Weaverville – Water continues to monopolize the meetings of the Town of Weaverville as council members heard the results of a new study on the Ivy River as a continued and expandable water source into the future. They also received an update on the water system at their January meeting.
As the meeting got underway, the agenda was adjusted to remove the 171 Monticello Road annexation and conditional district zoning, as the developer has not yet secured all the funding for the project. Also, Councilman John Chase recused himself from the vote on 480 Reems Creek Road because of a conflict of interest.
Under the consent agenda, besides the approval of minutes of meetings and the monthly tax report, the council approved two budget amendments: one for the police ($3,785 for Cops for Kids) and one for the recreation complex ($96.02 in donations).
In her manager’s report, Selena Coffey informed the council about the strategic plan update, saying that she and Mayor Patrick Fitzsimmons are discussing options for updating the plan. Fitzsimmons said he would be in touch about a strategic planning retreat.
She reported there were currently 18 people registered for the 2023 Citizens Academy, with the first class set to begin in February. She also said that after receiving many complaints about the accessibility of the town’s website, staff had received proposals to assist with a substantial overhaul of the town’s website.
Coffey also announced the town’s first all-electric vehicle using ABC Funds for the Weaverville Police Department, a Ford Mustang Mach-E, will be issued to one of the town’s ABC officers and will replace a 2011 Chevrolet Tahoe.
She also reported that the fire department would be doing a strategic planning session using funding available within the department budget. The session will lead the department through a strategic planning process to address town and departmental goals. Coffey commended Chief Scottie Harris for coming up with the idea.
She closed with an update, saying the town is awaiting proposals for replacing the audio system in the council chambers and that she would be away at a state city-county manager’s conference in Winston-Salem during the first of February.
Result of the Ivy River Water Study
The council then went into discussion and action items as no one signed up to speak during the public comment period. The first item was an Ivy River Reliable Yield Study presentation by John Boyer with CDM Smith. Boyer broke his presentation up into four parts: the objective of the study, the approach, the results, and the summary.
Boyer said the study’s objective was to answer two questions: how much water could reliably be produced from the river, and based on current climate trends, what impact would climate change have on the river for future water production for the town? Boyer defined reliability as the minimum water flow under extreme drought conditions.
He said there were about 67 years of data on the river flow, which gave a good base from which to form the study’s conclusions, with the river’s lowest flow coming in 2008 at 4.91 cubic feet per second. Along with other data, the study’s results showed that 100 percent of the time, there were 2.6 million gallons per day (MGD) available, with 8.7 MGD available 99 percent of the time and 12.8 MGD available 95 percent of the time. The town has a state permit to take up to 4 MGD out of the river.
Boyer said there was “very little, almost negligible impact” on water levels in the future predictions, according to the study. He also said there is a negligible impact when removing three MGD in a low flow check. After questions for Boyer from the council and residents, the council moved on to the 480 Reems Creek Road annexation since Phil Barnett with the Economic Development Advisory Committee was not present to give an update.
The council made quick work of the 480 Reems Creek Road annexation, R-3 zoning, and water requests. After hearing from staff and asking no questions, the council passed the items unanimously.
More on the town’s water
Coffey updated the council on the water system, telling members they should know something in February about the grant application they filed. A new agreement with Mars Hill and Marshall was presented in case the grant failed. The agreement would allow the three entities to go together and apply to the state for funding. Fitzsimmons said he had talked to Madison County entities about the new agreement, but Marshall had not gotten the emails but will be talking next week after they read the new agreement.
Coffey asked the council to approve the resolution so it could be used if necessary. Fitzsimmons asked for a motion, which Councilman Doug Jackson made and was approved, with only Councilman Andrew Nagle voting against it.
Coffey continued with the update, saying the water connection with Mars Hill was complete but that talks about a water connection with Woodfin had been “stymied” because of a change in the executive director, but [that] talks would be moving forward. She reminded the council [that] a connection with the City of Asheville had been taken off the table in November. “At this time, we’ve moved on everything we can move on… it’s time for [the] council to direct staff where to go next,” she said.
Fitzsimmons said it was time for the council to decide as early as next month whether to expand the water treatment plant or not. Nagle asked Public Works Director Dale Pennell how much of the current percentage of the water draw was being used, which he said about half a million of the 1.5 MGD allowed.
“So we’re taking a third of the existing capacity,” said Nagle. “As I said when we learned the price tag was 13 million bucks, we don’t need it. It takes nine years to build.”
Councilwoman Catherine Cordell addressed Mr. Nagle’s comment, saying, “But you do understand, Mr. Nagle, I know you understand this. We have commitments that take us up to 80 percent, and after we reach a certain point, the state requires that we move forward.” She said she was happy with the new study. “I’m still on board to move forward with the expansion.”
Councilman Doug Jackson asked Pennell that if an agreement went forward with Woodfin, could that be used as part of the town’s capacity? It was pointed out that any water bought from Woodfin would actually be Asheville Water. Pennell said that water could be used to supply some of Weaverville’s customers.
Nagle pointed out that the 80 percent was due to the state rule of projects being estimated at 400 gallons per day per unit instead of the actual 120 gallons of average daily use. “One of the ways we get the 80 percent down is [to] stop approving projects. When they come on board, it goes to their actual use. Then we approve another one.”
Jackson responded, you can’t make developers wait. “You can, man,” replied Nagle. Vice Mayor Jeff McKenna said in his mind it was a question of expanding but when. “To Andrew’s point, it could be way off into the future or it could be less than that.” He recommended developing a model to tell the town when they needed to build.
Coffey said the staff had already been working on that model and could explain it at the meeting. The council decided to hear the plan at the meeting.
After discussing the projection model, which concluded that building prices would remain high for at least the next five years, financed the water expansion project through grants and government loans, estimated the actual income from potential water projects, and tried to figure out how much time remained before the expansion would be needed, no action was taken. The council moved on to reports and a closed executive meeting before adjourning for the night.