

[15:49] the concrete landing at the bottom of

[15:51] the pool stairs in front of the pool

[15:53] house

[15:55] needs a drain

[15:56] when it rains the water stands at the

[15:58] bottom of those steps at about two

[16:00] inches deep and that makes it

[16:01] inaccessible for people to get to the

[16:04] handicapped ramp or climb the stairs

[16:08] um just a couple other matters of

[16:10] attention one of the pillars in front of

[16:13] the clubhouse those beautiful brick

[16:15] pillars has some brick pieces missing

[16:18] and the clubhouse needs to be painted

[16:20] and maintained

[16:21] and it would really benefit it as a

[16:25] profit center for the clubhouse to have

[16:27] new windows with blinds built in that

[16:31] can be safely opened and closed upstairs

[16:33] in the clubhouse that would make it more

[16:35] comfortable and attractive venue for the

[16:37] renters as well as for the folks who

[16:41] attend there daily especially the senior

[16:45] center citizens thank you very much

[16:50] uh Ruth Peter

[16:54] foreign

[17:03] on solar power on the use of current

[17:06] money for solar power providers

[17:11] 208 Central Avenue good thank you

[17:15] um in 2015 I built a 600 square foot

[17:19] house on Central Avenue on a tiny lot

[17:22] with a storm water easement and I chose

[17:25] to complete that dedication to

[17:27] environmental action by using the five

[17:31] solar incentives that were available to

[17:34] me uh before the year 2016.

[17:38] uh I've been dedicated to solar power

[17:41] and Sustainable Building since my grade

[17:45] school years and that's a while so I

[17:50] stretched financially to incorporate

[17:53] solar in my plan because of the

[17:55] incentives and the timing

[17:57] thanks to that stretch and choice I pay

[18:01] no electric bill and then all electric

[18:04] house except the Duke power grid use fee

[18:08] which was eight dollars then has doubled

[18:11] in the eight years since and will double

[18:13] yet again in 2025 with net metering

[18:18] added as a result of the current

[18:20] Utilities Commission ruling so my

[18:23] electricity is not free even though I

[18:27] have I don't pay for it

[18:30] um

[18:31] still using the money existing money

[18:35] that was available to you to me was a

[18:38] very smart choice

[18:40] because it has done nothing but go up

[18:43] since I put it in

[18:45] electricity will be more and more

[18:48] expensive the time to incorporate solar

[18:51] is now

[18:52] and the choice is the right choice

[18:56] whose time it has come also with more

[19:00] and more Citizen and governmental

[19:02] support and use of solar power the

[19:05] voices for electric non-polluting power

[19:09] linked to Social Power

[19:12] uh become more effective also the town

[19:15] has a chance to lead by example and to

[19:18] do the smart thing even though it's

[19:21] expensive at the right time

[19:24] thank you I appreciate it thank you very

[19:27] much for what you do on Wednesday

[19:28] afternoon to Town Square

[19:33] Karen Austin

[19:41] good evening

[19:44] my name is Karen Austin I'm a long time

[19:47] member of

[19:49] excuse me your dress oh I actually live

[19:53] in Nebo but I've been a member of Black

[19:55] Mountain Presbyterian church since 1962.

[19:58] very good I grew up in Black Mountain

[20:00] and lived there until about five years

[20:03] ago

[20:04] still active in the church and as such I

[20:07] am the leader of the church's Earth care

[20:10] team

[20:11] I'm speaking tonight on behalf of that

[20:14] team as well as just from my own heart

[20:17] this spring our team held a study of

[20:22] this book right here

[20:25] IT addresses having difficult

[20:27] conversations about a very difficult

[20:30] issue and that is climate change

[20:33] there were over 60 people who attended

[20:37] weekly meetings over the course of five

[20:40] weeks each once a week for five weeks we

[20:42] had 60 people who showed up to read this

[20:46] book and discuss the idea of having

[20:49] those conversations about climate change

[20:53] we'd like to share this resource with

[20:55] you because we think you might benefit

[20:57] from that and we have copies for each of

[21:01] you that we'll give to you later on

[21:04] tonight I would like to urge you to

[21:07] consider fast tracking solar

[21:09] installations because it's the right

[21:11] thing to do and it's the smart thing to

[21:15] do if you're spending other people's

[21:16] money

[21:18] we recently read in the Black Mountain

[21:20] news about budgeting plans that include

[21:23] renovations to several Parks and Rec

[21:25] properties

[21:26] those Renovations are necessary and they

[21:30] will benefit a lot of Black Mountain

[21:32] residents

[21:33] but moving to solar power is a pressing

[21:36] issue it will benefit every citizen in

[21:39] Black Mountain regardless of their age

[21:41] or their gender or their social class we

[21:44] feel this must be a priority

[21:46] to the group that's behind me if you're

[21:49] here to support black Mountain's move to

[21:52] solar power please stand up

[21:58] thank you

[22:01] next Gene Franklin

[22:11] good evening I'm Gene Franklin I live at

[22:14] 108 Connolly Street in walking distance

[22:17] of here

[22:18] and I want to refer to two newspaper

[22:21] articles and I'm here to support more

[22:23] solar panels going up quickly first an

[22:27] article in the Asheville citizen times

[22:28] on March 3rd said humans around the

[22:31] world emitted more CO2 in 2022 than in

[22:36] any other year on record a result of air

[22:39] travel rebounding from the pandemic and

[22:41] more countries turning to low-cost coal

[22:45] however embedded in that article there's

[22:47] good news increased deployment of

[22:50] renewable energy electric vehicles and

[22:52] heat pumps helped prevent an additional

[22:55] 550 megatons of CO2 emissions without

[22:59] clean energy

[23:01] the growth in CO2 emissions would have

[23:03] been nearly three times as high

[23:06] now that is actually encouraging we

[23:09] humans are helping we are finally

[23:11] getting up enough solar panels and heat

[23:14] pumps and EVS that that we're making an

[23:17] impact but we need to do more faster we

[23:20] need to see a headline next year that

[23:22] says humans emitted less CO2

[23:26] another article in the Black Mountain

[23:28] news that I think Karen just referenced

[23:30] said our town has 100 1 million 119 200

[23:36] remaining from American Rescue plan act

[23:39] funds

[23:41] it says that the Town Council met on

[23:43] April 19th and gave a cons as I

[23:46] understand it a consensus of what 11

[23:49] items to budget for good things like

[23:52] parking restrooms replacing the Gazebo

[23:54] creating a sidewalk

[23:57] um and so on all Necessary Things

[24:01] then it said Council will look at

[24:02] installing solar panels at a later date

[24:06] panels on one town owned building will

[24:08] cost two hundred thousand dollars that's

[24:10] still the article that I'm referring to

[24:13] and we would like to suggest that the

[24:16] building that uses the most electricity

[24:18] would get the panels

[24:20] then at the end of the article it said

[24:22] these decisions are not final

[24:25] citizens will have an opportunity to

[24:27] weigh in on any of this as we go through

[24:29] the budget process

[24:31] so here's what I would like to well

[24:33] first of all with great appreciation for

[24:35] you and the job you do and the things

[24:37] you've already done I believe the town

[24:39] is responsible for the panels on the

[24:41] Carver Center and the EV Chargers around

[24:44] town and things I don't even know

[24:47] but my request is please move solar

[24:50] panels to the to a top urgent position

[24:52] on the list the faster we attack this

[24:56] climate problem the better

[24:59] please make sure that the public knows

[25:01] when these panels will be discussed

[25:03] through the Black Mountain news and

[25:05] Valley echo or whatever uh

[25:08] things on Facebook or whatever because

[25:11] I'm one of these people that wakes up

[25:13] and finds out I missed the meeting and

[25:15] didn't know I have to interrupt you

[25:17] there in three minutes there please okay

[25:20] I'm actually finished okay well thank

[25:22] you thank you for your time and service

[25:30] Elizabeth Swann

[25:41] foreign

[25:42] thank you for allowing me to speak this

[25:45] evening and my subject is parking at the

[25:49] Lakeview Center I have a co-lated the

[25:52] package before you and it says the um

[25:57] copies attached

[25:59] the one with the parking shows Cragmont

[26:02] Park allocated 45

[26:05] 000 for additional parking that's below

[26:07] the dam there uh the center which is for

[26:12] the seniors has limited parking space

[26:15] and with the summer visitors coming into

[26:19] our beautiful Lake and that is a great

[26:22] thing however Memorial Day weekend is

[26:25] coming up and the pool will be opening

[26:29] to the public at that time parking for

[26:32] seniors are very very limited uh the lot

[26:35] at the Pavilion and the tennis courts

[26:37] are usually full and the distance is not

[26:40] at all favorable for seniors

[26:43] our seniors some have fiscal

[26:45] disabilities they use canes Walkers and

[26:49] sometimes wheelchairs will not have a

[26:51] convenient parking space so I am

[26:54] recommending that the parking there at

[26:56] the pool side be allocated for seniors

[27:00] only and a lot down next to the tennis

[27:03] court and the Pavilion be allocated for

[27:06] the pool parking

[27:08] so or build us a new parking lot

[27:13] so thank you very much

[27:15] and the attached shows

[27:19] the activities that goes on at the

[27:21] center we're open from nine till late in

[27:23] the afternoon so the senior center is

[27:26] very active

[27:27] and you're all welcome to come and join

[27:29] us for lunch someday thank you very much

[27:37] Sean Sloan

[27:44] um Sean Sloan 115 Third Street Black

[27:48] Mountain

[27:49] here representing the community garden

[27:54] um to um thank you for your considered

[27:57] support for building a new structure and

[28:00] having a proposal to fund some of it

[28:03] perfectly understandable that that was

[28:06] not going to

[28:07] um

[28:08] take care of any business

[28:11] with finale finality

[28:13] um

[28:14] I need to start my timer

[28:17] shoot never mind

[28:19] um anyway

[28:20] um I wanted to clear up a misconception

[28:22] which is that I think the Town Council

[28:26] thinks that the supporters of a new

[28:29] structure at the

[28:30] community garden the expect the town to

[28:34] pay for the structure and that is just

[28:36] not the case we first and foremost need

[28:39] permission to seek to explore the

[28:43] possibility of building a structure and

[28:46] we can't do that without an affirmative

[28:49] something from the Town Council to say

[28:51] yes we approve of the concept

[28:54] you may spend money or raise money to

[28:57] propose an uh a structure that we can

[29:00] consider and how you're going to fund it

[29:02] but without some of affirmation from the

[29:06] council we can't do anything

[29:09] um and so I just wanted to make that

[29:11] point

[29:12] um and the other thing is in terms of if

[29:16] you are in support of the structure then

[29:18] how is it going to get built right I

[29:21] mean there is the arpa funds but before

[29:23] anything happens

[29:25] you'll have to have a master plan done

[29:27] because that is where we can go to

[29:31] funders to

[29:32] corporate sponsors and people that we

[29:36] can name you know facilities after to uh

[29:40] to fund privately the structure and so

[29:44] before anything really materially can

[29:47] happen that site plan has to be done the

[29:51] master site plan for the building and

[29:54] the quote from the mcgillin company was

[29:57] fifty thousand dollars and that's a lot

[29:59] of money and I'm told it can be done for

[30:01] a lot less but wouldn't it be lovely to

[30:04] have an idea of a new structure in town

[30:08] that would enhance the give something

[30:10] new to come out of the arpa fund

[30:13] something that people can look forward

[30:14] to and so I'm asking for you to consider

[30:18] funding for the master site plan in

[30:21] which case then we can start seeking

[30:24] funding for it from corporations from

[30:27] Grants and so on I think it's a sensible

[30:29] proposal and barring that

[30:33] um I'd welcome any other path that you

[30:36] see to getting the thing out of the

[30:38] ground we're not asking for hundreds of

[30:41] thousands of dollars we're simply asking

[30:43] for a clear path forward and hopefully

[30:46] to use some of the arpa funds to get it

[30:49] started thank you

[30:53] next Robin Style

[30:57] okay

[31:16] I'm Robin Stiles I live at 206 Central

[31:19] Avenue in Black Mountain and I'm also a

[31:22] member of the earth care team at Black

[31:23] Mountain Presbyterian Church

[31:25] I encourage you to put the solar panels

[31:28] up sooner rather than later

[31:31] and I'd want to I want to tell you about

[31:33] our experience with panels in 2016 we

[31:37] put solar panels on the roof of our

[31:39] newly built house primarily because we

[31:42] care deeply about the Earth

[31:45] instead of using coal and fracked gas we

[31:48] wanted to use the free and harmless

[31:49] energy of the sun to generate our

[31:51] household power

[31:53] since installing the panels we have paid

[31:55] only the 16 fee it probably was eight

[31:59] dollars as Ruth said when we started to

[32:02] be connected to the grid our electric usage bill

[32:07] since December of 16 has been zero

[32:13] we have solved we have saved the

[32:15] approximately one hundred dollars a

[32:17] month

[32:18] which is the average for a house our

[32:21] size and that figure comes from a survey

[32:23] of our neighbors whose houses are about

[32:25] the same size as ours which a

[32:28] representative at Duke agrees is the

[32:30] best way to calculate the monthly

[32:32] consumption she couldn't do it unless

[32:34] she had an address

[32:36] so she said that was a good way that

[32:39] means that within 10 years we will have

[32:41] paid off the cost of our panels

[32:45] and paid nothing

[32:47] and electricity charges I urge you to

[32:51] put the solar panel purchase among your

[32:53] top priority items for the same reasons

[32:55] that we did

[32:57] you care about the Earth

[32:59] you'll be using clean energy and you'll

[33:01] save the town's money in the long run

[33:04] plus it's a giant step toward becoming

[33:07] the greenest little town in North

[33:09] Carolina

[33:11] thank you very good thank you and thank

[33:13] you for the books you're welcome

[33:18] Barbara Gaul

[33:24] foreign

[33:28] Fairway Drive here in Black Mountain

[33:31] and I have just joined the Black

[33:33] Mountain Presbyterian Church earthcare

[33:35] team the climate book is a book written

[33:39] by Greta thurnberg

[33:41] a world-renowned activist from

[33:43] Switzerland at age 20 she has addressed

[33:47] climate rallies across the globe

[33:50] she states in her book and I quote

[33:53] despite dire warnings in the 1980s and

[33:57] in the 1990s we have emitted more CO2

[34:01] carbon dioxide since 1991 than in the

[34:06] rest of human history

[34:08] I repeat despite dire warnings in the

[34:12] 1980s and 1990s we have emitted more CO2

[34:18] carbon dioxide since 1991 than in the

[34:22] rest of human history

[34:24] if we do our part we can help prevent a

[34:27] severe catastrophe from happening in the

[34:30] year 2030. please put solar panels on

[34:34] another town building we thank you for

[34:37] your service and your concern in this

[34:40] urgent matter

[34:42] thank you thank you

[34:48] next Rick early

[34:57] I'm Rick early I live at 107 Oakland

[35:00] Drive in Black Mountain

[35:03] 5.4 million dollars congratulations

[35:08] Council

[35:09] and staff anybody know what I'm talking

[35:12] about

[35:13] stormwater Grant a storm water grant for

[35:16] 5.4 million hats off

[35:19] thank you very much great job you know

[35:21] there's a butt coming I can feel it last

[35:25] year's budget for

[35:26] utility fees is 355 thousand dollars

[35:31] that's 15 years 5.4 million is 15 years

[35:34] of storm water utility fee collections

[35:38] the budget the last two years is 800 and

[35:41] some thousand and there's about 500 000

[35:44] that's not spent so you kind of got 5.4

[35:47] plus half a million almost got six

[35:50] hundred thousand dollars in the bank

[35:52] I would ask the council to seriously

[35:55] consider helping out

[35:57] the property owners in Black Mountain

[35:59] give them some Financial relief and

[36:03] suspend the collection of the storm

[36:06] water utility fee at least until four or

[36:09] five million of that has been spent

[36:11] thank you very much

[36:13] thank you Rick

[36:17] Jim Snyder

[36:19] okay

[36:23] uh last Ruth scherberg

[36:27] Shepherd

[36:31] Ruth Shivers I live at 140 North Fork

[36:34] Road in Black Mountain

[36:35] good evening and thank you for giving me

[36:37] time to express my concerns about a new

[36:40] multi-housing development on the border

[36:42] of our property at 140 North Fork Road

[36:45] because growth doesn't pay for itself to

[36:47] what degree are we willing to sacrifice

[36:49] for it my husband and I have several

[36:52] concerns regarding this rezone

[36:53] multi-housing development our concerns

[36:56] include runoff onto our property

[36:58] increased traffic on North Fork Road

[37:01] disturbing the ecosystem of the nearby

[37:03] woods and the continual building of

[37:05] expensive housing that is unaffordable

[37:08] to many of those from our community

[37:10] on our property we have invested

[37:12] thousands of dollars for water

[37:14] mitigation

[37:16] upsetting the natural lay of the land

[37:18] from new construction may cause more

[37:20] runoff problems for us and more expense

[37:22] traffic on North Fork Road has increased

[37:25] significantly over the past few years

[37:27] and this two-lane road is not set up for

[37:29] the increased traffic and speed that

[37:32] drivers use on the final stretch near

[37:34] Montreat Road

[37:35] while land ownership is a privilege and

[37:37] capitalistic Venture it also comes with

[37:39] responsibility some known factors of

[37:42] being responsible landowners in our area

[37:44] include preserving nature maintaining

[37:47] the Integrity of the community

[37:49] I'd like to add a third idea providing

[37:51] housing that is Affordable to families

[37:53] in our in order not to create a divided

[37:56] class system

[37:57] many families cannot afford to live in

[37:59] Black Mountain and with the prices of

[38:01] houses in our town this development will

[38:04] be yet another example of expensive

[38:06] housing for select buyers while some may

[38:09] Define a prosperous town to be

[38:10] additional citizens and businesses that

[38:13] bring in more revenue and property taxes

[38:15] to benefit the town war is not always

[38:17] better

[38:18] the working class residents of Black

[38:20] Mountain are the ones who feel the

[38:21] impact of this ongoing development many

[38:24] working-class individuals are directly

[38:26] affected by not being able to afford

[38:28] housing to live in this town yet they

[38:30] are contributing to the success of Black

[38:32] Mountain

[38:33] the new surge in Housing Development

[38:35] over the past few years has meant

[38:37] significantly more traffic

[38:39] congested local restaurants with limited

[38:41] serving staff and also a decline in our

[38:44] local school enrollment I say this

[38:47] because I'm currently a teacher at Black

[38:48] Mountain Elementary have been a teacher

[38:51] in Owen district for 17 of my 22 years

[38:53] and I've witnessed a decline in

[38:56] enrollment and teaching positions and I

[38:58] have some data and I'll be glad to share

[39:00] with you Black Mountain Elementary we

[39:03] currently have 147 students

[39:06] in 2018 we had 224.

