Town of Lake Lure, 

North Carolina

I am very pleased to report that all of our feared Y2K problems seem to have occurred in Y1.999K. We had no computer glitches, no power outages, no equipment failures, and none of the town’s airplanes fell out of the sky.

While it is fun to poke fun at all the doomsayers about Y2K now that New Year's Day has come and gone, there was some basis for the hysteria preceding the end of the century and our efforts to ensure that our major systems would not be affected paid off. We not only had no problems, we came out ahead due to the several upgrades and system checks that we did in the closing months of 1999. Thanks to all the town staff for their work in making sure that everything was Y2K compliant and a special thanks to Fire Coordinator Ron Morgan for staying on duty New Year's Eve, just in case something happened.

I am also pleased to report that on January 11, 2000, Council adopted a resolution creating the Parks and Recreation Board for the Town of Lake Lure. They also appointed Mary Karr, Harvey Jacques, Pat Bowen, Hal Hermann and Thomas King as the first members of that board.

The resolution states that the powers and duties of the board will be to:

Parks:

(a) Maintain an inventory of all public lands designated or used for park purposes.

(b) Recommend to a council those public lands which should be left in a natural state as open space and which should be developed for use as passive and active parks.

(c) Formulate and recommend to council plans for landscaping and development of passive and active park lands, including picnic areas and playgrounds.

(d) Monitor the condition of park lands and recommend to the town manager programs for maintenance.

Formulate and recommend to council plans for landscaping and beautification of public property other than parks and recreation facilities, including Town Hall, the golf course, and public road rights-of-way.

(a) Identify those properties having potential for active recreation.

(b) Formulate and recommend to council programs for active recreation, including sports, playgrounds, physical fitness facilities, scenic and hiking trails, bicycle paths and the like; coordinate with the Zoning and Planning Board to incorporate recreation facilities into the Land Use Plan.

(c) Coordinate with the Lake Advisory Committee regarding recreation activities on Lake Lure.

(d) Coordinate with the Golf Course Advisory Committee to develop a recreation program utilizing the public golf course.

My congratulations to the new board and I look forward to working closely with you in the future.

Employee of the month Gary Roberts has worked with the Town of Lake Lure since September 1988. Before Gary's employment with the town, he worked as a carpenter on contract basis. Gary is a native of Madison County, North Carolina and now resides on Grassy Knob Road in Polk County where he enjoys gardening and landscaping. He also enjoys building and remodeling on his fifty-acre farm. Gary's employment with the town has been in the public work's department which means that his duties are varied. If there is a special project involving carpentry work, we can always count on Gary. Our public work's department people are frequently called out at night for town emergencies and we can always count on Gary assisting in any emergency. Thank you Gary, for all that you do.

REGULAR MEETING: The regular town council meeting was held at 7:00 p.m. Tuesday, January 11, 2000.

Under the "consent agenda," Council approved the minutes of December 14, 1999 (regular/ closed session meetings); approved request from Crafty Tarheels to: (1) suspend the town peddling ordinance for craft festivals to be held on July 1-4, 2000 and September 2-4, 2000 and (2) use the town community center building/grassy area toward the lake; and approved a budget amendment of $1,610.54 for street sign project.

In other activities, Town Council:

* Heard a report from Ed Thomas, PE, Utility Electrical Consultants, regarding hydroelectric interconnection project;

* approved a five-year concession agreement between the Town of Lake Lure and Lake Lure Tours, Inc. regarding the Lake Lure town beach and marina;

* approved a budget amendment of $15,400 for town beach/marina improvements;

* heard a report from Dutch Beukema on activities of the Hickory Nut Gorge Visitor Center;

* approved a request from Alan Moore regarding the "Dam Marina" extension for 29 marina slips;

* approved resolution no. 00-01-11 establishing a parks and recreation board;

* Mary Karr, Harvey Jacques, Pat Bowen, Thomas King, and Hal Hermann were appointed to serve on the parks and recreation board;

* tabled appointment for a council member to serve as liaison on the parks/recreation board; and

* Mayor Jim Proctor was appointed as the representative to serve on the Isothermal Planning and Development Commission.

The Town Council held a public hearing Tuesday, November 9, 1999, and adopted ordinance no. 99-11-09 amending Chapter 85 of the Town Code of Ordinances (also known as the Lake Regulations), authorizing a moratoria on fishing and limits on numbers of fish caught. In addition, Town Council approved the Lake Advisory Committee's proposal to mandate delayed harvest (catch and release) for all fishing from December 15, 1999 through February 28, 2000. This means that no fish may be kept during these two and one half months. Individuals fishing must use a single hook artificial lures only, and all hooks must be barbless. This will help to ensure that fish caught at this time will be released nearly unharmed. No fishing with live, natural, or prepared bait will be permitted at this time.

