News

Chamber of Commerce 96th annual awards dinner at Blue Ridge Community College Friday night     

Southern Alarm & Security owner Steve Johnson was presented with the Henderson County Chamber of Commerce’s highest honor — the G. Ray Cantrell award — during the chamber’s 96th annual awards dinner at Blue Ridge Community College.

The chamber’s most prestigious award, which goes to an individual for a lifetime of service to the chamber and the Henderson County community, was presented by Michael Thompson of the Van Winkle Law Firm Friday night in the college’s conference hall.

Johnson received his award moments after longtime Lions Club member Tommy Thompson was recognized for his civic contributions by being given the Duke Energy Citizenship and Service award.

Several other chamber members received recognition as well, including Cindy Novak, Ambassador of the Year; Sanctuary Brewing Company co-owners Lisa McDonald and Joe Dinan, Small Business Leader of the Year; and Missy and Sandy Schenck of Green River Preserve, Camp Industry Leadership award.

Wendy Frye accepted the Environmental Sustainability award on behalf of Henderson County Public Schools; Dave Martin of Current, Powered by GE, was named Industrialist of the Year; and Lew Bleiweis, David King and Alexandra Bradley accepted the First Citizens Bank Forever First Customer Service award on behalf of the Asheville Regional Airport Authority

DEVELOPER SELECTED:  BLUE STAR   

SIX STORY HOTEL WITH PARKING GARAGE   

After discussing the matter behind closed doors for about an hour, council Thursday night authorized City Manager John Connet to negotiate a memorandum of understanding with Blue Star Hospitality of Fletcher to build an 88-room hotel and five-story parking garage on the 1.5-acre lot.

The Blue Star plan includes a 9,272-square-foot, 200-person conference space with 9,000 square feet of retail space, a rooftop bar and a second-story restaurant. The parking garage would have 224 spaces, with the potential to add another 53 spots.

The city wants to sell the Dogwood lot off Church Street for the hotel and use the proceeds to invest in public parking.

As part of the project, the city also wants a parking garage that could be used for hotel employees and guests, as well as public parking for the city. A similar setup can be seen at the Aloft Hotel in Asheville.

The city selected Blue Star among the two developers that answered a requests for proposals.

The City of Hendersonville recognized employees for providing exceptional service during the City Council meeting held on February 7, 2019. First, employees selected for the last quarter of 2018 were recognized followed by the announcement of the 2018 MVP of the Year.

For October through December 2018, the Service Excellence Design Team selected the following people as quarterly MVP winners for showing excellence in carrying out their day to day activities. City Manager John Connet gave background on why each person was chosen and Mayor Barbara Volk presented the individuals with a certificate.

Engine 2 responded to a reported gas leak at a residence on Blue Goose Court. An elderly couple stated that when they started their vehicle they noticed an odor of gas. Lieutenant Jon Ward, along with Engineer Paul Kaplan, Firefighter Will Justice and Firefighter Corban Hossley, could have referred the couple to someone else, but decided to fix the gas line so that the couple could drive it to a repair shop. This is a great example of excellent customer service.
Josh Hoard and Alan Cliff of the Public Works Department volunteered to travel to New Bern to assist with Hurricane Florence recovery efforts. They both worked 12-hour days for the week to load debris with the knuckle boom truck. The City appreciates their willingness to assist another municipality in a critical time of need.
After learning that an elderly, handicapped member of the Hendersonville Police Department Reassurance Program was snowed in and couldn't get his wheelchair out, Monica Howard and Amber Glisson jumped in to help. They went to man's house and shoveled out his sidewalk and drive. The Reassurance Program is designed to provide health and welfare check-ins for individuals who are elderly, sick or shut in. These ladies went above and beyond to make sure this program member got the assistance he needed.

In 2018, 140 MVP nominations were submitted and every four months, three were chosen as quarterly MVPs. From these, the Service Excellence Design Team selected the following nomination as the 2018 MVP of the Year. The three Public Works employees will share the honor of MVP of the Year as it was a group effort.

