26 minute read
Macon budget remains agile through pandemic
BY JESSI STONE NEWS EDITOR
Despite dire predictions of how local governments would be financially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Macon County has fared well so far. Still, County Manager Derek Roland recently ensured commissioners that he’d continue to manage the budget conservatively moving into the 2021-22 fiscal year.
“We had no idea when we sat here a year ago that in a matter of days our lives would change forever,” Roland told commissioners during a Feb. 4 meeting. “When we grew closer to the budget time in June, COVID-19 cases were rising across the country.”
Listening to the local government experts, Roland said everything pointed to another recession and budgeting guidelines were given for counties to follow. One of those predictions said that counties could expect to see up to a 50 percent decrease in sales tax revenue, something that would have devastated counties in Western North Carolina that rely on those tourist dollars to support their operational budget.
However, Macon County Finance Director Lori Hall reported that so far, Macon County’s sales tax revenue is 16 percent higher than it was this time last year — halfway through the fiscal year. This same time in 2020, the county had seen an 8.6 percent increase over 2019, so a 16 percent increase during a pandemic is an incredible feat. The state as a whole has seen an 11-percent increase in sales tax revenues.
“We had no idea last year what the impact would be, but so far so good,” she said.
Roland had budgeted sales tax revenues to be 5 percent less during the 2020-21 budget, but after seeing a 16 percent increase for this year so far, he told commissioners he’d be increasing the projections for the rest of the budget year (June 30, 2021).
Sales tax isn’t the only revenue stream that’s been on the rise in the past year — Roland reported increases to motor vehicle tax, register of deeds, wastewater and well inspections and building inspection fees.
“These revenue increases have resulted in our ability to largely close the budget gap we faced to begin the fiscal year — getting us to a level that is almost as if COVID-19 had never happened,” he said.
Because of these unexpected revenue increases, Roland requested an amendment to the current 2020-21 budget for $1.7 million, which would be used to restore capital funding to education and public safety — Macon County’s top funding priorities. It will also allow the county to start making adjustments to its pay scale for employees — something that was put on the backburner in the original budget because of the pandemic.
With the amendment, the school system would be able to complete infrastructure projects outlined in the original 2020-21 spending plan and the sheriff’s department will be able to purchase new vehicles that were in the budget before COVID hit.
Lastly, it will allow the county to restore full funding for the nonprofit community pool fund, which was cut 50 percent in the original budget from $70,000 to $35,000. With so many local nonprofit organizations providing much needed social services during the pandemic, Roland said he wanted to continue to support their efforts.
“I think the additional revenue gain from what I will call a booming but still fragile economy enables us to restore capital funding to our priority areas of public safety and education,” he said. “It’s going to enable us to begin working to identify and make recommendations for addressing inadequacies in our pay scale, to be addressed in the coming fiscal year.”
Roland said the budget amendment would still leave Macon County in an agile position to take realistic measures to reduce the budget if needed as the pandemic drags on into the year without adversely impacting county employees and services.
Commissioner Gary Shields said he supported the budget amendment to restore funding to these important areas, especially the nonprofit community funding pool. F
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Commission Chairman Jim Tate also said he supported the budget amendment and trusted Roland’s ability to “steer the ship” in the right direction.
“We give you direction, but you are the captain of the ship and we have to trust that you studied this, and your team studied this,” Tate said. “I personally like and respect your decision here and I’m in favor of this. I think you’re doing a fantastic job.”
Commissioner Ronnie Beale agreed, saying that the 2020-21 budget was one of the most difficult and uncertain ones he’s been through and that’s including the 2008 recession.
“I don’t see nothing on this list that’s frivolous. This is money that was in the original budget and it’s just trying to catch us back up,” he said.
The $1.7 million budget amendment passed unanimously.
With that passed, the commissioners will soon begin the process of working on the 2021-22 fiscal year budget. As Roland begins that process with his staff, Tate offered more guidance. Other than keeping the tax rate flat for another year, Tate said he wanted to work on cleaning up the county’s appearance.
“We have a lot of new people coming in and money being spent. We’re obviously in a an extremely desirable place that people want to buy a second or third home, or they make this their primary residence, or they want to move to Macon County,” he said. “I want to make sure Macon County is clean, our buildings are up to par, our grounds, like Parker Meadows, are being taken care of to the best of our abilities. I want to make our government welcoming and not necessarily an eye sore.”
