►
Description
Regular Meeting of the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners from February 6, 2018. To view the agenda, or future meeting agendas, you can visit buncombecounty.org/commissioners.
A
A
Let
us
all
take
time
to
reflect
on
the
purpose
and
the
spirit
of
this
historic
gathering
of
talented
and
dedicated
young
people
from
across
the
world
to
compete
in
their
respective
athletic
fields,
while
also
promoting
international
cooperation
and
peaceful
relations.
In
that
same
spirit
before
we
begin
the
business
of
our
meeting
this
evening,
let
us
have
a
moment
of
silence
during
which
time
people
may
offer
a
silent
prayer
or
reflect
on
what
we
all
can
do
as
individuals
to
promote
understanding
and
cooperation
within
our
own
diverse
community
here
in
Buncombe
County.
A
Thank
you,
and
also
before
we
begin
the
meeting
this
evening.
I
would
like
to
acknowledge
that
we
have
with
us
this
evening
representative
Brian
Turner,
one
of
bunkum
County's,
three
representatives
in
the
North
Carolina
House
of
Representatives,
represented
Turner.
Thank
you
for
your
service
to
us
in
our
state
capitol,
and
thank
you
for
being
with
us
this
evening.
I
would
also
like
to
give
a
few
moments
to
County
Commissioner
Robert
Pressley,
to
make
an
announcement.
B
I
think
it's
coming
up
our
newest
member
of
Buncombe
County
residents
born
this
morning,
my
granddaughter
Avery
Rose,
Presley,
and
all
of
this
is
I'm
just
so
proud.
My
fourth
one
is
this:
one
of
the
reasons
why
I
want
to
be
a
county,
commissioner,
is
this
is
the
future,
and
this
is
what
I'm
working
for
and
thank
y'all
for,
allowing
me
to
say.
A
Alright
and
thank
you
for
being
with
us,
if
you
have
a
cell
phone,
please
mute
it
or
turn
it
off.
I'm
gonna
read
the
ethics
reminder
to
the
board.
In
accordance
with
the
code
of
ethics
adopted
by
the
board,
all
county
commissioners
have
a
duty
to
obey
all
applicable
laws
regarding
official
actions
to
uphold
the
integrity
and
independence
of
the
office,
to
avoid
impropriety
in
the
exercise
of
official
duties
to
faithfully
perform
the
duties
of
the
office
and
to
conduct
the
affairs
of
the
governing
board
in
an
open
and
public
manner.
A
Is
there
an
item
on
the
agenda,
the
outcome
of
which
will
have
a
direct,
substantial
and
readily
identifiable
financial
impact
for
any
board?
Member
also.
Does
any
board
member
have
a
financial
interest
in
any
public
contract
coming
before
the
board
today,
there
being
none
all
board.
Members
have
a
duty
and
obligation
to
vote
on
any
matters
that
are
voted
on
by
the
board.
This
evening.
One
item
I
neglected
to
mention
when
I
reviewed
the
agenda
is
that,
following
the
discussion
around
board
appointments,
we
will
take
public
comment
on
any
matter.
A
So
anyone
may
speak
to
the
County
Commission
at
that
time
about
any
matters
that
have
not
been
previously
had
a
public
comment
session
on
them
earlier
in
the
meeting
and
you'll
have
three
minutes
to
address
the
board
at
that
time.
Any
public
issues
that
are
voted
on
by
the
board
will
also
have
a
separate
public
comment
period
for
them
when
we
take
those
matters
up
all
right.
C
Gregg,
has
you
come
up?
What's
in
the
report
is
on
the
Elm
building,
so
you
might
just
talk
about
what
we're
doing
what
we're
doing
there
on
the
Elm
building,
but
for
the
public
for
the
public,
it's
in
the
consent
agenda
and
they
can
see
all
the
detail.
I
just
wanted
to
give
them
a
little
more
information.
D
E
As
far
as
I
own
goes,
we
have
a
hundred
and
fifty
thousand
dollars
in
that
request,
and
that
is
to
take
care
of
some
water
intrusion
issues,
we're
sealing
the
fluted
block,
doing
some
roof
work
and
trying
to
control
the
humidity
in
that
building
and
if
you've
been
in
it,
you
know
it
has
a
certain
odor,
we're
trying
to
overcome
that
and
just
dry
it
out,
basically
to
preserve
it
until
decisions
to
is
made
on
what
to
do
with
them.
Building
the
other
part
of
that
Capitol
request.
E
Originally,
a
BTEC
brought
you
a
budget
of
1.5
million
dollars
for
a
specific
list
of
improvements
to
be
made.
It
was
handed
to
me
and
I
took
it
out
and
I
used
to
a
professional
estimator
and
a
design
team,
and
we
came
back
with
a
budget
amount
of
3.9
million
dollars
so
that
2.4
million
it's
inertia
requested.
That
is
to
basically
compete.
The
list
that
was
originally
given
to
me
may.
F
F
We're
going
to
try
all
the
commissioners,
I
I
want
to
tell
all
the
commissioners
that
sometime
first
the
next
month,
I
want
to
try
to
get
all
of
us
together,
plus
all
the
trustees.
Then
Greg
can
I've
talked
to
him
and
he
can
put
something
together
that
we
all
can
see
everything
that's
happening
for
us.
What's
going
to
happen
today,
BTech,
and
you
know
right
now
what
he
has
planned.
It's
pretty
awesome.
A
Alright
well,
thank
you
and
I
appreciate
their
request
to
talk
about
a
little
bit
more.
This
is
this.
Is
it's
important
to
take
care
of
the
buildings?
We
have
it's
a
lot
of
times.
We
focus
on
the
new
buildings
that
we're
working
on
and
they
get
a
lot
of
attention,
but
it's
really
important
to
take
care
of
what
we
got
so
really
appreciate
everyone's
work.
To
put
this
together,
all
right,
any
other
questions
about
the
consent
agenda.
If
not,
we
need
a
motion
to
approve.
G
H
A
I
For
those
of
you
who
may
not
be
familiar
with
the
WNC
diversity
engagement
coalition,
we
are
a
network
of
organizations
dedicated
to
increasing
diversity,
equity
and
inclusion,
and
we
bring
people
together
to
collectively
support
the
professional
development,
engagement
and
inclusion
of
multicultural
people
in
our
community.
So
I
do
want
to
extend
my
gratitude
to
all
of
you
for
investing
in
and
in
turn,
investing
in
your
employees
for
the
county.
One
of
the
ways
that
one
of
the
programs
that
we
have
is
our
eight-week
professional
development
series
and
it's
a
lot
of
hard
work.
I
It's
a
lot
of
relationship
building
and
a
lot
of
professional
development
and
I'm
so
excited
to
report
that,
out
of
all
all
of
the
Buncombe
County
employees
that
participated
in
the
program.
Graduated
and
I
have
some
of
the
graduates
with
me
today.
