Haywood County commissioners have approved a proposed land purchase intended to expand the physical footprint around Tuscola High School in Clyde, giving the school district some flexibility to meet future needs if and when they become apparent. 

The action authorizes a $1.176 million budget amendment within the Haywood County Schools debt service fund to appropriate fund balance for the purchase of two adjoining parcels totaling 13.07 acres on Hospital Drive.

An update on the White Oak Landfill presented to Haywood County commissioners by landfill operator Republic Services Oct. 6 shows substantial volumes of waste coming into the facility — mostly due to Hurricane Helene — but vigilant planning and maintenance is expected to extend the life of the landfill. 

When Hurricane Helene unleashed more than a foot of rain across Haywood County in less than 24 hours last September, floodwaters swept through homes, businesses and infrastructure, leaving behind damage that local officials quickly recognized would take years to repair. 

It starts the same way, most times — sirens in the distance, a frantic call, a body on the floor — but what happens next in Haywood County might soon look a lot different, thanks to a bold plan to reshape how local government responds to the addiction epidemic. 

Haywood County commissioners approved two funding recommendations from its Affordable Housing Development Committee that will increase affordable housing stock at no cost to Haywood County taxpayers. 

Consultants finally delivered to Haywood County commissioners a report on the results of a secretive, long-awaited “listening post exercise” meant to chart Haywood County’s economic development vision — revealing in the process that there was no input from average working-class residents, an omission that may prompt some to question the applicability of the report’s findings despite the project’s tagline of “stronger together.” 

Appraisers are still in the field putting the finishing touches on the upcoming countywide property reappraisal set to take effect Jan. 1, 2025, but Haywood County commissioners are already battling misinformation about why it’s happening and what effect it could have on next year’s property tax bills. 

Commissioners voted unanimously June 3 to accept Haywood County Manager Bryant Morehead’s proposed annual budget which, in spite of inflation, forthcoming debt for a jail expansion and the loss of a major employer last year, contains no tax increase.

With jail expansion debt payments coming on the books and lingering questions about one of the county’s biggest taxpayers, Haywood County Manager Bryant Morehead presented commissioners with a conservative budget that funds some critical needs, but not much else. 

Haywood County Commissioners got some great news Oct. 16 that will help the community ameliorate the effects of a red-hot real estate market on local housing affordability and availability.