Greetings from BRCA 28605! Happy Friday! We wanted to wait until today to provide a brief summary of the Town Council Winter Retreat. The full videos of all three days of meetings are on the TOBR Website:
Helene Costs:
Debris removal: $75,000
Emergency repairs: $80,000
Wonderland Trail slide: $243,000
Property Tax collected by the TOBR: $6.5 Million 45.8% of annual budget
Blowing Rock Academy: 12 children
Revenue of $45,000 Expenses $188,000
Building Permits Residential: 17 New homes
Value $41,964,996 Largest since 2008
300 permits & 205 renovations
Memorial Park
Low bid: $1,356,573
PARTF Grant Available $500,000
Expected on February Town Council agenda
Infrastructure Considerations & Discussion
Water reservoir 48.2 million gallons
Paving estimate $1.7 Million
Crosswalks after paving considerations under review: Three Options
Stamped asphalt $510,000, Stamped concrete $540,000,
Brick pavers $ 960,000
Sidewalks proposed: $8,256,700
Waterline replacements $1.1 Million
Chetola waterline replacement $7.5 Million
TDA
Occupancy tax -5.2% July December 2024
$1,114,283 lost lodging sales for Sept/Oct
$60,638 in lost tax revenue
Downtown Subcommittee
At a point where Council needs to approve and appoint committee members going forward
Parking
Presentation by Merideth McLaurin with general discussion on future options
Employee Housing
50% of town employees live out of town
Watauga County average sales price $614,000
TOBR average sales price $1.3 Million
Current mortgage rate $614,000 at 7% for 30 years with 20% down $3,267 a month
Average rent for 3 bedrooms is $2,150-$3,000 monthly
Average town salary $50,000
Employee housing discussion to explore. Estimated rent for employees of $12,000 per year and average cost to TOBR $55,000 per year per unit. Town Manager greed to explore.
Board Appointments
Packet of applications distributed
More applications than seats available
Council to vote and approve February 11, 2025
General IT discussion on upgrades and services
Green Park Inn
There are renderings, site plan and landscape plan on the town’s website you can review. It “scrolls” across the top frame. https://www.townofblowingrocknc.gov/
On behalf of all of us at BRCA we sincerely appreciate your financial support and your ongoing engagement. Thank you for following us. We also want to welcome our new members and viewers; we welcome you to BRCA.
Tom Barrett
Vice President
Executive Committee Member