Village of Lake James incorporation is up in the air

By: Sharon McBrayer | Morganton News Herald
Published: August 02, 2009

Morganton --

The fate of the village of Lake James is in a state of suspension after a legislative group voted to not recommend incorporation.
The Joint Legislative Commission on Municipal Incorporations voted 3-2 Wednesday night not to recommend the incorporation because the boundaries of the proposed village aren't contiguous.
Gayle L. Moses, staff attorney for the commission, said the question of contiguity of the boundaries has been noted by the commission members as a matter of concern for a while now.
Moses said it's unlikely the commission will hear the issue again "unless the petitioners make substantial changes — in this case, redraw their boundaries to make them contiguous — the commission would have nothing new to review and render a decision on."
Moses said Sen. Jim Jacumin, R-Burke/Caldwell, can go forward with his bill if he deems it appropriate. Jacumin filed a bill in the Senate in March to incorporate the Village of Lake James.
Jacumin said he will continue to assist his constituents in the matter to get the bill heard. He spoke in favor of incorporation on Wednesday at the commission meeting, saying the property is contiguous, he said. He said professionals, including David Lawrence with the Institute of Government in Chapel Hill, have said the boundaries are contiguous.
Whether the issue will come up in the General Assembly any time soon will be up to the finance committee, where the bill currently sits, Jacumin said.
But because legislators are struggling to come up with a two-year budget, it's hard to get anything else done, Jacumin said.
If his bill goes up for a vote in the General Assembly, a negative recommendation from the commission may not hurt proponents' chances of getting the bill passed.
Moses said the House and Senate rules only require that a bill to incorporate be accompanied by a recommendation from the commission.
"It can be a negative or positive recommendation — the General Assembly wants to ensure that each petition has had a thorough examination before it's voted on," Moses said.
Moses said there have been about five petitions in the past 10 years that despite receiving a negative recommendation from the commission have been incorporated by the General Assembly. There have been five petitions, however, with a negative recommendation that didn't make it through the General Assembly, she said. There have been about 45 incorporations in the last 10 years, Moses said.

Village of Lake James incorporation is up in the air

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