There’s a lot to consider moving into the new budget year, Roland said. The county has a completed Space Needs Analysis before them that prioritizes the need for major renovation projects at the courthouse, jail and senior center. The county is also in the process of getting bids for a major renovation project at Macon Middle School and has plans to renovate the old armory building before leasing it to Southwestern Community College for its public safety program. That project will also include constructing a new burn building for fire safety training.
If the county is able to purchase some property in the Nantahala community, those residents might finally get the new community center and library they’ve been wanting for the last several years.
“We’re in the due diligence period for a piece of property in Nantahala — a property purchase that could potentially be the new location for a community center and library,” Roland said.
Other priorities include continuing broadband expansion in Macon County as well as improvements to the county’s recycling centers.
Dale Walksler, the founder and curator of the Wheels Through Time Museum in Maggie Valley, passed away peacefully, with his wife by his side, at home on Feb. 3, after a courageous four-year battle with cancer.
In 1967, at the age of 15, Walksler built his first motorcycle, sparking a life-long love affair with American Motorcycles and their history. At 22, he established a Harley/Davidson franchise in Mt. Vernon, Illinois, — Dale’s Harley-Davidson. His signal success as a dealer grew to include the decades-long work that would define his life — the creation of the museum everyone now knows as Wheels Through Time.
As the museum collection grew, so too did Walksler’s vision for the museum, his reputation, his mechanical and curatorial skills, and a goal of always exceeding expectations of customers and guests.
In 2002, he opened the Wheels Through Time Museum in Maggie Valley. From humble beginnings in a small Illinois town, one of the world’s premier collections of rare and vintage American motorcycles, automobiles and memorabilia emerged. Wheels Through Time became an Iconic American Institution and known internationally.
Those who have visited Wheels Through Time know that Walksler’s passion was not just something to be observed but rather experienced. Whether it was listening to his vast knowledge and stories of transportation history or watching him start a motorcycle, his was a passion that was infectious. It inspired in many, that same desire to preserve and celebrate American motorcycle history. His genius rested on the latter portion of the Wheels Through Time logo, “The Museum That Runs.”
Walksler’s vision was not just one of preserving the past but was also focused on the future. In that regard, he made great strides to ensure that the museum and his legacy would carry on for generations to come.
A celebration of his life will be announced at a later date. At this time, the family asks for privacy as they mourn his passing. At Walksler’s request, in lieu of flowers, please send any donations and condolences to Wheels Through Time, P.O. Box 790, Maggie Valley, NC 28751.
All donations will be dedicated to ensuring the continuance of the legacy that Walksler created far into the future and to giving museum visitors historical insight into the vital role that transportation has played in American history.
Dale Walksler. Donated photo
Haywood School Board talks sports
The Haywood County School Board agreed unanimously to pay up to $120,000 to keep the athletics departments at the high school and middle school level solvent. The numbers were discussed in length at the work session Thursday, Feb. 4. The costs include payment for officials, transportation, helmet and padding reconditioning and an emergency services standby squad for high school sporting events. Middle school events do not require an ambulance squad to be on standby.
The total projected cost for middle school and high school sports came to $108,662 plus the additional $3,200 for standby ambulance squads. The board decided to fund up to, but not exceed $120,000. The extra amount is intended to assist in unforeseen costs.
“The goal is not to offset ticket sales that have been lost, the goal is not to pad athletic accounts in any way, form or fashion. The hope will be that any costs they’ve incurred this year in those three areas, that we will pay those costs for the schools so that at a worst case, when they get to the end of the year they will have as much money as they started the year with. We’re simply trying to make them solvent,” said Associate Superintendent Dr. Trevor Putnam. • The board also decided on a contract to broadcast the Pisgah Tuscola game this year, partly due to the fact that there will be limited capacity allowed in the stadium due to COVID-19 restrictions. The board gave the contract to Sinclair Broadcasting Group in exchange for a $500 donation to the Athletics Department at Pisgah High School.
“That gives us an opportunity for good quality broadcast coverage of that very big game,” said Putnam. • With the retirement of Ann Barrett from the Haywood County School Board came a vacancy on the Mountain Projects Board of Directors, where she served representing Haywood County Schools. At the meeting Monday Feb. 8, the board voted unanimously to appoint Ronnie Clark as her replacement to the Mountain Projects board of directors.
HRMC lifts zero visitation policy
Haywood Regional Medical Center is transitioning from a zero-visitation policy to a limited visitation policy as of Feb. 9.