(Note: violators will, upon conviction, be guilty of a misdemeanor as provided in G.S. Section 14-4).

Congratulations are extended to Sgt. Eric Hester and Corporal Michael Souther for their successful efforts in locating a suspect in a recent Rutherford County homicide case. Their efforts led to a timely arrest of the suspect and subsequent murder charges. Well-done gentlemen!

On March 25-26, 2000, the Lake Lure Police Department and North Carolina Wildlife will sponsor a state certified Boating Safety Course at 6:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. in the Lake Lure Community Hall. This six-hour course will be held for three hours each day and will, upon completion, provide the recipient a North Carolina certified certificate of completion. A second offering of this course will be held in June. Questions regarding this course may be directed to any of the Lake Lure Police Officers, or by calling 828/625-4911.

Winter has finally arrived with our first snow/sleet/freezing rain event on January 18^th. As you know this means slick roads, school closings, power outages, and, I almost forgot cable outages, which some people rank right up there. I would like to remind each of you during these times, as always, the fire departments stand by ready to respond and assist. As many may know, during severe weather our fire stations are manned 24 hours a day, if necessary. Also, if we do have a large telephone outage, our fire stations are manned. So if someone needs assistance during a widespread telephone outage, you can drive to a fire station.

Are you prepared to be without power for several days? If you’re not, you should be. We know there are sick and elderly who can’t, but everyone else should have food and water on hand and a safe alternate-heating source. Medications, manual can openers, first aid kit, battery-powered radio, batteries, and a flashlight are some important items to keep on hand. A word of caution, candles are dangerous and are not the best emergency light source because they can be tipped over or dropped easily. Also, the open flame has set many fires because it is too close to combustible materials or left burning while a sleep, when the candle burns down it can start a fire. If you would like more information on preparing for a winter storm or disaster contact my office at 828/625-9333.

I have written several articles on the national flood insurance program in the past, but can’t quite cover all questions. The number one question "are we eligible to purchase flood insurance in Lake Lure?" The answer is yes and if your insurance company tells you otherwise call me and we’ll straighten them out. Another question "what can you buy coverage for?" You can definitely buy coverage for your homes. Other buildings, such as outbuildings, boathouses, etc. are questions for your insurance company. Does flood insurance cover mud slides or mud flow? This is a tough question to answer. According to literature that I have received, it states "damages caused by mud slides (i.e., mud flow), as specifically defined in the policy, are covered." Locally, I know of people who were told that if they had flood insurance in 1996 they would have not been covered. So the key is apparently the definition of mud flow. Make sure your agent has this spelled out in your policy. For specific questions about insurance, I do have a source to call for answers with the State Emergency Management. It is John Gerber at 828/466-5555. Please call me at 828/625-9333 should you have other questions about these or other issues.

As our program title states, we are involved in conservation of our natural resources. The Upper Broad River Watershed is 95 square miles which includes the western portion of Rutherford County, northeastern portion of Henderson County, and the southeastern portion of Buncombe County.

Our concern is soil erosion that occurs due to eroding areas caused by land disturbing activities. We know that erosion occurs due to wind and rainfall upon disturbed soil. This may be an eroded hill slope, erosion on an unpaved road, or an eroded stream bank. If there is no protective cover, such as vegetation, soil particles are easily blown or washed away. Clearing and grading land leaves soil bare and compacted. This reduces rain infiltrating into the ground. Since the ground absorbs less rainfall, runoff is increased and causes erosion.

Sediment runoff over a large land area is called nonpoint source pollution.

Here is a quote from Stream Notes, Soil in Our Streams: "Excess sediment can change a stream from one with a clean gravel bed to one with a muddy bottom. Gravel beds and cobble bars within a stream provide important spawning areas for many aquatic stream species, including trout and other game fish. The soil particles cover spawning areas, smothering fish eggs, aquatic insects, freshwater mussels and oxygen producing plants. Increased turbidity levels (suspended sediment) in a stream will increase water temperatures, reduce light penetration and plant growth, and affect the ability of fish to locate and capture prey by greatly reducing visibility. Fish and other aquatic species can die from the abrasive, gill clogging effects of suspended sediment, which interferes with their breathing."

In a way, soil loss is an out of sight out of a mind proposition. The only time we may think of sediment washing down mountain valleys into our creeks, rivers, and lakes are when we have heavy rains. During heavy rains, erosion control professionals take the opportunity to trace the runoff to its source. This is also the time for private property owners to assess their land on sediment flowing off a site.