So
I'd
like
to
take
a
moment
to
recognize
everyone:
we've
got
Alex
McKnight,
George,
Hannah,
Renata,
Conyers,
Michelle,
Nelson,
doméstica,
Thompson,
Eric,
Barnes,
Michele,
Warren,
Nadine,
Walker
and
Sheila
Hardy
I
can't
tell
you
how
proud
I
am
of
all
of
them
and
how
much
they
mean
to
me.
J
Good
evening,
I
just
wanted
to
take
some
time
out
to
thank
the
commissioners,
Lisa
EB,
Paulo
Mendes,
everyone
who's
involved
with
this
program.
I
think
I
speak
for
myself
and
my
classmates
when
I
say
this
program
has
taught
me
many
skills
that
I
can
use
both
my
professional
life
as
well
as
personal.
J
K
I'm
George,
Hannah
and,
like
Alex,
said,
I
think
you
for
giving
us
this
opportunity.
It
was
a
special
opportunity.
We
formed
a
sort
of
friendship.
It
was
almost
like
a
team-building
exercise
that
I'm
not
sure
it
was
meant
to
be
that
you
know
it
was
more
to
teach
us
the
diversity
and
we
Alex
and
I
have
become
friends
since
then.
Eric
and
I've
become
friends
since
then,
and
I
think
all
the
rest
of
us.
You
know
we,
we
sat
in
the
room
and
we
talked
about
these
in
the
class.
K
We
called
them
uncomfortable
conversations
because
we
were
talking
about
diversity,
but
when
I
said
on
and
thought
about
it,
there
were
actually
comfortable
conversations
in
an
uncomfortable
topic.
I
guess
is
to
me
a
better
way
to
say
it,
because
I
was
comfortable
with
everyone
that
I
was
talking
to
it.
K
K
Whatever
the
case
may
be
and
doing
these
classes
helped
us
get
to
that
point,
and
we
talked
about
things
that
I
think
we
can
bring
back
to
the
county
and
make
us
better
employees,
but
I
also
met
department
employees
that
I
never
would
have
met
otherwise,
usually
I'm,
an
IT
guy,
so
I'm,
usually
going
in
and
fixing
things
and
then
getting
out
of
the
room,
and
and
that's
that's
not
establishing
relationships,
that's
just
putting
out
a
fire
and
moving
on
to
the
next
fire.
So
these
are
folks
that
I'll
be
able
to
next
time.
K
I
go
to
their
desk
will
be
able
to
have
a
conversation
about
friends
and
family
and,
what's
going
on
in
your
life
and
I,
think
that'll
help
us
carry
on
as
better
employees
as
we
go
forward
and
I'm
gonna
meet
new
people
through
them
that
they
know
better
in
their
departments
and
they'll.
Do
the
same
thing
with
IT
and
I
think
we'll
also
look
at
each
other
differently.
It
doesn't
matter
what
color
we
are
doesn't
matter.
What
gender
we
are.
K
A
L
L
So
tonight
we're
going
to
begin
the
process
of
financing
some
school
capital
projects
that
you,
as
a
board,
have
approved
over
the
last
three
years.
These
are
projects
that
have
been
recommended
by
the
school
capital
fund
Commission
as
part
of
the
article
39
sales,
tax,
revenue,
financing
or
sales
tax
revenue
projects
that
we
have
going
out
here.
You
have
been.
L
You
have
approved
projects
since
2016
to
the
in
2016,
2017
and
2018,
and
you've
approved
the
funding
for
these
projects,
and
we
have
been
successfully
successfully
have
been
able
to
use
cash
flow
from
that
fund
to
pay
for
these
projects.
But
we've
gotten
to
the
point
where
it's
now
time
to
go
out
to
the
markets
to
finance
these
projects,
and
so
we
stretched
that
cash
flow.
L
As
long
as
far
as
we
could,
it
has
always
been
the
plan
since
the
beginning
of
this
process
that,
in
order
to
stretch
those
dollars
to
meet
all
the
capital
needs
of
the
local
schools
that
that
we
were
going
to
have
to
finance
these
projects,
and
so
tonight
is
sort
of
the
beginning
of
that
process.
And
so
with
me
tonight,
I
have
Tye
Wilfred,
who
is
a
senior
vice
president
with
Davenport.
L
M
Have
this
down?
Thank
you
Tim,
and
thank
you
to
the
Commission
for
letting
me
be
here
today.
As
Tim
said,
my
colleagues
and
I
have
been
working
with
the
county
for
the
past
couple
years
and
really
focused
in
in
the
past
year,
looking
at
capital
projects
and
specifically
on
these
school
projects,
making
sure
we
had
our
ducks
in
a
row,
we
had
the
planning
process
in
place
to
go
to
the
market
and
issue
bonds
to
fund
the
projects
that
were
ready
to
spend
I'm
gonna,
give
a
overview
of
the
process.
We're
gonna
go
through.
M
The
schedule
certainly
would
welcome
any
questions
as
we
go
through
it
on
page
three
here
some
of
the
key
items
for
the
anticipated
sale.
We
are
anticipating
issuing
limited
obligation,
bonds,
which
has
been
the
county's
historic
method
of
issuing
debt
in
the
public
markets.
The
the
specifics
are
that
we
will
be
issuing
under
the
county's
2015
deed
of
trust,
which
was
created
to
sell
the
25
fifteen
limited
obligation
bonds.
We
are
adding
additional
collateral
to
that
package
since
we'll
be
adding
debt
to
finance
these
projects.
M
The
specific
collateral
here
will
be
the
Montford
Northstar
Academy
and
the
Asheville
high
school.
The
some
of
the
key
details
of
the
issuance
are
listed.
The
next
bullet
we
are
issuing
via
public
sale
and
I'll,
spend
a
minute
talking
about
that
on
the
next
slide.
Our
issuance
date
is
pegged
for
March
of
2018,
we'll
be
pricing
in
mid-march
in
closing
by
the
end
of
March,
which
is
when
the
funds
will
be
available.
The
term
of
our
issuance
is
20
years.
M
We've
provided
on
the
right-hand
side
of
this
slide,
an
estimated
amortization
of
the
principal
amount
of
the
bonds
we'll
be
issuing.
This
is
just
an
estimate.
It'll
move
all
the
way
up
until
we
lock
in
our
rates
in
mid-march
I
will
note
that
the
estimated
par
amount
here
of
fifty
four
point.
Five.
Five
five
million-
is
less
than
the
project
amount.
That
does
not
mean
we're
gonna
be
getting
less
money
than
we
need.
M
It's
purely
a
function
of
the
public
markets
and
our
current
estimates
assume
we
would
be
getting
a
slight
premium
for
selling
those
bonds
based
off
of
investor
preferences,
so
we
will
get
the
sixty
million
we
need.
We
will
be
issuing
a
lesser
par
amount
in
order
to
accomplish
that
and
finally,
on
this
bottom
left-hand
corner
of
the
slide,
we've
listed,
the
financing
participants,
we're
working
as
the
financial
advisor
or
bond
counsel,
Parker
Poe
will
be
covering
the
legal
documents
and
legal
approvals.
M
I
should
note
which
we'll
cover
in
a
minute
as
well,
but
tonight's,
really
the
first
step
in
the
process.
