Mayor Pro Tem’s Summary of the September 12, 2024 Town Council Meeting

September 13, 2024

Hello Montreaters,

Unfortunately, Mayor Helms is working through COVID. Thus, as Mayor Pro Tem, I presided over the meeting. The Council, staff, and approximately 18 guests convened for the Public Forum and Council meeting. My summary follows below. The complete official meeting minutes will be in next month’s agenda packet. You can view the meeting recording by CLICKING HERE.

Public Forum

  • Mary Standaert inquired about the status of the cell tower aesthetic repairs. Town Manager Savannah Parrish stated Commissioner Dasher was to meet with the Town attorney to discuss what could be done. Commissioner Dasher was not available at the time to comment. Savannah will check into it and report back at the next meeting.
           Mary also inquired why we do not have home mail delivery. I commented back that as I understand it, we can either have home mail delivery or a Post Office, but not both. We will check into it and report back.
  • George Sawyer thanked Black Mountain News reporter, Karrigan Monk, for the two recent articles about Flat Creek Crossing. George also expressed appreciation to the Public Works team for their help in cleaning out dead trees and removing brush in preparation for last week’s ground breaking. George also thanked the mayor for his very positive remarks about Landcare and the team working on Flat Creek Crossing.
  • Eric Nichols thanked Commissioner Tom Widmer for his help in facilitating the process for the Town to receive a large donation of stock for Flat Creek Crossing.
  • Grace Nichols thanked the Commission for including in the current budget completion of the sidewalk from the Town Hall to the Columbarium parking lot.
  • Joe Standaert expressed concern about the need for treating the hemlock trees on the Town rights-of-way. He and several others were involved in a private effort to protect the hemlocks from the Wooly Adelgid a number of years ago, but nothing has been done since. He suggested the Public Works certified arborists could purchase pesticide and treat the trees ourselves and save money from outside contractors. I commented that Joe’s idea was a good one, but we need to be careful of burdening Public Works with too many projects. We will address it with Barry Creasman and his crew.
  • Commissioner Kitty Fouche informed the audience that the Town now accepts printer cartridges and batteries for recycling. Drop them off at the Town Hall, and they will be taken to Staples for recycling and credit received for the Town! She and Commissioner Alexander are also investigating other recycling opportunities, including food waste, which could be problematic with our bear population. Mary Standaert offered that Lowes also accepts plastic garden pot containers for recycling.

Council Meeting

  • After I opened the meeting, I reminded everyone that the Mayor was out with COVID and we wish himthe best.
  • Under Town Manager’s Communications, Town Manager Savannah Parrish introduced the new Chief of Police, Jeff Eaton. Chief Eaton brings significant experience in law enforcement, most recently with the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Department. She also thanked Interim Police Chief, Tim Bradley, for his leadership and organizational skills. Tim will remain on the force in a part-time capacity.
  • There were no Public Comments in the first comment period
  • There was no Old Business so we moved to New Business:
    • Jake Quinn, Chair of the Buncombe County Board of Elections, reported that due to the confusion in the case of whether Commissioner Dasher had to run for office or not in November, the Election Commission is revising its procedures on communicating with municipalities regarding offices open for election in the upcoming elections.
    • The Council held a public hearing on several text amendments to the code of general ordinances required by the General Assembly. There were no public comments.
    • At the recommendation of Town Attorney, Brandon Freeman, the Council continued the ordinance adoption to the October 10 meeting due to changes in state statutes that occurred yesterday due to General Assembly action. More time is needed to study these recent changes.
    • The Council heard a very informative report on the Bear Survey from Commissioner Widmer. Copies of the full report and the slide presentation are available by CLICKING HERE. Next step is to meet with NC Wildlife Resources Commission to review the results and discuss solutions. Commissioner Fouche added key information about bears she learned from a NCWRC presentation in Black Mountain last week.
  • Under Public Comments:
    • There were many comments about the bear survey, including:
      • Laurie Morgan asked if we know why there are so many more bears. Commissioner Fouche stated that females are having larger litters of cubs, as many as four cubs when the old standard was one or two. I also added their diet is so much better because they get protein from all our trash they eat.
      • Arrington Cox commented, “We give them room and board, food stamps and everything else they need. Everyone is responsible to fix the problem.”
      • Jake Quinn commented that Asheville has similar problems as Montreat regarding bears. People are the problem, not bears. Levy fines, fines are change makers.
      • Rusty Douglas agreed with Jake. Be serious about fines. Presbyterians will react to consequences to their wallets.
      • Martha Campbell suggested we install warning/information signs at key locations around town. She offered several examples.
      • We asked Town Clerk, Angela Murphy, for her thoughts since she deals with most of the bear problems in Town. She said it is primarily a matter of securing trash. People don’t check to see if the receptacles are properly secured. She agreed: it is a people problem, not a bear problem.
    • Mary Standaert complained about the upcoming municipal election and that Commissioner Dasher’s seat would be up for election, yet no one knew it and the Town did not announce it until July 17, with candidate filings ending on July 19. This did not give enough time for people to consider running and filing within the deadline. She questioned if it was intentional or unintentional, and stated the record will show there were problems with the Montreat 2024 election. Unfortunately, Rules of Procedure did not allow Commissioners/staff to respond to Ms. Standaert’s comments, but we will do so at the October meeting.
  • In Commissioners’ Communications:
    • Commissioner Alexander reminded everyone about the new ink cartridge and battery recycling program. Bring items to the Town Hall.
    • Ireminded everyone that we need to be careful about our discussions on the address problem. Many Montreaters have reached out to state/national representatives and USPS leadership about the problem, An easy solution for USPS is to close the Montreat PO. We don’t want that to happen.

As Tim always says, thank you for your encouragement in the Council’s work. It means a great deal to us.

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please write me at [email protected] or call me at 321/720-8989.


Mayor Pro Tem Mason Blake on behalf of the Town Council