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Four Seasons Politics

Towns side with city in water war

Hendersonville Four Seasons Politics

'Not on my watch,' School Board member says of moving HHS out of city

Henderson County School Board members say county commissioners never talked to them about the idea of replacing Hendersonville High School with a new school campus outside the city limits.   Read Story »

Hendersonville Four Seasons Politics

LIGHTNING EDITORIAL: Legislature threatens public's right to know

The Hendersonville Lightning ran legal advertisements six times notifying the public of the sale of county-owned property on Sixth Avenue. Two bidders raised the price by $114,000 over three months’ time.   Read Story »

Hendersonville Four Seasons Politics

Lapsley praises water legislation as 'major step forward'

Henderson County Commissioner Bill Lapsley is praising proposed legislation filed by Rep. Chuck McGrady as a "major step forward" and an opportunity for local officials to resolve disputes over water rates and water system governance "over the next several months and keep Raleigh out of the picture."   Read Story »

Hendersonville Four Seasons Politics

Meadows gives Trump an A-plus

U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows says he judges President Trump not on what Congress has managed to pass — or not pass — in the first 82 days in office. Despite a goose egg so far on major legislation, Trump gets a glowing report card from the third-term Republican.   Read Story »

Hendersonville Four Seasons Politics

City feels 'kicked in the teeth' by McGrady water bill

Hendersonville City Council members said they were surprised that state Rep. Chuck McGrady filed a bill subjecting city water rates to state regulation just three days after a seemingly constructive two-county summit on utility issues. McGrady orchestrated a meeting Friday with officials from Henderson and Buncombe counties, Hendersonville and Asheville and other legislators from both counties, including state Sen. Chuck Edwards. Hendersonville officials came away from the meeting confident that McGrady would hold off moving ahead on any plan that would heavily regulate the city water system. McGrady filed a bill that bars cities from charging differential rates unless they get state approval. “We thought we had a good meeting Friday but obviously Chuck has escalated things,” said Hendersonville mayor pro tem Caraker, who represented the city along with Councilman Ron Stephens. “We’re going to work on bringing our inside and outside rates closer together. And we would welcome continuing the conversation with the county to get our water utility and our sewer utility more responsive according to the county’s criticism. “Chuck told us he was going to file a bill as a placeholder. He didn’t indicate it was going to be this bill, which is quite a surprise,” Caraker added. “We were perfectly willing to have the rate structure conversation but obviously Chuck thinks about it over the weekend and decides this was not quick enough.”   ‘Productive in tone and substance’ The City Council had been bracing for an attack in the form of legislation ever since the Board of Commissioners failed in an effort to force the city into ceding its water system to a countywide authority. McGrady’s bill bars cities from shifting water revenue to any other purpose. The proposed law would allow the expenditure of enterprise fund revenue for things like construction and new pipelines, repaying debt and paying into a city’s general fund for officials’ time devoted to utilities management and other shared costs such as vehicle maintenance. Cities could charge outside users a different rate only if the Local Government Commission, a state board that oversees local government finances, approved the rates after a public hearing. Instead of targeting Asheville specifically, as McGrady and the Legislature did two years ago with a bill invalidated by the state Supreme Court, or targeting Hendersonville, the bill applies statewide. “It does (apply to Hendersonville) to the extent that it’s a statewide bill,” McGrady said. “It applies to everybody.” Like Caraker, McGrady characterized Friday’s meeting as positive. “We had an all-parties meeting on Friday with representatives and managers and it was productive in tone and substance,” he said. McGrady said he hoped that the cities and counties would be able to “deal with some of the representation issues that Henderson County has put forward,” possibly through an interlocal agreement. His bill subjecting differential rates to Local Government Commission approval is lighter in oversight than a version that would have subjected the city’s utility system to control of the North Carolina Utilities Commission. That was an idea McGrady had raised after a Hendersonville officials rejected the idea of joining a countywide water authority. The commissioners endorsed the idea of Utilities Commission jurisdiction over the city’s rates and capital spending after negotiations with the city collapsed. “I call that a hard oversight,” McGrady said. “This is what I would call more soft oversight. There are cities across the state that are functionally bankrupt” and are extending water lines well beyond the city limits to capture water customers and balance their budgets. Because of that, he said, he found that the idea of restricting out-of-city rate differentials was gaining wide appeal. He characterized the water legislation as a work in progress, a draft that could effectively keeps the parties at the negotiating table. “I told the parties based on their good faith I will stand down on what I called the nuclear option,” forcing a water authority. “My bill does have a study provision in it. It’s not a heavy handed approach,” he said. “I think all the parties recognize I have plenty of other options if they can’t work it out themselves.” City Manager John Connet said the staff was still evaluating the consequences of McGrady’s bill. He said the city likes oversight by the Local Government Commission better than the Utilities Commission idea. “We know them. We work with them on a regular basis,” Connet said. As for the impact of the bill statewide, Connet said there’s no doubt that many cities have tuned in to a power struggle that started here. “There are a lot of cities and a lot of systems that charge a rate differential so obviously it’s going to affect them and I expect they’ll have questions,” he said. “I think our folks are willing to sit down and talk to the county. Exactly what the topics will be is yet to be determined. Obviously, we heard from Rep. McGrady that rate differential is something he’s concerned about.” McGrady and county officials are also pushing for some form of representation for outside users, Connet said. A constructive meeting on Friday did not mean, McGrady said, that the city has signed off on the bill. “They’re not going to be OK with the bill but they’re certainly OK directionally and I’ve also told them this is not a take it or leave it,” he said. “I’m quite open to input and willing to make changes that make sense. But I do intend to move the bill.”   ‘Kicked in the teeth with this’ Caraker and Miller say they’ve been stunned by the way the water war blew up. “They act like they’re the only people that have any moral authority and have the wellbeing of the people in the county in mind and that’s just not true,” Miller said of McGrady and the county commissioners. He said he could understand the county’s position if the city was not running its water system properly and communicating openly. “But as long as it’s going as nicely as it is now and we’re inclusive, why go in there and stir it up if it’s not a grudge or heavy-handed politics,” he said. “No one can come in and look at our books and say we are pulling money out of that enterprise fund and spending it inappropriately…. It’s a huge business and we are not good ol’ boy networking this.” Caraker agreed. “He’s going to be affecting the pocketbooks of a lot of people,” he said of McGrady’s proposal. “I don’t see that he’s making a lot of people statewide happy. It’s kind of astounding to me that all this is going on.” The city signaled that it was willing to work toward equal rates, involve the county in long-range planning and look at some form of representation to outside users. “And all of a sudden we get kicked in the teeth with this. We had such a good relationship with the county up until very recently, with the high school thing and this water situation. I feel like I just walked by Rod Serling and he pointed me to the ‘Twilight Zone.’ I took the lead in the meeting Friday because somebody had to come forward and come toward the middle. But forcing the issue in legislation is kind of nasty.”   Read Story »

