By Jesse Wood
The Blowing Rock Town Council will meet on Tuesday, April 12, at 5:30 p.m. inside Town Hall on Main Street in downtown. See agenda item details below.
Middle Fork Greenway $1.7M Federal Grant Request
Middle Fork Greenway Association Director Ann Browning will request the Town of Blowing Rock act as a sponsoring agency for a grant request to the federal TIGER Discretionary Grant Program.
The grant request is for $1.7 million and would cover most of the $2.1-million project cost to build a section of the Middle Fork Greenway that begins at the Shoppes of the Parkway and traverses across National Park Service land and property owned by the Appalachian Regional Healthcare System for its Chestnut Ridge facility.
According to a memo from Browning included in the town’s meeting packet, the remaining matching funds would be provided by various sources including Watauga County Tourism Development Authority, private donations, a state grant and town funds.
Once completed, the Middle Fork Greenway will be a 6.5-mile trail that connects Blowing Rock and Boone.
No Overnight Parking on Town Property
The Blowing Rock Town Council will consider an amendment to town code that will prohibit overnight parking (from 2 a.m. to 5 p.m.) on town-owned property in hopes of being proactive.
“As directed by council, staff has researched the issue of potential negative consequences that may be encountered by allowing overnight parking on property owned by the Town of Blowing Rock. As a result staff recommends that no overnight parking should be allowed on any property owned by the Town of Blowing Rock,” Chief of Police Tony Jones wrote in a memo to the council.
Broyhill Park Drainage Improvements
The staff received bids for drainage improvements at Broyhill Park. Staff recommends awarding the bid to M&M Construction in the amount of $83,750 with a 10 percent contingency and a $5,000 allocation for construction material testing. Throwing in design and construction administration fees, the project is expected to cost $112,125, which is lower than the $125,665 amount that was budgeted for in the park and recs general obligation bond referendum budget.