Ms. Cheryl Jones, a Town Forest subdivision resident, called in to thank Chris Merbitz, Miguel Hernandez and Anthony Schaeffer, of the Public Works Department, for going above and beyond. These three men took the time to dance and entertain her daughter while they were performing their normal duties. Ms. Jones’ daughter enjoys seeing the solid waste truck come by her house and this crew took a moment to brighten this little girl’s day.

The MVPs of the Year receive a certificate signed by the Mayor, recognition at the council meeting, a $500 reward, and their names will be included on a plaque. Between the three of them, Chris, Miguel and Anthony received eleven MVP nominations during 2018.

If members of the public experience excellent customer service provided by a City of Hendersonville employee, they are encouraged to recognize them at: https://www.hendersonvillenc.gov/recognize-an-employee

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At Thursday night's City Council meeting, Council again asked that Henderson County pay for SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICERS in the four county schools inside the city.  

The Hendersonville City Council is once again asking county commissioners to pay for school resource officers at each public school in the city limits.

The council unanimously passed a resolution Thursday requesting an annual contribution of $201,445 from Henderson County to pay for four Hendersonville police officers at the schools in the city. This comes a year after county commissioners declined a similar request from the city for $480,000.

The resolution City Council signed Thursday points out that commissioners have committed to fund resource officers for all other schools in Henderson County.

Hendersonville city council was discussing...and moving forward with...a new facility fo the city police department Thursday night....a new police department in a strategically situated part of the city on Ashe Street in the Seventh Avenue East area.. At their February meeting Thursday night in Council Chambers in City Hall, Council was discussing $11.5 million they plan to spend in a new police department facility in the Ashe Street area, off Seventh Avenue East, near the railroad tracks.

City spokeswomaa Allision Nock says Council will also be discussing amenities in that new building, including a training room for about 80 people an “interview” rooms for conducting interviews, a polygraph room, storage space for evidence and for the department, and more.

There will be a “bullpen” area in the new building where sargeants and lieutenants can do administrative work, administrative offices, a garage, otgher needed area...and police department dispatch will be located in that new building as well.

Nock says construction on the new P.D. could start as early as November of this year and if things stay on schedule, she says the new facility could be completed by February of 2021.

The new facility is on the agenda for Council this Thursday night, so they can be updated on the costs and plans, so there can be some discussion, questions, and suggestions...and says Nock....”to let everyone know that we’re on the right page with the project.”

The Police Department has been in it’s current location in the ground floor of City Hall since moving out of the old Times-News building that’s since been torn down on Sixth Avenue East....and the H.P.D. originally shared that City Hall ground floor and King Street access with the Fire Department prior to the City Hall’s restoration and make-over about a decade ago.

It had been a goal of locating the new P.D. off Seventh Avenue East for the new facility to be a catalyst for new growth and development in the Seventh Avenue East area.

By Larry Freeman and Tippy Creswell

Questions or requests for additional information can be obtained by contacting Senior Program Officer, Lee Henderson-Hill at the Community Foundation office at (828) 697-6224 or by emailing: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

CFHC accepting applications for Arbuckle Scholarship

Hendersonville, N.C., February 7, 2019 – Community Foundation of Henderson County announces the deadline to apply for The Pisgah Chapter of Trout Unlimited William L. Arbuckle Memorial Scholarship is April 1, 2019.

The scholarship is a $1,000 award and is offered for any student accepted to an accredited degree granting college or university within the Southern Appalachian Region. Recipients must be pursuing an undergraduate or graduate degree in the field of fisheries and wildlife, aquaculture, freshwater biology, or other related fields. Preference will be given to those who have expressed a desire to pursue work which relates to fresh water fisheries and/or native trout populations. This scholarship is open to students pursuing community college, college or university degrees in the fields related above.
Applications are available online by visiting www.CHFCforever.org/scholarships.

Questions or requests for additional information can be obtained by contacting Senior Program Officer, Lee Henderson-Hill at the Community Foundation office at (828) 697-6224 or by emailing: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Since 1982, the Community Foundation of Henderson County has been helping people transform their philanthropic dreams into reality. Donors are able to make lasting contributions to causes close to their heart through a variety of giving methods.