The
public
hearing,
the
February
20th
meeting
that
you
all
have
will
be
the
real
action
from
the
county
board
standpoint
of
approving
the
financing.
So
it's
a
two-step
process.
In
this
approach,
the
underwriting
team
will
be
led
by
RW
Bayard
Wells
Fargo
will
be
co-manager,
their
counsel,
mcguire
woods
and
trustee
region
bank
just
spend
a
minute
about
a
method
of
sale
considerations.
M
Certainly
it
can
be
difficult
to
get
that
amount
of
funding
from
a
single
bank
they
tend
to
like
smaller
amounts,
it's
not
to
say
that
there
isn't
a
bank
willing
to
do
that,
but
it's
a
smaller
universe
of
banks
that
would
be
willing
to
fund
that
size
of
a
loan.
The
term
we're
looking
for
a
20
year,
fixed
rate.
Once
again,
there
are
banks
willing
to
go
out
20
years
with
the
fixed
rate,
it's
a
smaller
universe
of
banks,
so
it's
not
as
good
a
fit
with
what
we're
trying
to
accomplish
here.
M
The
collateral
we
talked
about
a
little
bit
we're
doing
we're
utilizing
a
collateral
package
which
works
well
in
the
public
markets.
Banks
tend
to
like
a
single
piece
of
collateral
and
they
don't
like
sharing
collateral
typically
and
then
the
interest
rates
I'll.
Just
note:
we've
had
some
very
recent,
similar
type
of
financings
that
we've
reached
out
to
our
broad
universe
of
banks,
state
national
and
regional
banks
and
based
off
of
what
we've
seen
for
a
20-year
fixed
rate
of
project
amount
in
this
size.
M
The
bank
rates
just
have
not
been
as
efficient
as
the
public
market.
The
two
data
points
we've
seen
in
the
last
month:
the
bank,
the
best
Bank
rates,
we've
seen
one-
was
50
basis
points
worse
than
the
public
market
estimate.
The
other
was
a
hundred
basis
points
and
just
to
put
that
in
perspective
with
this
loan
that
would
translate
into
depending
50
to
100
basis
points
somewhere
to
the
of
2.7
million.
To
about
five
point,
there's
2.8
to
about
5.6
million
of
total
additional
payments,
she'd
be
making
with
that
sort
of
a
markup.
M
This
next
slide
is
really
just
for
informational
purposes.
I
just
wanted
to
note.
The
county
was
upgraded
to
triple-a
by
Moody's
in
the
winter
of
2016,
so
you
now
have
triple-a
ratings
from
both
Moody's
and
S&P.
Some
folks
like
to
ask
well
what's
the
benefit
of
that
triple-a?
We've
put
some
information
together
on
this
slide.
The
answer
is
it's
a
moving
target.
M
It
depends
on
the
market
that
day,
but
certainly
since
the
financial
crisis
in
2008,
investors
have
put
a
premium
on
credit
quality
and
so
the
difference
between
say
a
triple-a
and
a
double-a
credit
rating.
The
average
spread
there
has
been
23
basis
points
since
2008,
and
so,
like
I
talked
about
on
the
previous
slide.
That
would
translate
10
basis.
Points
is
about
570,000
of
additional
payments.
M
20
basis
points
is
double
that
so
just
trying
to
give
you
a
little
bit
of
a
framework
there
for
the
benefit
of
having
that
triple-a
rating
and
then,
lastly,
a
summary
schedule
here
that
Tim
alluded
to
one
key
step
in
the
debt
issuance
process
in
North
Carolina.
That
I
know
you
all
are
familiar
with.
Is
the
local
government
Commission
has
to
approve
any
debt
financing,
certainly
of
this
magnitude,
and
that
is
a
process
that
we've
already
started.
It
runs
a
parallel
track.
You
all's
approval
process.
M
C
So
I've
just
got
a
cut
just
to
comment,
so
there
are
a
couple
of
reasons
why,
and
you
said
this
number
of
Pete
and
I
guess
some
some
of
what
you
said
just
to
nail
it
down
when
you
go
to
that
when
you
go
to
the
public
market,
these
are
very
good
performing
loans,
so
investors
want
them
right.
That's.
C
Because
they
are
large
in
scale
60
million
we're
not
able
to
reach
out
to
the
local
banks
for
those,
but
on
lower
amounts
we
may
be
able
to,
and
they
you
know,
maybe
at
just
as
competitive
as
a
public
market,
but
in
this
size
of
a
of
a
of
an
offering.
You
know
we
have
to
go
to
the
public
market,
but
I
also
want
to
say
that
the
detail
on
this
is
is
very
good
to
him
and
I
appreciate
the
bringing
in
the
extra
help
to
explain
it
it
does.
It
does
help
quite
a
bit.
N
F
F
L
It
is
specific
to
school
capital
funding
and
so
that
flows
through
the
school
capital
fund
Commission,
which
then
makes
the
recommendations
based
upon
need
from
the
to
school
systems,
to
you,
the
county
commissioners,
and
then
you
ultimately
approve
the
projects
that
are
recommended
to
you.
But
yes,
it
is
a
dedicated
revenue
stream.
It
is
outside
of
the
general
fund.
It's
it's
its
own
specific
fund,
crap
I,.
A
M
Repayment,
so
the
structure
of
this
financing
is
not
too
dissimilar
from
a
mortgage,
your
home
mortgage,
where,
when
you
go
to
take
a
loan,
you
have
the
collateral
to
support
the
loan,
and
you
need
to
have
a
certain
level
of
collateral
to
get
a
certain
dollar
amount
in
your
loan
in
this
stance
and
it's
fairly
common
in
in
the
public
markets.
There's
a
package
of
collateral
and
we
that
that
is
already
existing
that
was
created
in
2015
when
that
financing
was
done,
and
so
the
collateral
was
sufficient
to
support
the
financing
at
that
time.
M
Given
we
are
borrowing
more
and
it's
efficient
to
do
it
under
the
same
package,
we
need
to
add
some
additional
collateral
to
that,
so
that
the
that
they,
the
ratio,
makes
sense
and
I'll
note
specific
in
North
Carolina,
especially
you
can't
just
pledge
any
collateral.
You
need
to
be
financing
improvements
to
that
in
order
to
pledge
it-
and
so,
in
this
case
we're
doing
fairly
substantial
improvements
to
Asheville
high
into
Montford,
and
so
that's
one
of
the
reasons
it's.
A
M
M
Revenues,
not
that
is
how
you
all
specifically
pay
for
it
and
you've
identified
it
for
your
budgetary
purposes.
The
you
effectively
have
a
promise
to
pay
the
debt
service
associated
with
the
bonds.
It's
it's
called
a
subject
to
appropriation,
pledge
and
I'm,
not
a
lawyer,
so
I'm
not
going
to
portray
that
I
know
all
the
specifics,
but
you
are
obligated
to
put
it
in
your
budget
every
year
and
to
determine
if
you
know
those
payments
are
made
as
part
of
the
budget
process
every
year.
Okay,
thank.
