A new version of the conference report known as Senate Bill 214 has been released and no longer contains Part V, Section 5 that would have allowed Franklin County to take property from Vance, Warren and Halifax counties without the approval or consent of those counties’ leadership.
N.C. Rep. Bryan Cohn represents District 32 in the N.C. House, and he told WIZS News that he could confirm that the Section 5 wording had been removed. “I was standing in the principal clerk’s office when the new version came down,” Cohn said on Wednesday.
N.C. Speaker of the House Destin Hall told colleagues in the House Chamber on Tuesday that the issue needs to be worked out locally.
Cohn reiterated remarks he made to members of the Henderson City Council during a special called meeting on Monday in calling for good faith discussions going forward to find a solution to the water issue.
“We are still working in good faith to make sure that we have this water issue worked out and that we do so locally…this is consistent with what I told Henderson City Council members on Monday,” he said.
Henderson Mayor Melissa Elliott was among a contingent of local residents who traveled to Raleigh on Tuesday to show up in person at the Legislative Building to express opposition to the controversial wording contained in the bill.
Elliott told WIZS Wednesday, “We believe in collaboration, not overreach. Section 5 of SB 214 in North Carolina removes local voices from decisions that directly impact our land, our water, and our future – and that’s something we cannot support.”
