Land Use and Landfill Lead Topics as Planners Receive Updates

By Ron Fitzwater

Members of the Ashe County Planning Board heard several updates from committees and department heads on several items of interest to the members at their regular meeting Thursday, Feb. 19.

First to speak to the board was Chris Robinson, board appointed facilitator for the county Land Use Advisory Board (LUAB).

Robinson said that over the last 15 months, the board has conducted approximately 35 meeting hours to include meeting with other groups and communities to determine the areas that the board needed to concentrate on and set the scope for what the board (which can make recommendations but has no authority to change or introduce policy), will make priority.

Robinson said that the group had made some preliminary determinations, based on feedback from county citizens, that the main areas of interest should revolve around maintaining the rural quality of the county through good stewardship of the view shed, ridgeline protection and water quality and availability.

"Maintaining Ashe County as Ashe County is a very important component of who we are and where we are. To maintain the rural character and the agricultural character of the area is particularly important when we look at how we can protect family farms and maintaining the viability of those farms and of course the natural beauty of the area, which is why people come here in the first place," Robinson said.

Robinson said that another area of interest to the group was the maintenance of natural resources, affordable work-force housing and public facilities in the county.

"As for the time-line to complete our efforts, that is a moving target. We are a volunteer group and it takes some time when you are dealing with volunteers. We hope to bring a report to you in late spring. My goal is some time in April, but that is dependant on the agendas of some of the groups we still need to meet with. Once that task is complete the group will disband, unless you determine to leave it as an established board," he said.

A short question and answer period ensued and board co-chair Darrell Hamilton requested that the board, when making its report, also offer suggestions as to the direction the planners should take to answer the needs discovered by them.

Next to brief the board was County Manager Dan McMillan who, with the assistance of Scott Hurley, county environmental services director opened his briefing with a landfill update, using maps to illustrate the make-up of the facility as well as its assets and limitations.

McMillan said he wanted to bring the board up to date on what the commissioners are doing in relation to the landfill. The landfill has been in place for more than 30 years and the commissioners do have plans to expand on county land as needed. Hurley pointed out to the board the areas where expansion could take place under the current plans, and both McMillan and Hurley agreed that currently the facility could go for another 30 to 40 years and that there was land that could extend that time frame as far as 100 years.

Next, McMillan updated a few other items for the board, beginning with the ball fields at Family Central.

"I know you all have seen them if you have been up there. Currently there are some bare areas, but they have been seeded. There is a restroom facility that will be in the middle of the fields, but the commissioners are not happy with this set-up and we are going to be talking to the contractor and see if we can make the field house a little more accessible for people and a little bit larger, and put a second floor on it so that you can have someone up there calling games.

"Everything that the county does now has to be Americans with Disabilities Act compliant. There are some access issues that we are going to have to work out. So it should be completed and we will hopefully be able to have tournaments out there very soon," he said.

"The library is a project that we started about five years ago with preliminary plans. We have been asked 'why did you get started on this now with the economy like it is?' The fact is that this is something that when we started it we didn't have those worries."

McMillan praised the library for their fundraising efforts that recently exceeded the request that commissioners put to them.

"They took that challenge and raised $551,000. The project is on schedule and, when it is done, we are going to have a beautiful facility.

McMillan then talked about the county airport.

"What we were looking at up there is that we were out of space for more hangers and so we are expanding with a grant from DOT where you drive out the road and straightening it so that we can get 12 more hangers as soon as we clear the hill out of the way."

McMillan said that the county is constantly getting requests for hangers and the waiting list is currently seven people deep.

Hanger space is leased at one dollar per foot for the ground. The hangers are the renter's responsibility to build.

"Another thing that you see when you come in is the Law Enforcement Center, which is on schedule. It is being built to where it will tie into the courthouse and the Farm Services Building. Everything right now is in place and we are going to have a nice facility with all the offices enclosed. The Highway Patrol and Driver's License offices will be downstairs.

McMillan said that the facility will answer the housing question for Ashe County prisoners and possibly create a revenue source by holding surrounding county and state prisoners while at the same time reducing the personnel needed to watch the prisoners and reduce feeding costs by eliminating the need to bring in food from outside facilities.

"What we want to do is have a facility that is the best for the county."

Board members concluded business with board interest items which included tabling discussion on mobile homes in the county until next meeting and a request from Larry Wohlers to look into modifying pet policies in the county in an effort to reduce the growing number of stray animals by requiring spaying and neutering by pet owners.

The Planning Board meets the first and third Thursday of the month at 5:30 p.m. in the small courtroom on the third floor of the Ashe County courthouse.