C
O
I
mean
it's
a
good
time.
You
talk
about
money,
Wells
Fargo,
I
heard
mention
they've
been
in
the
nude
more
than
any
bank
I
know
of
four
things
that
are
not
appropriate,
so
make
sure
you
check
into
that
whatever
it
is
that
they
got
their
name
on.
You
make
sure
that
you're
checking
that
out
article
39
cell
tags-
hey
it's
been
around
here
in
Buncombe
County
for
years.
O
It's
the
only
one
in
the
state,
that's
designated
for
this
kind
of
money
and
I
think
we
have
used
it
to
the
guilt
and
we
need
to
be
going
the
other
way.
You
know
we
used
to
be
the
dilapidated,
does
and
now
we're
the
40
almost
50
buildings
in
Buncombe
County
and
the
city
of
Asheville.
Now
that
looked
like
mansions,
not
dilapidated,
so
there's
a
piece
here
that
you
need
to
hear
this
is
not
just
about
brick
and
mortar.
We
have
done
this
for
20
years,
brick
and
mortar.
O
The
education
of
our
children
are
suffering
they're
having
to
go
out
into
charter
schools
and
other
proprio
to
get
an
education
so
I'm
bringing
this
point
up,
because
education
is
supposed
to
be
one
of
the
priority
things
and
brick
and
mortars
should
be
secondary
to
that
Buncombe
County's
got
enough
brick
and
mortar.
We
need
to
educate
now
the
bond
rating
I.
O
Don't
know
why
we,
if
you're
talking
about
bond
rating
my
gosh,
we're
proficient
in
getting
money
the
sales
tax
if
it
goes
down
on
article
39
for
it,
if
it
come
to
a
bad
time,
we're
gonna
get
a
money
to
pay
that
bill
is
gonna,
be
out
of
property
tax,
so
that'd
be
a
question
I'd
like
to
ask:
would
sales
tax
that
go
to
revert
to
it
if
the
sales
tax
wasn't
there
to
pay
that
bill?
Thank
you.
Thank
you.
C
A
comment
Chairman
sure,
just
to
the
point
on
the
question
about
sales
tax.
That
probably
wouldn't
be
bad
at
some
point
in
time
to
just
have
a
historical
information
on
sales
tax
to
show
you
know
through
recessionary
periods
and
such
you
know
what
what
it
looks
like
you
know,
and
the
growth
and
it
wouldn't
be
a
bad
thing
to
have
in
the
future.
At
some
point
in
time
and.
L
C
C
A
L
Be
obligated
to
yes
but
I
I
think
really
what
what
we're
doing
in
this
situation
is.
We
have
been
using
fund
balance
out
of
that
fund
to
cash
flow.
This
now
we're
going
to
once
we
do
this
finance
and
we're
gonna
rien
reimburse
ourselves
the
money
that
we've
been
using
from
the
reserve,
so
there
will
be.
There
will
always
be
a
cushion
now
you
know
the
so
if
the
economy
takes,
you
know
a
downward
turn
and
I
think
we
were
able
to
sustain
ourselves
issues
now.
L
L
No,
we
what
what
probably
the
likelihood
would
happen
is
that
we
would
cut
back
on
the
amount
of
projects
that
we
would
award
in
the
future.
I
really
think
that
the
way
we
have
been
modeling
it
and
what
we're
looking
at
is
that
the
fund
itself,
the
school
capital
commission
fund
itself,
would
be
able
to
sustain
any
any
hits
in
the
economy
in
the
in
the
foreseeable
future.
L
L
P
F
I
F
O
F
P
Chairman
and
commissioners
and
representative
Turner
can
speak
to
this.
North
Carolina
has
a
relatively
unique
relationship
under
under
general
statue
with
their
counties,
where
counties
actually
are
arms
of
the
state
and
deliver
specific
services.
On
behalf
the
state
and
one
of
those
is
public.
Health
and
I
do
want
to
note
that,
while
most
of
the
services
provided
in
public
health
are
mandated
or
framed
essential
under
the
law,
I'm
more
want
to
say
what
a
significant
impact
they
have
on
each
and
every
one
of
our
lives
every
day
and
I
asked
dr.
P
mullendore,
who
is
our
community's
medical
director
to
speak
to
some
of
those?
Some
of
it
give
you
a
status
report
around
public
health
services
and
also,
as
fletched,
have
to
come.
Who
is
both
your
Veterans
Services
director,
but
also
your
preparedness
director
who's
responsible
for
ensuring,
as
a
community,
we're
prepared
for
both
man-made
and
natural
disasters?
I
will
know
it's
Tony
Blevins
is
here
your
HHS
director.
Q
It's
flu
cases
are
not
reportable
to
local
public
health,
but
flu
associated
deaths
are
and
then
we
share
that
information
with
the
state
who
then
passes
that
up
to
the
CDC
and
so
from
the
beginning
of
the
flu
season,
which
was
October
1st
of
2017.
Through
the
week
ending
January
27th,
there
were
95
total
flu
associated
deaths
in
North
Carolina.
Q
Three
of
those
were
children
in
the
5
to
17
years
of
age
range
and
63
of
those
were
older
adults
again,
seeing
that
the
impact
of
this
strain
of
flu
tends
to
be
on
older
adults
locally.
As
of
today
in
Buncombe
County
we've
had
8
flu
associated
deaths,
all
were
in
adults,
50
years
of
age
and
older,
and
we're
able
to
capture
data.
That
I
think
is
more.
Q
What
I
hear
from
providers
like?
Were
those
people
immunized
that
they
have
underlying
health
conditions?
So
I
can
speak
to
that
for
our
residents,
so
five
of
those
deaths
occurred
in
people
who
were
not
immunized
and
five
of
those
deaths
occurred
in
people
who
had
underlying
medical
conditions.
So
again
we
we
see
the
the
age
puts
you
at
higher
risk
being
older
adult
and
having
an
underlying
health
condition,
puts
you
at
risk
last
season.
Q
You
know
we
are
pushing
messages
out
prior
to
flu
season
during
flu
season
to
the
public,
encouraging
vaccination
and
encourage
the
health
habits
to
prevent
contracting
flu
and
prevent
spread
I'm
sharing
information
with
local
healthcare
providers
about
how
to
you
know,
diagnose
how
to
how
to
manage
flu
cases.
We
get
updates
from
the
state
on
a
regular
basis,
pushing
that
out,
and
then
we
work
closely
with
residential
healthcare
facilities
in
the
state
of
North
Carolina.
Q
But
early
reporting
to
the
local
public
health
is
critical
to
enable
us
to
kind
of
get
in
there
quick
make
guidance
so
that
we
can
minimize
cases
and
hopefully
prevent
deaths
and
those
communities.
Nurses
are
constantly
there
they're
checking
in
frequently
with
the
facility
making
sure
that
things
are
getting
under
control
or
do
they
need
additional
guidance
or
support
until
that
outbreak
ends
they're
following
up
with
the
facility.
So
far,
this
flu
season
we've
had
seven
flu
outbreaks.
