County approves
greenway connector Decision opposes school board’s
recommendation
By Scott Nicholson
The Watauga County Board of Commissioners made a final
decision on a greenway trail connector near the new high school,
favoring an option the school board had opposed.
Monday’s unanimous vote ended debate over cost, environmental
preservation, and neighborhood traffic but primarily centered
around school safety and public access.
The school board had voted unanimously to recommend selecting
the second option, which would cost more and move the trail farther
away from high school building. The first option could be funded
through an obesity-prevention grant and was recommended by a greenway
committee.
Commission chairman Jim Deal said the commissioners had wanted
to hear all input and gather information for a decision, “The
entire 90 acres is not being used for education and we wanted
to make sure we used the property for the community at large,”
Deal said, saying other areas are proposed for a recreation center
and other community uses.
Deal said in the second option, there were grades of 14 percent,
which resembles the steepness of Grand Boulevard in downtown Boone
and would require severe bank cuts of 40 to 50 feet. The second
option would also require permission from Appalachian State University
to get an easement on a portion of state property.
The first option would cost about $92,000 and the second option
would cost about $232,000 and would require a bidding process.
Commissioner Billy Ralph Winkler said there were advantages and
disadvantages to each option. “I think I’ve changed
my mind on this five or six times, and maybe once or twice tonight,’
Winkler said, adding the potential for a Greenway Trail connector
was one of the early attractions of the site when the county was
assembling it for a new high school.
Winkler said he was concerned by the 14 percent grade and hoped
students would use the trail instead of driving to school.
Commissioner John Cooper said most of the people he’d talked
with favored the first option, which he said was open and followed
a sewer easement that couldn’t be used for any development.
Cooper said the second option was more difficult to monitor and
didn’t fulfill the county’s obligation to the Town of
Boone to provide trail connection, which the town requested in
approving the school plans.
Cooper said the first option would allow more student access and
take some traffic off the road. He said he viewed the first option
as an amenity for the school and the second option would cost
extra taxpayer money. “I clearly favor option one,”
Cooper said.
Commissioner Tim Futrelle said he favored option one because it
would create community exercise.
Commissioner Winston Kinsey said he’d received more input
on the trails than any other issue, and he said the farther people
lived from Boone, the less they saw a need for a greenway trail.
He also said a fence would not provide absolute security and fencing
off the entire site would cost about $450,000.
Deal said he’d walked the property half a dozen times. He
said there had never been a plan to fence off the entire 90-acre
tract and said the property would still be open no matter which
route was selected. Deal said people would still be using the
sewer easement even if there were no trail, and adjoining athletic
fields are required to have a fence, so he didn’t think the
second option was reasonable.
Deal said as a former member of the school board, he wouldn’t
favor anything that threatened school safety. He said the county
should use reasonable means to offer opportunities for recreation
and said some conditions should be imposed. Deal said the greenway
was patrolled by Boone police and said anyone wishing to access
the school could simply drive into the parking lot.
The greenway committee agreed to prohibit parking on a cul de
sac on Daniel Boone Drive and the county should be able to move
a portion of the trail if necessary. The town agreed to share
in the cost of any fencing.
Deal said nobody could promise there would never be an incident
at the school unless the school stayed locked down. “Part
of a free society is freedom,” Deal said, just before the
board made its unanimous vote.
In order to use the obesity-prevention grant for the trail, work
must be completed by the end of May.
The commissioners received a resolution establishing a Boone Fire
Department Service District to provide fire response, rescue and
immediate assistance in medical emergencies. The resolution added
rescue and emergency response to the Boone Fire Department’s
duties in the Boone service district, which includes the town’s
extraterritorial jurisdiction. Emergency calls in the area will
now summon Boone firefighters and Watauga Rescue Squad.
Boone fire chief Reggie Hassler said the fire department had already
been responding to calls in the area. The change will make the
response service comparable to the other five districts in the
county.
Marnie Werth presented a community block grant application for
WAMY Community Action, presenting its poverty-fighting strategies.
WAMY funding helps fill the spending gaps for basic needs, and
Werth said the program also helps people who are just above the
federal poverty level.
Werth said WAMY works with some families over several years, watching
them get established. “It’s not a really quick fix,
obviously,” Werth said. “It takes a while but it seems
to be something that lasts.”
The $82,000 grant is expected to bring 10 families above the poverty
level and increase those families’ annual incomes. Under
the grant, 12 people are expected to receive education or training.
The commissioners approved a contract for aerial photography of
the region, with the Town of Boone paying $7,000 for a portion
of the work. Surdex Corporation was selected as the vendor, with
the county paying $86,000 from the E-911 funds collected on telephone
surcharges. The aerial maps allow for more accurate tax listings
and land records.
The commissioners also approved $60,000 for LEED certification
of the new high school, with the Department of Technology at Appalachian
State University handling the work, which Deal said would result
in significant savings to the county. It will also double as an
educational opportunity for college students.
The commissioners appointed Liz Aycock to the Watauga County Economic
Development Commission, Nancy Reigel to the Watauga 4 Youth Strategic
Council and David Payne to the Emergency Medical Services Board.
The commissioners hold their annual budget planning sessions on
Thursday and Friday, with the next regular meeting on March 2.
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