By Tim Gardner
The highlight of the August 5 regular monthly meeting of the Avery Board of Commissioners was approving the establishment of a facility to house domestic violence victims.
Commissioners Tim Phillips (Chairman) Dennis Aldridge (Vice-Chairman), Martha Hicks, Wood Hall (Woodie) Young, Jr., and Robert Burleson were present at the meeting. County Manager Phillip Barrier, Jr., Assistant County Manager and Clerk to the Board Cindy Turbyfill, County Finance Officer Caleb Hogan, County Attorney Michaelle Poore, and Tax Administrator Andrea Turbyfill were also in attendance.
The commissioners held a public hearing during the meeting to solicit public input about an amendment to the Community Development Block Grant Neighborhood Revitalization Grant, which changes the scope of the project from the construction of a reentry housing facility to the establishment of a domestic violence home.
Citizens were allowed to provide oral and written comments regarding the proposed amendment to the Community Development Block Grant Neighborhood Revitalization project.
Two public input meetings were also recently held for the commissioners to gather feedback concerning a proposal to repurpose the County’s $950,000.00 Community Development Block Grant Neighborhood Revitalization funding to meet the needs of domestic violence. The funds were originally to be used for a reentry housing facility, but that project was tabled by the Board of Commissioners.
Various county citizens and others spoke out in support of the County constructing a domestic violence home during the meetings, public hearing, and other communication with the commissioners and the county manager, including representatives of the OASIS organization, based in Boone with an Avery County Office, located at 215-A Pineola Street in Newland. OASIS stands for Opposing Abuse with Service, Information, and Shelter. Founded in 1978, OASIS, Inc. is dedicated to ending domestic violence and sexual assault in Watauga and Avery Counties. OASIS works toward this mission by 1) Providing comprehensive emergency services, transitional support, and a safe environment for survivors as they explore options for a violence-free life; 2) Providing education and skill development to encourage families in our community to create and maintain healthy peer and intimate partner relationships that are based on respect and equality; and 3) Helping to create a community that supports survivors through advocacy and education.
One person—Greg Jenkins—spoke twice during the meeting criticizing the commissioners for considering building a reentry house and establishing a domestic violence house when he contends the commissioners do not help homeless veterans nor provide enough support to the sheriff’s department.
During other commissioners’ meetings and in previous correspondence with the commissioners, county manager, assistant county manager, county attorney, and Military Veterans Service Officer Tara Gragg Daniels, Jenkins has spoken of philosophical differences he has with them concerning how they handle some veterans’ issues.
The commissioners and county manager have said that among their continuous top priorities is assisting all military veterans, law enforcement officers, and county citizens and that they have done so in every possible way while noting that the accusations made by Jenkins against them are inaccurate.
State and local government statistics have indicated that there are no known homeless military veterans in Avery County.
Following the public hearing, the commissioners voted unanimously (5-0) to approve the construction of a domestic violence home. OASIS will conduct daily operations for a new Avery County Domestic Violence Home.
In addition to the new project scope, the commissioners unanimously approved a budget amendment necessary to create two new line items —Acquisition and Rehabilitation concerning the facility. The Acquisition Line will have $500,000.00 to be used for the purchase of real estate for the new facility and the Rehabilitation will have $335,000.00 to be used for any necessary improvements to the structure as well as necessary security measures to be installed. The movements of the funds will in turn delete the other facility (reentry house) line item where the funds were originally allocated.
To qualify for Community Development Block Grant funds, a majority (51 percent) of the beneficiaries must be termed as having low or moderate income or have a household income less than eighty (80) percent of the County median. The beneficiaries of the domestic violence home, much like the reentry are considered a “special population” and will be assumed to be all low-income.
The County will use the Community Development Block Grant funds to purchase an existing home or related facility in an undisclosed location for security purposes and to conduct all necessary repairs to update the home or facility and secure the premises to meet federal and state guidelines regarding domestic violence.
In other news, the commissioners by other unanimous votes:
*Adopted a resolution designating Tuesday, September 17 through Monday, September 23 as Constitution Week.
*Appointed Commissioner Young, Jr. to fill the Avery Commission Board seat on the Mayland Community College Board of Trustees for a four-year term. Young, Jr. replaces Commissioner Hicks on the Mayland Board. Hicks’ term on it ended June 30.
