Monthly e-Focus from the Town of Weaverville

e-Focus Monthly Newsletter

Town of Weaverville

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Message from Mayor Patrick Fitzsimmons

A New Fiscal Year

Creating a budget is never fun or glamorous, but it is critical. We pass our new budget for the Town of Weaverville each year to be effective at the beginning of July, and some highlights from our new budget include:

No need for any tax increases! Good budgeting, prioritization, and higher income from other sources allow us to continue to support our town without raising taxes.

All of our town employees received raises. After having raises delayed in 2020 and the manager and attorney receiving none in past two years, we are back on track and have more than competitive wages and benefits with other municipalities.

Money is budgeted for planning and constructing new recreation area behind Community Center. This includes designated pickleball courts (the only ones in the County), tennis, basketball, and a short nature trail.

Can We Have Workforce Affordable Housing?

Would you want an apartment development built if it was truly and completely affordable housing, with units ranging from $400-$1400 monthly? Yes? No? Yes, but with restrictions? We are working with a developer who may be able to build such a development in or near town, and expect to hear more about their plans soon. Please take a moment to give us your input by responding to a brief survey by clicking on the button below:

Link to Weaverville Workforce Affordable Housing Survey

Fire Department

After our Fire Chief, Ted Williams, took a position in Hendersonville, our town manager started the search for a new leader. (Thanks to Interim Fire Chief Ron Davis for keeping everything running smoothly during our search!). A large number of people have applied and interviews have begun.

In addition, we hired three new firefighters in June. Since Weaverville is a desirable place to work, we have been able to easily attract new firefighters and are near being fully staffed again.

Improvements at Lake Louise

Lake Louise just keeps getting better. Have you seen the painted waterwheel and clean-up of creekfront that Public Works staff recently completed? Or the addition of parking spaces on the south side of the lake? We've added a temporary overflow parking area above the Community Center and staff is also working on traffic calming methods. And, we abolished the local fishing license. What a great amenity our park is to the town!

Mayor Patrick Fitzsimmons

Back to School Safety

It’s almost back to school time again. Buncombe County Schools' first day for students is August 29th, 2022. This means more families will be walking and driving on the roads. School buses will be back out as well. Motorists will need to take extra care behind the wheel.

We as a community can help our children get to and from school safely by avoiding all distractions while driving and by following some important safety rules:

Reduce your speed, pay attention, and obey traffic laws in school zones and neighborhoods surrounding schools.
Be ready to stop at all times.
Wait patiently for children to complete their crossing before you proceed.
Try to make eye contact with children who are waiting to cross the road.
Do not load and unload children into vehicles across the street from the school. Unload on the same side of the road as the school.
Don’t double park in the school zone – this blocks visibility for other children and vehicles.
Never pass a vehicle that has stopped for pedestrians.
When traveling behind a bus, follow at a greater distance than you would when following another car – this will give you more time to stop once yellow lights begin to flash.
Do not block crosswalks when stopped – this act forces pedestrians to go around you and puts them in the path of moving traffic.
Watch for children arriving late for the bus – they may dart across the street without heeding traffic.
STOP!! Always stop when directed to do so by law enforcement or school staff.
SEE RED - Traffic should stop in both directions on an undivided roadway when the stop sign on a school bus is fully extended, and students are exiting the bus.
NEVER pass a school bus on the right.
Don’t forget to have PATIENCE!!!

Finally, in response to citizen concerns, there have been some safety upgrades in the areas around Weaverville Elementary School. Yost Street is being widened near the school to accommodate school traffic. A crosswalk is being added to connect two sections of sidewalk on the northern end of the school’s property. Thanks to public works for their hard work and responsiveness!

Contributed by Assistant Police Chief Somer Oberlin, Weaverville Police Department

News from Weaverville's Planning Department

Please DO NOT Feed the Ducks & Geese at Lake Louise Park

The Town of Weaverville takes great pride in providing recreational opportunities for our citizens and visitors at Lake Louise Park and the Main Street Nature Park. Our Public Works staff are constantly working to mow, weed-eat, collect trash, and maintain the parks but there is one job that we cannot do without help from our guests. The amount of duck and goose poop at Lake Louise is becoming a nuisance and a health hazard, and we cannot keep up with the need to pressure wash and clean the picnic shelters and playground areas. Also, children are becoming dirty and covered in poop as they walk and play in the park, especially around the playground and swings. The attached picture was taken on July 25 and shows part of a flock of 76 geese that were making their way through the playground area, and the geese leave their “calling cards” everywhere they go.

