Board of Commissioners hear monthly updates, approve requests and discuss upcoming plans

JEFFERSON — The Ashe County Board of Commissioners met in a regular session meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 17 in the third floor Commission meeting room at Ashe County Courthouse.

Those present were Chair Todd McNeill, Vice Chair Chuck Olive, William Sands, Jerry Powers and Mike Eldreth.

Public Comment

The meeting began with a public comment from Cindy Thompson who spoke on behalf of Congresswoman Virginia Foxx. She is the Field Representative for Foxx’s office and wanted to introduce herself to the board to further her community outreach.

“I am her new Field Representative, so my role is to get out into the community and find out, not only what’s going on in the community, but what the needs of the community are so that our office can help meet those,” said Thompson.

Vickie Young then stepped up to the podium for her public comment. Young lives in Grassy Creek and she works for Carolina Farm Credit.

“Each year, Carolina Farm Credit supports organizations with grants up to $5,000 to help in their endeavors and to further the future of agriculture in our region of North Carolina,” said Young.

She stated that the Fund’s mission is to build strong partnerships and alliances. It has two main objectives which are to invest in the future of agriculture and to enhance and impact the quality of life in rural North Carolina.

On behalf of Carolina Farm Credit, Young presented a grant of $5,000 to the County of Ashe and the Ashe County Agriculture Facility committee in support of their upcoming agriculture facility project.

“Farm Credit appreciates your work and looks forward to celebrating the completion of this project with you,” Young said.

Presentations

To begin presentations, Kevin Anderson, Director of Ashe County Parks and Recreation discussed the transfer of donated funds to the Operating Budget for the purchase of a new scoreboard at Family Central.

“I’m happy to say that we’ve recently received a donation check from Skyline National Bank for the purpose of purchasing a new scoreboard,” said Anderson.

The scoreboard will be used for youth soccer and for the new flag football field at the Family Central complex. The board will 10-by-five feet that will have a 10-by-two foot panel underneath it with Skyline National Bank’s name and emblem on it to show appreciation for the donation.

The board approved the transfer of $6,442 to the Parks and Recreation Operating Budget.

DSS Director Tracie McMillan then gave a monthly statistics report for December of 2022 as well as a request for the CDBG COVID-19 grant extension.

“We’re holding fairly steady with the number of foster children at 52 and the number of wards at 42” said McMillan.

McMillan also said that the state has been paying Food Nutrition Service Beneficiaries the maximum allowable benefit, regardless of what they qualified for during the pandemic. This will only last through the end of February. In March, people will return to their regular benefit amount.

The board approved the monthly report.

McMillan then requested an extension on the CDBG COVID-19 grant. She stated that they have been unable to spend the fund amount in full. In November of 2020, the county was awarded the grant of $900,000 for COVID-19 relief. At this time, DSS has spent a little over $41,000, according to McMillan. Her request was to move the final date of obligation from March 17, 2023 to March 15, 2024. In addition, the County requests that the last day to spend the funds be moved from June 17, 2023 to June 17, 2024. The time of submission of the closeout paperwork was requested to move from Sept. 17, 2023 to Sept. 17, 2024.

The request was approved by the board.

Tax Administrator Chris Lambert presented a monthly tax report for December of 2022, which was unanimously approved by the board.

Lonnie Jones with the Cemetery Committee then gave an update to the board. Jones said that the cemeteries are sacred places and need to be well taken care of.

“There are maybe over 967 known cemeteries in the county,” said Jones. “There are around 35,000 known graves. The oldest grave seems to be from 1681. There’s a lot of things about this that need our attention.”

Jones requested that the committee be compiled of five to seven members. Current members include Jones, Jerry Brown and Pete Eller, who all need to be re-appointed.

Some of the things that the committee would like to do includes nominating cemeteries that are appropriate for historic status, coordinating public information to inform people of cemetery laws and regulations, identifying indigenous, slave and Native American burial cemeteries and working with the board and Sheriff’s Office to take action against deliberate cemetery desecration.

“We’ve been here for a while and we’d like for the commissioner’s approval, direction and support in doing some of these things,” Jones said.

The board appointed two new members, Jennifer Thompson Dollar and Dr. Bob White to the committee. They also agreed to upkeep the committee with invitations to further meetings to keep them updated on their work.

Pana Columbus, Director of Community Relations/Programs at High Country Caregivers gave the board an update on their programs. High Country Caregivers is a nonprofit that serves families in which grandparents are raising grandchildren, largely because of the local opioid epidemic. They serve 140 families and they have six monthly support groups across six counties. The one in Ashe County takes place the last Thursday of every month at First Baptist Church in West Jefferson.

In her presentation, Columbus stated that they are very involved in the relationship building business which allows for more connection and a sense of belonging. She also showed the board a video highlighting some of the grandparents involved.

The board stated that they appreciate the work that the High Country Caregivers do around the area.

Owner of Journey 2 Fitness Twila Miller requested to hold a 5K Race Fundraiser for fuel assistance and warmth on Feb. 25.

“There has been a greater need for fuel assistance and the funds themselves are dwindling,” said Miller.

With the partnership through Generations Ashe, the race will begin in the Generations Ashe parking lot and loop through the Beaver Creek area. Funds will be raised through entry fees as well as donations from businesses and individuals. In addition, there will be booths set up with baked goods and drinks for sale.

The race was approved by the board.

County Manager Adam Stumb then came to the board with a number of items including an AEV Lease Agreement, a Memorandum of Understanding with Creating Outdoor Recreation Economies, a Parks and Recreation Use Agreement, a grant acceptance from Golden Leaf and a discussion on landfill timber.

Stumb stated that AEV has been using the former middle school site, also the projected site for the new agriculture facility, to park a number of ambulances. They have requested to amend the lease to allow up to 200 vehicles on the property. The lease will be active for six months unless extended by a mutual agreement and will run at $1 per month. The board approved the lease amendment.

A MOU was presented by Stumb which stated that as a part of the NC Department of Commerce, the Creating Outdoor Recreation Economies (CORE) program will provide strategic planning in the western part of NC around outdoor recreation. The Department of Commerce is also offering business recruitment around recreational industries, according to Stumb. The MOU was approved.

Anderson returned to the board to present the renewal for the Parks and Recreation Agreement with Ashe County Schools. The agreement states that both parties have priority use of the facilities, both indoor and outdoor. Anderson said that with the increase of youth participants, the agreement is very important. It will run through June 30, 2025. It was approved by the board.

To end the meeting, the board approved the Golden Leaf grant acceptance in the amount of $500,000. The grant will support construction of the multi-purpose agriculture facility.