Persister Observation Notes on the Watauga County Commission February Retreat
The Board of County Commissioners held a two day retreat at the end of February that was mostly a listening session for the commissioners to get updates and/or oriented on the work of various agencies and affiliated groups. The full packet of materials provided for this retreat (and each meeting) can be found online at the county's website: https://www.wataugacounty.org/App_Pages/Dept/BOC/boardpacket.aspx
From the packet is the county manager's summary, quoted below:
"Watauga County continues to deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Helene on our community and its resources. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) estimates that Hurricane Helene cost $78.7 billion. The North Carolina Office of State Budget Management (OSBM) estimates that the storm caused $59.6 billion in damage. Watauga County and the other western counties of North Carolina will continue to feel the impact of Helene for years to come.
Watauga County has committed over $3 million to right-of-way debris removal. Waterway debris removal is scheduled to start next week and will be coordinated with Private Property Debris Removal (PPDR). The County has contracted with the United States Army Corps of Engineers and there will be no cost to the County for waterway and PPDR removal. However, the County has set aside funding for repairs at several of our recreational facilities and Old Cove Creek School/Gym. Budget impacts from Helene will be monitored and considered with the Fiscal Year 2025-2026 budget process.
Construction of the County’s new 911/Medic facility has broken ground and is scheduled for completion in 2026. NCDOT has completed the initial design of Innovation Drive and Landfill Road. Staff is working in conjunction with NCDOT on a draft for the potential relocation of the container site to the end of Landfill Road. The new Valle Crucis Elementary is scheduled to be completed and open for the 2025 school year.
Recruitment and retention of employees remains difficult, with the need to continue salary evaluations and overall benefits package to ensure the County is competitive with our market. Health insurance costs continues to increase at a steady pace along with retirement pension increases.
In conclusion, the annual retreat is an opportunity for the Commissioners to provide direction to staff on what your goals and objectives are for the County. The input received will shape the budget to address these goals and objectives. The County’s strong financial position lessened the impact of Helene which was due in part to the planning and leadership from the Board and execution by County staff."
My takeaways, which are limited to what stood out to me, so I encourage readers to consider attending meetings in order to draw their own conclusions :).
Our financial situation
I came away with the impression that the Watauga County financial situation is solid thanks to our tax base (52% of budget), sales tax revenue (23%) and state/federal/other sources (25%), totalling over $91 million dollars in the previous fiscal year. We also maintain a pool of money for emergencies called the "Fund balance," which I discovered actually earns income through financial investments (we earned almost $2 million from investments so far this year). Find specific breakdowns of revenues and spending, budgets for construction projects, and debt service plans within the packet via this link.
Most of us know well that, despite many traumatizing experiences, Watauga County was not hit as hard as Buncombe County, for example, and it turns out we had an advantage in responding to Helene over neighboring counties because of our fund balance, which allowed us to be flexible and pay upfront for services rather than wait for government or insurance reimbursements (something I know also happened on the private level across the county--some people had the resources to respond more quickly than others to the damage).
Pondering these distinctions made me consider that every county in our region is so different in what they can accomplish. It occurs to me that if you aren't paying attention, you might judge a place as if they were able to navigate the exact same choices (and certainly some political choices help or hinder), whereas so much of what is possible is affected by population, economic strengths/weaknesses, resources, and history. Ironic, perhaps--I absolutely consider the claims that there are vast differences among voters in different parts of Watauga County as mostly nonsense, but I can see how there can be such a difference between counties--not in who the people are, but in what the options are.
I was personally glad that the county has provided funds to support nonprofits, a public-private partnership model that appeals to me, including: Appalachian Theater, Blowing Rock Parks and Rec, Blue Ridge Mediation/Drug Court, Boone Area Chamber of Commerce, Children's Council, Children's Playhouse, Community Care Clinic, Foscoe Grandfather Community Center, Green Valley Community Park, Hospitality House, Hunger Coalition, Mountain Alliance, OASIS, Southern Appalachian Historical Association, Valle Crucis Community Park, WAMY & WAMY Rental Housing Program, Watauga County Arts Council, Watauga Humane Society, Watauga Opportunities. and Hospice Care.
Sheriff's report
The Sheriff's Department is challenged in terms of understaffing and difficulty recruiting and retaining staff, especially hiring qualified School Resource Officers. Part of the challenge is that mandated training requirements for a new hire are time-consuming, and most hires aren't interested in the housing options here (even if county-subsidized apartments were ever available), which makes long term retention less likely.
