Persister Observations from the March 4th and 18th Watauga County Commission Meetings
The March 4th public meeting was quite short, perhaps to balance out the length of the recent retreat.
A revised bid came in for the purchase of a new vehicle needed by the Sheriff's department, a topic that was quickly referred to closed session because of potential legalities.
Joe Furman spoke on economic development matters, asking the board to adopt a resolution urging the General Assembly and the U.S. Congress to help small businesses recover from Hurricane Helene. Many of us in the Blowing Rock Persisters support that as well--small businesses face the greatest hurdles in recovering from the storm, receiving thus far no direct aid, just loans, a matter that the state legislature could address if it chose.
Furman also spoke of the goal of the educational foundation to apply for a SECU loan to build apartment units for teachers and similar professionals, and apparently a local act of legislature in the General Assembly just for Watauga County is necessary for that, even though the loan wouldn't be be subsidized or come at any county or state cost-- the legislation would just allow costs to be reduced thanks to zero interest loans.
There was an update on the hurricane debris and water removal, discussion of surveys regarding a lease for a Kill Chill facility, and discussion and approval of appointments to various boards (see county packet for details).
March 18th
During public comments, Kathy Parham, executive director of Children's Playhouse, wanted to make sure new members of the board knew of the Playhouse, now 23 years old. They were fortunate to rebound quickly after Helene and offered services to families for free for some time following the storm. The playhouse has been an oasis for parents, place to connect. The Playhouse gives free memberships to low income families, military, and new parents, and this gifted costs the equivalent of $28,000 of service each year. It's open Tuesday through Saturday. They have 194 music and art programs each year, and she reminded everyone that Build Fest is coming up, a free event with 80 hands-on activities. https://goplayhouse.org/buildfest2025
Also in public comments, a representative of the Small Business Association explained how the association can help with disaster recovery loans with a 2.8% rate to homeowners, 4% rate to business owners and 3 1/4 % rate to nonprofits, maximum term 30 years. He stated that they can help people refinance their mortgages, and they can help relocate people.
Seth Norris of the Watauga County Fire Commission requested a letter of support asking our state senator and representative to fully fund the North Carolina Forest Service's budget request. The North Carolina fire service has pressing needs. The county has apparently already pledged support, but they need the state to step in, especially because they have only one full-time and one part-time staff for this region, and being on call 24/7 is unsustainable. There is also grave concern because of increased fire risk with so much felled timber (30% of all trees in our county are down; 50% in Mitchell County, 30% in Ashe). This letter was approved by the Board.
This included discussion of ways to remove felled trees, which made me wonder if the Board had considered environmental issues as well as aesthetic and economic ones. I don't claim any expertise, but I've heard that storm-felled trees decomposing is better for the ecosystem then burning or chipping them. I waited for someone to comment on how they are keeping this concern in mind, but then I remembered that 22,696 of us are not represented by anyone on the Watauga County board of commissioners.
Diane Deal, chair of the Watauga Heritage Museum, reported on their progress in developing a website of historical facts and raising donations from memberships (65 members so far). They've raised $9,000 from members and so far, total fundraising is over $23,000. It's a grassroots effort. People are excited about this work to preserve our cultural heritage. The site committee is still exploring sites, so far each has pros and cons. She didn't have a specific request for the county commission, but wanted to be on their radar because they will need their support and they also planned to apply for grants.
Next came a discussion of how to shift a greenway connector easement from the county to Town of Blowing Rock, which was complicated but they sorted it out. There was discussion about storm damage to Guy Ford River canoe access, and they hope to take a bid for repairs. There was a request to purchase access control doors for the Project on Aging. There was more discussion of appointments to various boards.
The board chair then directed the county planning board to conduct a review to ensure their systems were equitable and that they're trying not to put barriers on private homeowners. The chair asked them to review all county ordinances.
The main meeting ended, so two of the members of this Republican-gerrymandered board used the time to make additional comments. First, one praised US Senator Ted Budd (R) who recently toured the devastation of Valle Crucis school (the only complete loss of a school in our state). The board member did add that Budd said he and the Governor (who is a Democrat) were in agreement that recovering from the hurricane should not be partisan. (Here is where I would like to mention that providing Social Security services to the people who paid into the system their entire lives should also not be partisan, not to mention safeguarding our private data in federal systems from unvetted/unaccountable individuals, but I won't bring it up, or the fact that Budd brags about his work with DOGE in letters to constituents). Then another member of the board criticized language in the proposed SB 220 setting limits on waterway right-of-way, stating that this legislation would harm us and they're hoping the language will change.
My observations are not comprehensive, so I remind readers that the county provides minutes from these meetings in the board packets at https://www.wataugacounty.org/App_Pages/Dept/BOC/boardpacket.aspx.