If you have an erosion problem, the Upper Broad River Protection Program can help you implement erosion control measures. We have an informative brochure on the programs we offer. We provide technical advice and assistance that are free and non-regulatory. We offer financial incentives for erosion control measures. Participants in the Upper Broad River Cost Share Program will receive up to 75% average cost reimbursement after erosion control measures have been installed. I will be happy to speak with you on the phone at (828) 625-9983, ext. 123 or in person. At request I will mail you the brochure and Stream Notes publications.

General: Samples were collected on November 27th. It had rained on the two days preceding the monitoring day.

The Broad River watershed: Ten sites are monitored monthly. These include one site each on the Broad River, Hickory Creek, and Reedypatch Creek which all flow into the Rocky Broad River at Bat Cave, two sites on the Rocky Broad River at Chimney Rock and at Lake Lure, and one site each at Pool Creek, Cane Creek, the Public Golf Course Creek, Buffalo Creek, and Fairfield Mountains Creek. All of the latter sites are located just upstream from Lake Lure.

Although rainfall can cause the streams in the Upper Broad River watershed to become choked with silt, most of the streams in this steep watershed clear very quickly once the rain ends. By the time monitoring occurred, most sites were back to normal conditions and showed excellent water quality. The Broad River showed slightly higher turbidity and sediment than Hickory Creek and Reedypatch Creek probably because it is a larger watershed and takes a little longer to clear. Cane Creek and the stream flowing through the Public Golf Course, however, still showed poor water clarity. These streams may have some problems with bank erosion and stream bed sediment build-up. Buffalo Creek showed lower ammonia-nitrogen levels than it has in recent months probably as a result of dilution with rain water.

Lake Lure: Four locations on Lake Lure are monitored for temperature and dissolved oxygen at one meter depth intervals. These locations are at the dam, in the main channel, at Buffalo Bay, and at Tryon Bay. A secchi (pronounced seckee) depth is also taken at each of the four locations to measure water clarity (the greater the secchi depth, the clearer the water). The extent of light penetration is approximately twice the secchi depth. The dam and lake center locations are also monitored for phosphorus and nitrogen concentrations at one meter from the surface and one meter from the bottom.

Surface temperatures continued to decline in November and the epilimnion (surface layer) increased slightly to reach a thickness of about 10 meters (32.6 feet). This means that most areas of the lake, except in the deeper areas near the dam and parts of the main channel, are now well oxygenated. Depending on weather, it will probably be another month or two before complete turnover occurs throughout the lake. This occurs when all the water reaches roughly equal temperature, probably at around 10 degrees C (50 degrees F). At that time the lake water will mix completely and will be totally reoxygenated.

Secchi depth was much poorer during the time of the November monitoring. It was only 1.2 meters (3.9 feet) at Buffalo Bay, only slightly better at Tryon Bay and in the main channel, and 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) at the dam. The poor secchi depth is likely the result of sediment brought into the lake from the streams during the rains from the previous two days.

The Women of the Church of Fairfield Mountains Chapel invites you to hear Tres Magner, Crossnore School representative, at their monthly meeting at Lakeview Restaurant on February 21st. There will be samples of the student's weaving on display and available for sale during this meeting. Crossnore students learn trades while attending school. Students attending Crossnore school are what the system calls "at risk children."

Persons coming to the luncheon at noon (cost $10) must reserve a place by calling Nancy Kessel at 625-8115 by February 18th. Reservations must be honored. Those wishing to share used clothing with Crossnore School may bring these items to the meeting. Clothing will be used in the Crossnore sales room or used in the making of woven fabric. WOC is proud to support Crossnore as one of it's many missions. The public is invited.

The Friends of Mountains Branch Library would like to thank the Lake Lure residents for their support during the past year. Membership contributions helped the library to purchase large-print books for the visually impaired, audio books and video tapes. The Mountain Branch Library's collection of videos now exceeds one thousand copies, and offers these videos for checkout. Also, the library has contributed half their funds toward landscaping the grounds, purchasing various pieces of equipment/furniture, and financed the servicing of a copy machine. Besides the usual purchase of books, tapes and videos, the library plans to pursue one of its projects to acquire educational CD-ROMs to assist families in our area who home-school their children. Unfortunately, they cannot do any of these things without assistance. Annual membership dues are: individual membership ($6.00), family membership ($10.00), patron membership ($25.00), life membership ($100.00), and couple life membership ($150.00). Please visit the Mountains Branch Library soon and take advantage of the wonderful things it has to offer.

Lake Lure Newcomers invites those who are a new residents in Lake Lure (24 months or less) to join them in various activities which include: potluck, gourmet, out'n about, theater, bridge/poker, book club, and hiking. If you are interested in becoming a member, call Fred Noble or Jeanine Noble at 828-625-8706.

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Notice

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Note: The deadline for newsletter articles to be received at Town Hall for the March issue is February 16, 2000.

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