I admit, my eyes widened at the discussion of Flock cameras, funded through a "donated" five year contract, which allows them to set up cameras that monitor and track specific targets (such as "red sedan") using artificial intelligence. The Sheriff's Department is able to connect to surveillance options in other counties' law enforcement as well as cameras installed at each Lowes and Home Depot. There is a potential collaboration with Bremco stations. I was apparently the only one with a few questions about all of that surveillance tech, but I was just an observer--and one of the 22,696 not allowed to cast a vote for a commissioner in the last election, not that I'm going to keep bringing that up every time I can.
Later came a more positive report that the Sheriff's department recognized that some people kept winding up in jail and arresting them wasn't always the way to solve this challenge, and that a new program that included voluntary screening and support from a licensed social worker had led to an unprecedentedly low recidivism rate.
Affordable Housing Bill
Chamber of Commerce report included mention of a bill to help with the need for affordable housing that the commission could support. State Representative Ray Pickett has proposed this legislation (seems like a helpful bill, except I don't understand why this is limited to Watauga County instead of the entire state?). Anyway, here's an explanation of H306 in case you're curious.
Middle Fork Greenway Report
I am not at all unbiased because I love the idea of the Middle Fork Greenway connecting Boone and Blowing Rock--I would especially love it if I could someday walk or bike to anywhere I wanted in the county without facing the perils and pollution of cars/trucks, and no, you didn't ask. This report was fascinating, learning the history of how the work for this greenway started at the grassroots and gained professional support through the Blue Ridge Conservancy, expertise necessary to navigate at least 20 different permitting agencies. I couldn't catch all the details of the report, but according to my notes, when this process is done, all land that is part of the Middle Fork Greenway will be deeded to the county, which would be quite an asset for us. Funding in progress includes 55% state/federal grants, 25% Watauga Tourism Development, and 20% business and individual donors. The process has taken time to negotiate with landowners for right-of-way, which is always voluntary. Already there are parking areas and miles of trail and that is increasing, including multiple access points to rivers for fishing as well as paths along waterfalls. The spokespeople made a compelling case for how this initiative preserves and provides access to natural resources and offers a substantial economic boost to our region.
Caldwell Community College
Dr. Mark Poerch, President of Caldwell Community College, spoke on their work, including reference to the Valle Crucis middle school students going to classes on the Watauga campus (due to the loss of their school building to the hurricane), who enjoy getting to "go to college," a possible "silver lining of this partnership." CCC&TI is working on an apprentice style program to connect students with businesses. Reports show that North Carolina has jobs but not workers, and the community college would like to try to grow our own.
Watauga County Schools
Next came representatives of the Watauga County schools, led by Dr. Leslie Alexander, Superintendent, and Dr. Gary Childers, Chairman of the Watauga County School Board. A lively discussion ensued (you should have been there), mostly because board members asked for more clarity on how some of the county funding was used by the school system. By the end of the conversation, everyone seemed satisfied with plans for better transparency and several concerns appeared to be addressed.
I was shaken to learn that cuts in federal Covid funding, among other challenges, has meant that the county has had to greatly reduce its personnel budget, cutting 36 positions so far with an eventual goal of 66 total cuts, though it was reported to me these are not direct lay-offs but primarily by not filling empty positions after retirements and similar. UPDATE: 4/6/2025: All IT instructional positions in Watauga County Schools have been informed that their positions have been eliminated as of the end of this school year, so there are direct layoffs taking place in our school system. Other positions have been collapsed and reassigned as well.
If my notes are correct, Watauga County schools receives funding from multiple sources: 64% state funds, 27% county funds, 6% federal funds, and 3% pre-k/medicaid funds, which may be good to know if you are wondering about the effect of attempts to eliminate the federal Department of Education and threatened cuts to Medicaid. (Good news, though, the state is committed to direct over $600 million this year to, oops, expand private school vouchers to families earning six figure incomes, never mind, that won't help us at all). There was a report on the need to fund costly instructional programs for math and reading called i-ready and Amplify CKLA.
One interesting point of clarification regarding snow day policies: people who move here from out of state may not be aware that it is state law that the board is not allowed to hold school unless busses can run, one reason we may appear to have more snow days than elsewhere.
Emergency communication systems
There was an interesting report on the work to adopt VIPER radio communications and build towers for emergency communications, because our emergency services must have these alternatives that will work when cell phones and other systems do not (something made especially apparent during the hurricane). This appears to be a work-in-progress and demonstrates some of the unique challenges faced by our mountain region.
Once again, I'll stress that I only share what stood out for me and this is incomplete at best, but I hope it provides some insight into the issues affecting our county.