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Tuesday, 29 November 2005 08:27 |
By DAVID FORBES
WOODFIN ?? In a Nov. 15 meeting that started and ended unusually early, the Woodfin Board of Aldermen unanimously approved a 213-unit subdivision on Riverside Drive known as Page Estates.
?®There??s nothing controversial here, this is just growth and development,?∆ Town Administrator Jason Young told the Daily Planet after the meeting. ?®Everything just passed.?∆
The meetings of the board usually begin with a 6:30 p.m. pre-meeting, when the aldermen informally discuss the matters on the agenda and a closed session, with the formal meeting starting at 7 p.m. The Nov. 16 meeting, however, was finished by 7:05 p.m.
Reporters for the Daily Planet and The Weaverville Tribune were absent when the subdivision was voted upon, because of the unexpectedly early time of the regular meeting. (No other newspaper or media regularly cover Woodfin??s meetings.)
Alderman Geneva Maney, who served as mayor pro-tem in Mayor Jerry
VeHaun??s absence, told the Daily Planet last Friday that ?®we usually do
have the regular meeting at 7 p.m., but there were so few people there
(at the pre-meeting) that we just went straight to it.?∆
Young said that while the meetings do typically start at 7 p.m., it is
?®rare, but not unheard of?∆ for them to begin earlier, since the meeting
technically starts at 6:30 p.m.
?®In this case, the board just didn??t have much to go over during the
pre-meeting and there was nothing that needed to be discussed in closed
session,?∆ Young said. ?®When that happens, it??s at the discretion of the
presiding officer, in this case the vice mayor, if they want to go
straight into the meeting. That??s what she chose to do.?∆
In separate remarks, Maney noted that the plan for the subdivision drew
no comment at the meeting, adding that ?®not one person of the few that
were there had anything negative to say. There were no questions or
anything?∆ about the subdivision plan at the public hearing that
occurred just before the vote.
She added that there was no debate among the aldermen when they approved it.
Meanwhile, Young told the Daily Planet that the unusually short length
was because of the measures before the aldermen being ?®just a lot of
formal steps you have to take.?∆
Young also noted that ?®there wasn??t really any citizen comment over any of these matters.?∆
In addition to the approval of the subdivision, the aldermen passed the
voluntary annexation of three parcels of land, formerly the Buncombe
County landfill, which borders Woodfin. The aldermen also approved a
certificate of sufficiency for the property and approved the annexation
of a single parcel of land located along Old Marshall Highway.
?®Really, this looks like more than what it is,?∆ Young told the Daily
Planet after the meeting, referring to the number of items and the
speed with which the aldermen passed them. ?®If the board is interested
in doing this annexation, they just sign off on this.?∆
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