Hendersonville Four Seasons Politics

Planning Board recommends City Council deny HHS plan

The Hendersonville Planning Board in a split vote on Monday recommended that the City Council deny a rezoning for a new Hendersonville High School, saying that the plans raised safety and traffic concerns and were incompatible with the surrounding neighborhood.The Planning Board also recommended denial of a special-use permit in a 5-3 vote.The board took the action, which is not binding, after the county’s architect of record and engineers explained the $54 million new school, which has been strongly opposed by HHS students, faculty and alumni. Architect Chad Roberson said after the meeting that as far as he knows the county plans to go forward with the application before the City Council on May 4. The meeting seemed for the first hour to be the watched pot that failed to boil. The county made a straightforward presentation of the rezoning and special-use permit application, going into detail about traffic, parking and security. Opponents raised the same objections they had been making for nearly two years — on traffic, failing to use the historic Stillwell building and neighborhood concerns. After the public hearing was closed, Planning Board members had only four questions for Roberson. But then, when it came time to discuss the application, Steve Johnson asked to have his three minutes, as the public had been given, “to air some things that may not sound relevant.” He recounted that his hometown in Tennessee spent five years to site and build a new school, reaching an agreement on the "perfect spot" after much public discussion. “But the situation here is a little bit different,” he said. “We’re talking about building a new high school that’s larger than the one we have now on top of it, I know it’s not literally on top of it.” Among his concerns were areas the Planning Board is allowed to consider — “namely safety, traffic, neighborhood compatibility and just acreage,” he said. “It’s a beautiful looking concept if it were in the right place. I have a hard time going along with it with all the consternation that has been drummed up about it.” Given the concerns, "I’m not sure it’s time to make this decision,” he said. “I don’t why the city and county can’t get together on this and come up with something that’s suitable.” John Coker seconded Johnson’s motion to recommend the City Council deny the development applications. Supporting the motion were Jay Thorndike, Aaron Black and Jon Blatt. Ray Mundy, Peter Hanley and Ben Pace voted no. Planning Board Chair Steve Orr does not vote. When it came to the concerns about the acreage, Mundy said the Planning Board had raised the same issue when Ingles applied for a permit to build a new store on Spartanburg Highway. “They put a large building on a postage stamp,” he said. He was dubious, but “it looks really good.” “Somewhere along the line it comes to the point where it’s time to proceed or put it to bed,” Mundy said of the long HHS debate. Now the future of HHS is anything but put to bed. The Planning Board’s no vote revived the spirits of HHS alumni and other supporters who want the county to maintain original Stillwell building as an integral part of the school and it set up a big decision for the City Council on May 4. HHS Alumni Association President Bill Orr said the Planning Board decision was the first time he'd seen an attempt to stop "a wagon running downhill without brakes." "We don't need something crammed down our throats like a law enforcement center," he said. "I've told City Council members, 'Don't let county commissioners kill your elected body like they did the Board of Education."   Read Story »

