The Avery County Board of Commissioners held a Public Hearing to receive input on the proposed Secondary Road Program for Avery County for FY 2006-07 on Thursday, August 17, 2006 at 7:00 p.m. in the Courtroom, Avery County Courthouse, Newland, NC.

Members Present: Kenny Poteat, Chairman; Susan Pittman, Vice-Chair; Phyllis Forbes and Joe Strickland

Members Absent: Bill Beuttell

Call to Order
Chairman Poteat called the Public Hearing to order at 7:05 p.m. The Chairman then led in prayer.
There was one member of the public in attendance.

Chairman Poteat turned the Hearing over to Mr. Kip Turner, District Engineer, to introduce DOT employees in attendance tonight and to present the proposed Secondary Road Program for Avery County. Mr. Turner introduced Mr. Ivan Dishman, Asst. District Engineer, and Jerry Combs, Avery County Maintenance Engineer.

Kip Turner advised that the Dept. of Transportation did not meet with the County last year in a Public Hearing on Secondary Roads. That meeting was not held due to some of the state’s financial woes last year. We are still under some of those woes this year but are trying to get back on track, Turner said. He added that this year there is some confusion because even though the General Assembly has announced that there is a surplus in funding, the DOT’s funding is still separate from the General Assembly and our budget is still predicting shortfalls. We’re still operating under a tight belt this year, Turner said.
He advised that he is presenting a 2-year program this year since we missed holding our hearing last year. The 2005-2006 numbers in this report are the hard numbers for last year’s allocation and the numbers for 2006-2007 are this year’s anticipated allocation, Turner said.

Last year’s 2005-2006 allocation turned out to be $2,275,999.00. This year we were anticipating receiving an allocation of $1,214,423.00. That was when I put this program together. However, the Senate revised the Senate Bill that was changing the Secondary Road Program, so the numbers I am showing on this paper won’t apply until the 2007-2008 yea, Turner said. This year we actually have closer to the amount we had last year. Next year is when you will see a drop in the allocation. This has come about due to changes through the House and Senate. The Senate finally passed their bill a few weeks ago to change the Secondary Road Formula. Some of the formula change is just about the distribution of money by the state. There are some counties down east that do not have unpaved secondary roads left on their priority lists. They have not really been getting any money for this purpose, so the intent was to balance some of that money throughout the state. What that has meant for us is that we will receive less money in our Secondary Road Program in all 3 counties in our district as well as division-wide, Turner said. He added that the entire division is seeing a decrease in Secondary Road funds. The formula was actually changed in order to look at Secondary Road mileage as a whole in a county instead of just unpaved mileage. What has happened is that our district has had a large amount of mileage on the Unpaved System and we were getting a large part of that money. When you look at our Secondary Road System as a whole, we now have less mileage in that formula as compared to the rest of the state, Turner said.

Joe Strickland suggested that this Board voice its concerns regarding this matter to the General Assembly at the Long Session in January 2007. We should address our road needs to our Representatives, Joe said. Kenny Poteat suggested that we should also bring up the new formula and how it affects us. Kip Turner said that the formula changes again in 2011. I think it gets worse instead of better, he added. Phyllis Forbes asked if the cut is affecting all the counties in this area in the same way. Turner said yes, it is. He added that percentage-wise, Watauga County actually has a deeper cut than Avery; however, they still get a larger amount of money than Avery because they have more mileage on the list than Avery does. Turner added that he will get some more detailed information for the Board on this matter and that he may put it in the form of a letter to advise how it used to be and how it has changed.

Joe Strickland asked if it would be okay for Turner to suggest the kind of language we need to use in this regard for some of our Legislative Goals for this issue. Kip Turner said he could advise the Board on the details and how the formula has changed and also how it is affecting your county and your Secondary Road money. Phyllis Forbes asked if the counties in the eastern part of the state are getting a larger percentage of the money. Turner said yes, they are. There should be some counties in the east that will be getting more money than they have been getting in the past, he said. Phyllis said they need to take into consideration that if we have that much more unpaved road in our county that we are already behind.
Susan Pittman suggested that all of the counties in our region approach the state together as a united effort on this road issue. She felt we would have a better chance of getting some results if we approached it in this manner.

Secondary Road Program for Avery County
Kip Turner presented the proposed Secondary Road Program for Avery County. Total miles proposed for paving: 4.16 miles.

NOTE:
1. Program subject to availability of funding, right of way and environmental review.
2. Proposed funding allocations are only projections. Should the actual allocations be greater, NCDOT will continue down the priority list to fund additional secondary road projects.
3. When Secondary Roads cannot be paved due to the inability to obtain right of way, NCDOT will continue down the priority list to fund additional secondary road projects.

Kip Turner advised that the actual total will turn out to be more than $3,490,422 due to the formula previously discussed not going into effect until next July. Even that additional money will help us fund the alternative roads listed above. He added that we would probably receive closer to the amount we got last year.

Joe Strickland commented that the biggest complaint he has from summer residents, which should be of interest to the State of NC, since these are the people who come up here and pay their taxes and are trying to figure out what kind of return they are getting for their taxes. Their biggest complaint is about roads and road maintenance. If there is some way Kip could find to deliver that message to the powers that be, it would be helpful, Joe said. The State should hear this complaint because they benefit from the revenue that these people generate for us. Kip agreed that it is hard to try to balance the needs that we have with the resources we have, especially this year. We let bids on some of our projects this year but were unable to do them because the bids were so high and we just didn’t have the money to do the projects, Turner said. We had some roads in both Avery and Watauga that we were unable to pave as planned due to this reason. This is an issue, especially with the rising cost in construction, Turner said.