The number of waterfowl that is consistently within the park is much higher than the natural carrying capacity of this 5-acre lake. It appears to Town staff that the artificial feeding of the ducks and geese by visitors is contributing to the unusually high number of birds. These waterfowl seem to have learned to rely on the bread and other processed food being fed to them at Lake Louise instead of traveling to surrounding ponds and fields to forage in their natural manner. Signs around the lake clearly state “NO FEEDING OR HARASSING OF WILDLIFE, INCLUDING WILD OR DOMESTIC WATER FOWL”. New signs will be going up soon at the picnic shelters and playground to further emphasize this rule, which is in fact a Town Ordinance that can cause violators to be fined $30 per day. Additional enforcement by the Town will begin in August to help resolve this continuing problem. You can contact Public Works at 828-645-0606 if you have any questions.

Contributed by the Weaverville Public Works Department

Notice for Weaverville's e-Statement Water Bill Customers

Several of our customers utilize the e-statement option for receiving their water bills electronically. This service is provided through SouthData who prints and mails/emails our bills. Over the last few months, SouthData has been experiencing an issue sending emails to our customers who use Gmail addresses. The Google servers are rejecting all emails that SouthData sends out, so customers have not been receiving their monthly email stating that their bills are ready to be viewed. SouthData is actively working on finding a permanent solution to resolve this issue. In the meantime, you can still view your bill at the first of each month (you just won’t receive an email letting you know it is ready). The link to view your e-statement is: https://weaverville.estmt.net/ . We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused our customers.

A Note from Metropolitan Sewer District

Customers may submit to the Metropolitan Sewerage District of Buncombe County (MSD) a request for refund or credit of sewer charges in several different circumstances. We review all requests on a case-by-case basis. Our full Billing Policy can be found at www.MSDBC.org.

Contractors, Developers, Builders, and Homeowners may receive a refund for sewer charges paid on metered water used temporarily for the purpose of construction or landscaping of a new site for which a Certificate of Occupancy has not been issued.
Credit may be extended for one filling of a swimming pool per calendar year.
For establishing new landscaping, credit may be extended one time every three years. Adjustments are not considered for continued lawn and garden irrigation.
Customers may also request credit on sewer charges due to leaks.

News from Curbie

The Town contracts with Curbside Management (“Curbie”) to handle our recycling collection every Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. They visit approximately 2,230 locations each week and collected 40.95 tons of recyclables in June. Our town’s average collection of recyclables has been steadily increasing during the pandemic. This has caused Curbie to make a change in their schedule to complete their collection efforts during each of the 3 garbage days. The town begins its garbage collection each day with its 3-man crew at 8:00 am in order to finish by 4:30 pm, including a trip to the landfill or transfer station. Curbie runs the same daily route as the town crew, except they only have a 2-man crew, therefore taking longer to complete their route. They now are starting their daily route at 7:00 am, in order to complete their collections during daylight hours. This means that town residents now need to place their blue recycling carts at the street by 7:00 am on garbage day or the night before. As long as residents wash out their containers prior to recycling, this should not create a problem by attracting our local bear population since there will no food to attract them.

Also, Curbie will soon begin to place yellow tags (see attached picture) on recycling carts in which their employees find non-recycling items. The Public Works staff recently visited the Curbie facility and saw first hand the amount of non-recyclable items that are collected every day. This means that Curbie has sort the garbage from the recycling and then send a tractor trailer load of the garbage each day to the landfill each day, averaging 18 tons per day. In order to address this problem, they will be increasing their efforts to limit the amount of prohibited materials from the recycling stream. This includes such items as scrap metal, plastic bags (as well as the blue recycling bags which are not allowed), food waste, styrofoam, shredded paper, wood, medical waste, clothes, tanglers (cords, hoses, wires), and pizza boxes. If you find a yellow tag has been placed on your blue cart, then your recycling has not be picked up and will have to wait until next week’s garbage day, and will be picked up after you remove the improper items. You can contact Public Works at 828-645-0606 if you have any questions.

