By JIM GENARO

WEAVERVILLE — Preservation of natural habitats was the subject of much discussion at the Weaveville Town Council meeting last Tuesday night, as council heard an update on the town’s efforts to be certified by the National Wildlife Federation as a community that preserves natural habitats.

The distinction as a NWF Certified Backyard Habitat community would make Weaverville one of only 25 towns in the country to do so, Weaverville Wildlife Habitat Team Lead Alicia Hulse told the board.

“We live in an area that is one of the most diverse in the world,” Hulse said. “Essentially, we need to find a way to co-exist and we’re convinced that this program is part of the solution.”

The designation requires that communities meet five criteria: ample food sources, water sources, cover, places for animals to raise their young and sustainable gardening practices.

The NWF assesses specific benchmarks for meeting those goals, based on the size of the community, Hulse explained. For Weaverville, that would mean having 51 private residences that meet wildlife and sustainability standards, as well as 13 workplaces and two schoolyards that do so.

Because 51 homeowners must voluntarily comply, the standards set a high bar for the town, she said.

“We expect that this will be the most challenging part of our project.”

In other action, the board:

• Reappointed Chris Crawford and appointed William Biggers, John Dankel and Jeff McKenna to the Weaverville Board of Adjustments.

The appointments followed a lively discussion of the way council fills vacancies on town boards.

Councilman Gene Knoefel, who was elected to council in November, expressed concerns that appointments are often made based on Mayor Mary Stroud’s recommendations, without a thorough evaluation of the candidates by council.
He noted that during his campaign, many Weaverville residents cited development as their number-one concern.

Given the importance of this issue, he argued, council needs to make more informed decisions about who gets appointed to the town’s planning and zoning boards.

“I think we need to have a system set up ... to evaluate the qualifications of people nominated for the board,” Knoefel said.

Councilman Doug Jackson, who also was elected in November, agreed, saying the town should develop a pool of people to call on that represent a “cross section of people from different sections of town, different backgrounds, different ages.”

Councilman Don Hallingse concurred, saying, “I think it would be very nice if we could at least meet with the candidates.”

Knoefel and Vice Mayor Dottie Sherrill agreed to meet and develop ideas for how this could be done.

• Appointed Steve Metcalf to the Metropolitan Sewerage District.

• Voted unanimously to approve a 52-lot subdivision on Pleasant Grove Road, within Weaverville’s extraterritorial jurisdiction — the area just outside the town’s borders, over which Weaverville has some zoning authority.

Councilman Doug Jackson expressed concerns about the development’s efforts to prevent runoff from rain, as well as its legal responsibility for doing so once the properties had been resold.

But Developer Drew Norwood replied that the plan meets Buncombe County’s stormwater-runoff rules and include a large retention pond.

Furthermore, he said, homeowners’ tenants would assure that future buyers would continue to be responsible for any damage caused by runoff from their properties.

• Unanimously approved a Comprehensive Tree plan after hearing the annual Weaverville Tree Board report by Mayor Mary Stroud.

Stroud said that the town had planted 86 trees in 2007 and removed 16. Of those planted, 56 were funded by grants from Progress Energy.