From Staff Reports

Buncombe County commissioners on Jan. 22 delayed a decision whether to spend $250,000 toward the purchase of nine acres in the upper part of Haw Creek Valley for a park.

The board voted 4-1 to have the county Parks and Recreation Department review the proposal submitted by the Haw Creek Community Association and make a formal recommendation at the commissioners’ Feb. 5 meeting.

Commissioner David Gantt, who voted against the delay, said the board should act quickly, because the land owner might sell it before the next meeting.

More than 50 Haw Creek residents attended the meeting to urge the board to buy the property off Maple Drive, which abuts the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Preservation of the land would allow for the creation of a public trail from the valley to the parkway and the adjoining Mountains-to-Sea Trail, HCCA President Chris Pelly said.

Asheville City Council already has offered to contribute $250,000 toward the property’s asking price of $750,000. The remainder is being raised through private donors and grants.

In other action, the board unanimously agreed to a request by Sheriff Van Duncan to increase his department’s budget for this year by $617,489 to hire 10 new deputies and provide them with equipment.
Duncan said the new deputies are needed to handle an increase in call volume. The department responded to more than 46,690 calls for service in 2007, he told the board.

Duncan plans to hire eight new patrol deputies, an investigator for the department’s new property-crimes task force and a crime-prevention officer.