Madison County Commission Chair outlines goals for tenure
MARSHALL - The Madison County Board of Commissioners held the county's first meeting of the year Jan. 10, the second regular meeting of the board since the board's three new members were sworn in on Dec. 5.
Also during that meeting, the board voted to establish Matt Wechtel as the BOC chair. Heading into 2023, Wechtel identified seven areas in which he is most interested in addressing in the county in the next two years.
At the top of the list is an infrastructure project the county hopes will link Marshall to Mars Hill via N.C. 213.
"We are very much looking forward to beginning the Highway 213 infrastructure project, linking Mars Hill and Marshall with water, sewer and hopefully maybe even natural gas," Wechtel said. "The hope is that it would transform Highway 213 into an economic corridor."
Wechtel also listed the courthouse project at the top of his list for goals to address in his tenure as chair.
In November 2021, Gov. Roy Cooper allotted $3.8 million to Madison County for renovations and new construction at the county courthouse in Marshall. In February 2022, the county formed a focus group aimed at determining the most appropriate use of the funding.
In the board's Dec. 13 meeting, Karen Gravel, a historic preservation architect contracted by the county, detailed the nine-member focus group's recommendation to build a new courthouse. The current Madison County Courthouse in Marshall, which was built in 1908, carries a host of functionality concerns, according to a space needs assessment performed by Gravel.
"There's so much that needs to happen from a systems perspective - electrical, IT, security and HVAC - that to really do a good rehabilitation of the building, everybody needs to move out," Gravel said. "It's hard to do a piecemeal restoration or a rehabilitation of the building without moving people out, which when you start to think of that in the context of what to do (with the building), that becomes an added complexity for the county.
"Also, there are code issues with the building right now. The restrooms are deficient. Exiting is a problem because there is only one entrance on the ground floor, and that's where the security happens. It's a bottleneck of a door right now."
After hearing the focus group's recommendations, the commissioners unanimously voted to approve a plan for new courthouse construction within five years.
More: County OKs planned new courthouse Madison County OKs plans for new courthouse within 5 years
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"The new courthouse could potentially include and/or incorporate new county administrative offices," Wechtel said.
The board chair also listed economic development as a top focus in his tenure.
"We are already working to prepare for and/or secure some economic development and/or workforce projects," Wechtel said. "We are also already working on the details of what we hope will become a large TDA project for the county."
In a special meeting Dec. 28, the county voted to extend its commercial assembly moratorium through March 28 in response to numerous residents' complaints about noise coming from event venues in Hot Springs and Marshall.
More: Mad. Co. extends event venue ban Madison County extends event venue ban additional 4 months
There is one caveat to the ban extension.
One of the conditions of the moratorium is that it allows for continued planning to continue sketch plan and preliminary plat reviews, according to Wechtel.
The BOC chair said the board will focus on "better asset management," relating to buildings, vehicles and employees.
Improvements to the EMS facility in Marshall, as well as continuing to build a relationship with AdventHealth leadership to bring medical services to Madison were also mentioned by Wechtel as top priorities.
Wechtel said AdventHealth, headquartered in Florida, could potentially provide urgent care, a radiology center, a dialysis center, as well as mental health support in the county.
According to The Citizen Times, on Nov. 22 AdventHealth had been approved to expand in Western North Carolina less than six months after it applied to bring 67 new acute care hospital beds to Buncombe County.
The announcement came after AdventHealth and two other hospital systems, HCA Healthcare-owned Mission Health and Novant Health, applied mid-June for the 67-bed certificate of need from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Service's Division of Health Service Regulation.
This need for 67 acute care beds was first outlined in the 2022 North Carolina State Medical Facilities Plan. They are meant to serve patients in Buncombe, Graham, Madison and Yancey counties.
More: Novant, days after Mission, gears up to fight state on AdventHealth hospital choice
"We will also work to create an improved facility for our EMS hub in Marshall," Wechtel said.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Madison County Commission Chair Wechtel outlines goals for tenure
