Blowing Rock will celebrate its 134th birthday with a potluck community dinner on Sunday March 12th from 5:00-7:00pm at the Blowing Rock Conference Center (1818 Goforth Road).

Bring a covered dish and join the fun! Casting Bread will be the charity/non-profit of choice so please also bring a canned good to support the food bank.

Kids are invited - there will be kid friendly activities!

Entertainment provided by Guitarist Kevin Smith.

Happy Birthday Blowing Rock!

RIVIAN charging stations are active now at Shoppes on the Parkway! 

There are 5 standard and 1 RV/Trailer charging stations. 

They are only active for RIVIAN vehicles, but this could change in the future. 

Final price quotes have been collected for Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) equipped water meters and Town Council will hold a special meeting February 28^th at 5:00pm for approval.

This project will then require NC Local Government Commission (LGC) approval to move forward with plans to begin the project (should approval be received) in April/May. The meters will be installed systematically in partnership with the vendor selected over a years’ time following contract approval.

Approval of Minutes (All Approved)

January 9, 2023 – Regular and Closed Session Meeting Minutes

January 30, 31 and February 1, 2023 – Council Retreat Minutes

Regular Agenda Adoption - Approved

Consent Agenda

• Tax Releases - #2022-07 – Approved
• Tax Refunds - #2022-02 – Approved
• Budget Amendment - #2023-04 – Approved

Special Presentation

• Swearing in of officer William Byrd

Presentation

• Middle Fork Greenway (Wendy Patoprsty)

Regular Agenda

• Paid Parking (Chief, Aaron Miller)
• Wi-Fi Expansion (IT Director, Thomas Steele)
• Phase 4 of the 2014 Bonds: Approval of Bank Bids

(Finance Officer, Nicole Norman) – Approved

• Retreat Review (Town Manager, Shane Fox)
• Board Appointments

Click the video image above to see the meeting in its entirety.

In early 2022, the Town of Blowing Rock was awarded funding from the NC General Assembly via Federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) in the amount of $4.8 Million dollars to replace the main water and sewer lines that service Main Street. These lines have been in service since the early 1900s and are nearing the end of their expected service life according to the material the current lines are comprised of. Over the years, the Town has experienced repeated leaks on the lines, also indicating the replacements are due. Funding requests were championed by NC House Representative Ray Pickett working in concert with the Town on applying for the funds.

The project includes replacement of existing water lines with a new 8-inch water line along Main Street from Broyhill Furniture on the south end to Chetola Lake on the north end. The replacement will also include new fire hydrants and service connections to the meters. Also included is replacement of an 8-inch gravity sewer line from Chestnut Drive North to Park Avenue, replacing a line also installed in the early 1900s. This element will include the main line, manholes, and service connections to the sidewalk. Sidewalks will also be extended at the north end of Main Street (depiction above) and Main Street will be resurfaced following project completion (funded by NCDOT, approx. 2024).

Project bids have been solicited and received, with the project to go before Town Council in March for final approval to move forward. Bids received were within the budget amount of $4.8 Million. This project will be fully funded with the ARPA funding and no tax dollars are anticipated to be needed to complete the project. Work is planned to begin during the summer of 2023, with an anticipated completion of early to late 2024. Work in the Central Business district will be planned to minimize impact during peak days. Weekend work is not expected. The work will only cause minimal interruptions to customers services as the new service line is connected, a matter of hours. With a project of this nature, there will be unforeseen issues that could also disrupt service, just as any main line leak can cause.

Work along Main Street will be staged, with one utility at a time being placed underground. Once all of the work is complete, the entire road will be resurfaced. During construction in each section, parking along Main Street will be closed, and at times, there will be active traffic control to only allow one lane to pass at a time.

A Blowing Rock Chamber initiative, the Town of Blowing Rock is currently considering additional work on Main Street following the installation of the new water and sewer lines, to bury the overhead power, cable, and communications service lines below the road in underground conduit space. The conduit that will house the lines would be separate from that that holds the water and sewer lines and would require additional trenching and installation of separate conduit.

Following the 2023 Town Council Winter Retreat, Town Council gave Town staff and engineers the go-ahead to solicit construction bids for the underground utilities project in conjunction with the bidding process for the Main Street Water and Sewer Line Replacement project, with bids having been received, the project will potentially come before Council for consideration in March or April and include discussions of funding options. The Town has used the time since the project was approved for design at the 2022 Winter Retreat to review the Town’s current debt and determine possible ways to fund the project should the project be approved to move forward.

The possible options as well as project costs will potentially be presented at the March or April Town Council meeting. Moving forward with this portion of the project will be considered at this meeting also. Estimates of project costs have ranged from $4-7 Million. The bid for the project was recently received and totals $6.4 million. Costs breakout and potential phasing are shown in the chart below. The Town's Engineers are actively in discussion with contractors on the scope and project details in an effort to refine pricing as much as possible.

Click the video image above to see the meeting in its entirety!