[39:10] our schools are suffering and it's the

[39:13] effect of the High Cost of Living

[39:16] The increased housing prices I just do

[39:21] not feel that this

[39:23] development at chinkapin is where it's

[39:27] located the rezoning of it into another

[39:30] Housing Development it's not necessary

[39:33] we're not growing Our Town we're not

[39:37] supporting our schools appreciate it

[39:39] okay

[39:42] all right let's includes the first

[39:44] citizen comment of course there's

[39:46] another section so there's a comment

[39:47] later on in the NVM meeting

[39:51] uh so Josh I will leave this please

[39:55] sure so Mr Mayor we have communications

[39:57] from staff Council commissions and

[39:59] agencies and first up would be our

[40:01] communication committee annual report

[40:03] s

[40:13] thank you for the opportunity to share

[40:15] with you tonight I'm Tucky Folkers the

[40:17] co-chair of the beautification committee

[40:19] and I'm here to tell you a bit about

[40:21] some of last year's accomplishments and

[40:24] our hopes and goals for next year

[40:30] 23 years ago Willie Headley LED an

[40:33] initiative that became the

[40:34] beautification committee our mission is

[40:37] to honor the natural beauty around us by

[40:40] maintaining our 53 containers Town

[40:43] Square 27 Garden sites and by sponsoring

[40:47] community events

[40:49] we have an executive board of four

[40:51] committees subcommittees people who

[40:55] assume responsibility for all the garden

[40:57] sites and containers and a swarm of

[41:00] worker bees

[41:04] in 2016 the committee adopted a goal to

[41:09] provide a consistent look for honoring

[41:11] nature in the historic downtown by

[41:14] installing wooden containers with

[41:16] hand-crafted metal details now several

[41:20] of those seven-year-old containers need

[41:21] repair Winter delayed completion of the

[41:25] project but the 53 will soon be

[41:28] refurbished and replanted

[41:31] Bob Headley generously donated partial

[41:34] funds for adding Stone steps to Town

[41:37] Square and Public Works installed them

[41:39] maintenance and planting continue in the

[41:42] square with monthly weeding and seasonal

[41:45] pruning workdays and arborist has

[41:48] volunteered his services for the

[41:50] majority of tree trimming

[41:52] that needs to be done but for the larger

[41:55] job of trimming the three big oak trees

[41:57] we'll be paying for the service he will

[42:00] also root prune a bald cypress that

[42:02] threatens to break up the cement

[42:05] sidewalk

[42:07] under the capable and untiring

[42:09] Leadership of Pat and Carl rickenbach

[42:11] this has been a big year for revamping

[42:14] maintaining and enhancing the 27 Garden

[42:18] sites this year we completed one of our

[42:21] largest sites the welcome site by Oli

[42:24] guacamole's is 60 feet long

[42:28] Harwood Funeral Home donated a granite

[42:31] bench to the site and we're currently

[42:33] working with the town to incorporate a

[42:36] sidewalk which will bifurcate the site

[42:40] we've also worked to solve some sight

[42:42] problems this year we removed junipers

[42:46] and invasive weeds and installed new

[42:48] plantings and landscape timbers in the

[42:52] love parking lot

[42:54] Hawaiian walk which was formerly a

[42:57] one-way gravel road down from Cherry

[42:58] Street also had site problems the garden

[43:02] next to The Veranda is now nicely

[43:05] planted to implement that complement the

[43:07] narrow area the garden site next to

[43:10] Europa is temporarily bare in order to

[43:14] handle future building maintenance

[43:19] this

[43:21] beautiful new stone path below the

[43:24] museum and arts center was installed by

[43:27] Public Works who then installed stones

[43:30] on the lower slope of the hill to help

[43:33] control erosion and to create a native

[43:36] plant area

[43:39] now this Garden you may recall because

[43:41] it had leaning rotten Timbers that were

[43:44] oozing down onto the sidewalk well now

[43:47] it's been totally redone

[43:49] Pat and Carr removed trellises and

[43:52] plants and stored them for reuse then

[43:55] Public Works replaced the Timbers with

[43:58] pressure treated wood

[44:00] after Hansen's completes its wall

[44:02] repairs and its painting the trellises

[44:05] and plants will be reinstalled

[44:08] Publix works next installed a raised bed

[44:12] garden which you see on the slide to the

[44:14] left to give an open view to the store

[44:16] and to complement the wall Garden

[44:21] the chamber Garden is a very large site

[44:24] which we've divided into six separate

[44:26] sites because of its immensity it was

[44:28] overgrown and it obscured the

[44:31] informational signage that was there

[44:34] the chamber sidewalk Garden was

[44:36] re-landscaped with help from Public

[44:38] Works the view of the visitors center

[44:41] from the front sidewalk has opened up

[44:43] and we think it's beautiful

[44:47] Thorny Rose bushes used to be a thorn

[44:52] for people who like to sit on that wall

[44:55] and take a hike they were removed and

[44:58] plantings suitable for the site were

[45:00] planted making the view of the garden

[45:02] pleasing from both the street and the

[45:06] parking lot

[45:09] a major renovation of town hall Gardens

[45:12] was one of our goals for 2022 and was

[45:14] completed in September Yale bromer led

[45:18] the effort with support from Public

[45:19] Works members dug in 32 shrubs and trees

[45:24] along with countless perennials as

[45:27] you've been hearing Public Works is

[45:29] great support for all of our projects

[45:31] and we truly appreciate them

[45:35] in Fall we decorate with hay bales corn

[45:39] stalks thank you mayor

[45:41] pumpkins a large spider

[45:43] scarecrows this year we added an

[45:46] illuminated ghost

[45:48] the primary school kids and teachers

[45:51] made 17 flying ghosts

[45:55] kid quests and after school program at

[45:58] the United Methodist Church made for fun

[46:00] crows a less scary term for scarecrows

[46:05] the day before Holly Jolly we decked the

[46:09] four welcome signs in town square with

[46:11] Greenery and Bows to bring the spirit of

[46:14] the holidays into the community

[46:18] our biggest fundraiser of the year is

[46:20] the Black Mountain Garden sale held in

[46:22] the lower parking lot of town square

[46:24] this year on May 19 and 20. Ronan Jones

[46:28] chairs this event and says this year

[46:31] it'll be bigger and better than ever

[46:33] we've enlarged the space to accommodate

[46:36] 24 vendors bringing flowers Specialty

[46:40] Plants and Decor we'll have a member's

[46:42] market highlighting talented members who

[46:45] donate their items and wonderful baked

[46:49] goods for a bake sale

[46:52] we had a successful fundraising but also

[46:55] fundraising event at sourwood Festival

[46:58] recruiting new members and showcasing

[47:01] our good works for the benefits of the

[47:03] town

[47:05] Lori pasano obtained a truckload of

[47:08] reefs and Gardens for sale to local

[47:11] customers and for decorating the town

[47:14] and the tailgate Market

[47:19] there we go whoa

[47:22] what happened to the tailgate Market

[47:31] well anyway

[47:32] the tailgate Market offered a space last

[47:35] fall to sell plants from our Gardens

[47:37] plants were donated by painters

[47:40] Greenhouse also and Specialty azaleas

[47:43] from local grower Andy Whipple we sold

[47:46] them all at bargain prices that was the

[47:49] slide showing a bargain price for a

[47:51] wonderful plant

[47:53] with these fundraising opportunities the

[47:57] garden sale The Greenery sale the pop-up

[47:59] sale in sourwood

[48:01] we provide support for two Community

[48:04] award programs

[48:07] the community Improvement award is a new

[48:09] program launched last year and developed

[48:12] by Rhonda Reedy the award identifies

[48:16] business and Residential Properties that

[48:19] are well maintained pretty and have

[48:22] recently made Landscaping improvements

[48:24] we've given fifty dollar Awards to four

[48:28] businesses and two residents

[48:32] the seed money award helps local

[48:35] businesses churches and neighborhoods

[48:37] kick off their own beautification

[48:40] projects this year's winners are Black

[48:43] Mountain neuro Treatment Center Black

[48:47] Mountain Primary School the open oven

[48:50] Cafe and the Swannanoa Valley Christian

[48:53] Ministry Hope For Tomorrow programs I

[48:56] had to write that down

[48:59] deck the trees is another example of our

[49:01] involvement in the community thanks to

[49:04] all who voted for trees this year as

[49:07] that raises funds for the svcm heating

[49:10] fund

[49:12] the April spring litter sweep was well

[49:14] attended 70 people 10 organizations

[49:18] collected 30 bags of trash we'll do the

[49:22] sweep again in the fall

[49:23] at the sweep we also had an educational

[49:26] Earth Day recycling awareness table

[49:31] each year we establish goals to either

[49:34] complement existing programs or

[49:37] strengthen the committee in general the

[49:39] goals from 2023 are the following to

[49:43] work with Public Works to maintain the

[49:45] trees on Cherry and Broadway to instill

[49:48] plant tags to identify species in Town

[49:51] Square and to work with Merchants to

[49:54] clean up debris in order to have a

[49:58] cleaner prettier town

[50:02] these projects of course cannot be done

[50:05] without your financial support and your

[50:07] partnership we applied to the town

[50:10] through the funding application for the

[50:12] fiscal year 2024 for fourteen thousand

[50:15] dollars the requested funds will be used

[50:18] for the things listed the garden sites

[50:21] the Town Square

[50:22] the plant containers and special

[50:25] projects goals and garden Renovations

[50:27] such as the renovation at Town Hall

[50:32] the beautification committee supports

[50:34] and advances the town's comprehensive

[50:38] plan in many ways for example six of our

[50:42] projects goals or hopes

[50:46] address the towns livable and walkable

[50:49] goals

[50:51] maintaining gateways and historical

[50:53] sites consistent plant containers

[50:55] Community Awards

[51:00] the use of Art in the garden sites such

[51:03] as the murals on the Cherry Street

[51:05] restroom such as the well next to the

[51:09] well house that Joyce blackwoods

[51:13] beautifully Drew

[51:16] four of them support the green and

[51:18] resilient goals we're trying to repair

[51:21] and maintain the rain Garden behind the

[51:23] museum trying to promote the use of

[51:26] native plants limiter and and eliminate

[51:29] invasive plant species in our garden

[51:32] sites and educate about the use of

[51:34] recyclable products during litter sweeps

[51:39] we're all feeling that we're a part of

[51:42] Black Mountain and we enjoy working with

[51:45] you the town departments and the

[51:48] community with the goal of making our

[51:51] town one of the best small towns in

[51:53] America

[51:54] thank you for your support over the

[51:56] years we look forward to working with

[51:59] you for many years to come

[52:03] you do a wonderful job

[52:09] thank you thank you very much

[52:13] once you've got Josh Anderson with the

[52:16] Parks and Recreation annual report

[52:24] all right good evening

[52:26] um so our 2022 annual report give you

[52:30] some data here

[52:33] um just kind of go over our mission a

[52:34] little bit hopefully at the end of this

[52:36] presentation you'll be able to see how

[52:37] we're meeting that but what we do is to

[52:40] provide community-based Recreation

[52:41] programs Wellness facilities and

[52:43] services to the citizens of Black

[52:45] Mountain

[52:47] so I want to talk a little bit about our

[52:49] reach oftentimes people will ask well

[52:51] how you know how are you getting your

[52:52] word out or we haven't seen things

[52:54] posted or you know how are you getting

[52:55] information distributed so I want to

[52:57] kind of go over that a little bit

[52:59] obviously we have a pretty heavy uh

[53:02] internet and social media presence you

[53:04] can see some of the the data there from

[53:06] Facebook Instagram and also our website

[53:08] I know we we rolled out a new town

[53:10] website

[53:11] a few years ago and where we've got a

[53:13] group together now that's working on

[53:14] making some edits to that but you can

[53:17] see there the people who are visiting

[53:19] the pages on our website and the

[53:21] subscribers to the website and then down

[53:23] at the bottom it just kind of talks

[53:25] about some of the local news outlets

[53:27] that we utilize to promote a lot of the

[53:30] programs and things that we're doing

[53:33] uh moving to events uh these are the

[53:35] events that we did in 2022 and just kind

[53:37] of give you an idea of who showed up to

[53:40] those as far as numbers are concerned

[53:42] the one thing that kind of stands out

[53:44] um 2022 was the second year that we did

[53:46] our pumpkin post which is a

[53:48] collaboration between the community

[53:50] garden and our department which was

[53:53] traditionally a Halloween event and we felt like we just wanted to get away

[53:58] from handing out candy to kids because

[54:00] everybody else is doing that and um we

[54:02] had a we had a low turnout this year

[54:04] because it poured down rain but you can

[54:06] see the numbers there from some of the

[54:07] other events that we had

[54:09] our youth sports program

[54:12] um

[54:12] the biggest thing here is our outdoor

[54:14] soccer season this was a program that we

[54:16] developed in 2021 as a result of covid

[54:19] which became heavily popular to which we

[54:22] developed two seasons so you can see the

[54:24] numbers there with the participants for

[54:26] those programs indoor soccer and youth

[54:29] swim league being two of the largest

[54:31] along with outdoor soccer

[54:35] our outdoor programs is a really

[54:37] successful program that we have this was

[54:39] also a covid project that we started in

[54:42] 2021

[54:44] um so this was our our 2022 was our

[54:46] second season of doing outdoor programs

[54:48] uh all these programs are capped at 15

[54:51] people because most of them are hikes

[54:53] and small group activities and you can

[54:54] see uh the numbers there they continue

[54:57] to grow we're doing a lot of new things

[54:59] some of the new things that we're

[55:01] starting is some trail building we're

[55:02] going to be doing some foraging hikes

[55:04] we've partnered with some organizations

[55:05] to teach about native plants mushrooms

[55:08] things of that nature so that'll be

[55:09] coming up this year

[55:12] and then moving on to the pool these are

[55:15] the pool numbers from last year again uh

[55:18] pool is always very popular

[55:20] um

[55:21] 2022 in 2021 we had large numbers at the

[55:25] pool because the Buncombe Buncombe

[55:27] County Pool and Owen was closed so this

[55:29] year it did drop off a little bit

[55:31] because with that pool being open some people chose to go there instead of

