New WHS financing

moves one step forward
By Scott Nicholson
nicholson@wataugademocrat.com

The Watauga County Board of Commissioners approved a resolution that paves the for borrowing up to $70 million for construction of the new high school.

The financing would have to be approved by the Local Government Commission and would also include paying back the county for money already spent on land purchases and preliminary construction expenses.

The resolution, passed at the board’s regular meeting on Monday, notes the county doesn’t expect property tax increases to repay the loan, since it is selling the current high school property.

The construction price for facilities is set at a guaranteed maximum of $47.2 million, with another $11.2 million committed in land purchases, site testing, studies and design work.

A public hearing on the proposal is scheduled for the next regular meeting at 6 p.m. on Feb. 19.

After closed session in which the commissioners discussed personnel matters, economic development matters and attorney-client matters, the board approved paying the town of Boone $42,055 for permits relating to the high school project.

Shelley Lackey, public relations director for Smoky Mountain Center, gave the commissioners an update on its work as the new local management entity for regional mental health care and substance abuse, having taken over the role from New River Behavioral Health Care last year.

Smoky Mountain Center still contracts with New River to provide services in both clinical and emergency situations and has agreed to assist a pilot program that will place in-patient psychiatric beds at Cannon memorial Hospital in Linville.

On Feb. 5, the center is meeting with hospital administrators and law enforcement agencies to discuss crisis services and the requirements for placing patients under involuntary commitment.

The meeting will focus on the status of in-patient hospital diversion programs, New River’s emergency response, and challenges facing service providers and officers with the often-long waiting times and a shortage of state psychiatric beds.

Smoky Mountain Center is also participating in a statewide review of all the state’s local management entities, conducted by the N.C. Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse Services.

The commissioners approved the seeking of a grant for more recycling bins. Watauga recycling director Lisa Doty presented the grant request, which will be made in conjunction with the Town of Boone’s recycling program to lower costs. The grant application to the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural resources is for more 18-gallon recycling bins and home recycling bins, which will be placed at county recreational facilities and to help restaurants meet the requirements of a new law that links alcoholic-beverage licenses with mandatory recycling plans.

Doty said though most restaurants had larger recycling bins designed to roll onto trucks, the smaller bins would help them sort materials inside the establishment. The county has only a handful of residential-size recycling bins left out of 300 ordered last summer.

If approved, the grant could bring $21,480 and require matches of $943 each from the county and the town of Boone. It would also be used to purchase compost bins for in-town residents.

The Downtown Boone Development Association has expanded its “gateway project,” getting permission to use a small piece of county-owned land for an entrance sign to welcome people to the town of Boone. The county had earlier approved the use of a piece of land at the Human Services Center on King Street to feature benches, a sculpture pad and pathway near an AppalCART bus station. DBDA assistant director Mary Baker said the work would likely be completed by June, with the sculpture to be added later. Up to three artists will be selected to design the benches as a public art program.

Baker said a property owner near the Poplar Grove connector and King Street intersection has agreed to collaborate on the project to enhance visibility and improve the area’s appearance.

Dick Hearn presented a proposed resolution in support of guardrails for Blackberry Road in the Aho community. Hearn’s request noted a steep drop off of several hundred feet on a route used by school buses.

The resolution was approved and will go to the N.C. Department of Transportation.

The commissioners also received a report on the 2009-2015 Transportation Improvement Plan, which features the King Street widening U.S. 321 improvements through Blowing Rock, and improvements to N.C 194 from Valle Crucis to Avery County as the top-ranked items. Among unfunded projects, the commissioners support the Daniel Boone Parkway, improvements to U.S. 421 and U.S. 321 from Boone to Tennessee, and improvements on U.S 321 from Vilas to Avery County. The list was submitted at a N.C. Department of Transportation hearing on Jan. 22.

The commissioners also approved the release of school building capital funds to replace roofs at Bethel Elementary School and Valle Crucis Elementary School. The total amount for the two projects $199,000.

The commissioners approved a contract of $71,805 for Triangle Fencing Company to provide fences for two athletic fields the count is developing at the recreational complex on the former Anne-Marie Drive in Boone.