Henderson County Four Seasons Politics

Former Sandburg chief in spotlight with Trump paycheck

Tyrone Brandyburg, who served as superintendent of Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site for more than four years, had a cameo in political theater Monday when he represented the National Park Service as it accepted President Trump’s donation of his first presidential paycheck.Trump received a paycheck for $78,333 for the period from his inauguration on Jan. 20 through March 31 and signed it over to the Interior Department. Critics pointed out that the donation would restore .005 percent of the $1.6 billion the Interior Department would lose if Congress enacted Trump's recommended budget. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said the money would go to the National Park Service to make a small dent in a big backlog of work. The park service has $229 million worth of deferred maintenance at 25 national battlefields, Zinke said.Brandyburg, a 32-year National Park Service veteran, left his Flat Rock post on Feb. 24 to take over as superintendent of the Harpers Ferry historic site in West Virginia.He stood between Zinke and White House press secretary Sean Spicer during the six-minute ceremony and held the over-sized check for a photo but did not speak.During the campaign, Trump vowed that he would not take the $400,000 annual salary as president if elected and repeated that promise after his victory in November. After consulting with legal counsel, Trump agreed to make the donation to a government agency.   Read Story »

Henderson County Four Seasons Politics

LIGHTNING EDITORIAL: 'Ready, fire, aim' on indoor range

The biggest news to come out of Sheriff Charlie McDonald’s public trip to the woodshed last week was how many questions remain about his $20 million training center.   Read Story »

Hendersonville Four Seasons Politics

McGrady seeks reg reform of breweries

RALEIGH — Craft beer is on tap at the state legislature, where state Rep. Chuck McGrady and other lawmakers have introduced three bills to roll back laws that theynsay stifles growth in the burgeoning brewing industry. On Tuesday, McGrady, a Hendersonville Republican, announced House Bill 500, which would allow local beer operations to self-distribute up to 200,000 barrels of their product. Current law mandates that any brewery producing more than 25,000 barrels must sell its product through a wholesale distributor. Two other similar bills were introduced earlier this month. House Bill 67, sponsored by Rep. Michael Speciale, R-Craven, would increase the cap from 25,000 barrels per year to 100,000 barrels. Senate Bill 313 allows brewers to self-distribute if they produce fewer than 103,091 barrels. Sens. Jeff Tarte, R-Mecklenburg; Joyce Krawiec, R-Forsyth; and Jeff Jackson, D-Mecklenburg; are primary sponsors. Breweries such as Olde Mecklenburg — which projects that it will exceed the 25,000-barrel cap this year — will suffer if forced to lay-off its distribution staff and sell its delivery trucks, said founder John Marrino. The average distributor carries about 900 types of beer, making it difficult for smaller breweries to compete when forced to channel their products through a wholesaler, Marrino said. Red Oak Brewery in Whitsett, near Greensboro, and NoDa Brewery in Charlotte, are also approaching the production threshold. It’s time to ease-off regulations for craft brewers bringing jobs to their communities, McGrady said. H.B. 500 clarifies some of North Carolina’s most complex alcohol laws, McGrady said. The legislation permits breweries to provide tastings for customers during tours, for instance. “The more I handle alcoholic beverage legislation, the more clear it has become to me that we need regulatory reform,” he said. “Prohibiting distribution at an arbitrary limit and forcing breweries to hand over their brand, layoff their distribution employees and sell their trucks when they want to expand just doesn’t make any sense to me.”   Read Story »

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