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Laurel Park bank robber quickly caught

Henderson County News

Fired combat veteran sues McDonald, alleging discrimination

A former sheriff’s deputy and combat veteran has filed a lawsuit against Sheriff Charlie McDonald claiming that the sheriff improperly fired him for symptoms arising from service-related hearing loss and PTSD.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Scouts honor top volunteer, troop of the year

Boy Scout volunteers of Terrora District, which covers Hendersonville and Transylvania counties, on Friday honored Walt Corbin, a longtime Scouter with Edneyville Troop 605, with its District Award of Merit and recognized Troop 628 as Troop of the Year. During the annual recognition banquet at Hendersonville Presbyterian Church, volunteers learned that the district achieved Silver status in the BSA’s Journey to Excellence program for its accomplishments in 2017. Leaders honored Corbin received the highest recognition a district gives for an adult volunteer for his work with the district committee and Edneyville Troop 605. Troop 628, chartered to Hendersonville Presbyterian Church, took home Troop of the Year honors for the second year in a row. The main sponsor was Henderson Oil and Citgo Petroleum. District Attorney Greg Newman served as the master of ceremonies and spoke highly of the benefits the programs of Scouting have on young people.     Read Story »

Hendersonville News

Ratepayers, new development likely to pay for water system expansion

The Hendersonville City Council will consider rate increases for water customers and impact fees for new development as it looks at ways to fund ambitious growth plans. The Hendersonville Water and Sewer Advisory Council heard the details of a water and sewer rate study and potential new impact fees on Monday night. The city is expected to use a combination of higher rates and impact fees to fund an ambitious expansion over the next five years. The city formed the Water and Sewer Advisory Council at the urging of the county Board of Commissioners, which has been seeking more influence over where water and sewer lines go.The city’s current rates are not high enough to finance the borrowing the city plans for utility line replacement and extension. The city’s capital improvement program (CIP) calls for investing $39 million in the water system and $19.3 million in the sewer system through 2022.“The CIP that we have is a very proactive CIP,” City Manager John Connet said. It may be too proactive. We try not to use the word aggressive, but it’s very proactive.”The city would fund the capital plan using $11 million in reserves and borrowing of $9 million this year, $23 million in 2020 and $9.3 million in 2022. The revenue at existing rates is not enough to cover it all, Melissa Levin, with the Raftelis Financial Consultants of Charlotte, told the board. Based on the CIP, her report said, the city would need to increase rates by 20 to 25 percent over the next five years. Proposed rate increase the City Council will be asked to adopt in the new budget “are not a one and done” proposition, she said. “Several smaller rate increases are projected over the five-year period.”The consultants recommended increases that keep the rate affordable for households, encourage water conservation and puts more of the load on large users. The recommendation keeps the differential for outside-city customers at 150 percent of inside users. County commissioners have said they want to see the city reduce the outside-rate. Statewide, the average differential for outside users is 182 percent.“We wanted to share this information because the council will hear this presentation and as we go through the budget we’ll get into using this information to fine-tune it,” Connet said. SUBHEDImpact fees   City budget analyst Adam Murr presented a study on impact fees that ranged widely based on the size of the water pipe feeding the home or business.The impact fee for a home would range from $2,300 to $4,600 while the fee for the largest user (fed by a 12-inch water line) could be $475,000.“When it gets down to the wire and industry X is looking, this is one of the components that that new industry looks at,” County Commissioner Bill Lapsley said. “If you walk in the door and you say we’re going to hit you with a $40,000 for sewer and 36 for water, it can make a difference.”Lapsley also mentioned that reimposing impact fees could harm efforts for affordable housing.Utility Director Lee Smith responded that city policy on new hookups addresses both situations. The City Council can and generally does waive impact fees for affordable housing. “In the industrial recruitment, council can negotiate those fees or waive them,” he said.After a state Supreme Court decision partially struck down impact fees imposed by local government, the state Legislature enacted a law allowing cities and counties to impose them again. Impact fees generated close to $1 million for the city in the boom year of 2007 and fell to around $300,000 a year after the recession, Connet said. Councilman Steve Caraker said the city welcomed any input from members, who represent all the cities in the county plus ratepayers and industry.“The biggest thing in this meeting was to get this information in front of you so you know what we’re up against and we value your opinion, honestly,” Caraker said.The City Council will review the water rate and impact fee proposals when it meets for a budget-drafting session next month. -30-     Read Story »

