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Tuesday, 20 February 2007 16:53 |
By DAVID FORBES
WEAVERVILLE ñ Residents of this North Buncombe town will get a chance to vote on allowing liquor by the drink and ABC stores in their community, following a unanimous vote by Weaverville Town Council to proceed with a referendum last Monday.
The matter will be decided in a special election on April 24, when both proposals will be on the ballot separately. The special election will cost the town $2,000.
If
passed, Weaverville will be the second town in the area to approve
liquor by the drink in the past year. Woodfin approved a similar
referendum last May.
Later, in the
public comment portion of the meeting, resident Darcy Willis asked
members of council to state why they felt the need to bring the matter
forward ñ and why there is the need for a special election.
ìI want to know why thereís this sense of urgency about this,î Willis said.
In reply, Councilman Al Root noted that the next elections will be in November, which he asserted was too late.
ìThereís going
to be a lot of people possibly running for town council,î Root said.
ìThereís going to be a lot of other issues. This is one people have
been discussing for years and I think at this point itís time to
resolve it. I suspect there will be a lot of discussion about this.î
Meanwhile, Councilwoman Marcie Nisbeth added that, during her job at Ingles, many citizens have asked her about the issue.
ìPeople will
come up to me, a lot of people, and ask when we can get this on an
agenda, when we can put it up for a vote,î Nisbeth said. ìTheyíve given
this a lot of thought.î
Willis then
noted that ìthereís been some speculation around town that Northridge
Commons (shopping center) has pressed for this, that the restaurants
there want it and that thereís been a push from the developers on this
issue.î
Members of council then shook their heads and responded ìno.î
Instead, Councilman Don Hallingse asserted that it has also been a reply to complaints over Weavervilleís tax rate.
ìIíve had a lot
of people concerned about our tax rate and theyíve each asked, ëWell,
what else are you doing to bring in revenue?íî Hallingse noted. ìI
donít know of anything else we can do to raise revenue other than this.î
In other action, council:
ï Heard a proposal from Richard Bernier, a producer for the URTV public access channel, to televise Weaverville town meetings.
ìThis
programming can address local issues and news in a way that larger
stations cannot or will not,î Bernier said. ìWe will be able to
broadcast this to the many residents that canít attend the meeting for
various reasons.î
In response, Mayor Mary ìBettî Stroud asked Bernier, ìWhat kind of accountability is there on your part?î
He replied, ìI turn the camera on and it records. Youíre accountable.î
In response, Root quipped, ìAs long as youíre not going to put captions that say things like ëdumb comment.íî
ï Recognized Brenda Ayers, who is retiring as Weavervilleís finance officer after 20 years.
ìBrenda has done
an outstanding job in a position that carries great responsibility,î
Stroud said. ìAs a result of her hard work and outstanding talent, the
Town of Weaverville has received numerous awards and acclamations on
the local, state and national level. She has served our town with the
highest honor and integrity.î
The chiefs of the fire and police departments also praised Ayers for her work.
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