REQUEST A 7.6 PER CEMT INCREASE   

Auto insurance companies ask for 7.6 percent rate increase

RALEIGH—The North Carolina Rate Bureau submitted its annual auto insurance filing with the N.C. Department of Insurance and is requesting an overall statewide average increase of 7.6 percent, announced Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey.

The NCRB represents the state’s insurance companies and is a separate entity from the N.C. Department of Insurance.

By law, the NCRB must submit auto rate filings with the Department every year by February 1.

The filing will be reviewed and if the Department does not agree with the need for the requested rates, it can negotiate a settlement or call for a hearing.

In 2017, the NCRB requested a 13.8 percent increase, but Commissioner Causey negotiated a 2.2 percent increase – which saved N.C. consumers more than $1 billion. The settlement also included an agreement the NCRB would not make a filing in 2018.

North Carolina is one of the least expensive states for car insurance. In 2018, Business Insider, Forbes and Insure.com ranked N.C. as the tenth least expensive state in the nation for auto insurance.

 LIVE STAKING SAVE CITY'S STREAMS    

 2019, The French Broad Riverkeeper, MountainTrue, and The City of Hendersonville partnered to combat sediment erosion along the Clear Creek and Mud Creek waterways. A group of nineteen individuals spent their Saturday traveling in canoes and planting ‘live stakes’ into the stream banks. These stakes have the potential to grow into trees that will help stabilize the sides of the creeks and reduce the overall amount of sediment entering the river.

“The goal of this event, and others like it, is to plant these stakes and help re-establish a healthy vegetative buffer along the banks of the river,” said Michael Huffman, Stormwater Quality Specialist for the City of Hendersonville. He explained that stem cuttings are taken from trees during their dormant season and are inserted directly into stream banks. These cuttings, referred to as ‘live stakes,’ will eventually grow into new trees and are an effective way to establish a root network to prevent further soil loss.

Volunteers planted 1,300 elderberry, silky willow and silky dogwood stakes along a mile and a half section of waterway spanning portions of Clear Creek and Mud Creek. Before heading to the canoe launch site, event organizers gave volunteers information on what areas to focus on and a tutorial on how to effectively place the stakes for the best results.

“We have had a lot of success with these types of events,” said Anna Alsobrook, Watershed Outreach Coordinator with MountainTrue. She explained that in other areas of the French Broad Watershed, they have seen 80-90% survival rates of the live stakes they have planted. “Some of the stakes we planted 4-5 years ago, we’ve been able to harvest from,” she said. “It is becoming a self-sustaining system.”

Saturday’s event has been the biggest live staking effort in the Hendersonville area to date. Information on future ‘Paddle-n-Plant’ events can be found at: https://mountaintrue.org

The City of Hendersonville will also be hosting a Streambank Repair Workshop facilitated by the NC Cooperative Extension on March 13, 2019. This workshop will teach participants how to protect streambanks and improve the environment by stabilizing streams on their property. More information and a link to sign up can be found at: https://www.bae.ncsu.edu/workshops-conferences/srw/

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FILING WILL BE FROM 12 NOON JULY 5TH THROUGH 12 NOON JULY 19TH AT THE BOARD OF ELECTIONS ON CENTRAL STREET   

The mainstream media is filled everyday it seems with talk about the 2020 presidential election...but the reality is we have a LOCAL municipal election THIS year...in fact, filing for those local mumicipal offices starts in just five months.

Henderson County Election Director Beverly Cunningham tells WHKP News that the local municipal elections will come up this fall...but filing for those offices will begin July 5th at noon and continue through July 19th at 12 noon. Filing will be at the Henderson County Board of Electinos office on East Central Street.

In the City of Hendersonville, there will be two council seats up for elections this year...the seats currently held by Steve Caraker and Ron Stephens.

In the Village of Flat Rock, Mayor Bob Staton’s seat is up for election this year...and three district Village Council member’s seats will be up for election...they are the seats of Nick Weedman, Ginger Brown, and John Dockendorf.