Susan Pittman said her concern is getting our school children to school and back home safely. As far as the summer residents, they knew how our roads were when they came up here. The local people have lived here all of our lives and it is very tough for some of these folks to get their children to school in the winter. I know of one road that has 5 children living on it and they have to bring the kids out of there because the State doesn’t maintain that road – up at the top of Whittaker Branch. These folks have lived here all their lives and they have to get their children out of there in the winter and down to where they can catch a school bus. I do hope the DOT can do something to help those folks up there. It would be wonderful if those kids could get on the bus and go to school, Susan said. Joe commented that we still need to do something to help our summer residents, if possible. Susan agreed that we do need roads to take care of our tourism industry, but we also need roads to take care of our other residents as well. Discussion continued on this issue.

Chairman Poteat asked about the 2005-06 allocation, which would end, June 30, 2006, and how far down the road list these monies would cover. Turner said it should probably go down to the Bent Road project.

Public Comments:
Ms. Rachel Deal commented that everyone needs to also remember the volunteers who are out on the road delivering meals for the Home Delivered Meals Program. We also need to take care of what these summer residents came here for, because they are here for a reason. We have a jewel here in this county and we all need to work together, Rachel said. She added that as a Sr. Tarheel Representative that she is going to lean on the Legislators for letting the money go out of this County. She said our DOT does what they can with what they’ve got. They are great at keeping our roads clear-- even for the skiers and our local roads we have to travel on as well.

Joe Strickland commented that 60-70 percent of our revenues come from the resort areas in the county. It is something to reckon with when they feel they are getting nothing for it. Joe added that we are not getting the attention on our roads that we deserve, overall. Turner said that we don’t have a lot of DOT staff in this county and it is tough to keep a crew going with that few people. We also use our inmates to help supplement some of our personnel needs, Turner said.

Phyllis Forbes asked about the status of the Highway US 221 project and whether it would begin anytime soon. Turner said he thought it would start in McDowell County and come up the mountain, but he didn’t know the details because these TIP projects are also getting delayed due to financial issues.
Phyllis added that she doesn’t think the state has decided which route they will be taking up the mountain, anyway. Susan Pittman added that this project started in 1992 and that as for herself, she will never see that road completed, up here on this end of it, anyway.

There were no further comments.

Kip Turner advised the Board that they may take one of three actions regarding this proposed Secondary Road Program tonight. The Commissioners can either approve, disapprove or take no action on the program.

Motion by Joe Strickland to close this Public Hearing at 7:32 p.m. Motion seconded by Susan Pittman and unanimously approved with 4 members in attendance.

Approval of Secondary Road Program
Motion by Joe Strickland to approve the Department of Transportation’s recommended Secondary Road Program as presented for the coming year. Motion seconded by Susan Pittman.
Discussion.

Mountain Ridge Road - Maintenance
Kenny Poteat brought up the matter of the Mountain Ridge Road, which is off Rhoney’s View Rd. A resident of that road had a question about maintenance but he is away on vacation at present, Poteat said. Poteat said that Mr. Buchanan says there are 10 homes on the road and that they have filed some petitions concerning state maintenance. Brief discussion. Poteat said he would appreciate any help the Dept. of Transportation can provide to the residents of this road. Kip Turner advised that he would be happy to call Mr. Buchanan and discuss this matter with him. If they need to resubmit a request for maintenance on the road, we will advise them on where to get the road forms, Turner said.

Vote on Motion: Motion unanimously approved with 4 members in attendance.

Intersection of Hwy. 194/Hwy. 221 at Crossnore
Susan Pittman said that there is a safety problem which exists at the intersection above the Drug Store at Crossnore. Some of our seniors cannot see oncoming traffic coming down Hwy. 221 when they are stopped at this intersection (Hwy. 194 and Hwy. 221) without turning their head and neck as far as they can. Some of them have arthritic conditions which makes this very hard for them to do. (Joe Strickland commented that a person would sometimes need to be a contortionist in order to be able to get turned enough to see if something is coming down Hwy. 221). This intersection is also very dangerous in the winter when big trucks and other traffic are coming down that hill and can’t stop. Susan added that there are also a lot of confusing signs around the Drug Store for that intersection. Kip Turner advised that there is a priority list of spot safety issues in our division and that Dean Ledbetter, who is the Traffic Engineer, may be the person we should ask about this, or you can send me a letter and we see about getting an official investigation, Turner said.

Bridge Concern – Tuttle Lane, Pineola
Susan Pittman advised she also has a bridge concern which exists on Tuttle Lane, which is near the Pineola Inn. The DOT fixed the left side of the bridge but never did fix the other side. The bridge has a high railing that obstructs the view on one side. Turner advised that the DOT’s Maintenance Engineer can check on this matter.

Lowe’s Hardware, Banner Elk
Chairman Poteat asked Mr. Turner for assistance from the DOT with the unbelievable traffic problem created at Banner Elk by the opening of the new Lowe’s Hardware Store. They need a traffic light up there desperately, Poteat said. Turner said he met with the developer for the project and discussed their future needs. The developer said they would open the store and see how the traffic functioned before they did anything, Turner said. Turner said he needs to let the DOT officials know that they need to come up here and take a hard look at that traffic problem. Kenny Poteat added that we will also be building a new school in that same area in the near future. Turner said the DOT needs to take a look at the needs of this area and look at the needs when you are close enough to start those projects.

The Board thanked the members of the DOT for attending tonight’s hearing.

Adjourn
Motion by Joe Strickland and second by Susan Pittman to adjourn the meeting at 7:38 p.m.
Motion unanimously approved with 4 members in attendance.

____________________________________
Kenny Poteat, Chairman
Avery County Board of Commissioners

ATTEST: _______________________________
Nancy H. Cook, Clerk to the Board