[55:35] Black Mountain

[55:38] summer camps we do two summer camps we

[55:40] have our Black Mountain summer camp

[55:43] which we held last year

[55:45] um just to kind of give you an idea

[55:47] there a lot of what they do is off-site

[55:49] we do a lot of things on site but they

[55:51] are out and about and they are getting

[55:52] after it uh in the community field trips

[55:55] arts and crafts they do some community

[55:57] service they go to a lot of other parks

[55:59] in a lot of the neighboring communities

[56:01] we also hold a tennis camp which is

[56:04] hosted by the Black Mountain Association

[56:06] and it takes place at the high school

[56:08] and you can see the numbers from that

[56:12] our active aging adults uh 2022 was

[56:15] probably the biggest year for them

[56:17] coming out of covet in 2021 we really

[56:20] kind of got back to our our regularly

[56:22] scheduled programming there some of the

[56:24] things that we introduced we're bringing

[56:26] back a lot of the group exercise classes

[56:27] which I think are wildly popular along

[56:30] with an art class and chair volleyball

[56:32] if you haven't played Cherry volleyball

[56:34] you should pop in over there and check

[56:36] it out it's pretty fun

[56:37] um

[56:38] they do a lot there and they're very

[56:40] involved you heard from from some of

[56:42] those people tonight

[56:45] and then our community garden

[56:47] um 2022 we hired a new community garden

[56:50] manager this was also the year I believe

[56:52] that we first really started tracking

[56:54] compost you can see that we we did a lot

[56:56] of composting uh in 2022 there is a

[57:00] slight drop off in the amount of food

[57:01] that we produce in 2022 but I attribute

[57:04] that to the turnover and our our former

[57:06] Garden manager leaving and a new Garden

[57:08] manager coming in but you can see we are pretty much maxed out for space

[57:13] at the community garden we have a

[57:15] waiting list I think there's maybe 20

[57:16] people trying to get on a waiting list

[57:19] there for plots

[57:21] um so we are it is a very popular thing

[57:24] and we are in need of space

[57:27] we also have a pollinator Garden

[57:29] coordinator in our department that that

[57:31] manages several pollinator Gardens

[57:33] throughout town a total one acre of

[57:36] property and you can see the four

[57:37] locations there and some of what she's

[57:40] doing

[57:43] our facility rentals facility rentals

[57:47] remain steady

[57:49] um you can see that the numbers and the

[57:51] revenues from those obviously the

[57:53] Lakeview Center is the most utilized

[57:56] facility that we have and I can tell you

[57:58] just looking at the calendar right now

[58:00] once once the warm season hits our

[58:03] Pavilions are pretty much booked out for

[58:05] the summer at this point

[58:07] um so if we're looking at projects to do

[58:09] in the future putting more picnic

[58:11] shelters and Pavilions around town would

[58:12] definitely be of a benefit for that

[58:17] some of the things that we accomplished

[58:18] in 2022 that aren't listed in the

[58:20] previous slides one of the big things

[58:22] that we did kind of coming back from

[58:23] covet especially with outdoor

[58:25] programming was partnering with

[58:27] organizations in our community

[58:29] um obviously the town doesn't have a ton

[58:31] of trails and Trail systems and hiking

[58:33] and additional things like disc golf and

[58:37] so we partnered with a lot of the camps

[58:38] and Conference Centers around to utilize

[58:40] the things that they had that we did not

[58:42] have we do we play a lot of disc golf at

[58:45] Blue Ridge assembly Ridgecrest the Black

[58:48] Mountain Children's Home Owen High

[58:50] School those are the sites for our youth

[58:52] Disc Golf League we've also been doing

[58:54] indoor climbing archery

[58:57] at some of the Conference Centers and

[59:00] then we also partnered with the new

[59:01] organization called G5 Trail Collective

[59:03] which is I believe based out of Old Fort

[59:05] they train some of our staff on building

[59:07] trails and now our staff is able to go

[59:09] out and teach community members how to

[59:11] build Trails

[59:13] partnered with Warren Wilson they they

[59:15] reached out to us to do a cleanup we all

[59:17] so partner with them with the Lakeview

[59:18] Center and their preschool reading

[59:20] program we donate a lot of our

[59:23] um garden vegetables Bounty and soul

[59:25] some of the things that you guys funded

[59:27] last year that we were able to do was we

[59:28] replaced the pool cover we updated the

[59:31] pool house lighting and electrical that

[59:32] had been there I think since the

[59:34] Inception of that pool house we also

[59:36] added a new fence and a shade structure

[59:38] at the dog park and we completed the

[59:41] restrooms with the part of Grant at

[59:43] Veterans Park and begin our master plan

[59:48] and that's all I got if you guys have

[59:49] any questions

[59:52] one thing I would just suggest is that

[59:54] you know on The Pavilions over the years

[59:57] I've noticed you know you get people

[59:59] that rent The Pavilion for for a lunch

[1:00:01] activities

[1:00:02] for for suppers

[1:00:05] but very soon we have the same group

[1:00:07] there and it's trying to go ahead and

[1:00:10] make that a dual purposes so that you

[1:00:13] could rent it I know you got to get

[1:00:14] somebody over there to clean it in

[1:00:17] between but instead of thinking about

[1:00:19] having to build new structures this is a

[1:00:21] way to go ahead and take advantage of

[1:00:22] existing structures and help increase

[1:00:24] the revenue stream we currently do two

[1:00:27] time frames so we do a nine to three and

[1:00:28] three thirty nine thirty

[1:00:31] glad you did

[1:00:34] yeah thank you for your presentation

[1:00:36] um and it's exciting to see so much

[1:00:38] activity around town uh are we still on

[1:00:41] track to bring back basketball yes and

[1:00:43] when will that begin it'll be this

[1:00:45] spring where this this winter spring so

[1:00:47] usually starts in February

[1:00:49] and then

[1:00:51] um just

[1:00:52] you may not have an answer for a

[1:00:54] broadcast question like this but um

[1:00:56] after getting the master plan and

[1:00:59] approving the master plan has that

[1:01:02] reshaped how your you know approaching

[1:01:05] some of uh some of the activities and

[1:01:08] some of the priorities of the department

[1:01:09] at all

[1:01:11] I would say that it sheds light on

[1:01:13] what's needed in the community in terms

[1:01:15] of what people are interested in and

[1:01:16] what we can offer

[1:01:18] um and so we'll we'll definitely take

[1:01:19] the recommendations from that plan and

[1:01:21] work that into our programming and

[1:01:23] events

[1:01:24] great thank you

[1:01:29] okay thanks thanks Josh

[1:01:32] and then lastly for communications from

[1:01:34] staff with the our Public Services

[1:01:37] director Jenny Matthews with the annual

[1:01:39] Water Report

[1:01:42] good evening mayor board

[1:01:44] uh capitalizing what Josh said this is

[1:01:47] our uh

[1:01:48] 2022 calendar year annual Water Report

[1:01:52] um

[1:01:53] so get started we I listed a couple of

[1:01:55] uh projects and maintenance that we've

[1:01:58] done I'll try to explain you know why we

[1:02:00] chose these these two uh to do in last

[1:02:04] year's budget uh we installed a new six

[1:02:06] inch ductile iron pipe water line on the

[1:02:09] old toll road

[1:02:10] this was to replace an old AC line

[1:02:13] that's probably just guessing between 70

[1:02:17] to 100 years old that they don't even

[1:02:19] use in production anymore

[1:02:22] so one of our goals is to try to replace

[1:02:24] these lines as we move forward and try

[1:02:26] to update our system we replace 400 foot

[1:02:29] of that this past year

[1:02:31] we got another 800 foot that if our

[1:02:33] budget passes we'll do this year and

[1:02:36] then there's 2 000 foot total so it'll

[1:02:38] probably be a three year process to get

[1:02:39] that done

[1:02:42] one misprint I'd like to mention it says

[1:02:45] installed four ultrasonic flow meters we

[1:02:47] actually installed five two of those was

[1:02:50] at Timber Park we got one on toll road

[1:02:52] Watershed two and Timber Park one to

[1:02:55] Asheville Asheville booster what that

[1:02:58] ultrasonic flow meter does is looking

[1:03:00] forward into the future and trying to

[1:03:01] get water loss down

[1:03:03] is when you put these meters on these

[1:03:05] Pump Station as they pump water out into

[1:03:07] the system it takes a little math but

[1:03:10] you let this run for several months and

[1:03:12] then you come back compare it to the

[1:03:14] billing here at Town Hall and it'll show

[1:03:16] you which areas in town have the most

[1:03:18] water loss

[1:03:19] so we just got them installed last year

[1:03:22] we've not done the numbers yet but I'm

[1:03:23] curious to see because it'll give us an

[1:03:25] idea uh even further of things we need

[1:03:28] to replace moving forward in what areas

[1:03:31] we need to focus on it's our loss now

[1:03:34] uh it varies depending but it's actually

[1:03:37] come down a whole bunch uh I think the

[1:03:40] last one correct me Josh I was maybe

[1:03:44] what 18 to 23 something like that I

[1:03:48] think I can get you the actual number

[1:03:51] um we replace well number five it's at

[1:03:53] the end of Vance Avenue we've replaced

[1:03:55] the pumps we try to do that periodically

[1:03:57] what that does is keep the production

[1:04:00] rate up on these whales over the years

[1:04:02] as these pumps are used they use they

[1:04:04] lose production so we try to keep that

[1:04:07] up keep it Peak so we replaced well five

[1:04:09] this year and one of my favorite place

[1:04:11] we replaced pump wire the pipe the whole

[1:04:13] nine yards just like it was new again

[1:04:16] uh we rebuilt altitude valve at the

[1:04:19] South tank which is over off of Highway

[1:04:20] nine tell you a little bit about what

[1:04:23] altitude valve is is when the South tank

[1:04:26] was built uh years ago it was built 10

[1:04:29] foot higher in elevation should have

[1:04:30] been 10 foot lower I don't know why I

[1:04:33] don't know what the miscalculation was

[1:04:34] but because of that it is connected to

[1:04:38] our biggest tank which is Hemphill tank

[1:04:40] so it was designed to wear a Hemphill

[1:04:42] tank was supposed to push water to the

[1:04:44] South tank and then the altitude valve

[1:04:47] wouldn't let it come back

[1:04:48] so when we when we realized years ago

[1:04:51] that that ain't what the way it was and

[1:04:53] we had to put a pump in that Hempfield

[1:04:55] tank that actually pushes pressure and

[1:04:57] then once it fills the South tank the

[1:04:59] altitude valve holds the water and keeps

[1:05:01] it from sending back

[1:05:02] so we had to rebuild that that was a

[1:05:04] general maintenance you do every so many

[1:05:06] years

[1:05:07] uh automated remitter installs we've

[1:05:11] replaced or installed I'm sorry 450 new

[1:05:14] automated meters we've done that for the

[1:05:16] past couple years we're probably halfway

[1:05:19] done and uh and when we get to our water

[1:05:23] budget you'll see there's more funds

[1:05:24] budgeted you know to keep going in that

[1:05:27] process to install this to to complete

[1:05:29] our whole system to automation

[1:05:32] uh as for water transfer update we are

[1:05:35] in the phase two we have done our part

[1:05:38] we are actually waiting on the state uh

[1:05:41] water supply section

[1:05:43] which uh which is the hold up now as far

[1:05:46] as the permit process and you know after

[1:05:48] talking with them and collecting

[1:05:50] information stuff I think they have

[1:05:51] suffered labor shortages just like

[1:05:54] everybody across the state has and

[1:05:56] what used to take two or three months to

[1:05:59] get engineering plans pushed through to

[1:06:01] replace lines or whatever is in some

[1:06:03] cases taken approximately two years

[1:06:05] so it's probably been right out a year

[1:06:08] or so that we've been waiting and we

[1:06:11] keep constant you know contact with the

[1:06:14] engineers and the state and that's

[1:06:16] basically what our holdup is and

[1:06:18] as soon as we can get that then we can

[1:06:20] move forward but like I say we got our

[1:06:22] part complete you know as far as the

[1:06:24] pump house and stuff we're just waiting

[1:06:25] on the permit process

[1:06:28] so I like showing these totals this is a

[1:06:30] total work orders for 2022 I give a

[1:06:33] three year

[1:06:34] these pretty stay pretty consistent but

[1:06:37] they fluctuate a little bit that could

[1:06:38] be for

[1:06:39] multiple reasons it could be because of

[1:06:42] Labor shortages it could be for the type

[1:06:43] of job or whatever but we stay

[1:06:45] consistent in the 3000 mid 3000s per

[1:06:48] year

[1:06:50] uh this is a breakdown of those of that

[1:06:54] work order system so line locates which

[1:06:57] I always I look at that as far as

[1:07:00] building and stuff that goes on within

[1:07:01] town because out of that 1730

[1:07:04] when I say line locates that's other

[1:07:07] Utility Services Power phone

[1:07:11] um anything that's underground you know

[1:07:13] we do our own water

[1:07:15] um

[1:07:16] but it could be fiber optic it could be

[1:07:18] anything so when they're calling in it

[1:07:20] could be MSD so when they're called in

[1:07:21] it could be maintenance or it could be

[1:07:23] for Building purposes but we ourselves

[1:07:26] have 1730 water locates a year uh on in

[1:07:31] 2022.

