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Authority members named; architect chosen for library
By Justin Goble
Though they will soon be able to do otherwise, county commissioners followed recommendations by the Jackson County Airport Authority in appointing two new members.
Greg Hall and Dennis Wilkey were selected by commissioners Monday night (July 17) to fill vacancies left by Chip Hall and Commissioner Eddie Madden, respectively. Hall’s term will expire next month, while Wilkey’s will run through December of 2008.
The appointments caused confusion among both commissioners and county attorney Paul Holt. Wanting to ensure that the terms were staggered so that all members of the Authority would not have their terms end at the same time, Holt suggested commissioners explicitly spell out who was filling what vacancy so that the new appointees would not serve a full six years.
Though there was talk of tabling the nomination until Holt could decide how to proceed on the issue, commissioners’ Chairman Brian McMahan said the board would be following the attorney’s suggestion if members went ahead and filled the vacancies, since the appointees would only serve the remainder of those terms. The rest of the board agreed, and the appointments passed unanimously.
This move comes after a law was recently passed by the General Assembly which changes the way Airport Authority members are selected.
Introduced by Sen. John Snow (D-Murphy), the law does away with the previous requirement that commissioners had to follow the Authority’s recommendations when appointing members.
The bill, which was also sponsored by Rep. Phil Haire (D-Sylva), was suggested by commissioners, though there was no public discussion by county officials on the matter before Snow introduced it to the Legislature.
The move surprised Airport Authority Chairman Tom McClure, who told The Herald he did not hear anything about the legislation until it had been passed.
“There was no discussion. Absolutely none. I found out when I happened to see the bill,” he said last week.
According to county Manager Ken Westmoreland, the change in how appointments are made was discussed when Authority members urged commissioners to fill two vacancies. Commissioners expressed their concerns to the Authority that the current method of appointments is “self-perpetuating,” Westmoreland said last month.
“The board’s idea is to make (appointments to the Authority) like other appointments,” Westmoreland said.
Commissioners have talked about the change for a long time, Westmoreland said, though he did not offer any specifics regarding when and where such discussion occurred.
The new legislation is set to take effect Jan. 1 of next year.
In other business July 17:
– Commissioners chose an architect for the new county library.
McMillan Smith and Partners of Spartanburg, S.C., was chosen to come up with schematics and drawings for the new 25,000-square-foot facility. McMahan said that, while the construction won’t begin for some time, having the blueprints will help the library board with its fund-raising efforts.
“They’re going to need a picture before they can raise money,” said commissioner Roberta Crawford in agreement. “We’ll find no one better qualified than McMillan Smith.”
Commissioners have allocated $4.5 million to help build the new library. Of that, $28,800 will be spent on architect fees.
– Numerous appointments were made to various boards and committees. All nominees were approved unanimously.
Appointments made were: Planning Board Chairman – Richard Wilson; planning board vice-chairman – Mike Moore; Green Energy Steering Committee – Susan Leveille, Ray Menze, Joe Cowan, Jeff Seiler and Vickie Wade; library board – Tina Jones; Nursing and Adult Care advisory committee – Mary Culp; Southwestern Community College Board – Brian McMahan; Region A Aging Advisory Council – Jane Brown and Ed Norton; and Jackson County Board of Health – Jerry DeWeese, Tom Turrentine, Ginger Fullbright, Nell Sanford and Linda Servoss.
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