Q
In
these
type
of
facilities,
three
occurred
in
December
4
in
January
last
year,
the
flu
season
we
had
nine
flu
outbreaks
and
facilities,
including
four
in
March,
so
I
think
people
tend
to
think
like
oh
we're
getting
out
of
the
out
of
the
flu
season,
but
never
losing
can
go
until
May,
so
we're
hoping
for
our
peak
we're
not
quite
there.
Yet.
We
don't
think
the
other
group
that
we
really
work
closely
with
our
schools.
Q
So
our
school
nurses,
our
child
care
facilities
and
our
child
care
consultants
are
very
much
our
eyes
and
ears
on
the
ground
as
well.
They
report
to
us
about
school
absenteeism
if
that
what
they're
seeing
in
terms
of
symptoms
and
the
students
so
that
we
can
support
schools
and
helping
to
control
flu,
we
can
get
messages
out
to
parents.
I
saw
one
of
our
staff
took
a
picture
the
other
day.
Q
I
N
Gonna
briefly
discuss
how
we
would
actually
respond
to
it
influenza
pandemic,
how
we
would
push
that
mass
prophylaxis
out
to
a
large
percentage
of
the
community
in
a
short
period
of
time
and
what
kind
of
actions
would
prompt
that
response
from
us.
So
we
do
that
through
our
pod
program,
pod,
in
this
case
being
a
point
of
dispensing
those
are
predetermined
locations
geographically
dispersed
throughout
the
county,
where
I
can
send
the
team
we'd
set
up
a
center
of
operations
to
push
that
mass
prophylaxis
at
a
high
rate
to
members
of
the
community.
N
Essentially,
that
can
be
initiated
through
two
ways:
one
at
a
local
level,
where
we
determine
ourselves
that
our
local
medical
facilities
cannot
meet
the
demands
of
the
community
or
down
top-down
from
a
federal
level,
either
from
a
spur.
The
assistant
secretary
for
preparedness
response
through
Center
for
Disease
Control,
through
Act
evasion
of
the
strategic
national
stockpile
or
through
the
public
health
preparedness
and
response.
So
how
that
works
is
we
have
seven
locations
determined
throughout
the
community
at
our
county
and
city
high
schools?
N
We
have
these,
as
you
see
in
the
picture,
these
deploy,
WebP,
odd
boxes
that
come
equipped
with
equipment
and
supplies.
So
one
of
my
response-
teams
of
twenty
to
thirty
people
can,
in
a
few
hours,
set
up
this
site
at
a
cafeteria
or
gymnasium
and
start
pushing
that
prophylaxis
in
the
case
of
a
flu
pandemic
we're
doing
vaccines.
We
determine
that
our
rate
about
for
an
hour
is
about
three
hundred
people,
so
one
pod
side
in
the
course
of
twenty
four
hours.
N
Once
it's
up
to
speed,
we
think
we
can
vaccinate
about
seven
thousand
people
and
what
this
does
for
this
program
is.
It
helps
us
meet
our
public
health
preparedness,
core
capability,
eight,
which
is
medical
countermeasure
dispensing
for
the
jurisdiction,
and
this
falls
under
a
public
health,
All
Hazards
based
plan.
So
when
this
activation
we're
gonna
use
a
couple
of
our
annex
annexes
some
examples
of
those
are
the
hi
Kent's
consequence
pathogen
plan,
our
medical
countermeasures
plan
and
our
pandemic
flu
plan.
N
A
couple
of
weeks
ago
on
January
26,
we
conducted
our
second
annual
full-scale
pod
exercise
in
partnership
with
the
UNC
Asheville
men
School
of
Pharmacy
at
UNCA.
We
had
about
70
participants
representing
our
accounting
preparedness
team,
my
pod
managers,
our
County
epidemiology
team,
school
nurses,
some
of
our
clinic
staff,
as
well
as
twenty
students
from
the
UNCA
school
pharmacy
started
the
morning
with
a
didactic
portion.
We
reviewed
our
history
of
pandemics,
we're
observing
the
100-year
anniversary
of
the
Spanish
flu.
N
This
year
we
talked
about
kind
of
how
the
flu
itself
shifts
and
drifts
in
migrates
around
the
world,
and
then
we
had
a
deep
dive
into
the
operations
of
a
pod.
In
the
afternoon
we
ran
through
several
iterations,
with
the
pod
vaccine
scenario
to
maximize
experience,
for
everyone
was
a
very
successful
day.
We
met
our
three
goals,
with
the
first
of
which
was
the
film
familiarize
to
staff
and
students
with
what
a
emergency
response
would
look
like.
N
This
model
we
use
for
the
influenza
is
also
the
same
model.
We'd
be
pushing
it
for
any
kind
of
public
health
emergency
response,
whether
that's
a
shelter
in
response
to
a
winter
storm,
radiological
disaster
or
perhaps
even
a
chemical
biological
terrorist
attack.
It's
the
same
model
we'd
be
pushing
out.
So
we're
really
happy
with
the
way
that
exercise
went.
We're
looking
forward
to
continuing
our
partnership
with
UNCA
into
the
future
and
maximize
our
capacity.
Q
Another
common
wintertime
illness
that
Public
Health
addresses
is
norovirus,
which
may
be
called
the
stomach
bug
or
incorrectly
called
the
stomach
flu.
It's
not
the
flu,
and
so
norovirus
is
really
common
between
November
and
April.
It's
that
acute
abdominal
pain,
nausea,
vomiting
that
comes
on
fast
and
goes
away
within
one
to
three
days,
and
it
is
highly
contagious
and
very
hard
to
control
because
it
can
be
resistant.
It
is
resistant
to
many
common
disinfectants,
so
well
alcohol-based
hand.
Sanitizer
is
great
for
most
things.
Q
It
does
not
work
for
norovirus,
so
hand-washing,
hand-washing,
hand-washing,
and
because
it
is
so
contagious,
it
can
easily
rip
through
a
child
care,
a
school
long-term
care
facility
and,
as
with
flu,
these
residential
health
care
facilities
are
required
to
report
to
us
if
they
get
two
or
more
staff
or
residents
who
have
nor
like
illness.
We
work
with
them
and
this
time
we
will
bring
in
often
our
environmental
health
staff
who
inspect
these
facilities.
Q
They
are
checking
water
temperature,
they're,
checking
the
disinfectant
strength
that
they're
using
to
again
try
to
control
the
outbreak,
and
so
our
environmental
health
staff
and
our
community's
nurses
work
in
partnership
to
address
norovirus
and
then
finally,
what
talk
in
Buncombe
County
would
be
complete
without
talking
about
pertussis,
so
they're,
not
specifically
a
winter
illness.
It's
it's
on
everybody's
mind
because
of
the
recent
still
ongoing
Henderson
County
outbreak.
Q
As
of
January
24th,
there
are
up
to
90
cases,
thankfully
seeing
a
downward
trend,
but
not
quite
over
yet
and
amazingly,
we
have
not
have
any
cases
associated
with
that
outbreak.