[1:07:33] water cut on 612 that could be from uh

[1:07:37] new customers coming in cutting water on

[1:07:39] or it can be from going back and cutting

[1:07:42] uh water on from water cutoffs which was

[1:07:45] 556 last year

[1:07:47] at 65 leaks 56 leak checks

[1:07:50] uh 331 meter maintenance and then

[1:07:54] rechecks for meter reading you know

[1:07:56] sometimes you'll get rechecks because

[1:07:58] the customer has a question whatever we

[1:08:00] run back out and rechecks we had

[1:08:01] approximately 200 of those

[1:08:04] and then Watershed maintenance well well

[1:08:06] house maintenance and then miscellaneous

[1:08:08] water could be anything from a burnt

[1:08:10] washer and a meter right on down to just

[1:08:12] checking for a leak hydrant maintenance

[1:08:16] um I know during the year we usually

[1:08:18] have it seems like here lately one or

[1:08:20] two hydrants that these trucks making

[1:08:22] these tight turns around town usually

[1:08:24] run over one and we have to replace it

[1:08:25] or we take one of the older hydrants and

[1:08:28] we have to get a rebuild kit and just

[1:08:30] rebuild it

[1:08:32] so this is a very interesting one right

[1:08:34] here that that uh

[1:08:36] that you'll be interested in so

[1:08:39] this is how much water we pump versus

[1:08:42] how many gallons of water we purchased

[1:08:44] from Asheville so if you see on the

[1:08:46] bottom

[1:08:46] in 2020

[1:08:48] we actually pumped 179 million you know

[1:08:52] 179.5 million

[1:08:54] and then 2022 we only pumped 138 million

[1:08:59] if you look at Asheville in 2020 we

[1:09:02] purchased 70 million thereabouts 71

[1:09:05] close to

[1:09:07] in 2022 the first 187 and a half million

[1:09:11] so the reason that number is that way is

[1:09:13] for for a few reasons

[1:09:15] um

[1:09:16] whale number one which is one on the

[1:09:18] golf course we took offline for many

[1:09:21] reasons the whale's having a lot of

[1:09:23] trouble it's having a lot it was failing

[1:09:24] a lot of our samples that we have to

[1:09:26] send to the state so it was best to shut

[1:09:29] it down and it was one of our less

[1:09:30] producers so it's offline so now we're

[1:09:33] down to 11 Wells

[1:09:35] well number 17 which is one of our

[1:09:37] biggest producers by looking at the the

[1:09:40] records uh when it was installed

[1:09:43] produced 200 gallons a minute that's a

[1:09:45] lot for a weld

[1:09:47] but over the years the school would call

[1:09:51] or a lot of places would call and they

[1:09:54] would say the water was milky well

[1:09:55] anytime you got milky water you got iron

[1:09:57] the system so it led us to do more

[1:10:00] research and got to thinking that maybe

[1:10:02] you know it has to be coming from one of

[1:10:04] the whales

[1:10:06] well I know when we had some water

[1:10:07] shortages in the past the state requires

[1:10:10] you to pump water 12 hours on 12 hours

[1:10:13] off

[1:10:14] but during emergencies if you get

[1:10:16] approval from the state you can pump 24

[1:10:18] hours around the clock which we've done

[1:10:20] a couple times in the past and that's

[1:10:22] when we would notice the Milky water

[1:10:24] so we budgeted last year to do a

[1:10:26] drawdown on one of our top producing

[1:10:28] whales which was whale 17 that's in the

[1:10:30] Watershed

[1:10:31] well after doing the the draw down which

[1:10:35] to explain you know to people don't know

[1:10:37] in the public a drawdown is where you

[1:10:39] put one of those flow meters on that

[1:10:41] well which measures the water coming out

[1:10:44] and then you put what they call a depth

[1:10:46] gauge on the head of the well which

[1:10:47] shoots a ping down to the top of the

[1:10:49] water sends the signal back and tells

[1:10:51] you the depth of the well

[1:10:53] you pump the water to the whale yields

[1:10:55] as much water as it can yield and it

[1:10:57] can't yield no more and that'll tell you

[1:10:59] how many gallons per minute you get

[1:11:01] so after that draw down and the record

[1:11:03] showing is getting 200 gallons a minute

[1:11:05] it bounced back and forth between 75 and

[1:11:09] 90 gallons a minute

[1:11:10] so that well is not producing anything

[1:11:12] like it did when it was put in years ago

[1:11:14] and the reasons for that is and I've

[1:11:16] stated this before

[1:11:18] of course you don't see it with a naked

[1:11:19] eye but the ground does shift and

[1:11:21] aquifer is underground you know they

[1:11:24] shift also and over time Wells can

[1:11:28] they can't almost say go dry but they

[1:11:31] can relocate to where you don't have

[1:11:32] that water no more so that could be one

[1:11:36] of the reasons too and then the other

[1:11:38] reason is is after we took over all the

[1:11:41] Asheville customers you know it's a

[1:11:43] bigger Demand on the system so

[1:11:46] that's your three main reasons for that

[1:11:48] number being so high you get more water

[1:11:51] usage for the customers you take over

[1:11:53] and then we're not pumping as much water

[1:11:55] as we used to because we're well short

[1:11:58] and we're not pumping as many gallons

[1:11:59] per minute as we as we did

[1:12:03] um

[1:12:03] you know we we can keep replacing well

[1:12:06] pumps going through the years to try to

[1:12:08] keep them efficient pumping as many

[1:12:10] gallons as we can and uh and keep an eye

[1:12:13] on it and we can also keep doing

[1:12:15] drawdowns on our wells to see you know

[1:12:18] what they're pumping but with without

[1:12:19] that

[1:12:21] that's why we're buying the amount of

[1:12:23] water that we are

[1:12:25] do you have a senses that I'll help you

[1:12:27] the other Wells are as far as what the

[1:12:29] producing we've got our whale head

[1:12:31] protection plant or plan that's got all

[1:12:33] that information in it that's got the

[1:12:35] all the information on the whales from

[1:12:38] when they was put in the you know the

[1:12:40] documentation that that we inherited

[1:12:42] that we got and that's sort of what I'm

[1:12:44] going by and then double checking to see

[1:12:46] how these changes are are changing

[1:12:48] through the years but uh but yes that

[1:12:50] information is in there

[1:12:52] and when was the last time we drilled a

[1:12:54] new well

[1:12:56] I don't remember the year the mayor may

[1:12:58] remember better than me the last ones

[1:13:00] we've done was in Rocky Branch if I'm

[1:13:02] correct about that and I think they was

[1:13:04] three or four

[1:13:06] and because of uh

[1:13:09] bacteria issues and the sampling and

[1:13:12] stuff or maybe too much of one thing in

[1:13:14] it they were the state required them to

[1:13:16] be shut down

[1:13:17] some of the places that we that we could

[1:13:19] possibly look at because we pretty much

[1:13:21] exhausted amongst others would be Blue

[1:13:24] Ridge

[1:13:25] yes but it was the same like Blue Ridge

[1:13:27] is Blue Blue Ridge or something yeah

[1:13:29] correct yeah so that would be we're

[1:13:31] going to look at trying to do some

[1:13:33] wealth I think that's that's where we

[1:13:34] ought to look that went up and spoke

[1:13:36] with Roger Hibbert years ago about the

[1:13:39] board was receptive to it you know

[1:13:41] we'd have to pay them something but I

[1:13:43] just and then they just kind of went

[1:13:45] dormant so and I think that's a lot of

[1:13:48] the problems having the you know the

[1:13:50] land to do it

[1:13:51] um has been part of the issue for the

[1:13:53] town in the past just like the Rocky

[1:13:55] Branch uh we do own that land but we

[1:13:58] can't drill a well there we've drilled

[1:13:59] three or four and none of them's

[1:14:01] produced so I think they run a short

[1:14:03] period of time and then we had to shut

[1:14:04] them down so it was just uh I don't want

[1:14:07] to say wasted money because it's just a

[1:14:09] chance you take but you know it cost a

[1:14:12] lot more during Wales now than it did

[1:14:13] back then so

[1:14:16] but all in all we've got a great system

[1:14:19] um you know as far as technology and

[1:14:22] stuff and being up and current it's just

[1:14:25] uh whales are a logistical thing and you

[1:14:28] know they change you know you just don't

[1:14:30] know how often or how long but they they

[1:14:32] will change so

[1:14:36] um

[1:14:36] but that's the reason that number's so

[1:14:39] high and then getting questions or

[1:14:41] comments or anything I'll be more than

[1:14:43] glad to answer them if I could

[1:14:48] okay thank you thank you yes sir

[1:14:54] all right next item please we can send

[1:14:57] agenda consists of four items this

[1:14:59] evening uh first one being adoption of

[1:15:01] minutes April 6 April 10th April 19th

[1:15:05] and April 26th next you have a budget

[1:15:08] amendment for the nclm RMS safety Grant

[1:15:11] 5c is a budget amendment for the 2023

[1:15:14] Valentine Greenway Challenge and lastly

[1:15:18] is a special Revenue fund excuse me

[1:15:20] special Revenue Grant fund ordinance for

[1:15:23] the Governor's crime commission grant

[1:15:24] for the police department that'll be

[1:15:26] your consent agenda

[1:15:28] I was noticing in there in the minutes

[1:15:30] for the citizen comments we were missing

[1:15:33] one comment and that was from Rick early

[1:15:38] I spoke

[1:15:42] you're on April to April 10th okay yeah

[1:15:44] okay

[1:15:47] yeah that was not in there that was

[1:15:49] about how the Planning Commission had

[1:15:50] made a mistake

[1:15:53] with the zoning request

[1:15:56] thank you

[1:15:59] and

[1:16:01] I'm missing the April 26 minutes I have

[1:16:04] March 29th

[1:16:09] so I would I would recommend that we

[1:16:11] pull that so that we can look at those

[1:16:14] next month how about the April 6th and

[1:16:16] the April 19th

[1:16:18] okay

[1:16:21] that's all that good

[1:16:29] oh good by me

[1:16:35] any other comments on the bed I mean

[1:16:37] I'll be cassette agenda if not do I hear

[1:16:39] a motion

[1:16:43] sumo

[1:16:44] okay any more discussion on it

[1:16:47] not all in favor all right passes

[1:16:57] now we're on unfinished business Josh we

[1:16:59] have a citizen comment section uh

[1:17:04] anybody work to speak to the remaining

[1:17:07] items of each other

[1:17:19] yeah give your name and address please

[1:17:22] if you got three minutes Elizabeth Swann

[1:17:24] 207 gatchel Street uh Josh with

[1:17:27] Recreation and Parks is talking about

[1:17:29] the increased use of the Pavilion and

[1:17:32] the pool and that just reinforces my

[1:17:36] statement about parking because from

[1:17:39] nine to say one o'clock in the afternoon

[1:17:42] seniors are coming in to do their

[1:17:44] activities and to have their lunch and

[1:17:48] parking spaces is very limited when the

[1:17:51] pool is open and some of these

[1:17:54] I won't say elderly older folks or you

[1:17:57] know has some disabilities walking using

[1:18:00] the canes and Walkers so we do need

[1:18:02] additional parking for that area and I

[1:18:06] don't know where it's going to come from

[1:18:07] unless the builders

[1:18:09] up and down so put that on the agenda to

[1:18:14] consider I appreciate it thank you very

[1:18:17] much

[1:18:19] and nobody else has a wish

[1:18:22] as this uh

[1:18:26] yes yes

[1:18:35] Sean Sloan 115 3rd Street Black Mountain

[1:18:40] um I want to comment on the offer that

[1:18:43] the town is considering to sell some

[1:18:45] land

[1:18:46] um

[1:18:47] I've given a lot of thought to

[1:18:50] what's being proposed and I'm basing it

[1:18:53] on what is written in the letter that

[1:18:56] was sent to you outlining the terms

[1:19:00] um

[1:19:01] why are you even entertaining this offer

[1:19:03] it is a half acre of land with front a

[1:19:07] road Frontage on E Street

[1:19:09] with Frontage on the creek it's flat

[1:19:13] and it yes it floods and that's where

[1:19:16] you put parks

[1:19:17] and it's in an underserved neighborhood

[1:19:21] Mr Hayes said lamented last meeting oh

[1:19:25] we'd like to be able to use it for a

[1:19:27] pocket park in the future what's the big

[1:19:30] deal except not having imagination

[1:19:34] wouldn't the community garden serve to

[1:19:37] occupy that space wouldn't the

[1:19:39] neighborhood like to have a pitch of

[1:19:42] grass that the kids can play on and put

[1:19:44] a picnic table next to the creek and

[1:19:46] chain it down so it doesn't get flooded

[1:19:48] I just don't understand it's a public

[1:19:50] good and you're thinking of letting it go for

[1:19:55] nothing

[1:19:56] there's a Greenway proposed to run

[1:20:00] through that Park

[1:20:02] to that property and um

[1:20:05] have you considered the fact that we

[1:20:07] might need parking for the greenway so

[1:20:09] people can get on the greenway

[1:20:12] that people are in the future you know

[1:20:14] if we sell that property and they're

[1:20:17] walking down the greenway and there's a

[1:20:19] fence there or no trespassing signs that

[1:20:22] they're going to look back and they're

[1:20:23] going to say what were they thinking

[1:20:25] this is something that is not a big ask

[1:20:28] to develop into a park it's a public

[1:20:31] good and it's not that big a deal to

[1:20:34] make to give some love to the thing and

[1:20:36] post a sign you know come and play here

[1:20:38] so I think you're way off base in terms

[1:20:41] of even thinking about it to say nothing

[1:20:44] of the fact that the offer for thirty

[1:20:46] five thousand dollars

[1:20:48] is a is and the tax value the market

[1:20:51] value is 86.9 so that's an insult of an

[1:20:54] offer the the Mr Sneed in the past has

[1:20:58] referred to the tax value as a bona fide

[1:21:01] value for the property and so why are we

[1:21:04] entertaining an offer that's

[1:21:06] fraction of what the land is worth I

[1:21:09] don't think you've gotten uh an

[1:21:11] appraisal of it and so we're giving it

[1:21:13] away and we're taking it away for from

[1:21:16] future generations of Park and sure it

[1:21:20] doesn't look good now but clean it up

[1:21:22] you know put grass on there we'll put a

[1:21:25] garden on there or put a blueberry patch

[1:21:27] like the gentleman next door wants to do

[1:21:29] and then it'll be ours and everybody can

[1:21:31] enjoy it instead of putting it in the

[1:21:33] private hands I think this is a

[1:21:36] no-brainer as far as I'm concerned thank

[1:21:39] you

[1:21:42] foreign

[1:22:03] concerns in our last meeting different

[1:22:05] questions came up I know looking at

[1:22:08] research these two specific pieces of

[1:22:09] properties were not female FEMA buyout

[1:22:11] properties these were those were other

[1:22:14] properties actually in that general area

[1:22:17] that were FEMA bio properties not these

[1:22:19] two properties

[1:22:20] it also did include for you on at least

[1:22:22] on the screen so this is a map from the

[1:22:24] flood risk information system from FEMA

[1:22:27] and North Carolina emergency management

[1:22:28] which shows you the flood plain in the

[1:22:31] area the floodway

[1:22:32] so this whole whole area is encumbent

[1:22:35] obviously about flood water when we do

[1:22:38] have extensive rainfall amounts can you

[1:22:40] with your cursor show where

[1:22:43] oh

[1:22:45] whereabout that would be

[1:22:49] the property a veteran in this area

[1:22:53] it's right in the corner if that's the

[1:22:55] road right there it says right in that

[1:22:57] corner yeah right here

[1:23:01] this is the house on the other side of

[1:23:02] the river on Factory

[1:23:05] and can you talk a little bit about the

[1:23:07] difference between a floodway and a

[1:23:08] flood zone and what that means for um it

[1:23:11] typically means you cannot build

[1:23:12] anything in it you cannot have a rise in

[1:23:14] any kind of flood waters um

[1:23:17] It's just tough to build anything in the

[1:23:19] floodway

[1:23:20] the source of floating that is in the

[1:23:22] blue that's your aeson which is your 100

[1:23:24] Year foot plane you have to build to a

[1:23:27] certain base flood elevation over what

[1:23:30] that would be it would require a survey

[1:23:31] to shoot that AMC but if it's not two

[1:23:34] feet what's that I said we have an

[1:23:36] ordinance whether it's two features

[1:23:38] that's correct BFE so if it was 900

[1:23:41] figured out the building at 92.

[1:23:43] at the base of the house

[1:23:45] it's buildable but it's just

[1:23:49] it's not as straightforward

[1:23:54] and maybe even mistaken so maybe you can

[1:23:56] correct me I believe that all of the

[1:23:58] property in question is within the flood

[1:24:00] way not not to flood zone

[1:24:04] um I don't know that I could correct you

[1:24:07] or confirm that council member hay does

[1:24:10] a stream run up the middle of the heart

[1:24:12] like the diagonal line typically okay

[1:24:14] then it's in the flood boy

[1:24:34] Josh tell us about the process I'm sorry

[1:24:36] the allergies are getting together

[1:24:39] process you're talking about if you

[1:24:42] decide if we were to decide to move

[1:24:45] forward and that offer is not the amount

[1:24:47] it's not a final offer there will be

[1:24:49] opportunities for upset hits things of

[1:24:52] that nature will just follow what the

[1:24:53] general statute tells us such a couple

[1:24:55] of different options the one coming to

[1:24:57] my mind is upset bid so if you decide to

[1:25:00] take that offer then we'd post that

[1:25:02] someone has a chance to upset that bed

[1:25:05] together I think you give a week

[1:25:07] at a time how that works

[1:25:10] 10 days 10 days

[1:25:14] foreign

[1:25:21] Josh uh

[1:25:24] I think I know the answer to this based

[1:25:27] on a conversation you and I had we

[1:25:30] haven't the town

[1:25:33] hasn't had this property uh

[1:25:38] hadn't had an appraisal done correct yes

[1:25:41] sir or

[1:25:42] a broker opinion on value that's our

[1:25:46] keys it was that's right

[1:25:51] Mr slope said the tax value for both

[1:25:53] pieces together is around 80. 161 and I

[1:25:57] think once just short of I guess just

[1:25:59] over 20 but

[1:26:05] well by I mean from going and looking at

[1:26:08] it

[1:26:10] um

[1:26:14] it's a pretty rough piece of property uh

[1:26:17] I think it floods a lot constantly and

[1:26:21] you know

[1:26:22] if you

[1:26:24] put a playground in there I think you'd

[1:26:26] be replacing a playground pretty

[1:26:28] constantly I mean I don't know but I

[1:26:31] would be

[1:26:33] interested and I would feel more

[1:26:36] I'm not opposed to the idea but I'd feel

[1:26:39] more comfortable

[1:26:40] having some

[1:26:42] better idea from a third party value

[1:26:46] as to whether or not I mean this could

[1:26:49] be the top price I don't know I have no

[1:26:52] idea

[1:26:53] that's building

[1:26:56] discomfort that I happened

[1:27:00] you putting forth an idea that maybe we

[1:27:02] need to go ahead and get it to raise

[1:27:04] them before we continue on well I mean I

[1:27:08] think our choices are an appraisal which

[1:27:10] would probably cost you about a thousand

[1:27:13] bucks maybe or you're also going to get

[1:27:16] a broker opinion on value which might be

[1:27:19] two or three hundred bucks and that's

[1:27:20] not as fancy

[1:27:23] um

[1:27:26] but

[1:27:29] for my mind I mean I'd be happy with the

[1:27:31] broker opinion on value experience

[1:27:35] real estate broker and say here's what I

[1:27:37] think it's worth and they use a pretty

[1:27:39] good idea

[1:27:45] I'll just tell you the concern I have

[1:27:47] but maybe you all can address

[1:27:51] is its wooded piece of property right

[1:27:54] now so for any of these alternate uses

[1:27:56] and I am a big fan of pocket Parks don't

[1:27:58] get me wrong I would have loved to do it

[1:28:00] but

[1:28:01] you're going to have to cut down some

[1:28:03] trees and then then the flooding

[1:28:06] problems are even worse

[1:28:08] and since we keep preparing Veterans

[1:28:10] Park and Flat Creek I'm just concerned

[1:28:15] about creating another liability that

[1:28:17] we're going to have to keep repairing

[1:28:19] going forward

[1:28:21] um

[1:28:23] I was able to research a little bit and

[1:28:25] find some video previous floods down

[1:28:28] there

[1:28:29] and oh my goodness we're not talking

[1:28:30] about a few inches of water we're

[1:28:33] talking about raging torrents that went

[1:28:36] it's very very deep and very very wide

[1:28:39] so um

[1:28:42] I'll just you know I'm just putting out

[1:28:44] my concerns and if maybe you all are

[1:28:46] free thought all that through and have

[1:28:48] answers about that I'd be glad to hear

[1:28:50] it

[1:28:55] I think I spent a lot of time thinking

[1:28:56] about this and uh

[1:28:58] was able to walk to Parker or not the

[1:29:01] property over the weekend

[1:29:03] um and I mean as other people have said

[1:29:05] it's uh it is in quite disrepair at the

[1:29:08] moment uh and it's hard to even imagine

[1:29:10] with the amount of flood damage uh

[1:29:13] that's in the existing park right now or

[1:29:16] existing property right now that a park

[1:29:19] would even be feasible

[1:29:21] um

[1:29:22] I still have a

[1:29:25] strong concern over just the idea of

[1:29:29] even selling a piece of land that the

[1:29:31] town owns um

[1:29:32] you know regardless whether we're using

[1:29:34] it at the park I think the comprehensive

[1:29:36] plan outlined a need for additional

[1:29:38] Green Space and trees and you know

[1:29:41] thinking about preserving some of that land feels uh feels important to me

[1:29:47] um

[1:29:48] as you said Pam right now it's trees and

[1:29:51] that acts as a buffer if we were to sell

[1:29:53] it then we wouldn't have any control

[1:29:54] over what the next person could do with

[1:29:57] it I know that Mr um

[1:30:00] Alexander Alexander

[1:30:02] um you know his vision for it sounds

[1:30:04] great and and sounds like a much better

[1:30:07] use for the property than than it is

[1:30:09] right now

[1:30:10] um my fear is though that you know what

[1:30:12] happens next and and um and so even if

[1:30:15] we did nothing with it even if we didn't

[1:30:16] turn it into a pocket park I wonder if

[1:30:19] that's better than 10 years from now

[1:30:20] seeing it seeing it uh clear-cut and and

[1:30:24] you know use for something else

[1:30:30] there is the uh the kind of question

[1:30:32] mark around the greenway that Mr

[1:30:34] Alexander has the easement for the

[1:30:37] greenway

[1:30:37] um through uh I guess it would come up

[1:30:40] through

[1:30:41] Vice mayor's property if we were to

[1:30:44] follow the current plan I would come up

[1:30:46] with the investigative property and then

[1:30:47] from Australia's English property and

[1:30:49] then into this property that we already

[1:30:50] own and so we don't need an easement for

[1:30:52] property we already own but whether or

[1:30:54] not he would be um

[1:30:56] willing to still give us an easement for his current property uh it's I guess