New guidelines will allow one visitor per day for inpatients, the emergency room (ER) and Outpatient Care Center, as well as outpatients within the main hospital. General visitation hours will be 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The updated restrictions have been implemented effective immediately.
“We understand how important visiting loved ones is for patients and guests alike,” shared Greg Caples, HRMC CEO. “We have been monitoring the COVID-19 positivity rate in Haywood and feel more comfortable in opening up our facility given the recent downturn. However, we will continue to monitor the region and adjust accordingly. We urge continued caution in the community as COVID-19 is still prevalent.”
Again, part of the updated visitor restrictions, inpatients, outpatients, and ER patients are now allowed one well visitor per day, including continued allowance of one support person for obstetric patients. Exceptions are made for loved ones who are gravely ill. Visitors with signs/symptoms of respiratory illness will not be permitted to visit under this exception. Visitors/parents/guardians may be allowed when a patient requires mobility assistance, is a pediatric patient, is incapacitated or mentally incompetent. Note that patients in isolation are not permitted visitor under these guidelines.
All visitors must be 18 years of age or older, will be screened upon entry and are required to wear a mask or cloth face covering (and should bring their own from home). A dated armband (provided during screening) is also required while in the facility. Visitors who do not pass the screening at entry will be asked to reschedule their visit until they are symptom-free.
HRMC continues to screen everyone who enters the facility for symptoms consistent with COVID-19, per CDC guidelines. For additional updates on how the hospital is working to maintain a safe and supportive environment during the COVID-19 pandemic, visit myhaywoodregional.com.
WCU seeks volunteers for COVID clinics
Western Carolina University, as a regionally engaged institution, shares the concerns and challenges that have faced local communities as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In support of the region and the communities that surround campus, WCU wants to do its part in providing the support that is needed.
An identified need is COVID-19 vaccine distribution. To that end, WCU has been asked to serve as a regional COVID-19 vaccination site. WCU also is partnering with local health providers through its Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning to support their efforts in administering the vaccine. The center has established a webpage to solicit volunteers to assist in community vaccine efforts, as well as supplement WCU’s regional vaccination clinic.
WCU has been challenged to open the vaccination clinic as quickly as possible and will be hiring staff, both clinical and administrative, that will be supplemented with volunteers. It is the goal of the clinic to provide a minimum of 500 vaccines per day.
The clinic also will offer opportunities for full and part-time temporary employment for those displaced in area hospitality or other industries due to COVID-19. To learn more, visit https://jobs.wcu.edu. To learn more about volunteer opportunities, visit www.wcu.edu/learn/academic-enrichment/center-for-service-learning/vaccination-resources.aspx.
Reparations, Six Months Later: So Far, Empty Promises
Asheville’s Dwindling Black Population Remains Skeptical
BY BARBARA DURR AND PETER H. LEWIS ASHEVILLE WATCHDOG
Six months ago, as part of a reckoning on racial injustice, the City of Asheville and Buncombe County both passed resolutions to consider reparations to the Black community as a way to begin making amends for slavery and generations of systemic discrimination. The votes were hailed as “historic” by The Asheville Citizen Times, and ABC News asked, “Is Asheville a national model?”
Since then, local officials concede, little has been done. Some in the Black community see zero progress.
“From my understanding, they’ve done nothing,” said Rob Thomas, community liaison for the Racial Justice Coalition.
Despite the fanfare they received at the time, the reparations resolutions are in limbo, still as lacking in specific remedies as they are in financial commitment or engagement with the Black community. The Asheville resolution called for the creation of a Community Reparations Commission to begin drafting recommendations. Six months later there is no commission, nor even any agreement on who should be on it. No city or county funds have been set aside.
The resolution also mandated that the city manager provide biannual progress updates. City Manager Debra Campbell pledged last week to report by late February.
Now, as the pandemic has local governments struggling to meet basic needs, let alone fund new initiatives, and after Asheville voters replaced three of the seven city council members who voted for reparations, it’s unclear how the community plans to make good on its promises.
The slow pace threatens to further undermine the credibility of leadership when it expresses concern about racial inequality.
STARK RACIAL IMBALANCES
To many people in Asheville’s shrinking population of Black residents, the reparations resolutions are simply the latest in a chain of empty promises stretching back to the Reconstruction era.
