Finance Committee reviews amendments to Ordinance 2023-24; discusses Rockland Road funding, EagleView bond and cybersecurity grant

Hendersonville — At a special-called Finance Committee meeting on Jan. 14, Alderman Jeff Sassy, Ward 3, and committee members discussed additional amendment items proposed for Ordinance 2023-24, focusing on revenue from a developer performance bond for the EagleView project, a re-budget and funding source for the Rockland Road/Main Street signal project and a HPE cybersecurity grant. The committee did not take formal action on the ordinance at the meeting; the item is already on the Board of Mayor and Aldermen (BOMA) agenda for first reading.

The committee reviewed three primary items included in the proposed amendment. Tam Rangerson, finance director, described the EagleView entry as $94,200 in both expenditure and revenue tied to a developer performance bond for that project. Committee members raised no substantive questions on the EagleView line.

On the Rockland Road/Main Street signal, the committee discussed a re-budget that includes $98,808 previously budgeted from the general fund and an additional $267,005 proposed to come from the PIP (public improvement) fund. Tam Rangerson and other staff explained that $150,000 had been in last year’s fiscal budget for the project and that a remaining amount is needed to reach the $267,005 total. Committee members said the construction contract has already been executed and work has begun; staff said an Avondale turn-lane project had returned about $20,000 that was transferred into this Rockland Road line in an earlier year.

Staff noted the PIP fund had an approximate $60,000 surplus after the original budget; the mayor recommended moving the project’s remaining costs into the PIP fund because the Rockland Road work is an infrastructure project. Committee members asked whether developer fees and grant funds tied to a separate roundabout project could be reallocated. Staff stated developer fees generally are earmarked for improvements near the related development and said the contractual arrangements and approved plans typically embed those requirements; grant funding specific to the roundabout would lapse if that project does not proceed, while developer fees would remain in the pool for use in that neighborhood or for a related future project.

Committee members asked that staff provide the developer agreements and contract language to the Finance Committee in a future meeting so members can review whether funds might be repurposed if a particular project is canceled. One committee member also asked for clarification on the precise amounts associated with the roundabout project and related grants; staff said they had not reviewed those numbers in detail during the special-called meeting and recommended following up.

The HPE cybersecurity grant was presented as a separate amendment line; committee members reported no questions or concerns and indicated no objection to including the grant in the amendment package.

Procedural business at the start of the meeting included unanimous approval of the meeting agenda and of the previous meeting minutes. No public comments were recorded for this session.

Next steps: staff will provide the committee with the developer agreements and the contract/plan language that define how developer fees and project-specific grant funds are restricted, and the ordinance amendment remains pending further consideration at the Board of Mayor and Aldermen first reading.