[1:31:02] a question

[1:31:03] that I don't have an answer to you know

[1:31:05] so it's nice to think that we could have

[1:31:07] that he's been on the way all the way up

[1:31:08] although if it floods as much as as

[1:31:10] we've all kind of seen and done research

[1:31:12] on I wonder how reasonable it is to

[1:31:15] think that we could have a Greenway there that it doesn't get

[1:31:18] washed out every couple of years anyway

[1:31:23] and would it be worth looking at that

[1:31:24] feasibility

[1:31:26] as we consider this property I mean

[1:31:29] would would that Greenway

[1:31:32] I mean would that even be an option or

[1:31:34] if calculating into a decision because I

[1:31:36] think that's kind of my top priority

[1:31:38] with this property is is the way that

[1:31:40] this could Extend A Flat Creek Greenway

[1:31:42] and

[1:31:43] um

[1:31:46] so

[1:31:49] I don't know that we have that answer

[1:31:51] without without doing more research on

[1:31:53] it

[1:31:54] I think I think the concerns are well

[1:31:56] stated

[1:31:57] tonight

[1:32:00] so we've worked Bill about his concerns

[1:32:02] on the value of it and of course then

[1:32:04] Doug just what he just gave um

[1:32:06] and that we could you know ask the

[1:32:09] gentleman

[1:32:11] people right away across his existing

[1:32:13] property

[1:32:14] as possible

[1:32:15] it's part of the contingency by this I

[1:32:19] believe he he shared a letter I think I

[1:32:22] saw somewhere that uh that said that if he were to purchase the property then

[1:32:26] he would yeah I get right away right across this

[1:32:30] is

[1:32:35] in the letter that's the only reason I'm

[1:32:37] saying

[1:32:40] so so absolutely so we've got a chance

[1:32:43] for that so that's not a so as far as

[1:32:45] the greenway guys The Greenway looks to

[1:32:47] be taken care of it well I mean he's

[1:32:51] offering this if we sell the property I

[1:32:53] think this is ability right I mean

[1:32:56] I can't speak to the velocity of the

[1:32:59] water coming through when it floods I

[1:33:01] mean there's a big difference between

[1:33:02] you know a gentle soaking of water a

[1:33:05] versus rushing

[1:33:08] but I I guess if he

[1:33:11] is willing to give and he's I mean he

[1:33:15] spent whether we ever use it or not if

[1:33:17] he gets it

[1:33:18] it's secured

[1:33:21] um whether you actually want it or it's

[1:33:23] been usable right it is

[1:33:27] so what I'm hearing good is that the

[1:33:30] right away seems to be taken care of as

[1:33:32] far as just actually having to be right

[1:33:34] away the value of the property seems to

[1:33:37] be in question if you're interested

[1:33:38] astronaut

[1:33:42] I'm happy to do either

[1:33:44] y'all would like to do

[1:33:48] it sounds like really important ready to

[1:33:51] act is that pretty much correct is that

[1:33:53] if we follow that and get the Brokers is

[1:33:55] there anything else we need to look into

[1:33:57] before the next meeting then

[1:34:01] I would be curious

[1:34:03] um

[1:34:04] before we were to get a praise if

[1:34:07] there's consensus or interest in

[1:34:10] actually if say the value came back at

[1:34:13] 50 000 or whatever we were interested in

[1:34:15] selling it at that point there

[1:34:17] yeah

[1:34:18] to me it's the value the money we get

[1:34:21] out of it's not the determining Factor

[1:34:23] as much whether it's 35 or 15. I mean

[1:34:26] it's money I get it but um

[1:34:30] I think your argument was persuasive

[1:34:32] about even if we never do anything to it

[1:34:34] we still own it

[1:34:38] I found that um to be

[1:34:41] really persuasive to me

[1:34:47] well is zero motion

[1:34:50] should put this to bed one way or the

[1:34:52] other

[1:34:54] I would move to uh

[1:34:56] do not

[1:34:58] entertain the selling of this property

[1:35:00] and thank Mr Alexander for the offer and again it's nothing against his idea

[1:35:06] and proposal I think it's great but I

[1:35:08] think

[1:35:09] okay so that's a form of emotion yes

[1:35:11] okay

[1:35:12] any more discussion

[1:35:15] all right all in favor of selling the

[1:35:18] property

[1:35:20] you know just all in all along

[1:35:26] getting corn fused

[1:35:29] so all those that they were not selling

[1:35:31] the property

[1:35:33] well should we do the motion of selling

[1:35:36] it and then I can vote no is that what

[1:35:38] we should do

[1:35:39] no motion to reject the other motion

[1:35:44] you make that much I'd make that that

[1:35:47] motion all in favor of that motion all

[1:35:49] right opposed

[1:35:54] all right next is the storm water

[1:36:01] management utility Enterprise fund you

[1:36:04] know call up our finance director Tammy

[1:36:05] Holland to lead us through this

[1:36:09] things

[1:36:17] mayor board we are

[1:36:20] um presenting

[1:36:21] amendments to the school and water

[1:36:23] ordinance

[1:36:25] um there is a lot of

[1:36:28] red striking I'm sure that you saw from

[1:36:31] the attorneys previous ordinance where

[1:36:34] we made changes

[1:36:36] a lot of those changes were just in the

[1:36:39] flow of of the ordinance in itself

[1:36:41] that's why there was so many

[1:36:44] um the major part of the ordinance

[1:36:48] um that I wanted to make sure that you

[1:36:50] were aware of was the changing of the

[1:36:53] collection and the billing of the

[1:36:55] stormwater fees

[1:36:57] with the ordinance the storm water

[1:37:00] utility fees would be assessed monthly

[1:37:02] instead of yearly

[1:37:04] the billing and collection of the

[1:37:05] charges and fees related to storm water

[1:37:08] would be administered by myself the

[1:37:10] finance director

[1:37:12] the stormwater charges will be billed to

[1:37:15] the customer receiving the service

[1:37:17] currently they are all billed to the

[1:37:20] property owner

[1:37:22] um with this change they would be to

[1:37:25] whoever is regarding at that property if

[1:37:28] the person that is um if there is not a

[1:37:33] utility service there if they don't have

[1:37:35] water and sewer to us then it would be

[1:37:37] billed to the property owner and that

[1:37:40] would be able to be billed at a monthly

[1:37:42] service rate also through the Utility

[1:37:44] Billing System

[1:37:47] um

[1:37:49] the uh when the charges if someone pays

[1:37:54] um less than the payment is due on our

[1:37:56] utility bill the payments would be

[1:37:58] applied first to the delinquent

[1:38:00] stormwater fees then to the delinquents

[1:38:03] Water and Sewer fees then the current

[1:38:06] stormwater fees then the current water

[1:38:09] and sewer charges

[1:38:11] the disconnection of utility service

[1:38:13] resulting from unpaid fees and charges

[1:38:15] will be handled

[1:38:17] um according to our current Utility

[1:38:19] Billing policy and procedures

[1:38:22] stormwater charges are the subject to

[1:38:25] the phase penalties and collection

[1:38:26] methods outlined in our utility billing

[1:38:29] process

[1:38:30] that we currently use

[1:38:32] that is the major changes I believe in

[1:38:36] the ordinance and ranking

[1:38:39] yeah it's it looks like a lot of change

[1:38:41] but the real change is the small part of

[1:38:44] the building collection

[1:38:48] is there any

[1:38:50] questions comments so it would be build

[1:38:53] monthly yes

[1:38:56] it's done monthly

[1:38:59] um if if the customer does not have a

[1:39:02] utility bill they're welcome to pay the

[1:39:04] whole amount and we just use that credit

[1:39:07] right and to offset that charge each

[1:39:09] month

[1:39:11] um it will like if they have a 72 dollar

[1:39:14] storm water bill then it's gonna be six

[1:39:16] dollars a month on their water bill

[1:39:19] so hopefully it would help

[1:39:22] some of the financial burden that people

[1:39:24] have and they will also be subject to if

[1:39:26] they need financial assistance they're

[1:39:29] able to uh to reach out to sources for

[1:39:32] that which they currently cannot do with

[1:39:34] the stormwater charged separately

[1:39:37] explain that a little bit more details

[1:39:39] so

[1:39:40] um there is non-profit organizations

[1:39:43] that help customers with their utility

[1:39:45] bill if they have a financial hardship

[1:39:47] with the storm water bill is built on

[1:39:51] the utility bill then those agencies

[1:39:54] would also help pay that stormwater Bill

[1:39:55] if the customers reached out

[1:39:59] this original order was passed what that

[1:40:02] thing here May 11 2020. sounds right so

[1:40:08] that's been about two years three years

[1:40:11] yeah 21. okay and when we started when

[1:40:14] we started building the stormwater fees

[1:40:18] um

[1:40:19] we did not have a way to add the

[1:40:22] stormwater fees to our utility

[1:40:24] program at the time because we've

[1:40:27] changed softwares now we have that

[1:40:28] ability

[1:40:30] and I will tell you that researching it

[1:40:32] the school of government did

[1:40:36] a study and 60 percent of the

[1:40:39] municipalities charged stormwater fees

[1:40:42] on the utility bills

[1:40:44] um 20 20 odd percent did it on property

[1:40:49] tax bills

[1:40:50] and then you had about 10 percent that

[1:40:53] was standalone

[1:40:54] and those 10 that were Standalone they

[1:40:57] were mostly municipalities that did not

[1:41:00] have a were not able to Bill utilities

[1:41:04] or their taxes they were done by

[1:41:06] probably the county so they did not have

[1:41:09] a way to attach those bills to those the

[1:41:12] stormwater bills to those existing bills

[1:41:17] I just just reading through this because

[1:41:20] this was passed before I was on the

[1:41:21] board here

[1:41:23] it says all developed land in the town

[1:41:25] where the public proprietor should be

[1:41:26] subject I mean subjected to a storm

[1:41:28] water service charge set up a Town

[1:41:30] Council and then we look over here and

[1:41:33] we see tier four and tier four says each

[1:41:36] partial own but the title black mountain

[1:41:38] state of North Carolina or the United

[1:41:39] States of America

[1:41:41] oh

[1:41:42] why would it even be in there

[1:41:44] because the legislature said so

[1:41:48] yeah we can't we can't we can't charge

[1:41:52] this we can't charge the state we can't

[1:41:54] charge the feds and to charge ourselves

[1:41:57] if we take that out of our right hand

[1:41:58] pocket put it or left yeah but the state

[1:42:00] and feds are Exempted whether we like it

[1:42:02] or not and so we're calling this this is this is a thing

[1:42:06] it's a utility team so it's a utility

[1:42:09] piece so all the different private uh

[1:42:12] non-profit organizations well patients

[1:42:15] also have to have to pay that's correct okay uh how much isn't

[1:42:20] the fun now

[1:42:24] so you know

[1:42:27] the first year we got 350 000 okay now

[1:42:30] that's not in the fund that pays for

[1:42:32] salaries it pays for

[1:42:33] Insurance it pays for materials so that

[1:42:36] whole budget information we have one

[1:42:38] full-time employee however there are

[1:42:41] many other employees that get their

[1:42:43] salaries allocated to that department

[1:42:45] because they do storm water work like

[1:42:46] Jamie's crew cleaning out storm drains

[1:42:49] picking up leads we have to record all

[1:42:51] that information and send it to the

[1:42:52] state every bit of it so could you give

[1:42:55] me a copy of that how that's broken down

[1:43:00] I'm sorry to interrupt um so in 22 we

[1:43:04] had approximately 10 percent

[1:43:06] um of the stormwater bills that were

[1:43:08] unpaid that was about forty thousand so

[1:43:10] far this year we have about 30 percent

[1:43:12] that's unpaid about 108 000. so we have

[1:43:16] a total of 148 000 unpaid stormwater

[1:43:19] fees and we have no way to really

[1:43:24] um collect those because there's no recourse if people do not pay

[1:43:29] currently

[1:43:31] um

[1:43:34] well yeah we can eventually but

[1:43:38] um

[1:43:39] it's sort of we can't say well we're

[1:43:40] going to cut off your storm water we

[1:43:42] can't stop it from raining so

[1:43:46] um there's if we send it to collections

[1:43:48] I mean

[1:43:51] a lot of them also we can't send it to

[1:43:53] collections unless the Bill's over fifty

[1:43:55] dollars

[1:43:56] so

[1:43:57] um you also have the fees associated

[1:43:59] with that on top you know

[1:44:02] the staff's time of having to do all

[1:44:06] that could you explain then that D part

[1:44:09] the combined utility bill built because

[1:44:12] it sounds like from what what I read it

[1:44:14] that the first amount of money that

[1:44:16] anyone pay would go towards their

[1:44:18] delinquent fee so and so that would mean

[1:44:21] then that if they did want to pay their six dollars they would still it

[1:44:26] would probably be six dollars short on

[1:44:28] their water bills

[1:44:31] is that that way that's the way it reads

[1:44:35] that's correct

[1:44:35] [Applause]