In The Town of Fletcher, council districts two and three are up for election this year...and that’s Hugh Clark and Bob Davey.

In the Town of Laurel Park, Mayor Carey O’Cain’s seat is up for election this year...and so are town council members George Banta and Bob Vickery.

And in the Town of Mills River, “at large” council members Wayne Carland and Roger Snyder are both up for election this year.

None of the current office holders have announced if they will be filing and running for re-election this year and no new candidates have announced yet. Election Director Cunningham it won’t be known until after filing is over if there will be a primary election for any of the offices, so the election dates have not yet been set.

Cunningham says she has not received documentation from the State Board of Elections yet, but it is her understanding that photo ID WILL BE required to vote in the municipal elections this fall.

Again, filing for this year’s municipal elections will start at noon on July 5th and continue through noon on July 19th at the Board of Elections on East Central Street off the Old Spartanburg Highway.

By Larry Freeman and Tippy Creswell

The experts say the economy is doing so well the cost of constructions is rising, and that’s pushing construction costs for roads higher. So...there is good news for those who oppose some of the major roads improvement projects proposed OPfor Henderson County: most of them have been delayed at least a year due to rising costs.

County Commissioners Bill Lapsley recently told commissioners recently that the N.C. 191 widening through Mills River from N.C. 280 to Mountain Road has been delayed a year to 2022-23.

The trio of road projects planned on the south side of Hendersonville – Kanuga Road widening, White Street improvements and South Main Street improvements – has also been delayed. South Main Street has been delayed a year to 2022-23, while Kanuga Road and White Street have been delayed two years to 2023-24.

The U.S. 64 widening through Laurel Park and improvements to North Highland Lake Road in Flat Rock are the only two municipal projects still on schedule. Both are set to begin in 2021-22.

According to the Hendersonville Times-News, the I-26 widening north of the U.S. 64 interchange is still on schedule to begin in 2019-20. Work to revamp the I-26/U.S. 64 interchange itself has been delayed two years to 2025-26. The segment of I-26 south of U.S.64 to the U.S. 25 split has been delayed two years to 2029-30.

All these projects are part of the current State Transportation Improvement Program, which is updated every two years. Lapsley said only two projects have been approved for Henderson County in the new STIP program, one of which is sidewalk improvements to Grove Street in Hendersonville.

At some Hendersonville and Asheville stations, has has been as cheap as $2.05 per gallon for regular unleaded...and even cheaper with bonus points and incentives like car washes.    Gasoline prices in Asheville have fallen

2.4 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $2.27/g yesterday, according to GasBuddy's daily survey of 259 stations in Asheville and Hendersonville. This compares with the national average that has fallen 0.8 cents per gallon versus last week to $2.25/g, according to GasBuddy.

Average gasoline prices on February 4 in Asheville have ranged widely over the last five years:
$2.54/g in 2018, $2.27/g in 2017, $1.81/g in 2016, $2.13/g in 2015 and $3.30/g in 2014.

Including the change locally during the past week, prices yesterday were 26.4 cents per gallon lower than a year ago and are 12.1 cents per gallon lower than a month ago. The national average has increased 1.1 cents per gallon during the last month and stands 34.6 cents per gallon lower than a year ago.

Areas near Asheville and their current gas price climate:
Spartanburg- $1.96/g, down 2.5 cents per gallon from last week's $1.98/g.
Knoxville- $1.97/g, down 3.6 cents per gallon from last week's $2.00/g.
Greenville- $1.96/g, down 2.6 cents per gallon from last week's $1.98/g.

"While oil prices have risen to their highest in months on the instability in Venezuela's political situation, gasoline demand has remained weak and supply strong, thus keeping increases firmly in check," said Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy. "As the record gasoline supply continues to overshadow markets ahead of the road to summer gasoline, any updrafts at the pump will be small and limited for now, but once the transition begins, the supply overhang will be drawn down in short order as refiners liquidate winter gasoline, ushering in eventually higher prices come late-February and early March."