McDowell County Commissioners enact extended ban on cryptocurrency mining

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In other news at Monday's meeting, commissioners:

• Approved the Emergency Operations Plan update. The update will be assisted by a firm named EnviroSafe and the staff from Foothills Regional Commission. EnviroSafe will provide McDowell County with an updated emergency operations plan. The cost for the update is $17,990 with 100% of the cost being paid for with grant funds.
• Heard an update on water and sewer projects in McDowell County. These include the Nebo Phase 1A and 1B water project as well as the Universal water and sewer extension. Nebo Phase 2A and the Hoppy Tom Hollow projects are being submitted to the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality for review. The grant for the East End effort along N.C. 126 was awarded and the engineer selection process has been initiated. An Appalachian Regional Commission grant to extend water around Exit 90 has been awarded. The study of water service to the West Marion Elementary Area is complete.
• Talked about strategic plan for the county. The city of Marion recently completed a strategic planning process and the team behind this plan is with the N.C. Department of Commerce. This group is willing and able to assist the county with its strategic planning process. These plans often help the community and others to understand the long-held strategic goals such as economic development, public education and others.
• Approved having experts look at the county’s tax assessing and collections. County staff recently learned that the N.C. Association of County Commissioners will deploy subject matter experts to evaluate various county government departments. One particular department they have been studying lately is tax assessing and collections. Wooten suggested inviting the NCACC experts to come evaluate the assessing and collections department to determine if they need different staffing arrangements, software systems or other changes. Both the tax assessor and tax collector are supportive of this idea.
• Heard a report from Victoria Craig, the clerk to the board, about numerous upcoming appointments to various board and committees. They consist of the Juvenile Crime Prevention Council (one vacancy, a faith-based seat), the Library Board of Trustees (two vacancies, one for the Old Fort district and one for the Marion district, the McDowell Technical Community College Board of Trustees (one vacancy), the Planning Board (there will be four vacancies coming available in August), the Senior Center Focal Point Advisory Committee (four vacancies), the Transportation Advisory Board (one vacancy), the Tourism Development Authority (TDA) board (one vacancy) and the Agriculture Advisory Board (one vacancy).
• Selected Commissioner Chris Allison as the voting delegate for the NCACC conference.
• Heard from local resident Ron Sinclair who spoke during the citizen comment portion. He urged the commissioners and county staff to look into getting funding from a massive infrastructure package signed into law by President Biden. This package is expected to bring a least $1 billion to North Carolina for upgrades to the state’s broadband network, he said. Sinclair asked the commissioners how many of them have broadband internet. He added more than 40% of McDowell’s residents don’t have it. He urged them to “aggressively” go after this funding. “As a citizen, I am calling on you to make that change,” said Sinclair. “There is a sense of urgency for our kids and the growth of this county.” After hearing from him, the commissioners directed Wooten and staff to look into getting some of this money.