[1:44:38] so that's sort of giving us the um the

[1:44:41] utility service because we can

[1:44:43] disconnect the water we can't disconnect

[1:44:45] storm water but

[1:44:47] um but now that that's going to be built

[1:44:49] on all the same bill we can disconnect

[1:44:51] for that yes that's what I would hope

[1:44:54] that sometimes we would look at this fee

[1:44:56] especially considering how much money

[1:44:58] that we got

[1:44:59] especially professionally coming here

[1:45:00] that's for one project Mr

[1:45:03] system but that 5.4 million dollars is

[1:45:06] one project

[1:45:07] it was it's big money but it came with

[1:45:10] strings

[1:45:11] we're not just sitting there sitting on

[1:45:15] that money one um one other thing is

[1:45:18] that it's got here that uh

[1:45:20] the plane director should prepare a

[1:45:23] storm water credit incentive manual

[1:45:24] setting forward the appropriate credit

[1:45:26] applications process though to build a

[1:45:27] criteria extended upon which such

[1:45:29] credits are given after we do we have

[1:45:31] that we do not have that ready yet we

[1:45:33] are working on that

[1:45:35] just put forward it's not immediate with

[1:45:38] the rest of it

[1:45:39] understanding we need to collect a

[1:45:42] couple years of data before there was a

[1:45:44] means of coming up with a formula of how

[1:45:46] to credit somebody if they put in say

[1:45:48] devices that control storm water just

[1:45:51] didn't have the information to create

[1:45:52] that formula yet

[1:45:54] so so at some point in the future that

[1:45:56] we're going to be debating that and we

[1:45:58] could be debating some other stuff too

[1:45:59] like folks that put in a rain Garden are

[1:46:02] still being charged seven to two dollars

[1:46:04] yet yet they've got to pay each year or

[1:46:08] every other every third year to have it

[1:46:11] that's correct tense manual that's

[1:46:12] correct which is by law that's not

[1:46:14] something we created

[1:46:20] so as proposed we have the room to

[1:46:22] explore that Nuance down the road once staff has enough information to

[1:46:28] start presenting you with a formula and

[1:46:30] you can look at those difference

[1:46:33] control devices and see what effect

[1:46:35] they're having yeah how much benefits

[1:46:37] your system that's stormwater utility

[1:46:39] doesn't just pay for keeping the water

[1:46:41] clean push the devices do uh it's a it's

[1:46:45] a matter of everything in our storm

[1:46:47] water completely drainage conveyances

[1:46:49] and everything

[1:46:50] did this go in front of the planner

[1:46:52] board for them to talk about no sir no

[1:46:55] sir

[1:46:58] it's not required to so we did not say

[1:47:00] anything

[1:47:03] I mean they're they're recommending

[1:47:05] board to this to this Council they are I

[1:47:08] think for them to this is

[1:47:13] this was not done when there were many meetings and a huge amount of

[1:47:17] discussion and many reports and studies

[1:47:20] it was not well

[1:47:24] this particular issue here I I think it

[1:47:27] makes a lot of sense it makes it a lot

[1:47:29] easier and

[1:47:31] will streamline it if I'm not mistaken

[1:47:34] we we

[1:47:37] constructed like several months ago to

[1:47:40] make this shift from

[1:47:43] to monthly so this is just implementing

[1:47:45] what we discussed it has to be approved

[1:47:47] by the board please

[1:47:51] as long as we're here can I ask a

[1:47:53] question I'm not sure if it's you

[1:47:55] but in the tier system

[1:47:59] does the same does a little business say

[1:48:02] downtown pay the same rate as say a

[1:48:05] giant structures they angles

[1:48:09] so which

[1:48:10] where do they evolve

[1:48:16] your large places like Ingles or a big

[1:48:18] strip mall development falls into that

[1:48:20] um to that higher category which is more

[1:48:23] than your your bank or your dentist

[1:48:25] office

[1:48:32] yeah Industrial

[1:48:34] heavy industrial including

[1:48:36] asphalt lining warehousing and

[1:48:39] processing facilities that includes

[1:48:40] angles grocery store no I'm not talking

[1:48:43] about the Distribution Center the

[1:48:44] grocery store

[1:48:46] it used to say

[1:48:49] um it would have the like strip malls

[1:48:52] style large

[1:48:54] retail large retail development

[1:48:58] they have a bit distorted didn't assess

[1:49:01] that higher rate

[1:49:03] I guess I just didn't see retail in here

[1:49:05] it was all about asphalt and lining

[1:49:10] is retail established

[1:49:13] right tier two would be more like a

[1:49:15] little downtown places right yes

[1:49:24] you can make that text move around like

[1:49:26] the Ingalls has been assessed the larger

[1:49:28] rate instead had all those larger strip

[1:49:29] malls there are five or seven of them I

[1:49:32] can think of all time that have been

[1:49:34] assessed and made that higher rate well

[1:49:36] I just wondered because I've been asked

[1:49:38] and um I want to make sure we weren't

[1:49:40] charging we'll see if you store downtown

[1:49:41] the same as yeah

[1:49:47] it's a little Charming sports that's

[1:49:49] what I know

[1:49:52] they are

[1:50:00] we we will clear up the language in that

[1:50:03] um in the motion for this if you want

[1:50:06] that it's an easy thing to do I also

[1:50:08] wanted to check about a date effective

[1:50:11] for this

[1:50:13] May 11th 2020 was the just acknowledging

[1:50:16] that we needed to have a stormwater

[1:50:18] program

[1:50:21] well isn't it January 1 2024 the new

[1:50:26] you know that question about um

[1:50:29] starting monthly that we would have an

[1:50:31] interim period

[1:50:33] between now and when this becomes

[1:50:35] affected where we send out another round

[1:50:38] of final final for really like amnesty

[1:50:42] period uh anything that is over fifty

[1:50:45] dollars

[1:50:46] um to or actually for everybody I'm

[1:50:48] sorry hundreds of dollars for everybody

[1:50:50] to try to see people who can catch up

[1:50:52] before the this all becomes effective

[1:50:56] we have been gearing up for that so we

[1:50:59] were hoping for it I think we're going

[1:51:00] to discussed a date effective

[1:51:02] um sometime between now and August 20 60

[1:51:06] days

[1:51:08] um for people to get called up for this

[1:51:11] prospective

[1:51:14] so if we add something to the motion

[1:51:17] like retail over a certain square

[1:51:20] footage is that appropriate I would do

[1:51:23] we do descriptors of like strip mall

[1:51:25] development

[1:51:27] um big box there's this or more helpful

[1:51:30] okay to tierify

[1:51:40] so if if someone is behind on their

[1:51:43] payments now when this goes into effect

[1:51:46] if that whatever their they owe will be

[1:51:49] on that next utility bill so if they

[1:51:51] haven't paid the 70. 72 and that will be

[1:51:54] added to their first utility bills we

[1:51:56] make an add it but we wouldn't be able

[1:51:58] to disconnect the water services because

[1:52:00] of it because this is happening after

[1:52:03] okay so none of the

[1:52:06] okay they could go to collection they

[1:52:08] can still go to collections but we

[1:52:10] wouldn't be able to follow

[1:52:12] their their payment coming in being

[1:52:14] applied to that first rule on those so

[1:52:17] what two months three months

[1:52:20] something like that before that one kick

[1:52:22] in

[1:52:24] yes and so it's it's gonna look me now

[1:52:27] so into July versus August the date

[1:52:30] affected would be and what are the the

[1:52:33] five uh charges for tier one three five

[1:52:37] tier one sorry the costs yeah the tier

[1:52:42] one is 72 dollars tier two is 240 and

[1:52:45] you have

[1:52:47] um undeveloped which is nothing and you

[1:52:49] have certain categories that represent

[1:52:50] those places that we cannot compel

[1:52:52] payment and then you have the the more

[1:52:55] intense reason that's

[1:52:57] well what is it

[1:53:00] it's 1200 a year

[1:53:05] and that's part of our budget right

[1:53:09] so that that's in the fee schedule and

[1:53:11] it's been the same since it was starting

[1:53:14] but so this next billing cycle for the

[1:53:17] utility bill will it starts when August that's what we've been sending

[1:53:23] them out okay the new ones have been

[1:53:25] going out in August okay

[1:53:29] yeah

[1:53:30] so if we pass it today you're asking for

[1:53:33] the grace period you're gonna pass it

[1:53:34] today next month's bill wouldn't have

[1:53:36] the six dollars that's right okay

[1:53:39] thank you we originally tried to follow

[1:53:41] like the tax schedule because we were

[1:53:43] running on a calendar year and now we

[1:53:45] will be able to run to August and then

[1:53:47] that won't matter anymore

[1:53:54] questions

[1:53:56] your emotion I just died

[1:54:05] I move we approve and it's presented

[1:54:12] or any more discussion

[1:54:14] we could add the language around a large

[1:54:17] hotel as amended

[1:54:21] and are we putting in this 60-day

[1:54:23] amnesty period to

[1:54:24] does that become part of this document

[1:54:26] as well maybe become effective

[1:54:28] it's

[1:54:32] the I don't think this bill is just a

[1:54:35] drastic amending it the 60-day grace

[1:54:37] period is basically what staff have had

[1:54:40] apparently we've been sit on the board

[1:54:41] is going to get people so we can get

[1:54:43] those past dudes caught up that I

[1:54:46] haven't got a collection

[1:54:47] [Music]

[1:55:03] so that's what's

[1:55:05] on the motion also

[1:55:08] any more discussion

[1:55:10] I'm David

[1:55:14] all right next

[1:55:24] item will be the bill of Honor Parade

[1:55:26] Kiwanis Club of Black Mountain just want

[1:55:28] to know uh and I have

[1:55:30] a few folks here that want to talk to

[1:55:32] Mandy please come up

[1:55:35] and address mayor and Council

[1:55:49] I'm Lynn deese uh 127 Fairway Drive and

[1:55:53] current president of Black Mountain

[1:55:54] Swannanoa Kiwanis Club we are sponsoring

[1:55:58] a field of Honor in September first time

[1:56:02] we've tried this community project and

[1:56:05] it's been very successful in other

[1:56:07] places we are working with a non-profit

[1:56:10] Colonial Flag Foundation to get

[1:56:15] 103 by five foot flags on eight foot

[1:56:19] poles flagstaffs and they'll be up in

[1:56:21] the lot between the Methodist Church and

[1:56:24] harwood's home funerals

[1:56:26] so it'll be right in the center of town

[1:56:29] we would like to have a parade for the

[1:56:32] kickoff uh opening session of it which

[1:56:36] will be September 11th and this um

[1:56:39] Colonial Flag Foundation was founded

[1:56:41] because they wanted to honor the uh

[1:56:44] victims of September 11. when the

[1:56:47] terrorist bombed the brought down the

[1:56:49] towers in New York so this has been

[1:56:51] going on for about 20 years and we want

[1:56:53] to bring this here it will be uh we'll

[1:56:56] be honoring all of our veterans living

[1:56:59] or dead active duty military First

[1:57:02] Responders including police and fire and

[1:57:05] EMS

[1:57:06] uh with with Flack anybody who wants to

[1:57:09] get a flag for someone that they'd like

[1:57:11] to honor and we need permission to have

[1:57:14] a parade from

[1:57:17] um Tractor Supply down to the lot there

[1:57:21] at Harwood home for funerals

[1:57:25] I think you have a letter

[1:57:27] from from us

[1:57:30] you just remind the board real quick if the board decides they want to go

[1:57:34] through this we staff will put together

[1:57:36] essentially an ordinance that we need to

[1:57:39] send to dot for them to bless they have

[1:57:40] to look over it and make sure they're

[1:57:42] okay with it and then it would and that

[1:57:44] would be I think you have to give 60

[1:57:46] days to them to do that so that would

[1:57:48] give us enough time for them to comment

[1:57:51] but we really we don't know what they're

[1:57:53] going to say until we submit it to them

[1:57:54] so

[1:57:55] I moved it we go ahead and approve this

[1:57:57] request

[1:57:59] very good any discussion

[1:58:03] thank you thank you my only suggestion

[1:58:05] is

[1:58:06] perhaps before traffic's really bad oh

[1:58:09] we are we're looking at one o'clock

[1:58:11] because we will get some of our uh

[1:58:13] student uh service leadership programs

[1:58:15] at Kawana sponsors and schools involved

[1:58:17] with Owen High and elements Elementary

[1:58:20] School and yeah

[1:58:26] I'm not seeing any other discussion all

[1:58:29] in favor all right opposed very good

[1:58:32] thank you good project thank you

[1:58:40] next item is our public hearing a public

[1:58:43] hearing for voluntary annexation for a

[1:58:45] portion of property owned by events and

[1:58:46] maybe Snelling for this

[1:58:49] that's 23 opening

[1:59:00] we got some Republican okay so um we're

[1:59:03] gonna be talking about two things back

[1:59:05] to back I don't want to confuse them and

[1:59:07] there's a lot of potential for legal

[1:59:09] jargon to happen I'm going to try to

[1:59:10] steer clear of it

[1:59:12] um

[1:59:13] so the annexation is the area that is in

[1:59:16] blue it is about 1.36 acres and the

[1:59:21] parent parcel is 8.41 Acres it's a North

[1:59:25] Fork Road and you see in Holly Avenue

[1:59:26] right there

[1:59:28] um and so the rest of it is out in the

[1:59:30] county and the applicant wishes for this

[1:59:32] lower section

[1:59:34] um to be holy within the town limits

[1:59:37] just like the little triangle funny part

[1:59:39] at the top is in town limits how the

[1:59:41] town limit line came to be at this angle

[1:59:44] I don't know the answer to that

[1:59:46] um but that that diagonal line does

[1:59:49] create some an odd little configuration

[1:59:52] there that they're seeking to rectify

[1:59:55] um you will see that there are three

[1:59:57] lots proposed there

[1:59:59] um don't let that that's not up for

[2:00:02] approval that's not something that can

[2:00:04] be considered in your vote for

[2:00:07] annexation or zoning decision

[2:00:10] um

[2:00:11] so the applicant

[2:00:14] um like Josh said events and Libby

[2:00:16] Snelling um they made these they've

[2:00:18] submitted this application went to

[2:00:19] planning board planning board does not

[2:00:20] make a vote on annexation they just make

[2:00:22] comment and they felt that this was a

[2:00:24] reasonable thing um for you all to

[2:00:26] consider I did once yeah

[2:00:29] I was confused because the resigning

[2:00:31] worksheets blank from the zone

[2:00:34] that's it's the where we're doing

[2:00:36] annexation it's okay but

[2:00:41] all right step one annexation

[2:00:45] same questions

[2:00:49] yeah it's y'all that's y'all's to fill

[2:00:50] out

[2:00:52] so I just want to point out that elevate

[2:00:54] Black Mountain our comprehensive plan

[2:00:55] does provide guidance for criteria when

[2:00:57] you're talking about other service

[2:00:59] extensions or um annexation criteria

[2:01:02] um I think there are nine of those there

[2:01:03] are three that are most relevant to this

[2:01:05] particular application and that is that

[2:01:08] it aligns with the comprehensive plan

[2:01:09] and the future land use map of the

[2:01:11] mountain residential area which is

[2:01:12] primarily residential in nature the

[2:01:16] proposed area makes for more contiguous

[2:01:18] and reasonable Town limits which I would

[2:01:20] argue that currently or not either of

[2:01:22] those things

[2:01:23] um and the Newtown boundary is um more

[2:01:25] logical

[2:01:27] um and that it is also contiguous

[2:01:29] obviously to the existing this is not a

[2:01:31] satellite annexation

[2:01:32] so those three criteria fully met

[2:01:35] um with within this request

[2:01:40] that's it the lots that are on the left

[2:01:43] side of the road those I would assumed

[2:01:46] were in the county

[2:01:48] at some previous point

[2:01:50] the federal examiners have probably now

[2:01:53] it was brought into the town like

[2:01:55] they're asking here probably at some

[2:01:57] previous point don't know where

[2:02:08] I didn't make any more questions

[2:02:12] just give me some quickly speak to the

[2:02:14] benefits of connecting property

[2:02:17] well when you again zoning control of

[2:02:20] that property that you are making it

[2:02:22] more consistent with the town limits

[2:02:24] that it is surrounded by I don't want to

[2:02:28] go into those those lists of things on

[2:02:31] how they're different quite yet

[2:02:33] um but you do gain control of that that

[2:02:35] regulatory sense whereas you do not have

[2:02:36] control of that now

[2:02:39] um and certainly any sort of minor tax

[2:02:41] base that would you know come from a

[2:02:43] couple of houses that had potential to

[2:02:44] be built there

[2:02:50] primarily those dogs can't build on that

[2:02:52] honestly it's 81.

