Page 14 - John Connet News Today

Striving to maintain top-notch customer service while keeping the employees who carry out those services led the city staff to recommend a 3-cent property tax hike plus water and sewer and garbage bill increase for the fiscal year beginning July 1. The City Council appears poised to accept the recommendation when it adopts the 2021-22 budget next month. The property tax and fee increases add up to $189 more a year for the owner of a home valued at $250,000, $218 for a home valued at $350,000, a...

Police chief, Black Hendersonville residents share thoughts on Chauvin verdict Hendersonville resident Indián Jackson couldnt contain her joy when she heard the guilty verdict read for Derek Chauvin, a white police officer accused of killing Black Minneapolis resident George Floyd last year. “I screamed, ‘Yeah!’ And I threw my fist out the window as I was riding down Sixth Avenue just screaming, ‘Yes! Yes!’ out the window," Jackson said. "I just couldn’t contain myself. ... Tha...

Invited by the Bird scooter company to allow the electric vehicles downtown, the City Council demurred. “Our inclination just from a general consensus is the City Council and Downtown Advisory Committee don’t support the scooters," City Manager John Connet said last week. "We notified Bird that we just didn’t feel like it was good fit for our community.” Chris Stockwell, a senior manager for Bird, told council members on March 4 that the company wanted to bring around 50 scooters to the...

Neither was the job description. “When I read the announcement — what the city said it was looking for was exactly the type of leader that I was. It just spoke to me,” he said. Myhand, 51, emerged from a months-long search as one of two finalists for the job and in January was picked by City Manager John Connet to become the new police chief. He succeeds Herbert Blake, who took a job as chief deputy under Buncombe County Sheriff Quentin Miller last August after 12 years as the city’s t...

Merger of Hendersonville, Laurel Park water systems approved Four years of negotiations led to the approvals.  Low water pressure will be improved for Laurel Park customers in the Fleetwood and Hebron pressure zones of the town. Hendersonville will spend $1 million on improvements within 18 months in the Fleetwood zone, with one six-month construction extension allowed. All customers will save at least $100 a year, possibly up to $120, officials said. The merger is scheduled to close April 1...

City says no to hotel on Dogwood parking lot, considers park instead Lurah Lowery, Times-News staff writer Hendersonville City Council Thursday night agreed to cease negotiations for the construction of a hotel on the Dogwood parking lot in downtown. City Manager John Connet said staff members think its the best move since two new hotels have already been approved to be built in downtown. A park will likely be developed there instead, he said. Council members loved the idea that Councilman J...

Hendersonville City Council spent a combined six hours on Thursday and Friday discussing finances and established their values as well as goals for this year.

By Mark Starling NC GOP Votes To Censure Senator Following Impeachment Vote (Raleigh, NC) -- North Carolinas Republican Party is voting to censure U.S. Senator Richard Burr following his vote to convict former President Trump during the Senates impeachment trial. Party members placed the emergency vote last night. Chairman Michael Whatley said Burr was sent to Washington to uphold the Constitution. He added his decision to join with six other Republicans in voting to convict Trump was sh...

Henderson County (Feb 15, 2021) - Ever felt like reporting a broken sidewalk, icy road or dead tree in the city right of way? Now, telling City Hall is as close as your smart phone.

Work underway for new Green Meadows community sign Hendersonville is moving forward with plans to replace the Green Meadows community sign with a temporary one until a permanent sign can be designed, approved by City Council and built. City Manager John Connet told the council last week that COVID-19, among other reasons he said he wouldnt make excuses for, have delayed the project, which has been talked about for about a year.  The citys new police department building is being constructed i...