501(c)(3) Status
The Internal Revenue Service has determined that the Etowah Valley Preservation Society (EVPS) is exempt from federal income tax under Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 501(c)(3). Donors can deduct contributions they make to EVPS under IRC Section 170. EVPS is also qualified to receive tax deductible bequests, devises, transfers or gifts under Section 2055, 2106, or 2522. We have been determined to be a public charity under IRC Section 170(b)(1)(A)(vi).
Increased Pedestrian Traffic on Brickyard Road
There has been increased foot traffic on Brickyard Road adjacent to the west course of the Golf Club. As there is no shoulder present, walking on this narrow roadway is dangerous.EVPS is looking for pictures showing the increased foot traffic as pedestrians share the road with vehicles, especially if you witness any close calls or accidents. This kind of documentation will be useful to have readily available once the development plan for “Etowah Residential” has been submitted and is before the Planning Board. Please send pictures to PreserveEtowahValley@gmail.com whenever you see an incident.
With this uptick in pedestrians walking on the side of the road, we are thankful that the NC Department of Transportation (DOT) has made the widening of Holly Springs Rd and Brickyard Rd along the perimeter of the entire property a requirement.
The following paragraph was taken from page 5 of the November 3rd NC DOT Technical Memorandum for “Etowah Residential” (which can be found at this link.) “The NCDOT Driveway Manual states: “Boundaries for offsite improvements, including intersections and public roadways to be considered, will be identified in the TIS or determined by the District Engineer.” Utilizing the NCDOT Roadway Design Manual, with traffic volumes over 2000 vehicles per day, and a posted speed limit of 35 mph (design speed of 40 mph), the following applies: The portions of SR 1322 [Holly Springs Rd] and 1323 [Brickyard Rd] that are within property owned by the developer or by WNC Resort Properties LLC (the current owner of record) must be upgraded to 11’ lanes, 2’ paved shoulders and 6’ grass shoulder.”
May 23rd Flash Flood
A 30-minute 2.5-inch rainfall on Thursday, May 23rd, cause significant flash flooding in Etowah. Portions of the golf course were once again turned into a large lake. One new home being built on W. Fairway Drive sustained serious runoff.
A video depicting the runoff at this construction site during the height of the storm can be viewed at this link. It is estimated that 33,000 gallons of water fell on this half acre lot during this brief storm. While January 8th and 9th of this year experienced over two inches of rain and significant flooding as seen in this video, the May 23rd storm is noteworthy because the rainfall fell in less than an hour.
EVPS would like to document the degree of flooding on the south course of the Etowah Valley Golf Club. If you, or someone you know, took pictures of the flooding, please send copies to EVPS at: PreserveEtowahValley@gmail.com. Also, please continue to take pictures and videos of future flooding. Considering we just entered Hurricane season we are bound to have additional adverse weather events.
Etowah Park
The Henderson County Parks and Recreation (P&R) department held a “Movie in the Park” night on Friday, May 31st which had good turnout despite the cool weather. The Lions Club opened its refreshments stand for the evening, and families had a wonderful two-hour time before the movie. A huge “Thank You!” to the P&R staff for bringing numerous games for kids and parents to play, and for hosting this event!
P&R’s plan to install a Storybook Trail at Etowah Park is moving forward. Bruce Gilliam, Director of P&R, and Trina Rushing, Director of Henderson County Libraries, met at the Etowah park recently to discuss how the Storybook stations might be laid out around the Etowah park walking trail. Resources for this Storybook trail are in the proposed 2024-2025 county budget which will become available in July.
P&R is continuing its necessary steps to acquire the ten-exercise workstations, which will be installed around the walking trail. This process has required purchase approvals from the North Carolina PARTF grants office. Orders for the equipment have been placed with a projected delivery sometime in July.
Design work for the new playground is also moving forward. The community survey for the color of the new playground structure yielded 114 responses, with the winning color combination (with 68% of the vote) being blue & green.
Henderson County’s Implementation of the 2045 Comprehensive Plan
The Henderson County Planning Department staff presented a draft version of the 2045 Comprehensive Plan Implementation Plan to the Planning Board at its May 16th meeting.
Staff was asked to make changes to the draft implementation plan, these changes will be reviewed by the Planning Board at their June 19th meeting. Once the Planning Board approves of the Implementation Plan, it will vote to recommend that the Board of Commissioners approve the Implementation Plan. This is the first step to implementing any goals, recommendations, or action steps in the 2045 Comprehensive Plan. The draft implementation plan can be found at this link. We recommend that the citizens of Etowah review this plan and e-mail EVPS with any comments or questions you have. We will compile these questions and comments and provide them to the Planning Department and Planning Board.
2024 Day of Action Supports Henderson County Public Schools
Day of Action mobilizes community volunteers to work on service projects that assist Henderson County Public Schools (HCPS). Learn more about it at this website and plan to help the Etowah Elementary School.
South Mountains 2025 Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan - Public Survey
Support efforts to update the regional hazard mitigation plan by filling out this survey (for additional information, go to this page.)
As stated on the county website, the purpose of this plan is to assess our community’s natural hazard risks and determine how to lessen our vulnerability in disasters. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, requires local governments to update the plan every five years to be eligible to receive federal funds to mitigate or clean up following a disaster. The current plan expires in 2025.
Important County Government Meetings in June 2024
It is important that the citizens of Etowah attend Planning Board and Board of Commissioner meetings because this is where the fate of Etowah will be decided. We need to understand the processes and decisions that will impact the density of housing and how changes will be implemented.06/20/2024 - 5:30pm Planning Board Meeting06/19/2024 - 9:30am Board of Commissioners' Meeting
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