[2:02:54] they might be able to reduce and get two

[2:02:56] lots of it we all shared will but

[2:03:00] otherwise they couldn't tap on to Black

[2:03:03] Mountain Water

[2:03:05] not necessarily so anyways

[2:03:10] if you walk down water and you're

[2:03:12] outside of town you have to ask to be

[2:03:14] annexed the town can still decide not

[2:03:17] the annex can still provide count water

[2:03:19] I think there's also an exception for

[2:03:20] single family houses

[2:03:22] for requested and frantics you could

[2:03:24] have out of town service and not be in

[2:03:26] town limits if you're a single family

[2:03:28] residence on the Water Service

[2:03:31] let me just charge out down right that's

[2:03:33] right

[2:03:35] so they could tap on there is water and

[2:03:37] Public Utilities in this area

[2:03:42] so you're gaining 1.36 acres for the

[2:03:44] town of the black mountains jurisdiction

[2:03:47] is there any implication then that

[2:03:51] the rest of that property looks like

[2:03:54] it's surrounded by the town but then

[2:03:56] they come back and say hey we want to be

[2:03:58] in there too because we're in there so

[2:04:00] there are not parcel lines on that the

[2:04:02] parent portal is irregularly shaped it

[2:04:05] is not a nice tidy piece right above it

[2:04:09] um

[2:04:10] there is no cooling off period required

[2:04:12] for annexation petitions

[2:04:16] this is

[2:04:28] could you address a little bit

[2:04:31] the concerns that this

[2:04:33] I'm sorry was it Mrs Shivers

[2:04:36] um that's about runoff and so on on her

[2:04:38] property no I've not issued the town has

[2:04:41] not issued a multi-family permit

[2:04:43] um so I'm guessing it it's an adjacent

[2:04:46] parcel in the county

[2:04:49] um so

[2:04:51] we have not issued I mean she mentioned

[2:04:53] a multi-family development which is not

[2:04:55] from us

[2:04:57] um

[2:04:58] that's actually sure where it is but

[2:05:00] it's not in towns jurisdiction

[2:05:07] so it wouldn't be under our regulations

[2:05:22] all right question about the public

[2:05:24] hearing process since it's been a little

[2:05:26] while um there is a time for public

[2:05:28] comment during the public hearing

[2:05:30] um

[2:05:31] you present it and open it up and then there's public comments that's

[2:05:36] correct

[2:05:37] so so before we take action we would uh

[2:05:40] allow

[2:05:42] the public comments

[2:05:52] you want to avoid them we need to get a

[2:05:53] motion to open it

[2:05:55] public hearing oh we haven't done that

[2:05:57] no no

[2:05:59] I moved to open the public hearing okay

[2:06:02] any discussion not all in favor all

[2:06:04] right okay

[2:06:06] we have a we have a public hearing

[2:06:12] do we have anyone wishing to speak

[2:06:15] at the public here

[2:06:17] please come forward this is on

[2:06:19] annexation

[2:06:24] give your name and address

[2:06:28] Kathy Phillips 26 Highview Drive in

[2:06:31] Black Mountain as you know I'm on the

[2:06:33] planning board

[2:06:35] um we did discuss this

[2:06:37] um annexation and it is a weird shape it

[2:06:43] may sense only if we put it in context

[2:06:46] of it was very difficult to

[2:06:50] um divide annexation and rezoning we did

[2:06:53] not support annexation if the Sony was

[2:06:56] in the Ura

[2:06:58] but we would support annexation of his

[2:07:01] sr2 and the property owner agreed to

[2:07:04] that so it's kind of hard without

[2:07:07] having the whole picture to try to

[2:07:09] decide this without before you hear the

[2:07:12] rest of the story

[2:07:13] that is ours

[2:07:16] um we did not want to have a high

[2:07:17] another

[2:07:19] high density

[2:07:23] um what is it development going up the

[2:07:27] steep slope like we have in other areas

[2:07:29] of town

[2:07:30] so that was our

[2:07:33] that was the reason for our decision

[2:07:36] to support annexation

[2:07:39] only with the lower density

[2:07:42] presenting

[2:07:44] which you can't discuss until the next

[2:07:48] that I'll remind you thank you okay

[2:07:52] anybody else wish to speak

[2:07:55] please

[2:07:59] uh Tim Shivers 140 North Fork

[2:08:02] these lots are laid out here in this

[2:08:05] diagram

[2:08:06] is these or is this the lots that are

[2:08:09] going to be proposed for the development

[2:08:12] of this eight Acres or do we not know

[2:08:15] because I haven't seen any

[2:08:17] yeah Maps I think as it is now it has to

[2:08:21] be voted on that is to bring the land in

[2:08:24] okay I understand I understand 1.36

[2:08:27] Acres the rest of it is not being

[2:08:29] annexed okay well I'm this is an Annex

[2:08:32] question this is more of the development

[2:08:33] and maybe it might need to wait till

[2:08:35] later

[2:08:36] but as far as uh we live right next to

[2:08:39] it and we really have no idea of the

[2:08:42] layout of how the land is going to be

[2:08:44] broken down into

[2:08:46] different laws so is what I'm asking

[2:08:48] here is that diagram pretty much close

[2:08:50] to the way they want to you know the way

[2:08:53] the seller wants to break that down yes

[2:08:59] this is a minor subdivision it is not

[2:09:01] subject to the planning board it is it

[2:09:03] is used by right

[2:09:04] okay it's an administrative process I

[2:09:07] just want to know if it was similar it's

[2:09:09] a little I perf I couldn't could not

[2:09:13] erase those that cannot make your

[2:09:15] decision for annexation or reasoning

[2:09:17] based on the potential you have to

[2:09:20] consider all the potential things and

[2:09:22] we'll talk more about that in the zoning

[2:09:24] part okay thank you appreciate it it

[2:09:27] will be clearer Kathy's not wrong it

[2:09:29] does make more sense we talk about it

[2:09:30] together but they are legally separate

[2:09:33] things and I don't want to muddy the

[2:09:35] waters too much anybody else yeah sure

[2:09:38] oh sorry

[2:09:45] my name is Sharon Tabor I live at 141

[2:09:49] North Fork Road which is across the

[2:09:51] street from Ruth

[2:09:54] um my concern is about

[2:09:58] the additional traffic

[2:10:01] there is right at Holly Avenue between

[2:10:04] chenkopin and Holly there is a hill

[2:10:08] and every morning I have to look three

[2:10:10] times before I pulled out of my driveway

[2:10:12] because you never know when the cars are

[2:10:14] coming over there and I can't pull out

[2:10:16] of the upper drive because it's blocked

[2:10:19] you can't see over that Hill

[2:10:21] and my in my concern is that

[2:10:26] how do you control the extra traffic the

[2:10:29] people coming out of chinkapin

[2:10:32] um the extra traffic and being hit

[2:10:34] because it's their site visibility issue

[2:10:37] thank you

[2:10:40] anybody else wish to speak

[2:10:48] my name is Dan Hall

[2:10:51] I I live on pinhill uh 21

[2:10:54] chinkapin Hill

[2:10:56] and currently that is a private Drive

[2:11:01] my question is

[2:11:04] how are these New Lots going to be

[2:11:07] accessed

[2:11:09] and

[2:11:11] it's my understanding that

[2:11:14] on a private road you can only have

[2:11:16] three houses

[2:11:20] I don't know if that's on a 15-foot line private

[2:11:25] driveway and I think chinkapins about 50

[2:11:27] feet wide

[2:11:29] okay

[2:11:33] [Applause]

[2:11:34] um my other question is

[2:11:36] if the town is going to Annex this area

[2:11:41] are they going to be responsible for

[2:11:43] maintenance of that road

[2:11:47] currently I'm the only one

[2:11:49] who is taking care of the road

[2:11:53] yeah the answer that's not we would not

[2:11:56] be responsible for that right because

[2:11:57] the request is not the pan exchange

[2:12:00] again

[2:12:02] if I may jump in at this point

[2:12:06] I've got an ordinance floating around

[2:12:07] that's not in your packet that describes

[2:12:10] the property being annexed

[2:12:12] and because what we have is this

[2:12:14] referenced the the Acres were not

[2:12:17] annexing or personal proposed to be

[2:12:18] annexed and I've prepared a legal

[2:12:21] description that does include the

[2:12:22] footprint of chinkapin and these three

[2:12:24] lots

[2:12:25] it makes no sense for us to Annex on

[2:12:28] both sides of the private road and leave

[2:12:30] that strip of land outside the town

[2:12:34] what's the chicken pan is already in the

[2:12:36] town a private road can be brought up to

[2:12:39] town standards and offered that's

[2:12:42] it's always an option but it's their

[2:12:44] existence as an Intel on this does not

[2:12:46] make it by definition of Public Road

[2:12:51] you see that blue stripe that cuts

[2:12:53] across lots and then diagonally across

[2:12:55] chinkapin yeah that puts almost

[2:12:58] well better than a third of chinkapins

[2:13:00] already in the city limits

[2:13:05] the lower part is the town doesn't have

[2:13:08] any responsibilities

[2:13:13] Fair policy toward taking over the

[2:13:14] maintenance of roads that are private

[2:13:16] and developments and subdivisions is if

[2:13:20] somebody wants to be taken in they have

[2:13:21] to build it to town standards and then

[2:13:23] offer it and if they do offer under

[2:13:25] those conditions we're not obligated to

[2:13:27] take it yeah

[2:13:30] Ron can you

[2:13:31] I'm confused but it's blue line up here

[2:13:36] that is the town limits uh how that

[2:13:40] happened in the past I don't have a clue

[2:13:42] it's just so so all a lot more and

[2:13:45] two-thirds of lot two or inventory or in

[2:13:48] town currently in a tiny bit of line

[2:13:51] three

[2:13:52] I'm sorry

[2:13:55] so it's extra confusing at the County

[2:13:57] website because the county line is in

[2:13:59] three different places oh my but this

[2:14:02] came over

[2:14:03] the green line jogs down and it catches

[2:14:06] the top of three from the top of two

[2:14:08] that's correct the bottom the bottom all

[2:14:12] of lot one and two-thirds of lot two are

[2:14:14] in the county currently we're gonna

[2:14:16] count oh I see so this is

[2:14:18] the town yes so with the blue what you

[2:14:21] can't see is that there's a green line

[2:14:23] that yeah I was trying to make it

[2:14:26] clearer apparently no no no no

[2:14:30] it's the north part of the lighter

[2:14:33] blocks are in the town that's right

[2:14:37] so this would not address that other lot

[2:14:40] on the other side of chinkapin that's

[2:14:42] Orange

[2:14:47] thank you

[2:14:52] talk thanks

[2:15:02] Scott Russell 15 Theresa way and I'm the

[2:15:05] realtor for the the uh applicant

[2:15:09] um

[2:15:11] so the gray area is

[2:15:15] Buncombe County

[2:15:18] and for some reason on GIS that green

[2:15:21] line is a zigzag that comes across the

[2:15:24] north side

[2:15:25] of light three

[2:15:28] and zigzags back left

[2:15:31] to North Fork

[2:15:33] and it goes back right

[2:15:35] we don't know why there was confusion

[2:15:37] between the county and the and the town

[2:15:40] of

[2:15:41] who has

[2:15:43] um

[2:15:45] you're good I'm good yeah so

[2:15:50] the three lots were surveyed out

[2:15:54] and propose to uh the reason we chose

[2:15:57] that

[2:15:59] North uh line across the top of lot

[2:16:03] three is because that evens up that line

[2:16:06] with the red properties to the left of

[2:16:08] jenkopin all the way to the line coming down Genesis it kind of felt like it should be in the

[2:16:15] town anyway and now it'll be nice and

[2:16:18] even

[2:16:19] and then that's how we came up with

[2:16:22] we wanted a minor subdivision

[2:16:25] um

[2:16:27] not a major so that's how we came up

[2:16:28] with three lots and then because of the

[2:16:31] 0.7 acre size sr2 was fine we actually

[2:16:35] applied for your only because all the

[2:16:38] red stuff you see

[2:16:40] is Ura

[2:16:43] so that little trying green triangle

[2:16:46] that's currently in the red in the Ura

[2:16:48] there on the left side

[2:16:50] is that county is that

[2:16:53] or is that just yeah so on the gis it's

[2:16:56] blue and green over the overlaid

[2:17:00] uh it's I can show you the this weird I so that bottom triangle is in the

[2:17:05] count

[2:17:06] on that red parcel yes

[2:17:10] if you look at it on GIS it looks like

[2:17:13] it's both

[2:17:15] you can see two colors on that triangle

[2:17:20] I I can't explain it it's just I I

[2:17:23] thought it was a GIS glitch

[2:17:25] but the county said we we don't know

[2:17:31] but the rest of the property going up

[2:17:34] the mountain is is counting

[2:17:37] in the grass and the cinquapin road that

[2:17:41] is currently the like bottom third

[2:17:44] that's in the county

[2:17:46] the bottom third next to lot one would

[2:17:49] be in this town

[2:17:55] according to GIS currently it is

[2:17:58] everything

[2:18:01] really basically basically so this is

[2:18:04] oriented North up

[2:18:07] everything below the Blue Line the top

[2:18:10] blue line

[2:18:12] is in the town

[2:18:17] I'm sorry I'm sorry you're right sorry

[2:18:19] see even I'm confused I've been doing

[2:18:21] this for six months so you're right that

[2:18:23] that's a zigzag I've done um so it's

[2:18:26] late Bill I'm tired man

[2:18:30] yeah the the zigzag part had me messed

[2:18:33] up so it's like a little sliver of town

[2:18:37] between two slivers of

[2:18:39] County

[2:18:41] this map on our pack is almost easier to

[2:18:43] understand than that one I guess the

[2:18:46] blue line is the blue light is the area

[2:18:48] you would get that's that's what we

[2:18:50] brought

[2:18:51] in house that's the subject that's the

[2:18:53] 1.36 Acres yeah okay

[2:18:57] [Laughter]

[2:18:59] okay

[2:19:04] um it will comments or do we have

[2:19:05] anybody else's feet

[2:19:08] and to I was going to address Dan Hall's

[2:19:11] question about the road

[2:19:14] uh missing out Miss snelling's property

[2:19:16] is already it has the data access from

[2:19:19] shinkman and she will

[2:19:23] bring those three lots into road

[2:19:25] maintenance on that road

[2:19:27] so when she sells them which is the plan

[2:19:30] eventually

[2:19:32] they'll be subject to road maintenance

[2:19:34] up to the top of lot three

[2:19:37] there is no further plan for the acreage

[2:19:39] above that

[2:19:41] yeah I mean they're they're my dollars

[2:19:45] there there's not there is not

[2:19:47] okay

[2:19:50] any more comments tell everybody else

[2:19:53] wish to speak if not here

[2:19:57] silver

[2:19:58] all in favor

[2:20:00] okay passes now

[2:20:04] do we have a motion to adopt the

[2:20:06] ordinance as presented I was if you

[2:20:09] don't mind Mr Mayor I'd rather adopt

[2:20:12] this ordinance as written

[2:20:14] it hasn't made some balance description

[2:20:18] it properly identifies the orange uh the

[2:20:22] snailings that put that property into a

[2:20:23] trust the ordinance wreath that is owned

[2:20:26] by the trust and the description the

[2:20:29] beats and Bounds that I put together

[2:20:30] from their survey now it's overlapping

[2:20:33] some area that's already in town but it

[2:20:35] gives you a legal description that's

[2:20:37] mappable uh and somebody can find on the

[2:20:39] ground next year

[2:20:41] maybe we'll send it to Martin County

[2:20:52] but yeah

[2:21:20] foreign

[2:21:46] but there's nothing stopping someone

[2:21:48] from building on the slots now right

[2:21:51] that's correct

[2:22:00] the next twisters

[2:22:08] it just says 2304

[2:22:13] yeah okay

[2:22:17] gotcha thanks

[2:22:29] foreign

[2:23:05] um

[2:23:07] we've got we've got a big development

[2:23:09] over here at the golf course that

[2:23:12] originally came into the town and was

[2:23:14] I'm going to be part of that affordable

[2:23:17] housing project

[2:23:19] unfortunately the recession 2008 took

[2:23:23] out the owner of it on the chocolate box

[2:23:27] out by somebody else

[2:23:29] and so um

[2:23:31] again

[2:23:36] said we'll just follow what they did

[2:23:40] what happens

[2:23:43] we don't have any teeth remarkable

[2:23:45] abortions in that that development there

[2:23:47] has no important

[2:23:49] there's more would come down in the

[2:23:51] future

[2:23:52] um look at look at ways to go ahead and

[2:23:55] putting species into something

[2:23:57] more affordable housing

[2:24:23] so

[2:24:24] what are we okay

[2:24:35] understand what we're doing

[2:24:40] let's see amended one that has the

[2:24:42] correct legal description is that

[2:24:44] correct it is the description drafted

[2:24:46] from the survey that the applicant

[2:24:49] provided uh which and does pick up the

[2:24:52] piece of chinkapin on this little short

[2:24:54] strip that's in the county because in

[2:24:57] fact uh they own it they own the dirt on

[2:25:00] dry

[2:25:29] [Applause]

