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Wednesday, 16 August 2006 05:00 |
By JIM GENARO
BLACK MOUNTAIN ÇƒÓ The Black Mountain Board of Aldermen voted 3-2 last Monday to begin developing a municipal agreement that would pave the way for the construction of a new train depot and center for the townës Chamber of Commerce.
However, several members of the board were reluctant to give their support to the project without first knowing more details.
"I just think this is all a bit premature," Alderman Chuck McKeon said.
"It seems to be trying to get some life of its own. All of a sudden,
itës trying to get legitimacy before itës legitimate. Iëm gonna have to
vote no."
McKeon, along with Aldermen Rosalie Phillips, voted against the measure
and some members of the board expressed concerns that the Black
Mountain/Swannanoa Chamber of Commerce was trying to push the measure
through without providing enough information ÇƒÓ such as the effect that
the new center would have on parking.
Jim Buckner, project chair for the BMSCC, discussed the proposal, which
he had previously presented at the boardës March 13 meeting.
To date, the project is in the early stages of planning.
"There are no drawings, there are no site plans," Buckner said. "The plans, thus far, are purely conceptual ÇƒÓ by design."
In addition to housing the BMSCC, the facility, which is proposed to be built on town-owned land in the center of Black Mountainës central business district, would serve as a "center for bike paths and walkways," as well as a "train station when passenger rail becomes a reality," Buckner said.
Furthermore, if approved, the project will be a joint venture between the town and the BMSCC.
"Even though the chamber will make a sizable monetary investment in this project, it will be on town-owned property in order to receive funding from several state agencies," he added.
Several steps towards the projectës development rely on actions by the town, Buckner noted, including the negotiating of a lease agreement for the property.
However, the main action required to go forward is the development of a municipal agreement between the town and the North Carolina Department of Transportation, he told the board. This agreement would pave the way for the BMSCC to apply for funding from several state agencies that have set an application deadline of Dec. 1.
"Time is really of the essence here," Buckner said. "Nothing can happen until you authorize the municipal-agreement process to take place."
Alderman Mary Leonard White expressed concerns that the proposed location would not have enough parking.
However, Buckner said that while no formal study had been made yet, he believed that the new facility would have sufficient parking ÇƒÓ and might even expand parking through better land-use.
"If the chamber is going to pay for 40 percent, where is the other 60 percent going to come from?" Phillips asked.
"Various state agencies," Buckner responded. "Weëre not asking the Town of Black Mountain for a single dollar. The Chamber of Commerce is a private organization and it made this proposal in good faith ... to make this something that would be a betterment of the town."
Phillips asked whether the BMSCC would be working with the townës planning board in the construction of the new center.
Buckner replied that the group would certainly build the facility according to applicable codes. "The Chamber of Commerce prides itself on being a good citizen and a good citizen obeys the laws and abides by the rules," he elaborated.
Assistant Town Manager Bo Ferguson noted that NCDOT would require public input on the project. However, Alderman Mary Leonard White urged the board to require such input, adding an amendment to the proposal that public involvement be a part of the municipal-agreement process.
"This just makes it that the Board of Aldermen requests this as a requirement," White explained.
Vice Mayor C. Michael Sobol also expressed concerns, saying that there are a number of businesses near the proposed site. "Iëm just concerned that theyëre not involved in that process."
"One of the problems that people like me have is that I spent a lifetime in the corporate world," Buckner said. "The corporate world revolves around getting things done and making a profit." Though he said that the proposal is being developed through "a totally open process," he added that, "Someone had to start. Someone had to have a dream. Someone had to write it down. I just happened to be the one who did that."
The town board also expressed concern about giving a stamp of approval to a project that is in such a preliminary state.
"How do we know if we want to approve it," posed White. "Youëre buying a pig in a poke."
Sobol asked Town Attorney Ron Sneed whether a vote to begin the municipal-agreement process constituted an obligation on the townës part to support the final proposal.
However, Sneed said this was not the case. "As I read it, itës approving a planning stage. It doesnët mean that youëll ever approve the plan," he answered.
White noted that it was not unusual for situations to arise in which the board has to decide whether to give support to projects that are only in the early stages of development ÇƒÓ and that criticisms can also be made of projects that are proposed with too many details already worked out.
"It seems to me itës much better to bring this to the public before you write it all down," she said. "We have to start somewhere. Letës start here."
"I assure you that the board of directors of the Chamber of Commerce is not going to spend $300,000 unwisely," Buckner told the board.
After the measure was approved, Mayor Will Kennedy told Buckner, "This kind of initially leaves you on a thin plank out at sea."
In other action, the board:
ï Heard an update from Town Manager Tony Caudle on the status of the townës efforts to hire a new police chief. An initial round of 50 to 60 candidates were considered and then narrowed down to six, Caudle said. During the next phase, the town will narrow its candidates down to just four before starting to hold interviews on Aug. 30 to determine a final candidate.
ï Heard a report from Caudle on the status of the Water Line Mitigation Project. New federal regulations that will go into effect in January require that any municipality that receives money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency must train its employees in a "modular system of command for assisting agencies," Caudle said. Black Mountain, which received assistance from FEMA after the floods of 2004, will begin providing this training for its employees.
Furthermore, FEMA has provided additional money to the town for mitigation of potential future emergencies, which are being used to move one of the major water lines in the town out of the flood plain. Construction for the project began two weeks ago, Caudle noted.
ï Appointed eight new members to the townës Greenways Commission. |
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