Burke County approves school land buy as commissioner pushes for action on opioid crisis

Watchers of governmental board meetings typically see on agendas a category titled Consent Agenda. Beneath it are a myriad of items that rarely generate discussion or presentation by the governing body.

This allows (theoretically) those in charge to efficiently dispense routine business by grouping non-controversial items into a single motion for approval.

At Monday’s Burke County Board of Commissioners monthly meeting, the Consent Agenda was 10 items deep. It included approval of naming rights, a proclamation for social worker appreciation month, releasing a tax refund report, and a routine budget amendment. Most if not all items had been previously discussed and approved at commissioners’ preagenda sessions.

Two other Consent Agenda items drew lengthy comments from Commissioner Brian Barrier.

One of them, Item #2, was approval of purchase by the Burke County Public School System of real estate in eastern Burke County. The plan is to build on the land a new school to replace the aging Hildebran and Icard elementary schools.

The action authorized an offer of $675,000 from the school system to buy about 14 acres near Hildebran Elementary School, just west of its current location behind B&B Food Store on U.S. 70.

The new school would combine Hildebran Elementary (built in 1956) and Icard Elementary (built in 1934), two of the county’s oldest schools. Superintendent Mike Swan estimated construction costs at $55-$60 million. Renovating both current schools would cost between $50.5 million and $55.7 million total.

The school district is negotiating the purchase and will complete environmental studies and tests before finalizing the deal.

Barrier said, “I am excited, of course, that our school system has the $42 million from our Lottery Funds to build a new school building and purchase some property.

“My concern, and many other citizens’ concern, is we seem to hang on to excess property.

“So, my hope is that going forward we’ll look at property like Chesterfield Elementary School that’s still sitting there (and) there are supposedly going to be two schools shut down when this (new) one is built.

“I really hope that we’ll think about how to return those to private hands so we can utilize those in the private market and gain some needed revenue from property tax and possible business implementation for the county.”

The second agenda item that Barrier focused on, Item #4, was adoption of the Opioid Resolution governing the spending of opioid settlement funds with a “Budgetary Effect” of $655,000 to cover salary, benefits, equipment, supplies, and travel for a full-time coordinator and a project manager to oversee opioid response initiatives.

Referring to county monies already expended on opioid-related strategies, Barrier said, “My concern is that here we are again, we are going to spend a large amount of money” without definitive action steps.

“The things I have seen so far is planning to take action,” he said.

Barrier told commissioners that he researched Wilkes County’s 15-step proactive opioid strategic plan because “they were taking a lot of action,” not just strategizing.

Barrier said that “in the past two years we’ve responded to 1,200 overdose calls. In the past two years we’ve had 94 overdose deaths. And my real concern is, how many of those 94, if we had been working and spending money and helping fund some of the community partners that are already doing work in our community, maybe we could have prevented them.”

“I just hope that we don’t get stuck in this preverbal churn of strategic planning when we have a sister county … doing amazing things and I see that they’ve implemented 15 immediate action strategies.”

He asked that Burke’s opioid treatment and control leaders start implementing and “partnering with local folks quickly to get folks services they need. … I hope that we start taking action.”

“I really hope that we would consider, while we are working out through this process, that we would take action,” he said.

The commissioners unanimously approved the consent agenda immediately after Barrier’s comments.

In other business, the Commissioners:

• Received from the Morganton High School Wildcat Alumni Association a $500 donation as a gesture of thanks to Burke County employees who have assisted with recovery and relief efforts from the trauma of Hurricane Helene.

“Thank you for all you have done,” said Robert Patton, leader of the association as he and other association members presented an oversized prop check to the commissioners. “We appreciate you.”

• Heard from Burke County EMS James Robinson a detailed account of three heroic, life-saving efforts from his team in recent events.