We've
only
had
four
cases
since
their
outbreak
started,
none
of
which
were
connected
to
the
Henderson
County
outbreak
and
but
early
on
in
the
outbreak.
What
we
did
was
notify
our
local
health
providers
making
sure
they
are
aware
that
there
is
an
outbreak
in
our
and
our
surroundings,
sending
information
home
to
parents
and
schools
where
there
was
some
coughing
illness
going
around
saying.
Q
If,
if
their
kid
has
these
symptoms,
please
get
them
to
the
doctor.
Health
care
providers
are
required
by
state
law
to
notify
local
public
health
when
they
have
a
suspected
case
of
pertussis,
and
our
nurses
jump
on
that
conduct.
A
very
thorough
investigation
to
determine.
Does
this
person
meet
case
definition
for
pertussis,
make
sure
that
we
are
Perley
treated
appropriately,
treated
and
excluded
from
activities
and
then
do
contact
investigation
because
pertussis
is
so
contagious.
We
need
to
make
sure
that
all
household
contacts
and
any
high-risk,
close
contacts
get
treated
with
medication
to
prevent
their
illness.
Q
So
I
would
say
that
our
community's
nurses
I
think
of
them
as
like
private
investigators.
They
really
are
great
at
investigating
things
getting
to
the
bottom
and
helping
prevent
spread.
They
work
behind
the
scenes,
which
I
think
is
one
of
those
things.
Public
Health
often
is
sort
of
taken
for
granted,
because
you
don't
always
see
what
we
do,
but
we
have
really
knowledgeable
dedicated
staff
who
are
out
there
every
day
trying
to
protect
the
community's
health.
Q
R
Mr.
chairman
commissioners,
I'm
asking
today
for
an
increase
in
our
ambulance
rates
and
I'll,
give
you
the
reasoning
behind
the
increase.
The
last
time
that
we
had
an
increase
was
in
2011,
and
the
reason
that
we
haven't
asked
for
one
since
Medicare,
who
is
the
primary
provider
of
reimbursement,
hadn't,
approved
any
more
funding
than
what
they
did
in
2011.
R
R
What
we're
currently
charging
for
different
types
of
service
that
we
provide
and
and
we're
asking
to
go
up
$100
across
the
board,
with
the
exception
of
mileage
and
mileage,
is
going
up,
not
100,
not
$100,
but
anyway
mileage
will
be
going
from
875
per
mile
up
to
$10
per
mile
one
other
thing:
that's
that's
going
up,
and
this
came
about
after
Medicare
increased
two
percent.
As
of
the
first
of
the
year
where
we
go
out
and
treat
somebody,
but
we
don't
transport
them,
they
decide
that.
R
Maybe
they
don't
want
to
go
to
the
hospital
or
it
could
be,
maybe
from
an
overdose
and
we
administer
narcan
and
they
recover
enough
to
where
they're
not
going
to
think
they're
going
to
be
okay
and
we
don't
transport
them
previously.
All
we
could
collect
was
$200
for
that
and
we
may
expend
much
more
in
medication.
Some
of
these
medications.
We
carry
on
ambulance
a
rather
expensive
and
a
lot
of
times.
R
We
don't
even
recoup
our
costs,
but
here
recently
like
during
the
latter
part
of
January
Blue
Cross
was
kind
of
the
leader
and
they
decided
well.
They
would
go
up
to
as
much
as
$400
a
reimbursement
for
a
treatment,
but
we
didn't
transport
so
we're
asking
to
go
up
to
three
three
hundred
and
seventy-five
dollars
and
there's
probably
a
five
percent
of
our
calls
that
falling
into
that
category
oxygen
use
you'll
notice,
it's
still
the
same
ten
dollars
the
reason
for
that.
We
can't
collect
any
more
than
ten
dollars.
R
R
R
F
C
R
R
A
F
R
F
R
H
R
R
R
R
H
A
O
O
O
That's
amazing!
It
now
the
other
pieces
of
the
money
is
I
heard
that
hospital
was
putting
in
money
on
these
amateurs
at
one
point:
either
operational
or
money
for
the
medicine
or
something
so
is
that
money
being
taken
out
and
how
much
is
it?
And
how
is
that
getting
be
put
back,
and
is
that
part
of
having
to
raise
this
money
up
a
little
bit
on
all
these
services?
O
S
Commissioners,
Monica
Christ
from
Candler,
so
I've
been
very,
very
busy,
since
you
guys
have
last
seen
me
in
November
shortly
after
that,
I
did
a
cleanup
at
the
heart
of
Candler,
as
mr.
John
Sutton
calls
it
with
two
Inka
high
school
girls,
we
cleaned
up
that
whole
corner.
Everyone
was
complaining
about
it
and
we
went
out
and
did
something
about
it.
S
Basically,
what
I'm
summing
up
is
the
library
Board
of
Trustees
is
someone
that
you
trust
to
help
handle
the
funds
you
also
awarded
$300,000
to
the
Inka.
Can
the
library
I
doesn't
no
one
know
about
this?
This
is
an
amazing
thing
to
come
to
Inka,
Candler
and
I'm
excited
just
like
at
the
opioid
epidemic
that
Town
Hall,
that
I
went
to
and
I
got
to
see
all
of
you
except
miss
for
mr.
brownie.
S
It's
a
beautiful
thing
coming
to
Candler
and
more
people
need
to
know
about
it
and
I
know
that
there
are
a
lot
of
applicants,
but
in
my
professional
way
of
saying
gimme
gimme,
please
please,
please
I
know
that
you
guys
can
trust
me
for
that
three
hundred
thousand
dollars
to
give
resources
to
Candler
if
I
did
it
with
no
money,
something
the
whole
town
was
complaining
about.
Imagine
what
myself
and
all
these
volunteers
that
are
coming
with
me,
the
army
behind
me
in
Kammler.
Imagine
what
good
we
can
do
for
that
and
I.
S
Don't
know
if
you
know
my
original
stance
with
all
of
it.
It
comes
back
to
the
opioid
epidemic.
It
may
sound
like
graffiti.
It
may
sound
like
resources
or
buses
or
this
that
and
the
third,
but
it
all
comes
back
to
curbing
the
the
opioid
epidemic.
I
know
that
you
guys
can
trust
me
to
give
the
respect
to
our
community,
to
you
guys
to
be
what
was
another
one
I'm
telling
you
you
guys
do
a
lot
around
here.
S
A
F
A
A
A
My
hope
that
in
the
future
we
would
maybe
do
these
are
pretty
pretty
big
increases,
but
but
on
the
other
hand
we
haven't
done
any
since
2011,
so
my
hope
may
be
going
forward
as
we
do
kind
of
maybe
more
frequent
but
smaller
anyway.
It's
just
my
comment,
but
I'll
I'll
support
I'll
support
the
motion
so.
C
I'm
gonna
comment,
since
the
chair
has
to
I
think
you
know
not
I'm
gonna
support
it
also,
but
that's
not
a
bad
idea
that
you
know
as
we
look
forward
and
everything
we
might.
You
know
want
to
look
out
over
the
next
five
years
or
ten
years.
