Today’s round of questions, my smart-aleck replies, and the real answers:
Question: The last commissioner meeting Jasmine Beach-Ferrara attended was Jan. 16. She hasn’t resigned, but is still getting fully paid with taxpayer money? A county employee would have been fired by now.
My answer: What I’ve learned from this question is it is not easy to come up with a pithy comment about severe pneumonia.
Real answer: Beach-Ferrara, who announced last fall she wouldn’t run for re-election in 2024, told me via text she’s been fighting a prolonged medical battle.
“I am on medical leave and look forward to returning to County Commission in June after recovering from a severe case of pneumonia and (a) lengthy hospitalization,” Beach-Ferrara said. “I’ve been in communication with the County Manager’s office throughout this process.”
First elected to the Board of Commissioners in 2016 in District 1, Beach-Ferrara was re-elected in 2020 in District 2, after a change in the district maps.
Beach-Ferrara also ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2022 as the Democratic nominee, losing in the general election to Congressman Chuck Edwards. Last fall, Beach-Ferrara announced via X (formerly Twitter) that she would not be running for the commission or any other office, saying, “The reason is simple and straight from the heart: I want to spend more time with my family.”
Beach-Ferrara and her wife, Meghann Burke, live in east Asheville with their three children.
According to her Board of Commissioners bio, Beach-Ferrara is a minister in the United Church of Christ and the executive director of the Campaign for Southern Equality, which promotes LGBTQ equality across the South.
In her role as commissioner, Beach-Ferrara serves on the Early Childhood Education and Development Committee, Justice Resource Advisory Council, and Juvenile Crime Prevention Council.
Buncombe County spokesperson Lillian Govus told me via email, “It’s worth noting that elected commissioners are exempt from provisions of the personnel ordinance, as they are not county employees.
“With that said, we take considerable care to support everyone in the organization,” Govus continued. “The county has a number of provisions to support staff who are experiencing serious illnesses including sick leave, ‘donations’ of sick leave time from colleagues, short-term disability, and long-term disability.”
Commissioners earn salaries, with regular members making $28,916 annually, the vice chair $32,548 and the chair $37,650, according to a county salary database.
Question: What is being built over Reems Creek on I-26 east between exits 19 and 21? It sure looks like a bridge for expansion, but there are no other signs of widening the road.
My answer: Driving back from Virginia a few weeks ago, I couldn’t help but notice this bridge project appearing in the distance, which reminded me of this reader’s question — and the need for a photo. So I pressed my wife Grace into service, and I can say with some authority now that she should probably stick to nursing. Hey, we were doing about 70 mph.
Real answer: NCDOT spokesperson David Uchiyama says it is an expansion, of sorts.
“A contractor for the North Carolina Department of Transportation is replacing the old bridges on Future I-26 over Reems Creek,” Uchiyama said via email. “The $26 million project will combine the two bridges into one structure, raise the road elevation to reduce the depth of the dip and ensuing climb, and bring this section up to modern interstate standards.”
Uchiyama said the new bridges will be built with enough width for three lanes, plus 12-foot-wide shoulders, and a minimum of at least a 42-inch-high safety barrier.
If you’ve lived here a while, you know this stretch has been called “Future I-26” for many years now, and that’s because the NCDOT does have a long range plan in place to improve this stretch of U.S. 19/23 to interstate standards.
“The new bridges would remain in place if the proposed project to widen Future I-26 from Asheville to Weaverville is funded and constructed,” Uchiyama said.
These projects are done in stages, and Uchiyama said the staging schedule calls for construction of a new bridge west of the existing bridge, which is what drivers see now.
“Later this year, eastbound traffic will be placed there, then crews will begin removing the old eastbound bridge and building a new span wide enough to carry both directions of traffic,” Uchiyama said. “Then westbound traffic will move to the new bridge and crews will follow the same pattern of removing the old span and building a new one before the contract completion date in 2027.”
Sounds like drivers up north on Future 26 are getting to enjoy some of the construction love we’ve been enjoying down south on I-26 as the roadway has been widened over the past five years.
At any rate, look for some noticeable work coming up in June.
“In the first two to three weeks in June, crews will place beams across the concrete piers and then begin building the deck for the eastbound section,” Uchiyama said. “Traffic will not be impacted — with limited exceptions — until eastbound traffic is switched to the structure, which will likely occur late this year.”
The original news release on this project, from March 2023, said Summers-Taylor Inc., of Johnson City, Tenn., earned the $26 million contract as the lowest qualified bidder. The contract calls for completion by March 14, 2027.
Regarding that possible “Future I-26” transformation, it looks like it’s still a ways off. The NCDOT page for the project, last updated in December 2022, estimates the project cost at $200 million.
“The N.C. Department of Transportation is resuming environmental and engineering studies for proposed improvements to U.S. 19/23 (Future I-26) from just north of I-240 in Asheville to just south of Stockton Road (Exit 13) near Mars Hill,” the NCDOT page states. “The project could include adding lanes to portions of U.S. 19/23 — currently a four-lane, divided freeway — as well as replacing several bridges and repaving sections of the freeway.”
The NCDOT says the “next step is to complete the environmental studies and preliminary engineering, which identify the direct and indirect effects the proposed designs will have on the environment. The outcome of these studies will be summarized and shared with the public when completed.”
So, stay tuned.
Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. Got a question? Send it to John Boyle at jboyle@avlwatchdog.org or 828-337-0941. His Answer Man columns appear each Tuesday and Friday. The Watchdog’s reporting is made possible by donations from the community. To show your support for this vital public service go to avlwatchdog.org/donate.
While I disagree with Ms. beach-ferraras politics, I wish her a full recovery. Thoughts and prayers for her and her family.