“I never got my 40 acres and a mule,” Andrea Clark, a noted photographer and playwright in Asheville, said, referring to the government’s first promise of reparations to formerly enslaved Blacks. Near the end of the Civil War the Lincoln administration ordered land to be confiscated from white Confederate slaveholders and redistributed, in 40-acre parcels along with the use of a mule, to newly freed slaves.
The promise was broken just months later, following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, by President Andrew Johnson, who ordered the land returned to white owners. “This is a country for white men, and by God, as long as I am President, it shall be a government for white men,” Johnson wrote in 1866. A century and a half later, the scars of slavery are still visible.
Records and data analyzed by Asheville Watchdog confirm stark racial imbalances in Asheville and Buncombe County, in home ownership and affordable housing, in educational achievement and opportunities, in the availability of jobs, in business ownership, in arrests and incarcerations and other facets of the judicial and social justice systems, and in healthcare.
Andrea Clark
Asheville, a fixture on national lists of “best places to live” year after year, by many measures appears to be less appealing to people of color.
For example, Blacks have largely been priced out of the housing market either for home ownership or rentals. The combination of rising real estate prices and fewer opportunities for well-paying jobs has forced many Blacks to look for homes elsewhere, said Sandra Kilgore, a member of Asheville’s City Council.
“This is not an easy place for Black people to live,” said Nicole Cush, the principal of the Asheville High School of Inquiry & Life Sciences. She said Asheville’s Black community is “dwindling,” and census numbers confirm her assessment.
Although the city’s total population has grown 42 percent since 1980, its percentage of Black residents has declined. African Americans were 21.3 percent of the city’s population in 1980. Today, the estimate falls in a range of 12.8 percent to 11.2 percent, according to Heidi Reiber, senior director of research at the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce.
Asheville and Buncombe County are home to far fewer Black people proportionally than the state as a whole. Statewide, people of African descent make up 21.5 percent of the overall population, according to the U.S Census Bureau. In Buncombe County, the number is 6.4 percent.
One-fourth of Asheville’s approximately 12,000 Black residents lives in poverty, nearly double the percentage of white residents, according to census figures. Studies have linked current levels of poverty and wealth inequality in the Black community to the lingering effects of slavery, Jim Crow laws, redlining, and other forms of systemic discrimination.
Nicole Cush
SIX MONTHS, NO MONEY, NO COMMISSION
They do, however, promise new investments aimed at “increasing minority home ownership and access to other affordable housing, increasing minority business ownership and career opportunities, strategies to grow equity and generational wealth, closing the gaps in health care, education, employment and pay, neighborhood safety and fairness within criminal justice.”
A key provision of the Asheville resolution is the creation of a Community Reparations Commission to make short-, medium- and long-term recommendations on how and where to invest city and county funds. The commission is to include participation from community groups and other local governments, including Buncombe County.
Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer acknowledged the time lag in forming the commission, which must be constituted within a year of the resolution’s passage, but she said the Council knew at the time that “it would take a while.”
“It’s clear to me that not everyone understands this the same way,” she told the Asheville Watchdog. “The question you must answer for people is: What does this look like? Is it a bond issue? A prioritization of our resources? Right now, it’s amorphous.”
The mayor said she and other city officials have been consulting with academic experts and working on staff research, adding that the city plans to hold a detailed working session for the Council — which will now include three new members — to discuss preparations more deeply. However, that working session has yet to be scheduled.
“We need guidance, help and time,” the mayor said. “We are talking about being more strategic.”
Kilgore, elected to the Asheville City Council in November 2020, disputed the idea that the slow progress raises questions about the city’s credibility and commitment toward reparations.
The reparations resolution “has definitely been at the forefront of each discussion, and funding is always at the top of the agenda,” she said.
“Reparations is something that people have been working on for years,” Kilgore said. “You can’t expect to turn it around in six months or a year. It’s not gonna happen.”
OTHER CITIES MOVE FASTER
Even so, the slow pace over six months raises contrasts to progress in other communities.
Evanston, Illinois, set aside $10 million in tax revenue from recently legalized marijuana sales to provide housing assistance for African American residents. Evanston’s Black population is about 13,000, compared to Asheville’s 12,000, according to census figures.
Kansas City, Missouri, levied a new sales tax to help finance its reparations goals. Charlottesville, Virginia, directed $4 million to its reparations resolution. Providence, Rhode Island, began its reparations process quickly with a community truth and reconciliation commission.