You
know
at
this
and
I
not
have
to
catch
up.
You
know
just
try
to
try
to
keep
up
with
what
we
what
we
need.
I.
P
Think
that's
a
really
good
suggestion.
I'd
make
the
clarification
that,
like
any
other
health
care
provider,
we
can
only
bill
what
the
covered
entities
allowed
us.
Medicare,
Medicaid
and
Blue
Cross
Blue
Shield
are
the
only
things
available
and
to
mr.
Rice's
point
I,
don't
think
mr.
viho
was
saying
we're
not
seeing
more
people
he's
saying
the
percentage
of
uncovered
individuals.
C
C
P
Medicare
is
raised
the
rate
and,
if
Buncombe
doesn't
raise
the
rate,
it
prevents
us
from
asking
Medicare
to
reimburse
at
the
rate
for
that
service,
that
every
other
emmalin's
in
the
country
now
has
the
opportunity
to
do
for
those.
But
I
would
agree
with
you
a
little
bit
confused
to
even
how
to
bring
a
rate
increase
to
you,
all-around
ambulance,
because
we
never
seen
one
so.
F
P
F
P
H
C
A
A
G
A
Please
say
aye
any
opposed
all
right,
then.
We've
got
the
two
board
of
adjustments
areas,
one
is
for
the
Asheville
Board
of
adjustments
and
we
have
two
applicants.
We
were
talking
earlier
about
whether
to
go
ahead
and
make
the
decision
on
that
to
see
or
to
do
interviews.
So,
let's
just
let's
just
majority
rule
here,
I'd
like
to
just
kind
of
go
through
and
if
you'd,
like
the
interview,
let's
let's
say
interview,
if
a
majority
already
knows
what
you
want
to
say,
we'll
just
vote,
but
let's
listen.
H
B
A
A
C
A
F
A
There's
been
some
there's
been
a
proposal
that
mr.
Holland
would
work.
We
have
a
big
pool
of
applicants
here,
a
lot
of
interest
in
the
new
library
board,
so
there's
been
a
suggestion
that
they
work
to
identify
the
geographic
diversity
of
all
the
applicants
and
bring
back
kind
of
a
smaller
pool
of
candidates,
which
the
board
would
an
interview
and
make
selections
on
which
would
be
geographically
representative
of
our
library
system
and
the
county
in
mr.
A
G
C
T
Are
several
ways
that
you
could
do
that
if
you
wanted,
because
the
applicants
you
have
one
from
each
district
and
then
you
have
two
at-large,
you
could
interview
if
you
wanted
by
district.
You
could
certainly
do
that
and
break
that
down,
and
it's
really
up
to
your
pleasure
as
to
how
what's
the
most.
G
I
know
I
know
we're
here
by
districts,
but
I
always
worry
on
a
commission
level
to
be
that
specific
to
districts
in
the
sense
that
we're
all
Buncombe,
County
Commissioners,
that
make
sense
so
I
think.
If
we
could,
you
know
not
I
mean
I
can
see
representation
from
each
district.
But
interview
get
to
a
number
and
interview
based
on
that.
You
know
like
if
you
had
at
least
two
from
every
district
and
then
sent
them
our
way.
I
mean.
C
G
A
G
A
S
T
A
A
D
Good
evening,
mr.
chairman
and
commissioners,
my
name
is
michael
harney
and
I
am
a
co-founder
and
operator
of
what
we
call
the
needle
exchange
program
of
Asheville.
It
currently
operates
out
of
the
office
of
the
Western
North
Carolina
AIDS
Project
I
also
teach
Spanish
at
a
BTech
in
at
Blue
Ridge
community
college.
D
If
we
ever
exchanged
a
thousand
needles
in
a
whole
year,
we
thought
we
were
pretty
hot
snot
to
be
honest
and
last
year
with
through
about
four
hundred
and
eighteen
thousand
needles
and
the
year
for
that,
in
2016
we
did
five
hundred
and
twelve
thousand
needles.
So
I
brought
a
packet
of
information
to
you,
commissioner
Belcher,
and
that's
for
your
education
in
it.
You'll
find
a
letter
from
the
governor.
We
had
the
Deputy
Secretary
of
Health
and
Services
mark
Benton,
come
in
December
and
speak
to
us
and
listen
to
us
and
hear
our
concerns.
D
The
Western
North
Carolina
aids
project
serves
an
18
County
region,
and
yet
we
had
people
reporting
coming
from
32
counties
in
four
states
for
access
to
clean
needles.
I
am
asking
you
to
really
consider
becoming
the
model
to
the
state
of
North
Carolina
early
in
the
in
the
years
when
Nathan
Ramsey
was
the
board
chair
and
when
George
bond
was
the
health
director,
the
Health
Board,
the
Buncombe
County
Health
Board,
had
a
resolution
in
support
of
needle
exchange.
D
Asheville
has
been
very
supportive
all
over
the
years,
and
this
has
been
a
great
location
to
be
a
model
for
our
state
I'm,
hoping
that
you
will
consider
tonight
making
some
comments
in
support
of
actually
operating
needle
exchange
out
of
our
County
Health
Department
I
would
like
to
see
actually
that
all
85
County
Health
Department's
across
the
state
take
this
up.
The
needle
exchange
program
of
Asheville
spent
about
fifty
thousand
dollars
supplying
needles
for
all
the
counties
and
people
that
have
come
from
these
counties.
D
So
it's
not
that
you
would
have
to
support
that
many
people,
but
if
we
could
spread
this
so
that
at
least
all
18
to
20
counties
of
Western,
North
Carolina
would
have
you
know,
maybe
five
thousand
needles
or
ten
thousand
needles
or,
however
many
it
would
really
reduce
the
burden
to
us
locally.
It
would
keep
people
back
home
where
they
might
not
have
to
drive
long
distances
to
get
the
access
they
could
find
access
to
a
medical
care
to
a
safe
disposal
in
the
health
department.
D
Maybe
testing
for
HIV
hepatitis
maybe
accounts
for
all
the
things
that
may
be
available.
I
would
like
to
hear
tonight
that
you
all
each
of
you
support
having
the
County
Health
Department
operate
needle
exchange
out
of
it
and
how
we
can
work
that
out.
Maybe
with
the
medical
director
and
other
health
directors
in
our
community.
I
know:
Nancy
Yancey,
County,
Diane,
cook
I
believe
is
her
name.
D
Is
the
health
director
there's
really
looking
into
it
and
there
are
other
counties
across
the
state
doing
the
same
I'm
open
to
any
questions
that
you
have
I
hope
the
packet
will
be
of
interest
to
you.
It
was
House
bill,
972
that
legalized
needle
exchange
in
2016
and
House
bill,
243
and
2017
amended
the
verbiage
that
no
public
funds
could
be
used,
but
no
state
funds
instead
could
not
be
used.
That
opens
it
up
to
county
and
city.
So,
thank
you
very
much.
D
C
The
invite
the
invite
was
so
you
could
provide
information
to
us
so
that
we
could,
you
know,
make
decisions
as
we
move
as
we
move
forward.
