Harris conducts first meeting as Black Mountain mayor
Board reviews town charter, adopts small area plan
Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
September 18, 2020
Black Mountain Mayor Larry Harris, left, presided over his first full regular monthly board of aldermen meeting on Sept. 14. Archie Pertiller, Jr., who was appointed to fill the seat vacated by Harris, participated in his first board meeting, as well. Photo by Fred McCormick
A new mayor was in the center seat at the dais in town hall when the Black Mountain Board of Aldermen convened Sept. 14 for its regular monthly meeting.
Larry Harris, who was appointed to the position following the Aug. 10 resignation of Don Collins, presided over the meeting, which included discussion of the town charter and the adoption of a small area plan for Blue Ridge Road.
The mayor opened the meeting by welcoming new alderman, Archie Pertiller, Jr., who was appointed by the board to fill the seat vacated when Harris accepted his current position. Harris later read a proclamation recognizing Collins for his service in the office.
“It’s my honor to succeed you, and be appointed by the board to fill out the remaining two years of your term,” Harris told Collins before reading the official statement. “It is my pleasure to offer you this proclamation.”
The document acknowledged the former mayor as a “good, loyal and faithful servant of the Town of Black Mountain.”
Town charter reviewed
At the request of Harris, a discussion about the town charter, and its role in determining how vacancies in public offices are filled, was included in the agenda.
“This is for educational purposes, not for any particular action to be taken on it,” he said. “It’s a rather complicated topic. I thought it would be good for our town attorney and town manager to provide some information so the public and current board can be aware of how it works.”
Harris specifically asked if the charter could be amended to allow special elections to fill vacancies as they arise. The current language dictates the board “shall” appoint a replacement until the remainder of the term.
The N.C. General Statute, according to town attorney Ron Sneed, does not authorize special elections to fill vacancies.
“There is only one situation, if you pull up all the general statutes and look at special elections, that has to do with the charter,” Sneed said. “You can have a referendum in two situations. One, is for charter amendments that can be done by ordinance, and the other is for annexation.
The list of charter amendments you can make by ordinance is very limited, he continued. “There is a list of those, and this isn’t on that list.”
There is, however, different language in the town charter and state laws as to the length of time appointees are to fill those offices.
“We have two things that appear to control what happens when you have a vacancy,” Sneed said. “There is a state statute that says if you have a seat vacated more than 90 days from the next election, the council appoints someone to serve until the next election. But, if you appoint someone less than 90 days before the next election, they serve the remainder of the term. The town charter says you shall appoint someone to serve the rest of the term, period.”
The town can essentially follow state or local guidance when making appointments, according to Sneed.
“That’s something the town may want to address down the road,” he said. “We could conform our charter to state statute or vice versa.”
There is no existing legal guidance regarding the process in which the board selects appointees, Sneed added.
Members of the public have indicated they would like to see a consistent procedure for filling vacancies, according to Town Manager Josh Harrold.
“It’s going to be completely up to this board about how to proceed,” he said.
Currently, three of the five aldermen serving on the board were appointed to their positions. Tim Raines was appointed to fill the seat that was left open when Jeremie Konegni resigned in 2018. Jennifer Willet was appointed in March to the seat that was left open when Carlos Showers passed away in January. That seat was originally held by Collins, and was vacated when he won the mayoral election in 2017. Pertiller was appointed to the seat formerly occupied by Harris last month.
Pertiller and Willet are among seven candidates vying for three seats on the board in the Nov. 3 election.
Blue Ridge Road Small Area Plan approved
Aldermen voted unanimously to approve a small area plan for the community round South Blue Ridge Road, following a public hearing. The town planning department began working on the project with McGill Associates and Weatherill Engineering in 2019.
“This plan was prompted by the N.C. Department of Transportation’s Blue Ridge Road and I-40 interchange project,” said planning director Jessica Trotman. “This is a planning document that will serve as a tool to review and analyze future land use and transportation issues along Blue Ridge Road in the future.”
The area represented in the plan spans Blue Ridge Road from the I-40 overpass to N.C. 9. The town held two public meetings and mailed questionnaires to residents along the corridor in an effort to solicit public input for the plan.
Drew Draper of Weatherill Engineering, who served as the project manager for the plan, presented it to the board.
“Once the interchange comes in, there will be some significant changes for that area and we have to plan for that,” he said. “We have to think what this area will look like, not only now, but five, 10, 20 years into the future.”
Draper described the area as “relatively undeveloped land,” with more than 95% of the property along the corridor vacant.
“The roadway currently serves approximately 4,500 vehicles per day, however, according to NCDOT projections, there will be some rerouting of traffic patterns that could push that around 13,000 vehicles per day by 2040,” he said.
The plan allows for mixed-use zoning near the future site of the overpass and in the area immediately surrounding the intersection of N.C. 9 and Blue Ridge Road. The interior sections of the corridor should be designated as medium- and low-density development areas.
Accommodations for multi-modal transportation along that area of Blue Ridge Road were a top priority, according to public feedback.
“They really wanted to have a sidewalk on one side and a multi-use trail on the other,” Draper said. “Speed control will be very important as this area starts to see more traffic.”
Construction was set to begin on the I-40 interchange project in 2023, but the NCDOT announced earlier this month that the project was one of many throughout the state that has been delayed by the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. Work is now scheduled to begin on the interchange in 2025.
Utilities payment plans extended one year
Residents of the town who have been unable to make utility payments due to the COVID-19 pandemic will have one year to catch up on past due bills. More than 450 utilities customers in Black Mountain have been unable to pay roughly $56,000 between March and June, according to Harrold.
“It was under governor’s orders that municipalities would not cut off utilities or charge late fees during that time,” he said. “So, would recommend that we allow all of those folks six months to get caught up, and not do specific monetary amounts for payment plans for each individual.”
Willet moved to extend the deadline to 12 months.
“I think given the way people are in and out of work, and the fact that we don’t know what 2021 is going to bring, I would suggest 12 months,” she said.
The board voted 5-0 to approve Willet’s motion.