Staff reporter Jake Frankel covered the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners meeting live Tuesday, Aug. 17, via Twitter (using the #avlgov hashtag). Here’s a summary of actions commissioners took, as well as Frankel’s live Tweets (below). Commissioners
• approved the $699,000 purchase of 40 McCormick Place (AAMCO Transmissions) to house the General Services Department and files and supplies currently at 205 College Street. The McCormick property was appraised at $775,000.
• approved a request to rezone property owned by Penland’s Furniture in Swannanoa
• presented awards to local businesses Rosettas and FLS Energy
• heard that the Christmas in July program has raised about $33,000 for overseas troops
• received a report on the Crisis Intervention program, which aims to teach law enforcment officers how to better deal with those with mental illness and substance abuse problems
• listened to Buncombe County Sheriff Van Duncan’s annual report, which noted (among other stats) that the daily inmate population is down
• learned that “sexting” is a major problem among youth and teens, the DSS reports
• passed a resolution to support an area application for up to a $2 million sustainability communities grant
