Your monthly e-Focus from the Town of Weaverville

e-Focus Monthly Newsletter

Town of Weaverville

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New Public WiFi System in Town

The Town of Weaverville is pleased to announce that our residents and visitors now have access to free public WiFi downtown from Town Hall up to the Yellow Mug, at Lake Louise Park, and in the Main Street Nature Park! This project has been made possible by a partnership between Town government and the Land of Sky Regional Council. Access is easy and free! Just log in to "Town of Weaverville WiFi" and enjoy!

2022 Earth Day

Join your community by recognizing Earth Day on Friday, April 22, 2022. The theme for 2022 recognizes that this is the moment to change it all — the business climate, the political climate, and how we take action on climate; now is the time for the unstoppable courage to preserve and protect our health, our families, our livelihoods… together, we must Invest In Our Planet.

You can invest in the health of our planet by:

• supporting our pollinators • cleaning up plastic in our neighborhoods • planting more trees • swapping out kitchen/household items for non-chemical, biodegradable, 100% recycled options • using wildflowers and native plants • reducing, reusing, recycling in the garden • stopping use of pesticides and chemicals in the garden • conserving water • getting kids involved • enjoying the wonders of the earth •

Caring for Lake Louise Waterfowl

It’s spring and the Lake Louise Park is open and ready for use. As everyone begins to enjoy the warm weather, we hope folks will safely use the walking trails, picnic pavilions, swings, exercise equipment, playground, parking areas, and fishing dock. As reminders to those using the park, we need to address a couple of ongoing problems around that have developed.

We have a large population of ducks and geese that have made their home at the lake, and these waterfowl feed and rest in and around the water. A number of wildlife enthusiasts have contacted the town about the negative health effects of feeding the waterfowl, especially bread, processed foods, etc. Also, as the waterfowl forage through the grassy areas within the park, they leave behind evidence of their feeding which are objectionable to parents, walkers, and children. These two issues are related, in that artificial feeding encourages a larger that normal waterfowl population which creates significant problems with their waste. The Town recognized this problem during the pre-Covid days, and erected signs around the lake that included a specific rule to prohibit feeding of waterfowl.

Another issue is the discarding of used fishing line by anglers while they are visiting the lake. Discarded fishing line can entangle waterfowl, children, and dogs, causing lots of problems. To help with this issue, a container for used monofilament fishing line has been installed beside the floating fishing dock. Made of white PVC pipe and mounted on a street light pole, it allows anglers to deposit the line in the top and a local scout troop periodically removes the line and sends it away to be recycled. A picture of the lots of white container is furnished.

We hope visitors to Lake Louise Park will work with the town this spring to address these two ongoing issues. If there are questions, please contact the Public Works Department at 828-645-0606 or by email through the town’s website at Town of Weaverville, North Carolina (weavervillenc.org)

Stormwater-Friendly Lawn Care

Spring is in the air and lawn care on our minds. There are many easy things we can do to keep our lawns looking good while also protecting our water quality.

Follow these Tips from the Sodfather for stormwater-friendly lawn care:

Mow high and let the clippings lie – they contain 90% water, which is good for the lawn, and keeps nutrients out of waterways.
Keep yard waste off the street and away from storm drains and drainage ditches.
Compost clippings and leaves to create your own natural fertilizer.
Have your soil tested before applying fertilizer and only apply it if needed.
Use phosphorous-free fertilizers unless your soil is lacking in P, and use slow-release nitrogen fertilizers or organic compost.
Only use the recommended amount of fertilizers, and don’t apply before windy or rainy days.
Reduce potable water usage by choosing native and drought-resistant plants, and by collecting rainwater in a rain barrel. Rainwater also contains nutrients so it can further reduce the need for fertilizer.
Do not overwater lawns and garden. Use a soaker hose, a porous hose that releases water directly to the ground, which can reduce overwatering that carries away fertilizers that would otherwise enrich lawns and gardens.

Look for phosphorous-free fertilizers (0 in the middle), and choose slow release to eliminate 3-4 applications per year (image source: wikiHow, Creative Commons License)

PaymentUs: A New Way to Pay

Customers now have a new way to pay for miscellaneous items with the Town of Weaverville. The new payment site is called PaymentUs. This site allows you to easily pay for miscellaneous items such as parking tickets, utility fees, trash bins, donations, zoning fees, etc. Along with its ease of use comes multiple methods of payment. In addition to debit/credit cards you can pay by electronic check, PayPal, PayPal Credit, and Venmo! Please note, these other methods of payment are only available if you are paying on your mobile device or computer, not in our office. Furthermore, you can pay for multiple miscellaneous items in one transaction by simply clicking the “Pay Another Account” button once you have the required fields completed for the first item. The link for PaymentUs is: https://ipn.paymentus.com/rotp/towe. If you have any questions regarding this new miscellaneous payment site, please call our office at (828) 645-7116.

Please note that PaymentUs is NOT for paying water bills. To pay water bills online please visit MyGovHub at https://weavervillenc.mygovhub.com.

A Word from Water Services: How do I know if my toilet is leaking?

Toilets: Approximately 27% of your water usage comes from toilet flushing. A leaky toilet can have a major impact on your bill. The toilet is one of the most common water wasters, but its leaks tend to be less noticeable than faucet leaks.