*Appointed Commissioner Aldridge as a voting delegate for the 2024 North Carolina Association of County Commissioners Conference that will be held in Forsyth County (Winston-Salem area) from Thursday, August 8 through Saturday, August 10. Each of North Carolina’s 100 counties is entitled to one vote by a delegate that comes before the association’s membership at the conference.
*Approved the July 2024 Tax Report from Tax Administrator Turbyfill that $186,174.40 in taxes due the County were collected by her and her tax collections staff on all days of that month except those on the month’s four weekend days (Saturday and Sunday).
Tax Administrator Turbyfill said that $4,477,819.36 in taxes due were collected for the first seven months of 2024–January, February, March, April, May, June, and July.
Additionally, the commissioners approved the following budget amendments (5-0 vote) requested by Hogan which include their respective details and monetary amounts:
*$37,973.00 for the Parks and Recreation Department to install new field lighting, a new scoreboard, replace a panel box, and install exhaust fans in the Rock Gymnasium. Some of these items were budgeted in the previous fiscal year (2023-2024), but were not completed.
*Central Dispatch received an insurance reimbursement for damage to radio towers in the previous fiscal year (2023-2024), but the repairs were not made during the last fiscal year. $13,786.00 was rolled forward to the current fiscal year (2024-2025) to complete the repairs.
*The Transportation Department did not purchase vans that were budgeted in the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 fiscal year budgets due to a lack of availability. $427,370.00 was rolled forward to the current fiscal year (2024-2025) to complete the repairs.
*The Sheriff’s Office has received a grant from the International Association of Chiefs of Police for a victim services position. The grant will completely fund the position for two years. $102,474.30 was recognized to fund the second year of the grant.
*$22,533.14 for the Department of Buildings and Grounds to replace the gate at the Department of Social Services (DSS) complex and install it at the Agriculture Extension Center entrance.
*The Sheriff’s Office had budgeted to purchase a Bearcat Tactical Response Vehicle in the 2023-2024 fiscal year. The vehicle was ordered, but the commissioners were told that the manufacturer will not have the vehicle ready to send to the Sheriff’s Office for several more months. $395,196.00 was moved into the current 2024-2025 fiscal year to cover the cost of the vehicle.
*The commissioners approved a six (6) percent occupancy tax earlier this year for the county’s District A areas and determined it is necessary to have a separate fund for such a special district where the County of Avery collects taxes. A bank account for such was approved and established at Wells Fargo Bank.
North Carolina Session Law 2023-144 established the Avery County Board of Commissioners as the governing body of “Avery County District A,” a special taxing district consisting of any place or community in the county that is not designated as a town or a village.
The commissioners previously approved a $39,000.00 service agreement proposal from Deckard Technologies, based in San Diego, California, to provide collection of information to implement the occupancy tax for District A.
During his County Manager’s report, Barrier, Jr. gave an update about The North Carolina Department of Information Technology’s (NCDIT) Division of Broadband and Digital Equity which is providing $67 million in Completing Access to Broadband (CAB) program awards to connect 15,835 households and businesses to high-speed internet in fifteen counties across the state. Avery is the only county in the North Carolina High Country to receive this funding through a program that creates a partnership with local governments to close the digital divide.
These projects will be funded by nearly $35 million from the federal American Rescue Plan awarded by NCDIT, nearly $16 million from counties, and more than $16 million from selected broadband providers.
A committee that included Barrier, Jr. selected SkyBest, Incorporated of West Jefferson, North Carolina’s vendor bid for a contract award based on the evaluation criteria set out in that scope of work to provide Broadband deployment to 956 unserved and underserved locations in Avery County. The total project cost is $9,999,410.12, with the average cost per location being $10,459.63.
Under terms of the contract, Sky Best, Inc. has two (2) years to construct the network (by October 31, 2026), plus three (3) years to maintain the network and offer service to subscribers.
The commissioners have provided $749,970.51 in local funding to obtain Broadband Internet service in the county.
The commissioners will hold their next regular monthly meeting in their Board Room on the second floor of the County Administration Building, located at 175 Linville Street in Newland, on Tuesday, September 3, beginning at 6:00 p.m. The regular September meeting is always moved from the customary first Monday of each month to another day because the Labor Day federal holiday is always the first Monday of September and most county offices are closed then.
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