Henderson County News

Ask Matt ... what's coming on Asheville Highway

Q. The old First Citizens bank building near Patton Park is sold.  What’s going to go there? Not another bank. Actually the building at 1700 Asheville Highway was also an NCNB bank. It was vacant for years until last month when it was bought by Forest Dermatology. They have a main office in south Asheville and also operate in Spruce Pine. Cooper Construction Co. is doing the renovation. According to project manager Eric Oursler, the job will add another 1,000 square feet, most of which will be where the drive-thru lanes are located. The job is scheduled to be completed by April or May. They will remove the 12x15-foot concrete vault, no easy task, and the 3,000-pound steel vault door will be hauled off as well. Oursler said sometimes there is a market for old vault doors such as people that want to secure their valuables. Oh yeah, did the demolition crew find any leftover cash? Naw, not a cent. Here is a historical note. Charlotte-based NCNB became NationsBank in 1991 under the leadership of Chairman Hugh McColl Jr. and after some mergers became Bank of America. If you have the time to read McColl’s fascinating biography, you will discover that as a young man he learned the banking business from former Hendersonville banker Jack Ruth. Q. I saw a device at SunTrust bank in Downtown Hendersonville that uses facial recognition to access the bank vault. Is this the first use of that technology here? With far less fanfare than when the first motorcar came to town, facial recognition software has indeed come to Hooterville and from my limited research, it is the first public use of its kind in the county. The device you saw is made by Diebold (pronounced dee-bold). The company was founded in 1859 in Cincinnati and made safes and bank vaults. After recently acquiring a German firm, it is now Diebold Nixdorf. Not a jazzy name for a car company, but for the bank vault, ATM and security market, who cares? The device you saw uses facial recognition to enter the safe deposit vault. The good folks at SunTrust care enough about security to withhold details about the system. A cursory web search, however, yielded that SunTrust got into the biometrics business in 2014, and it'’s spreading. USAA already offers voice, fingerprint, or facial recognition to access customer accounts. Yup, no need to remember those pesky login passwords. So cheer up Bucko, facial recognition is here and one day you will check your library books without opening your wallet. Ain’t technology great!     Read Story »

Henderson County News

Absher aims to ‘regain momentum’ at Only Hope

Acquitted on charges that he gave alcohol to teenagers at his shelter for homeless teenaged boys, Michael Absher said he hopes to rebuild Only Hope WNC and focus more on his School Board job.   Read Story »

Hendersonville News

Thrift store expansion may cause temporary closings

The Blue Ridge Humane Society Thrift Store has begun work on an expansion that may disrupt access in the coming weeks. In addition to new sorting rooms and additional storage, a new paved parking area and a new donation drop off area are planned for the store, at 1214 Greenville Highway. During construction there may be times the thrift store will have to close on short notice for safety reasons. The nonprofit will post delays or closings at its website www.blueridgehumane.org Facebook page and in daily email blasts. When construction causes the store to be closed to the public, Blue Ridge Humane will still accept donations. If the store is closed and the parking lot is blocked off, the agency will move its truck to the old Food Lion parking lot and will have personnel on duty to accept thrift store donations.   Read Story »

Hendersonville News

No change in special tax district, business panel says

Hendersonville's Business Advisory Committee rejected one member's proposal to scrap the downtown special tax districts and spread the burden on taxpayers citywide. Board member Bob Papes said it makes sense to raise the money from all taxpayers because they benefit, too, from a vibrant downtown. The city’s downtown Municipal Services District charges property owners a tax of 28 cents per $100 valuation. The tax is imposed on about 120 properties between King and Church streets, including more than 20 restaurants. It raises about $250,000 a year. The 12-cent MSD tax in the Historic Seventh Avenue District raises $17,000 a year. “The original impetus for the MSD (in 1975) was in fact a drastically changing retail environment,” downtown development coordinator Lew Holloway told the committee during its January meeting. “We had the movement of Belk and JC Penney out of downtown into the mall … Now malls are under assault and you have large retailers evacuating there.” Holloway visits downtown businesses to find out what they need to prosper. “I spend a lot of time talking about potties and parking because there is a need for bathrooms and parking downtown,” he said. “Our average rents range $8-10 a square foot. Outside the district you’re going to have a hard time getting space for $8-10.” Proceeds from the downtown tax district cover things like façade grants and downtown promotions. Raising the money through the general fund would require a 2-cent property tax increase for all and would cost the city the flexibility the special taxing districts have under state law. “We are able because it’s MSD dollars to do some creative things with grants and other things that are very difficult to do with general fund dollars,” Holloway said. “Because it’s generated in the district, we’re able to turn around and reinvest it in the district.” Committee member Beau Waddell said the change would have Main Street and Seventh Avenue competing at budget-crafting time with things like police, fire and streets. “That money just goes into the pot,” Waddell said. “They have to fight like everybody else because it’s not mandated that it be used there.” The committee took no action on Papes’s request.   Read Story »

