The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners is holding off on changing its meeting times. During its meeting on June 6, the Board discussed a potential schedule for meetings that would have the first Tuesday of the month start with a briefing at 9 a.m., and then the regular meeting will start at 10 a.m. Under the proposal, meetings on the third Tuesday of the month would continue to have briefings begin at 3 p.m. with the regular meeting starting at 5 p.m. If brought back for further consideration and approved, the new schedule would be conducted on a trial basis. Commissioners are open to feedback on the potential time change, and you can reach them here. The issue will be revisited at a later meeting. You can always watch Board of Commissioners’ meetings on Facebook.
CAPE awards
The County’s Communications and Public Engagement Team (CAPE) was honored for recently winning for awards at the annual North Carolina City and County Communicators (NC3C) conference. The accolades honor CAPE’s work on strategic communication and engagement campaigns. You can read more about the awards here.
Regional Sports Commission presentation
The Asheville Buncombe Regional Sports Commission (ABRSC) presented Commissioners with an update on its activities. ABRSC works to identify and recruit sporting events and other activities to the area for entertainment and economic impacts. From July 2022-June 2023, the ABRSC helped attract nearly 20 events that brought in an estimated $31 million to the local economy representing more than 40,000 hotel room nights. The events range from soccer, lacrosse, ultimate Frisbee, college basketball, and more. You can see the full presentation here.
Gun Violence Prevention Month proclamation
June is national Gun Violence Prevention Month, and Commissioners are honoring it with a proclamation. It reads in part: “Every day, more than 100 Americans die from gun violence, alongside more than 300 who are shot and wounded. Every year, there are over 40,000 Americans who die from gun violence and Americans are 26 times more likely to die by gun homicide than people in other high-income countries with firearms being the leading cause of death for American children and teens… Communities across the nation, including Buncombe County, are working to end senseless gun violence with evidence-based solutions.” You can read the proclamation in its entirety here.
Economic development public hearing
As part of the process of approving the upcoming budget for fiscal year 2024, Commissioners are required to hold a public hearing on any economic incentives attached to the spending plan. The following economic development expenditures are included in the proposed budget:
- Asheville Buncombe Regional Sports Commission appropriation not to exceed $45,000 related to the expansion of recruitment of regional sports tourism events and tournament.
- Asheville Buncombe County Economic Development Coalition appropriation not to exceed $450,000 related to the expansion of industry and recruitment of new industry in Buncombe County.
- Black Wall Street AVL appropriation not to exceed $70,000 related to the Strategic Partnership Grant: Strengthening BIPOC Businesses in WNC.
- East Fork appropriation not to exceed $40,000 related to the creation of 50 new jobs and capital investment of $2,380,000.
- Haakon appropriation not to exceed $192,298 related to the creation of 100 new jobs and capital investment of $17,900,000.
- Nypro appropriation not to exceed $180,000 related to the creation of 68 new jobs and capital investment of $18,800,000.
- System Logistics appropriation not to exceed $100,000 related to the creation of 47 new jobs and capital investment of $3,000,000.
You can read more about potential economic development incentives for the proposed FY24 budget here. These will not be approved until Commissioners vote on the final budget during their next meeting on Tuesday, June 20. You can read more about the proposed budget here.
To view the June 20 Board of Commissioners meeting, go to facebook.com/buncombegov.