[2:25:37] we're done

[2:25:39] Mr Mayor I moved the adoption of the

[2:25:42] ordinance has amended by our attorney

[2:25:45] any discussion if not all in favor

[2:25:52] all right let's move on to the B public

[2:25:56] hearing I'll pass somebody down the

[2:25:57] zoning ordinance before something orders

[2:25:59] suspended also

[2:26:01] yes

[2:26:05] yeah and the only change to that is to

[2:26:09] insert correct name of the applicant and

[2:26:12] the legal description okay sure

[2:26:15] so here's the zoning part that

[2:26:17] everybody's more accustomed to talking

[2:26:19] about

[2:26:20] um I am not going to read you word for

[2:26:22] word the staff report you have that in

[2:26:24] your agenda packet um but most notably

[2:26:27] the area to be rezone we said 1.36 Acres

[2:26:31] um the average slope is 18.3 for the

[2:26:34] total parent parcel that is how the

[2:26:37] steep slope calculator works we cannot

[2:26:39] parse it out for a little subsection

[2:26:40] it's an it's undeveloped mostly wooded

[2:26:43] area it's not subject to any sort of

[2:26:45] zoning overlay or anything of that

[2:26:46] nature and it is serviceable by public

[2:26:48] utilities the initial application was

[2:26:51] for ur8 just because that's what they

[2:26:52] were surrounded by

[2:26:54] um but when planning Board review this

[2:26:56] application they discussed creating a

[2:27:01] split zone so the part of this that's

[2:27:03] coming in would actually be sr2 this did

[2:27:06] not require any kind of change to be

[2:27:07] made by the applicant

[2:27:09] um with their concept

[2:27:10] um like no application for subdivision

[2:27:12] you know has been made but conceptually

[2:27:14] they exceed the requirements for sr2 as

[2:27:16] it is sr2 was preferable um to planning

[2:27:21] board because of the steep slope in the

[2:27:23] area and this would

[2:27:25] um

[2:27:25] allow these lots to stay in

[2:27:28] make it harder to subdivide them and

[2:27:30] reduce the density in the area

[2:27:33] it does create a spot Zone by doing this

[2:27:36] because we're surrounded by Orange and

[2:27:38] now we're talking about something else

[2:27:39] that is not prohibited in North Carolina

[2:27:41] it just means it it has to be subject to

[2:27:44] additional scrutiny it has to rise to

[2:27:46] the occasion

[2:27:47] um Mr Snead felt that the environmental

[2:27:49] concerns and steep slope that were

[2:27:51] expressed by the planning board Rose to

[2:27:52] that occasion it was comfortable moving

[2:27:54] forward with that recommendation and the

[2:27:57] planning board voted unanimously to

[2:27:59] recommend that sr2 designation with the

[2:28:02] blessing of the owner

[2:28:04] so I want to point out when we talk

[2:28:06] about the advantages of having it

[2:28:08] brought in to the town the sr2

[2:28:10] designation is significantly more

[2:28:12] limited in the types of uses

[2:28:15] um compared to those in the county we

[2:28:16] have only a handful of very

[2:28:19] um low intensity uses primarily being

[2:28:21] residential

[2:28:22] um now the minimum lot size in sr2 is

[2:28:26] half an acre as opposed to the one acre

[2:28:28] in its current County zoning but there

[2:28:33] is that the number of uses is much much

[2:28:36] smaller so not only do I bring you into

[2:28:40] the town are you actually reducing the

[2:28:43] number of variety of uses that could be

[2:28:46] developed right in a pocket of what is

[2:28:47] otherwise surrounded by the town you're

[2:28:50] also making it subject to our stormwater

[2:28:52] ordinances our stream buffer ordinances

[2:28:53] and things of that nature that um that

[2:28:56] we have locally that the county does not

[2:28:58] necessarily have so you are gaining some

[2:29:00] environmental controls in that way

[2:29:03] um

[2:29:04] and that's it for the zoning if you have

[2:29:07] any questions

[2:29:09] can you do I have any motion to open up

[2:29:11] the public hearing reset

[2:29:17] all right

[2:29:20] Betty wishes to speak to rezoning

[2:29:23] of this property

[2:29:25] yes

[2:29:32] my name is Charlene Hall I live at 21

[2:29:35] chinkapin Hill

[2:29:37] and my concern is the runoff from three

[2:29:45] additional homes on chincopen as well as

[2:29:49] the potential for any that might be in

[2:29:52] the future

[2:29:53] above those three homes

[2:29:57] the runoff is an issue right now when we

[2:30:00] have a heavy rain it washes out what

[2:30:05] essentially is is chinkapin Hill is

[2:30:08] essentially a driveway it is

[2:30:10] um you know mostly some gravel because

[2:30:14] we have done that and bonded Etc but um

[2:30:18] it a lot of the dirt washes out and when

[2:30:21] we have we have we have built ditches on

[2:30:25] both sides to and and uh

[2:30:30] um to try to alleviate that problem

[2:30:36] um what what concerns me most is having

[2:30:40] additional people on that

[2:30:44] driveway

[2:30:46] um if someone is coming down that

[2:30:48] driveway and I am pulling in to go up

[2:30:52] the driveway there's no place there's no

[2:30:55] way for two cars to pass on chinkapin

[2:30:58] Hill

[2:30:59] so that would mean I've got to back out

[2:31:02] into North Fork Road in the dip and in

[2:31:06] the curb

[2:31:07] um so that somebody else can come down

[2:31:10] the driveway so these are just some of

[2:31:13] the concerns that I have the

[2:31:15] environmental concerns when they start

[2:31:17] building and taking down trees

[2:31:21] Etc then there will be even more issues

[2:31:24] with the seriousness of the runoff

[2:31:29] actually causes you know that washboard

[2:31:32] effect and then we have somebody come in

[2:31:35] and grade the driveway and put down the

[2:31:39] bonding

[2:31:40] Etc too but we have to do that about

[2:31:43] three times a year now that we are

[2:31:46] paying for by ourselves so that is a

[2:31:50] concern and especially since I'm now

[2:31:53] told

[2:31:54] the town will not be helping assisting

[2:31:58] with

[2:32:00] um any kind of of

[2:32:02] uh

[2:32:03] helping with with that driveway so

[2:32:06] that's my concern thank you thank you

[2:32:11] anybody else have any comments before we

[2:32:15] close the public hearing

[2:32:18] oh just please

[2:32:27] um so I made this Point earlier about I

[2:32:30] would just say that by having three more

[2:32:32] neighbors you you would have three more

[2:32:35] people contributing to road maintenance

[2:32:38] and

[2:32:39] if in the future

[2:32:42] those neighbors wanted to get together

[2:32:44] to

[2:32:45] redo this road to town specifications

[2:32:49] that could do so and it would be a much cheaper per neighbor project

[2:32:57] or they could keep it gravel and let it

[2:33:00] be maintained by

[2:33:01] three more people than it is now it

[2:33:04] sounds like now it's just one

[2:33:07] anyway that's all okay thank you

[2:33:11] anybody else

[2:33:15] not seeing anybody rushing up here do I

[2:33:18] hear them

[2:33:22] some moved

[2:33:24] discussion all in favor all right all

[2:33:27] right he passes we're closed now

[2:33:30] to adopt the zoning ordinance that Sneed

[2:33:34] and sent out here this is a revised one

[2:33:36] too correct

[2:33:38] it's it's amended to have a prescription

[2:33:40] correct the names of the petition

[2:33:45] Jessica would you mind as a refresher

[2:33:47] for us and also for the community

[2:33:49] um

[2:33:51] talking about the differences between

[2:33:52] sr2 and Ura going on a broad level I

[2:33:56] know there's many well the greatest

[2:33:57] being the density you know you are eight

[2:33:59] you're going to have a eight units up to

[2:34:02] eight units or acre as opposed to two

[2:34:04] and

[2:34:06] um to some of the concerns were being

[2:34:08] discussed this property can already be

[2:34:10] developed in a number of ways in the

[2:34:11] county

[2:34:13] um by annexing it and Zoning it you are

[2:34:15] not making it buildable or useful it's

[2:34:17] just subject to our rules as opposed to

[2:34:19] the counties

[2:34:21] um we have we have storm water

[2:34:23] regulations available to us locally that

[2:34:25] the county does not have

[2:34:28] um and certainly if there's things built

[2:34:30] outside of the Town limits we can't

[2:34:32] influence how that works

[2:34:35] um

[2:34:36] and so we actually have less impact and

[2:34:40] greater controls under our regulations

[2:34:42] than the counties and with our zoning

[2:34:45] so just to keep it clear

[2:34:50] if we don't

[2:34:52] and exit

[2:34:54] I'm sorry I'm sorry we've already did

[2:34:57] that so

[2:34:58] if we don't rezone it I'm sorry that's

[2:35:01] what I meant to say if we don't result

[2:35:04] um

[2:35:05] then it's still going to stay under Ura

[2:35:08] is that what it is right now so right

[2:35:10] now it's no right now it is zoned in the

[2:35:12] county there's pieces that are in the

[2:35:14] county it's rld

[2:35:17] believe anything

[2:35:21] if we if you're meeting right now it is you all right no no you have to it has not been zoned that's what you're

[2:35:30] doing now okay so if we fail when your

[2:35:33] attorney can answer that question yeah

[2:35:36] you've got as far as the owning

[2:35:38] regulations go right at the moment you

[2:35:40] have no man's way exactly but we do need

[2:35:42] to donate itself yeah yes

[2:35:48] no one has ever done that to me

[2:35:51] [Laughter]

[2:35:55] rld and sr2 are similar districts um but

[2:35:59] we have fewer

[2:36:01] um

[2:36:02] we have fewer allowable uses and more

[2:36:05] stringent roles so it's in great it's in

[2:36:07] Greater control under our rules than the

[2:36:10] counties that's what I wanted to know

[2:36:11] thank you you're welcome

[2:36:17] any motion

[2:36:20] to Zone this

[2:36:22] piece of property

[2:36:24] I'll just make a comment

[2:36:26] um two comments I guess and one is is to

[2:36:29] the neighbors

[2:36:31] that um I can completely understand uh

[2:36:35] your your concerns around

[2:36:38] um you know what it's essentially I

[2:36:40] believe just wooded area now and the

[2:36:41] thought of having homes built in there

[2:36:44] than being a lot loted out

[2:36:46] um is I mean I would need to be

[2:36:48] concerned as well

[2:36:49] you know uh it kind of changes the feel

[2:36:51] of the neighborhood

[2:36:52] um

[2:36:53] uh and so I I just want to acknowledge

[2:36:56] that and then and say that I think that

[2:36:58] uh that the planning board uh I

[2:37:01] appreciate their recommendation to go

[2:37:02] from the ra to the sr2 I think that's a

[2:37:04] more reasonable uh zone for for this land and um

[2:37:10] and you know I can do that so that's

[2:37:12] probably the or that's how I will be

[2:37:14] voting

[2:37:17] any other comments I just wanted to say

[2:37:19] thank you to the planning board as well

[2:37:21] I know they spent a lot of time

[2:37:23] reviewing this whole plan and project

[2:37:25] and um

[2:37:28] yeah I haven't done all that research

[2:37:30] and all those discussions makes our job

[2:37:32] a little bit easier and I appreciate it

[2:37:35] okay

[2:37:37] before entertaining emotional or after

[2:37:40] entertaining emotion and going through

[2:37:42] discussion I think you need to at least

[2:37:44] take a look at the resorting worksheet

[2:37:46] uh for a couple reasons there's statutes

[2:37:50] require now that you find that it's

[2:37:52] reasonable uh it is a spot zone so it's

[2:37:56] got to reach a little bit higher level

[2:37:57] or reasonableness and the information

[2:38:00] you have before your course is it's the

[2:38:03] steeper slope and the environmental

[2:38:04] impact a lesser impact by larger Lots

[2:38:07] but I think the council needs to look at

[2:38:10] that resulting worksheet if you don't

[2:38:12] take a look at those they make those at

[2:38:14] least discussion before the vote you

[2:38:17] have a challengeable ordinance

[2:38:34] thank you okay

[2:38:45] yeah no no no there's no motion yeah well I'd suggest we review the

[2:38:55] rezoning worksheet before we have a

[2:38:57] motion okay okay

[2:39:03] that's the problem of opening it out

[2:39:07] uh so it looks like to me is that there

[2:39:10] are several factors there the overall

[2:39:13] size of the track to the land proposed

[2:39:15] for rezoning is or is not reasonable

[2:39:19] compared to the size of the zoning

[2:39:21] District in which the property is

[2:39:23] located

[2:39:26] well the interesting thing there is not

[2:39:28] locating any zoning District right now

[2:39:33] right but you make no man's land that's

[2:39:35] this it is surrounded by Ura okay

[2:39:40] so you've got to verbalize why you're

[2:39:43] actually more restrictive zoning on this

[2:39:45] little pocket of property and right and

[2:39:48] the biggest points you've heard are they

[2:39:49] right so with it with me the steep slope

[2:39:52] uh and

[2:39:55] um

[2:39:57] and the greater

[2:40:00] ability uh for the rules to um

[2:40:06] to come into play on

[2:40:08] um environmental things

[2:40:12] seems to me to be good reasons too uh

[2:40:16] to to do this different zoning rather

[2:40:19] than you are eight

[2:40:24] I agree

[2:40:26] sorry oh sorry it occurs to me we're

[2:40:30] talking about I mean lots that are

[2:40:33] diagonally cut I mean when we talk about

[2:40:36] rezoning

[2:40:38] how how does that work with a partial

[2:40:42] tract

[2:40:43] part of it's in town already part of

[2:40:45] it's being annexed and you're rezoning

[2:40:48] results at all even though yeah okay thank you

[2:40:57] one of the things about maps in North

[2:40:59] Carolina they're all flat

[2:41:02] but the lamb is not and it can vary a

[2:41:07] lot from one little place to another

[2:41:10] yeah and I think this particular

[2:41:12] property refers

[2:41:14] uh several times already is a very steep

[2:41:18] slope so for me it makes it appropriate

[2:41:21] for sr2 I agree right

[2:41:24] because it would impact the neighboring

[2:41:27] properties

[2:41:29] greater if it was

[2:41:31] a pra yeah

[2:41:37] which is an item number three checklist

[2:41:40] that's right that is correct well done

[2:41:46] so can you talk about is it a consistent

[2:41:49] or inconsistent with a comprehensive

[2:41:52] plan

[2:41:53] I think that zoning this sr2 is

[2:41:56] consistent with the comprehensive plan

[2:41:58] and the future land use map particularly

[2:42:00] in the mountain residential that is

[2:42:02] primarily a low density residential area

[2:42:06] um

[2:42:07] and you know along with all the

[2:42:09] environmental qualities that you just

[2:42:11] mentioned Environmental Protection and

[2:42:12] preservation

[2:42:14] um with those natural spaces

[2:42:16] okay

[2:42:20] well I did think that it was a split

[2:42:23] zone is it is it not

[2:42:25] well not when we get done

[2:42:27] okay because right I've flipped the

[2:42:31] zombie way up I gotta feel an air piece

[2:42:33] of the triangle if zoned it all is you

[2:42:35] are a

[2:42:36] great and part of it is unzoned at the

[2:42:39] moment right but with the description

[2:42:42] you have in there it will make all of

[2:42:44] this area I've described continues okay

[2:42:47] srts

[2:42:51] that's right

[2:42:53] zoning No Man's Land too correct to

[2:42:58] reflect them as a cohesive tract

[2:43:01] even better

[2:43:04] it just leaves number four I think the

[2:43:07] allowed uses with the proposing District

[2:43:09] are are not similar comparable to the

[2:43:11] permitted uses as currently zoned

[2:43:15] they are very comparable we have we are

[2:43:17] more restrictive but the ones that are

[2:43:19] existing are on both sides

[2:43:22] it's still all resonates

[2:43:26] foreign

[2:43:34] Mr Mayor I'd make a motion that we

[2:43:39] adopt the revised

[2:43:43] uh ordinance

[2:43:45] and Zone this sr2 to reflect the uh Mr

[2:43:49] Sneed

[2:43:50] the

[2:43:51] owner's name and then the legal

[2:43:53] description

[2:43:55] taking all the property as he's

[2:43:57] described okay any more discussion not

[2:44:00] all in favor

[2:44:02] okay

[2:44:04] all right thank you Jessica

[2:44:08] communication is that

[2:44:14] do you want your legislative updated

[2:44:16] you'd rather not know

[2:44:20] there's actually some good news

[2:44:23] well I will give you the good news and

[2:44:25] then I'll give you the grain of salt

[2:44:28] um

[2:44:29] the bill Senate Bill 299 which was the

[2:44:33] to uh

[2:44:35] basically uh imposed on towns a huge

[2:44:39] penalty if you don't file your audit on

[2:44:41] time uh is that house bill stalled and

[2:44:47] so we're safe on that point the senate

[2:44:50] had a more modest version that

[2:44:54] is still as brutal unfortunately

[2:44:58] I mean I'm sorry Senate Bill didn't move

[2:45:00] and the and the

[2:45:03] house bill has moved has gone to the

[2:45:05] Senate there's a chance you'll still end

[2:45:07] up with that that penalty for being late

[2:45:09] you're on it it's not a big deal for

[2:45:11] Black Mountain uh you guys have always

[2:45:13] been timely I always had an auditor

[2:45:15] online there is a bill pay companion

[2:45:18] bill to sort of

[2:45:21] get more Auditors online very few firms

[2:45:25] are qualified to audit towns and that's

[2:45:27] pretty good I've been a problem they're

[2:45:28] trying to help that uh

[2:45:31] there was a Senate Bill 254 I mentioned

[2:45:34] last time which is exposes more of your

[2:45:37] public your Public Employee records as

[2:45:39] public records uh that is stolen the

[2:45:41] senate committee so that's not moving so

[2:45:44] far

[2:45:45] the house bill 140 uh and Senate Bill

[2:45:49] 251 uh the house bills passed that's the

[2:45:53] one that allows the towns that they want

[2:45:55] to use private crash investigators I

[2:45:58] haven't heard a whole lot of towns that

[2:45:59] are interested in it but some are uh on

[2:46:03] the affordable housing front there was

[2:46:06] one that was supposed to

[2:46:08] create a credit or give you the ability

[2:46:11] to get some money for infrastructure we

[2:46:13] didn't qualify anyway we don't have

[2:46:14] enough zoning districts but it's never

[2:46:16] made out of the house the reason I'm

[2:46:18] talking about that point May 4th of the

[2:46:20] crossover day if a bill didn't pass in

[2:46:22] one branch by May 4th and make it over

[2:46:25] the other it's theoretically done the

[2:46:27] water for this term

[2:46:29] uh the workforce housing that's the one

[2:46:33] that the lead was up in arms about

[2:46:35] that's the one says if I go out there

[2:46:37] and I start a development of 10 acres or

[2:46:39] more and I call it Workforce housing a

[2:46:42] town cannot Zone this state will tell

[2:46:44] you what the zoning is fortunately

[2:46:45] that's still stuck in the Zenith in the

[2:46:48] Senate

[2:46:49] and did and didn't make it make the

[2:46:51] cross every day

[2:46:53] uh House Bill 409 uh the one that would

[2:46:57] require everybody to allow secondary

[2:47:00] dwellings on all their residential lots

[2:47:02] not a real concern to us we do that

[2:47:04] anyway there are some restrictions on

[2:47:07] the use sorry the inability to restrict

[2:47:10] that second residence which we don't

[2:47:11] particularly do anyway so that's not an

[2:47:13] issue

[2:47:14] um

[2:47:16] the bill and the house to basically

[2:47:21] speed up approvals for developments

[2:47:23] which puts on burden on staff the

[2:47:25] planning board that passed the house and

[2:47:27] to go the Senate so that could end up

[2:47:29] being law

[2:47:32] the short-term rentals

[2:47:34] uh has not made it out of the Senate

[2:47:36] that the Senate bill

[2:47:38] uh that's the one that literally removed

[2:47:42] your ability to Outlaw short-term rounds

[2:47:44] they give you some modest abilities to

[2:47:46] control it uh that that it made out of

[2:47:49] the house

[2:47:51] um

[2:47:54] did not make it out did not make it out

[2:47:56] of the house that means it's dead for

[2:47:58] this session that's where the that's the

[2:48:01] theory yeah unless they decide that the

[2:48:04] reality yeah the reality is there's a

[2:48:06] couple ways they're going to get you and

[2:48:08] this is a big year to put play don't you

[2:48:10] because those bills could come alive

[2:48:12] again and it is an amendment to another

[2:48:15] bill our legislature has even gone to

[2:48:19] the point of taking the topic about

[2:48:20] don't meet your horse take everything

[2:48:22] about the horse out of that and stick in

[2:48:24] a housing ordinance statute and running

[2:48:27] on through anyway

[2:48:28] the big worry this term is we have

[2:48:31] Medicaid expansion which has been tied

[2:48:33] to the adoption of a budget you folks

[2:48:35] remember we went a couple years without

[2:48:36] a budget

[2:48:38] if we don't adopt a budget then we don't

[2:48:40] the Medicaid doesn't expand uh what a

[2:48:44] golden opportunity to tag on stuff that

[2:48:47] one party doesn't like because the

[2:48:49] governor cannot be seen to veto a

[2:48:52] Medicaid expansion bill so there there's some big risks you'll see some

[2:48:57] of these come back before it's over okay

[2:49:00] and that's the fun this week

[2:49:02] thank you

[2:49:05] all right

[2:49:07] um do we have any comments from the

[2:49:10] councils that they'd like to make

[2:49:13] I just wanted to note that it's national

[2:49:15] teacher and staff Appreciation Week Mrs

[2:49:19] Shivers way to go and we have lots of

[2:49:22] teachers in our community and School

[2:49:24] staff

[2:49:25] if you know one please let us know how

[2:49:27] much you appreciate

[2:49:29] one anybody else

[2:49:32] not doing her emotions go into closed

[2:49:34] sessions

[2:49:36] so

[2:49:39] all in favor all right

May 8, 2023 Regular Town Council Meeting

Transcript