Hendersonville News

Business advisers pass on crime-fighting role

Bob Papes thinks Hendersonville ought to do something about its crime rate, lack of high-paying jobs and dearth of affordable housing.Papes, a member of the city’s Business Advisory Committee, told committee members that Forbes magazine and another publication had left Hendersonville off its list of best places to retire because of the city’s crime rate.Hendersonville gets high marks for health care, job growth, transportation, airport access, volunteerism and walkability but suffers in these surveys because of low-paying jobs and property crimes, said Papes, a business consultant.Statistics the magazines use showed Hendersonville’s crime rate was 160 percent higher than national average — a figure other advisory board members viewed with skepticism.“I have a hard time accepting the information,” construction company owner Tom Cooper said. “It just doesn’t ring true to me.”Papes acknowledged that 94 percent of the crimes were property crimes like burglaries and theft.“Whether you feel it’s accurate or not, perception is reality,” Papes said. “While crime is outside the mission of our advisory board, crime rate correlates with the economy.”He got no support when he suggested that the advisory committee form a task force to recommend ways to lower crime.City Manager John Connet said the police department is already responding to a rash of car thefts, which are usually opportunistic crimes that happen because drivers leave their cars unlocked. “Not everything is apples to apples,” Connet said. “We’re on the interstate between two large metro areas. We are the urban center for the county. We serve a much larger population. Every time there’s a shoplifting at Walmart, which happens every hour on the hour, it’s considered a larceny. Also we’re high in tourism. We become a rich target for folks who are just lifting handles on doors.”The city police department launched the “Lock it up, take it or hide it” campaign to raise awareness on how to avoid becoming a victim of theft.As for lower paying jobs, Connet said that’s a partly the product of an economy with large segments in farming and tourism.“A major industry in our county is agriculture. It is what it is,” he said. “It has a lot of seasonal workers. And we have a lot of service industry — restaurants, hotels and things like that.”Cooper said Hendersonville and Brevard aren’t comparable in economic activity.“Overall, there’s nothing happening in Brevard-Transylvania County as far as economic development,” he said. “Transylvania County’s a lot different from Henderson County. … I wonder how many people are looking to move are looking at that type of information as opposed to word of mouth.”Realtor Steve Dozier offered anecdotal evidence to rebut Papes’ “perception” that Hendersonville is a crime-ridden town.“I just sold a house to a couple and they said this is the most perfect place they’ve ever lived in their life and they’ve lived in 17 towns in the military,” he said.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Kiwanis Club honors Gash with Glenn Marlow award

Eric Gash, a Hendersonville High School prep all-star who went on to play football for four years at UNC, was honored Thursday with the Glenn C. Marlow Achievement Award by the Hendersonville Kiwanis Club. Established in 1999 to honor the memory of the longtime Henderson County educator, superintendent and Kiwanis member, the award recognizes someone for outstanding athletic achievement, community service and serving as a role model for the youth of Henderson County. A native of Hendersonville, Gash grew up near Hendersonville elementary and middle schools with his mother, Betty, and brother, Sam. In his youth Gash played all sports. While in high school he played three sports and was a member of the Bearcats' 1987 state championship basketball team. He was named to the NC Shrine Bowl Football Team his senior year and was recruited by many of the top football programs in the United States before choosing to attend UNC. He started as a freshman and went on to letter all four years. After he graduated from UNC he went straight to the Washington Redskins camp where unfortunately he was injured and never got his chance to play in the NFL. After that he moved to Barbados and opened his own company.  He met his wife, Katy and they had three children; sons, Kelan and Jacob, and daughter, Maya. He started his own church where he was and still is a minister. "Fortunately for the Hendersonville community, in 2007 Eric and his wife decided to move back to Hendersonville to raise their family," Rick Wood said in introducing Gash. "He got a job at HHS as a teacher assistant and the next year he took over as a math teacher and coach." Gash was named the head women’s basketball coach in 2012 and then the head football coach in 2014. "He was successful in these positions by establishing an environment of hard-nosed love and high expectations no matter what obstacles were placed in his way," Wood said. In 2016 he was named assistant principal and athletic director at HHS. "Eric is great individual who makes our school and community a better place each day," HHS principal Bobby Wilkins said.  “I respect and love him as my own brother or should I say son!" Gash returned the admiration. "I truly see it as a privilege and honor to come back here and work side by side with you every day," he said. "We came back because I wanted my kids to experience the family atmosphere, the camaraderie. This is a great community. We joke around, we play but in the end we're all one."   Read Story »

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