The Raleigh Report
From the Office of Cullie Tarleton
December 29, 2008
As my first term in office comes to a close and I prepare for the coming session, I thought now would be a good time to review some of the successes Sen. Goss and I have had by working together in attracting state money investments to our region over the past two years.
We have been fortunate to work with colleagues, including our leadership, who understand the importance of our area, and we will continue to remind them of our needs during the coming session, even though the state’s economic outlook remains unclear.
Thank you all for your support during my time in office. I look forward to continuing to work with you in the months ahead.
Education
Appalachian State University received $34 million for an education building that will allow the school to expand its teacher training program. The program is a critical part of the mission to deal with the teacher shortage in western North Carolina and much of the rest of the state. All 100 counties in N C have teachers currently teaching who received their teaching degree from ASU. We had the groundbreaking recently and work is underway.
$4.1 million for planning of the new College of Nursing and Health Sciences Building at Appalachian State University. This facility will be collaboration between ASU, Appalachian Regional Healthcare and Caldwell Community College.
$4 million for land purchases that will help Appalachian State continue to grow.
A change in the lottery distribution that we supported, pushed and worked for that will mean more money for many school systems in Western North Carolina. Under the new formula, Ashe County will get $114,750 more and Watauga Country will get $157,400 more. What we got done was just for the current fiscal year so more work remains.
Full enrollment funding for ASU, Wilkes and Caldwell Community Colleges.
Local Projects
$2.5 million was allocated for the expansion and renovation of the Ashe County Airport. The expansion will improve economic development by allowing products and people to more easily reach our area.
$708,000 was also secured for a new state Division of Forestry Services headquarters in Ashe County. Ashe Country depends heavily on Christmas tree farming, and a new headquarters building will improve the operations of the service. We should have groundbreaking for this facility in the spring.
The outdoor drama Horn in the West got $50,000 for its operations. The play, staged each summer in Boone, tells the story of the first settlers to the Blue Ridge Mountains and is a significant cultural event in the region.
While there was no appropriation involved with these two. I’m nevertheless pleased that I introduced legislation to prevent the state from closing and then selling off the land of the very important Upper Mountain Research Station in Laurel Springs. I’m also pleased I was able to work with my colleagues in getting the 53’ trailer bill passed which among other things, helps our tree farmers get their product to market.
I was able to secure close to a million dollars in additional DOT funding that went for various projects in both Ashe and Watauga that were not funded through regular channels. I’m grateful to Speaker Hackney for his support in securing these additional badly needed dollars.
Notes
A few weeks ago, I made reference to the digital conversion occurring in the television industry on February 17, 2009. On that date, over-the-air television stations must shut off their analog transmitters and broadcast only in a digital format. This will be a change even bigger that when the industry switched from black and white to color. Many questions remain to be answered. WUNC-TV recently prepared what I consider to be a terrific question and answer sheet that I’ll send you if you’ll shoot me an email with your mailing address. I think you’ll find their piece helpful. WUNC-TV is a treasure for our state and I’m grateful for their leadership in this important issue.
As we say goodbye to 2008 and hello to 2009, Sylvia joins me in wishing each of you and your families a happy, safe, secure and blessed NEW YEAR.
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