Here are some obvious signs of a leaking toilet:

Jiggling the handle to make a toilet stop running.
Sounds coming from a toilet that is not being used.
Holding the handle down to allow the tank to empty.
Seeing water trickling down the sides of the toilet bowl long after it’s been flushed.
Toilets flushing on their own without touching the handle – phantom flushing.

Although water may not be seen or heard running, your toilet may have a silent leak.

Here is a simple Toilet Dye Test you can complete to see if your toilet is leaking.

Drip 10 to 15 drops of food coloring into the toilet tank. DO NOT FLUSH.
Wait 10 minutes.
If colored water appears in the toilet bowl, you have a leak.
Generally, the leak is in or around the plunger ball or flapper valve at the bottom of the tank.

Lake Louise Park Safety Reminders from Weaverville Police Department

Spring has (finally) officially sprung! As the weather warms, many of us will be taking advantage of our wonderful walking trails and enjoying a walk around our beautiful Lake Louise. The lake area can become congested with people trying to enjoy a stroll on a sunny day. Here are some reminders that can help everyone’s walk be more enjoyable:

Please park in designated areas only. Parking is limited and since our streets are narrow, it doesn’t take much to cause a traffic issue.
When driving around our lake, please be mindful of the posted speed limit of 20mph.
People love a good walk, so do dogs! All dogs must be kept on a leash and under the control of their person at all times. Please also pick up after Fido!
Please watch out for the wildlife of Lake Louise. This is their habitat and they sometimes cross the street without looking both ways!

As a reminder, the new Community Center is available for parking. Designated roadside spots are available on the South and North end of the lake, and parking on the grass or walking trail is prohibited. Additional parking is also available in both the Community Center lot and the adjacent lot on Lake Louise Dr just off of Merrimon Avenue.

Weaverville's New Geographic Information System (GIS) Tool

In August 2021, with the annual update of the Comprehensive Land Use Plan, the stated goal of the implementation of a GIS system was given the highest priority with the expectation that the items would be addressed within one year. Over the previous few months staff has been working in conjunction with Highland Mapping with the aim of accomplishing this goal. The zoning layer has been completed and posted to the Town’s website in the previous days.

Another component to the GIS implementation is a detailed inventory of the town’s stormwater system to assist in MS4 stormwater permit compliance. Staff met with Highland Mapping on Thursday, March 24 to begin this process. Staff has also been in conversations with the Land of Sky Regional Council who may be able to secure some grant funds for the collection of stormwater data.

As time progresses, and more data is collected, staff believes this new GIS tool will be a valuable asset for the Town of Weaverville and general public. You may view the new GIS zoning map and other content related to the Town’s land use regulations at the following link.

https://weavervillenc.org/departments/planning-zoning/

Mark your calendars

This Month's Message from the

Weaverville Center for Creative & Healthy Living

Dear Friends of the WCCHL,

Another quarter behind us and we continue to grow as an organization and gaining recognition for the work of our tremendous volunteers in the community. WCCHL’s Vision of “neighbors helping neighbors” was picked up in a great article by the Laurel of Asheville magazine in February: https://thelaurelofasheville.com/communities/neighbors-helping-neighbors-weaverville-center-for-creative-and-healthy-living plus the University of North Carolina Asheville granted us a “scholarship” check to acknowledge our current and future work in the field of health and wellness. This being said, together with your continued support and attendance at our regularly scheduled activities and special events, we seem to be on track. Thank you for staying involved and providing constant feedback as your insights will help us to grow future programming.

The new schedule for the 2^nd Quarter of 2022 (April-June) is attached but it may be confusing and requiring some explanation. The Registrar of Voters team will again use our wonderful Community Center for voting for one of our two Weaverville precincts. It is a great space for all of us to vote with easy access to parking that makes it a perfect place to conduct our civic responsibilities. It also means that we will need to move a few of our programs (on a temporary basis) to the Community Room at Town Hall for a few weeks. All quite doable and in keeping with the spirit of civic cooperation.

Once again, as we have in the past, the WCCHL Board will begin to host several open meetings to hear what you have in mind for programming. We hope to be meeting soon to discuss two key issues: programming for children and the topic of health literacy. These topics have been discussed by our Board and we would really like some feedback. Special announcements will be sent out via email to the 350+ email addresses that we currently have on our email distribution list. On top of that, nearly 700 of you are following us on our Facebook page (see address below at the signature block) for current news and programming updates. If you are reading this blog for the first time and have not already done so – drop us an email to request to be on our distribution list and we will make it happen at wcchl@weavervillenc.org.

As always, should you want to volunteer as a coach, instructor, team leader, group champion, or just help us set up chairs for special events, we would love to hear from you. In the meantime, we hope you are well and know we look forward to seeing you soon at the Community Center enjoying the many activities during this quarter’s programming.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of our Board of Directors,

Tom

Thomas M. Balestrieri, Board Chairperson / 904.347.3312

wcchl@weavervillenc.org / www.facebook.com/WCCHL

Note: Please refer to the attached Updated Program Schedule for a list of classes and activities. Just show up to participate or contact the instructor via email as posted on the Schedule for details.