Page 27 - John Connet News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

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, and $377 a home valued at $500,000. The city has commissioned a pay and classification study to deter...

Police chief, Black Hendersonville residents share thoughts on Chauvin verdict Hendersonville resident Indián Jackson couldn't 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. ... That was a great, great victory and there’s still so much work to do." She expected a not guilty ver...

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 city. "The goal is to decrease car trips, decrease car emissions and (provide) a number of other tr...

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 top law enforcement officer. In an interview last week, Myhand gushed about the welcome he has receiv...

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, with construction slated to follow in the spring. Laurel Park will handle billing through Sept. 1 ...