Keith Young, the principal champion of reparations on the Asheville City Council before he lost re-election in November, tried
unsuccessfully to get the city to back the resolution with $4 million. The request was later pared back to $1 million, which was rejected without discussion by Mayor Manheimer at Young’s final council meeting Nov. 10.
Young said recently he is disappointed with the lack of progress on reparations.
LONG HISTORY OF NEGLECT
Doubts about what the city and county are willing to do for the Black community have a long history.
Dwight Mullen, a retired professor at the University of North Carolina at Asheville, led his students every year to prepare a report called “The State of Black Asheville.” And every year, Mullen said, city and county officials ignored the data on discrimination in housing, education, employment, and other areas.
“We were publicly presenting every year, and every year, brows would get furrowed and folk would get upset,” he said. “Then in a week or two, they would not talk about it anymore.”
Mullen said the protests of last spring and summer increased pressure for systemic change.
While Black Asheville citizens are deeply skeptical about the reparations policies of the city and county, some offered thoughts on what might help their communities.
Three community collectives — Black Asheville Demands, the Racial Justice Coalition, and Just Us — are pushing for the city to provide funds to research what Black communities across Buncombe County want and need from reparations.
Black Asheville Demands insists that communities most impacted by systemic racism must be represented on the commission. Among other issues, the group advocates creating spaces for young people to be active and engaged.
Land is a top remedy for Priscilla Ndiaye Robinson, a researcher of the urban renewal period that wiped out thriving Black neighborhoods and displaced some 1,600 families from the late 1950s to the 1970s, and Rita Lee, a real estate agent. They would like to see city-owned land taken during urban renewal returned to the Black community.
“For those whose property was taken, they should give them lots,” Robinson said. “Put it back in the family.”
Lee concurred. The city should “be able to offer that land back to the families so that they can build on it,” she said.
— Rob Thomas, community liaison for the Racial Justice Coalition
BLACKS ARE ‘BEING PUSHED OUT’
college tuition? Give them something that means something,” she said.
Reginald Robinson, a local sports official, advocates a program for summer jobs for young people. He noted that jobs, especially well-paying jobs, are important “so they can become self-sufficient citizens.” He also said free daycare should be a priority.
Sasha Mitchell, the former chair of the Asheville Buncombe County African American Heritage Commission, said Blacks “are being pushed out of existence in this area” by racist policies and gentrification.
“The city should quantify the wealth that’s been lost by the African American community,” using records kept at the University of North Carolina Asheville, Mitchell said. “Use the data to have an idea that can be tied to facts, because it’s very emotional. You can’t measure the trauma,” she said.
A “social, economic and environmental justice lens” will be applied to the city’s 20212022 budget, according to City Manager Debra Campbell’s plan for “Advancing Racial Equity in Asheville.”
Campbell cited equity efforts by the city over the last year, such as the city’s new Business Inclusion Policy to support minority training and recruitment. She did not respond to an Asheville Watchdog question about whether the plan will directly address Asheville’s reparations commitment.
Sasha Mitchell
RACISM AS A PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS
One potential source of reparations funding that the city is eyeing is the Ashevillebased Dogwood Health Trust, the charity formed with $1.5 billion in proceeds from the sale of Mission Health System in 2019. With as much as $75 million to invest in the “social determinants of health” in western North Carolina every year, the Dogwood trust has identified housing, education, jobs and employment, and health and wellness as its four strategic priorities.
Last June, the Buncombe County Health and Human Services board declared structural racism to be a public health crisis. About the same time, the Dogwood Trust committed $5.5 million specifically to support organizations led by and primarily serving people of color.
A spokesperson told The Watchdog last week that no one from the Dogwood Health Trust had been invited to sit on the Community Reparations Commission or been contacted by the city or county to discuss possible funding for the reparations proposals.
Susan Mims, a physician and the interim chief executive of Dogwood Health Trust, said, “Any entity that shares our commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion — whether nonprofit or governmental — opens up a possibility for collaboration, and we welcome those discussions.”