We
won't
be
making
any
decisions
tonight,
but
again,
I
appreciate
you
come
and
encourage
everyone
to
come
and
share
comments.
Get
three
three
minutes
when
you
can
thank.
A
S
Speaking
on
the
syringe
exchange
program,
you
know,
unfortunately,
this
day
and
age,
we
have
to
accept
that
syringes
are
out
there.
That's
part
of
what
I
do
I've
personally
trained
myself
and
the
students
that
I
go
out
with
it's
it's
on
the
streets,
it's
everywhere.
What
this
man
speaks
is
the
truth.
S
I've
never
personally
chosen
that
route,
but
there
are
others
who
don't
have
that
support
structure,
but
what
I
will
say
if
you
don't
support
holy
what
this
man
has
to
say,
then
there
definitely
needs
to
be
some
some
give-and-take
on
spreading
the
awareness
spreading
spreading
knowledge,
mountain
energy
and
Candler
booms,
Corner
I,
know
mr.
Belcher
I
know
you
know
where
that
is
well.
That's
my
corner.
Mountain
energy
was
my
first
job
resource.
I
love
those
people.
They
give
me
apple
strudels.
You
know
they're
great
people.
S
S
I
mean
I
personally
got
on
the
phone
for
over
half
an
hour,
I
call
the
fire
stations
I
called
a
PD
I
called
whomever
I
thought
could
help
guide
me
to
how
we
could
get
this
full
bin
of
syringes
picked
up
and
an
empty
one
in
its
place,
because
we
are
in
the
middle
of
an
opioid
epidemic,
unfortunately,
and
the
syringe
exchange.
That's
who
we
need
a
Conte
and
it
take
it
upon
myself
to
go
and
spread
that
knowledge.
S
O
Thank
You
mr.
chairman
members
board
okay,
Jim
Harlan
up
here.
I
want
to
recognize
him
he's
on
the
value
health
board
and
he
made
a
motion
to
do
something.
They
accepted.
How
about
that?
That's
getting
unusual
on
the
value
Health
Board
by
the
way
Jim.
We
have
to
life
about
that
one
because
he
did
a
great
job
opening
up
to
public
I.
O
O
He
also
served
in
2006
on
the
Planning
Board
for
the
county
and
he
ant
him
and
his
partners
were
the
one
that
developed
and
all
his
property
out
there
at
the
time
that
he
is
on
the
board
and
there's
a
big
article
in
mountain
Express
about
this.
Why
was
the
Planning
Board
overloaded
with
developers
this
man
should
not
be
put
on
the
board?
In
my
opinion,
because
he's
already
served
on
board.
We
are
we
with
there's
a
lot
of
good
applicants
out
here.
O
We
don't
have
to
repeat
they're
in
a
big
building
project
around
Inka
Lake
and
that
place
is
out
there
with
his
kinds
of
business
and
his
business.
So
I
think
he'd
be
a
conflict
of
interest
in
my
opinion.
So,
that's
that's
that
now
the
opioid
crisis
I
want
you
to
focus
on
something.
You
need
some
really
good
help
here
with
eye
health.
O
Maybe
I,
don't
know
where
they're
the
one
good
or
not,
but
you
got
good
staff
to
look
in
to
what
we
call
the
substance
abuse
substance
abuse
has
been
a
big
issue
with
school
kids
for
years
it's
been
swept
under
the
rug.
It's
been
not
even
funded
or
underfunded,
and
subs
abuse
is
a
big
big
leader
in
they're,
headed
into
opioid.
O
Now,
if
you
don't
address
the
biggest
issue
with
substance
abuse,
what
do
you
think
opioid
is
looking
like
so
I
think
the
the
focus
should
be
around
the
biggest
population
of
people.
Opioid
is
not
the
biggest
population
of
people.
Substance
abuse
is
that's
what
we
heard
from
the
doctor
today
downstairs.
We've
heard
it
all
through
these
years
about
substance,
abuse
now,
Valley
elf
has
never
been
funding
the
subs
abuse,
the
state
hasn't
funded
it
and
we're
not
funding
it.
Let's
talk
about
the
biggest
issue,
subs
abuse.
Thank
you.
U
U
Let's
back
up
about
three
years
in
your
mind
on
March
9
2015
I
relate
a
concern
to
the
Parks
and
Recreation
Director,
showing
that
the
county
was
in
violation
of
state
law
regarding
its
ordinance
of
chapters
50
4
and
54
10,
and
the
illegal
posting
of
signage
within
county
parks.
Within
four
days
of
sending
that
email
I
received
a
verbal
and
written
reprimand
from
my
manager,
followed
by
an
e-mailed
acknowledgment
of
such
labeling.
U
My
concern
for
the
county's
illegal
posting
of
parks,
as
quote
the
use
of
funds,
supplies
or
equipment
of
the
county
for
political
or
partisan
purposes.
Let
me
just
be
really
clear
letting
the
county
know
that
it
is
violating
a
law
is
neither
political
nor
partisan
on
October
3rd.
As
you
well
know,
the
county
updated
its
personnel
ordinance
regarding
retaliation,
so
on
October,
4th
I
resubmitted
that
same
request
quote
in
an
effort
that
the
Ephrem
orange
ever
mentioned.
Ordinances
and
countywide
signage
be
changed
to
bring
the
county
back
into
legal
compliance.
U
I
asked
the
concerns
originally
brought
forth
in
March
of
2015,
be
addressed
swiftly
and
appropriately
I'm
willing
and
able
to
discuss
this
issue
with
whomever
requests
my
presence
or
involvement
in
this
matter.
Well,
that
was
four
months
ago
on
October
4th
today,
we're
at
February
5th,
so
February
5th
today
letter
to
my
manager.
U
Please
accept
this
letter
as
formal
notice
of
my
intent
to
resign
from
my
position
as
communications
specialist
with
in
Buncombe
County
information
technology.
My
last
day
in
this
position
will
be
Friday.
February
9th
2018
I
had
allowed
enough
time
for
this
meeting
to
see
if
that
was
ever
going
to
get
on
the
agenda
three
years
down.
U
Tax
dollars,
I
can
no
longer
sit
by
idly
and
be
part
of
an
organization
that
both
refuses
to
comply
with
statutory
law
and
reprimands
its
employees
for
bringing
forth
such
concerns
when
it
is
in
the
administration's
best
interest
to
follow
the
law.
If
we
Buncombe
County
require
citizens
to
follow
established
ordinary
time.
A
All
right
public
comment
is
ever
there's.
No
one
else
who
wants
to
speak,
cheers
already
spoken
all
right.
I've
got
a
couple
of
announcements
on
February
13th
at
10:00
a.m.
the
Board
of
Commissioners
will
hold
a
special
closed
session
to
review
direct
report.
Employees
in
room
3
to
6
at
200
College
Street
on
February
13th
at
12:30
p.m.
the
Board
of
Commissioners,
will
hold
a
workshop
to
discuss
the
FY
19
budget.
In
the
first
floor
conference
room
at
200,
College
Street
on
February
20th,
the
5
p.m.