WOODFIN ó The Board of Aldermen passed a resolution on Oct. 16 honoring the life and service of board member Virgil Hollifield, who died Oct. 9 at his residence.

Hollifield, 63, was the former owner of Virgilís Delivery Service and had worked at Silver-Line Plastic Company for 20 years.

The board presented his wife of 45 years, Nancy Walton Hollifield, with a plaque honoring his life of service to the community.

Reading from the proclamation, Mayor Jerry VeHaun expressed the townís ìenduring gratitude ... for his service.î

ìVirgil set an example for everybody in this community, Mrs. Hollifield,î VeHaun said.

Tears welling in her eyes, she thanked the board for the resolution and for flying the flag at half-mast outside Town Hall.

ìHe lived it at home the way he did in public,î she added.

In other action, the board:

ï Unanimously approved opening a section of Mayberry Drive for public use. About six to eight property owners live off the street, which has been a private access route, Town Administrator Jason Young said.
ìIt made sense from a 9-11 standpoint and from a municipal services standpoint to open that road,î Young added.

ï Heard a report from Police Chief Brett Holloman on the completion of a state grant program that helped fund the hiring of an additional officer.

The grant, which was paid by the Governorís Highway Safety Program, helped pay for the training, uniform and other expenses related to hiring Officer John Ward, Holloman said.

ìI feel like it was very productive,î he added.

During the three years since the department hired Ward using the grant money, the officer had been involved in 50 DWI arrests, 132 crashes ó one of which involved a fatality ó and 1,541 assorted charges, Holloman said.
The grant program helped the department save $45,861, he noted.

Alderman Donald Honeycutt asked Holloman whether the town has much gang activity.

Holloman replied that ìthereís not an official gang problem in Woodfin. I think some of itís gonna develop as a whole in Buncombe County, not specifically in Woodfin.î

ï Heard an update from Young on the townís Alcoholic Beverage Commission store.

Young noted that sales have been stronger than expected since Woodfin opened its first liquor store in July.
Honeycutt inquired about comments he had read from Doug Fox, chairman of the state ABC Commission, about a desire to consolidate authority at the state level.

Young said that Foxís comments had to do with a desire to give the state greater control over mergers between municipal ABC systems.

ìIf I didnít know better, Iíd say they were trying to protect larger systems from smaller systems,î Young told the board.

However, he noted that Fox serves ìat the pleasure of the governorî and that his comments do not necessarily reflect policy at the state level.

ìIím not sure, to be quite frank, if these proposals have a lot of political weight behind them,î he added.