Public Works Technician: The Town of Maggie Valley is currently accepting application for a Public Works Technician. This is a full time position. Minimum qualifications include a high school diploma or equivalent, a valid driver’s license and at least 2-3 years’ experience operating construction/maintenance equipment. Applications can be obtained in person at Maggie Valley Town Hall at 3987 Soco Road Maggie Valley, NC 28751 or electronically at maggievalleync.gov. The position is open until filled; with first applicant review scheduled for Monday February 22, 2021. Hiring Range DOQ/E. Salary Range: $26,103-$41,113. The Town of Maggie Valley is an equal opportunity employer and offers a comprehensive benefits package including health and dental insurance, 401(k) plan and membership in the North Carolina Local Government employees’ retirement system. Qualified candidates should submit a resume and town application to Nathan Clark, Town Manager at nclark@maggievalleync.gov.
Senior Public Works Technician:
The Town of Maggie Valley is currently accepting application for a Senior Public Works Technician. This is a full time position. Minimum qualifications include a high school diploma or equivalent, a valid driver’s license and at least 2-3 years’ experience operating construction/maintenance equipment. This position performs a variety of work in the construction, maintenance, buildings, grounds and municipal properties. Applications can be obtained in person at Maggie Valley Town Hall at 3987 Soco Road Maggie Valley, NC 28751 or electronically at maggievalleync.gov. The position is open until filled; with first applicant review scheduled for Monday February 22, 2021. Hiring Range DOQ/E. Salary Range: $30,218-$47,592. The Town of Maggie Valley is an equal opportunity employer and offers a comprehensive benefits package including health and dental insurance, 401(k) plan and membership in the North Carolina Local Government employees’ retirement system. Qualified candidates should submit a resume and town application to Nathan Clark, Town Manager at nclark@maggievalleync.gov.
Police Officer
The Town of Maggie Valley is currently accepting applications for the full-time position of Police Officer. This position performs intermediate protective service work enforcing laws, investigating criminal activity, ensuring safety of public, collecting evidence, testifying in court, maintaining files and records, preparing reports, and related work as apparent or assigned. Applicants must have a valid N.C. Driver’s License, High School Diploma or GED and a Basic Law Enforcement Training Certification. The position is open until filled; with first applicant review scheduled for Monday February 22, 2021. Hiring Range DOQ/E. Salary Range: $30,218-$47,592. The Town of Maggie Valley is an equal opportunity employer and offers a comprehensive benefits package including health and dental insurance, 401(k) plan and membership in the North Carolina Local Government Employees Retirement System. A full job description can be found at www.maggievalleync.gov. Qualified candidates should submit a resume and Town Application to Nathan Clark, Town Manager at nclark@maggievalleync.gov.
Wastewater Treatment Plant Operator
Example of Duties: Operates the wastewater plant • Inspects plant equipment for proper operation • Inspects contractor work on collection system • Works on collection system • Makes & installs sewer taps • Operates back-hoe, skid steer, and dump truck • Adjusts process to ensure permit compliance • May serve as a trainer of new personnel on operation and maintenance of plant equipment and in safety procedures • Prepares various reports and forms related to operations and health and safety compliance by regulatory agencies; identifies problems and makes corrections • Keeps records and makes reports • Briefs ORC and Back-Up ORC on performance or maintenance issues Performs related work as assigned. Physical Requirements: Work in this class is medium to heavy work requiring exertion of in excess of 100 pounds of force occasionally, and/or in excess of 50 pounds of force frequently, and/or in excess of 20 pounds of force constantly to move objects. Employee must have the visual acuity to prepare and analyze data and figures, perform extensive reading, conduct visual inspection of small defects or parts, operate a machine, use measurement devices, and to assemble parts at distances close to the eyes. Qualifications: Graduation from high school or GED equivalency and three years experience in the operation and maintenance of water reclamation plant processes; or, any equivalent combination of experience and training which provides the required knowledge, skills and abilities. Possession of an active current Class II Wastewater Operator’s License & an active current Class II Collections Systems License; candidates without current license may be considered with demonstrated ability to obtain within first twelve (12) months of employment. Ability to operate a backhoe. Possession of a valid and appropriate North Carolina driver's license. The position is open until filled; with first applicant review scheduled for Monday February 22, 2021. Hiring Range DOQ/E. Salary Range: $31,728-$47,592. The Town of Maggie Valley is an equal opportunity employer and offers a comprehensive benefits package including health and dental insurance, 401(k) plan and membership in the North Carolina Local Government Employees Retirement System. A full job description can be found at www.maggievalleync.gov. Qualified candidates should submit a resume and completed Town Application to Nathan Clark, Town Manager at nclark@maggievalleync.gov Town of Maggie Valley • 828-926-0866 • 3987 Soco Road • Maggie Valley