Mark your calendars

Good Things Happen When you Give!

Good things happen when you give, like winning gas for a year! Those who come to give blood at the Weaverville Community Center on August 11, 2022 will receive a $10 e-gift card to a merchant of their choice. PLUS, they’ll automatically be entered for a chance to win gas for a year (a $6,000 value)! There will be three lucky winners. Terms apply at RedCrossBlood.org/GasForAYear. To schedule your appointment visit RedCrossBlood.org and enter sponsor code: 12655 or call 1-800-RED-CROSS (1-800-733-2767) or download the Blood Donor App and schedule your appointment through the app. Just like our car gas tanks need constant refueling, so does the blood supply. It’s the blood products on the shelf today that help save lives tomorrow. Destination: Donation!

Volunteers Needed for Art in Autumn

The 15th Annual Art in Autumn returns September 17th, 2022 from 10am - 6pm. This event is hosted by the Weaverville Business Association, and brings over 100 juried artists from across the Southeast to Main Street. It is free and open to the public. Booths will line Main Street from Weaver House to Maggie B's. Regional musicians will play beginning at 10:30 a.m. in front of Rodney’s. Local restaurants will be open.

The Art in Autumn Committee is seeking a few more volunteers for the show. Volunteers help with a variety of tasks, including booth relief for the artists, parking, and staffing the information booth. Each volunteer gets a free t-shirt and a super fun day working with great people. More information is available here.

Dry Ridge Museum Coffee Talk

The Dry Ridge Museum Coffee Talk will be Friday, August 26, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. at the Weaverville Community Center at Dottie Sherrill Knoll, 60 Lakeshore Drive, Weaverville. Joel Cole will talk about his adventures in Egypt with author Elizabeth Peters. Ms. Peters was an Egyptologist who wrote a popular fictional series set in the early 20th Century, the Golden Age of Egyptology.

Weaverville Center for Creative & Healthy Living News

As we approach the dog days of summer, the Board is taking some time to venture off on vacations to visit family and friends. Despite our absence, we still have one new program added in August, Ageless Grace Chair Exercise. The remainder of the schedule will remain the same, but know that we are planning a few new additions for the month of September and the upcoming 4th Quarter.

Friday, August 19, 7:00-8:30 PM: Storytellers Concert. We are once again pleased to sponsor four outstanding storytellers for this event. A paratrooper, an actor, a potter, and a counselor will be on stage to inspire us all once again. Please help us welcome Becky Stone, Wallace Bohanan, Jim McDowell, Ray Christian, and our concert host, Chuck Fink. We look forward to seeing you at the Albert Weaver Room located in the Weaverville Community Center for this event. Don’t forget to come early as seating for these popular concerts is first come, first served. Admission is free, and we will have an “Appreciation Jar” available to show our gratitude to these renowned performers.

As a follow-up to our July Blog, we have not received much feedback about meeting to play chess. Should you have any desire to get involved in this endeavor, please contact us as a few folks have shown interest and we would love to facilitate a gathering of chess players.

Also, an individual has been identified to spearhead our Oral History project, but we still need volunteers to help with coordinating interviews and collaboration with our High School staff partners. If you have any questions about this project, please reach out to discuss the details with us.

We had a great turnout at our July 26 Mountain Music Jam on the Back Porch of the Community Center. Please know we are committed to making this a twice-a-month event as we host local musicians on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday. Tell your friends!

Finally, we have great news to share. The Town Council has recently approved a generous grant to support the work of WCCHL during the Town’s 2022-23 fiscal year. This means that WCCHL will have the financial support to continue bringing excellent programming to the Community Center as well as stepping up our marketing and communications efforts in the future. As a reminder, the WCCHL is a fully volunteer organization, and no Board member receives any financial remuneration for our volunteer services.

We hope you enjoy the rest of your summer. Please reach out to us with suggestions for future programming or if you want to volunteer your time to help us in a support role for our concerts and upcoming theatrical events. Be well.

Respectfully on behalf of the Board,

Tom

Thomas M Balestrieri, Chairperson

Weaverville Center for Creative & Healthy Living

904.347.3312