Legislators mix

and mingle

with Chamber
By Scott Nicholson
nicholson@wataugademocrat.com
Local business leaders asked elected officials for transportation, economic development, and education improvements Monday.

The Boone Area Chamber of Commerce held its annual legislative reception at Chetola Resort in Blowing Rock, offering elected officials a chance to share their views with chamber members and the public.

The event, sponsored by BB&T, featured comments from District 92 N.C. Representative Cullie Tarleton, Boone Mayor Loretta Clawson, staff member Kathy Manship representing U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, Boone Town Council members Lynne Mason and Stephen Phillips.

Sue Counts, chairwoman of the chamber’s board of directors, outlined the chamber’s legislative goals for the year ahead.

“Public service is demanding, time-consuming, frustrating at times, yet we appreciate the elected officials’ commitment to the community,” she said, adding the chamber now encompassed over 1,000 member businesses.

The chamber’s top goals include enhancing education; pursuing stronger alliances and partnerships in the region for transportation and regional economic development; raising national recognition of the area nationwide; forging strong relationships with state leaders; and encouraging consumers to “Shop Watauga first.”

Counts said growth was important in maintaining favorable tax rates and promoted expanding the tax base instead of raising taxes.

She also expressed appreciation for Appalachian State University and the collaborative efforts between the university, town of Boone and Watauga County.

Counts said fiscal support was essential in improving education.

“We cannot afford to under-educate any student,” she said, calling successful students important to the economy and hailing the construction of a new high school.

“Students well prepared for life, higher education and work are crucial to our economy. We support program development and facility construction that gives every student that opportunity.”

Counts said affordable housing was important, as well as the expansion of infrastructure.

“Home ownership for many of our own is an impossible dream,” Counts said, saying enhancement of water and sewer systems was important.

“Zoning, building codes and utility availability should enable businesses to locate in Boone and Watauga County or to expand current facilities, not hinder the process.”

Now that U.S. 421 had been improved and work on U.S. 321 was under construction, Counts said more work was needed to help traffic and safety, saying it was “an ongoing crucial concern,” calling for signal lights, lower speed limits and turn lanes.

She supported the state’s distribution of tax dollars to enhance transportation, universities and community colleges, and said legislators should ensure funding was equitably distributed across the state.

Manship said the county and city governments had been very progressive in what they wanted their communities to look like.

Burr serves on the Energy and Natural Resources, Health, Veteran’s Affairs and Indian Affairs committees and the Select Committee on Intelligence.

“He’s a very frugal man to this day,” Manship said. “He ran for Congress because he was wondering what was happening to his tax money. Your tax dollars are being spent wisely. Every appropriation that comes to his office, he will look at himself.”

Tarleton said, “It’s business and not government that keeps the economic wheels turning. The business community does have friends in the N.C. House, and there are a lot of them.”

He said as a member of the General Assembly’s business caucus, he reviews any state action that might affect small businesses.

He also said he stayed in touch with local leaders and asked their opinions on bills because he represented the area.

He also said education was his top priority and said he was currently active on two education study committees.

Clawson praised the chamber’s response and said she is now senior member of town government, having served eight years as council member and entering her third year as mayor of Boone.

She cited a water-connection agreement with ASU and helping plan a new college of education building.

She also said the town was pursuing a new water source to help growth. “I think this community is alive and well when it comes to small business,” she said.

Mason said the town is “very close to securing a new water source,” and said the new source could be tapped in three years that could spark new growth.

She said Howard Street improvements were in the design phase and the town is still working on the final two voluntary easements to pursue the sidewalks and other work.

The town recently received a Smart Growth audit and a master land-use plan and revision of the Unified Development Ordinance were on the horizon, she said.

The town is also supporting bike lanes and pedestrian walkways to expand transportation options.

Phillips said he was eager to work on traffic issues and enhance bypasses people were already using.

He also supported preserving the downtown Boone post office and “sprucing up the town,” and also is excited about the principles in the smart-growth audit.

Members of the county commission, school board, and other county and town agencies were in attendance.