Jessica Webb
editor@thesmokymountaintimes.com
Swain County Tourism and Development Authority has had to slow its plans for upgrading the Four Corners in downtown Bryson City. At the advice of the county commissioners, the board will host public hearings to get more input for area residents. This follows some negative reactions that followed the initial unveiling of the plans.
The first hearing will be at noon on Monday, May 23 and the second will be Tuesday, May 31 at 5 p.m. The architect will be present at both hearings. Both sessions will be live streamed, and both sessions will be held at the third-floor auditorium of the County Administration building at 50 Main Street.
Mary Anne Baker, TDA executive director explained the plan is to “get more public input with the architect here and then whatever ideas there are they can gather from that, they will go back and redraw.”
Then, she said, the plans will go before the beautification committee then to the TDA board and county commission, with the timeline being to present it to commissioners in August.
Board member Sheryl Taylor asked how the Q&A session went last month?
With just one board member from the beautification committee who was available to attend, it seemed to turn into that one person being asked a lot of questions and receiving a lot of negative feedback.
Shannon Lackey, who was the one present at the Q&A, said he wants the future meetings to be board meetings where members of the public sign up to speak for a limited time.
“Someone needs to moderate it,” he said.
Chairman Jeremiah Wiggins confirmed that was the plan for the next two meetings.
“We do need to make people aware we will follow the normal public comment guidelines on it,” Wiggins said.
He said the positive thing there is public interest.
Board member Eugene Shuler said he thought the need for public comment, especially two, was “totally unnecessary,” adding he thought anyone criticizing the plan was “ridiculous.”
“All of us own businesses here, and it’s going to be almost impossible a quorum of us to sit here all day and hear people gripe about a Veteran’s memorial, which to me it’s stupid…I’m just going to say it,” he said. “When they do landscaping at the White House, do they ask all of America what they should do? No, they do it and go on don’t they? why are we having to do that it’s not any taxpayer fund and it’s not impacting travel accessibility?”
Lackey clarified that it’s tourism dollars paying for the project.
Board member Afton Darnell Roberts said the point is to be diplomatic and shelter Baker from getting a million complaining phone calls.
“In my opinion, they’ve had their chance,” Shuler said.
“I think we have to take some guidance from Kevin King,” board member Pooh Lancaster said.
County Manager Kevin King said the guidance came from the commissioners, adding the TDA has to show it has received public comment or they will not approve the plans.
“This is public property, and it’s very historical property,” King said. “At the end of the day, it’s the public property.”
He also responded to Shuler’s comment about the White House, saying any project on federal land has to go through a public process.
Despite Shuler calling the project a Veterans memorial, changes in front of the historic courthouse that include the current Veterans statue and memorial are just one part of the entire project for new landscaping and hardscaping at the Four Corners.
In March, Sitework Studios of Asheville presented their ideas to the TDA and Swain County Board of Commissioners, which include improvements in two phases at each of the four corners on town square at the intersection of Everett and Main Streets in downtown Bryson City. The plans call for a number of granite cut stone benches, as well as mountain boulders, bermed landscapes, native plants and new walkways.
TDA budget
Baker presented the initial budget proposal for the 2022-2023 budget, estimating $2 million in revenue from occupancy taxes. She added it’s a conservative budget, guessing tourism to grow by about 5% in the next year.
The big-budget items in the plans include improvements at the Swain County event park including a mobile stage, construction of the fly-fishing museum next to the aquarium, and new Christmas decorations.
Chamber requests
Also Wednesday, the board approved a request from Swain County Chamber of Commerce for marketing for a new storyteller event at the event park, but at a reduced amount of $1,000.
The board also heard a funding request for the Freedom Fest and to join the Chamber in funding a renovation of the Chamber caboose on Everett Street that serves as a stop for photos.
Strawberry Jam Half-Marathon
On Saturday, the TDA’s inaugural race The Strawberry Jam Half-Marathon and 5K will be held. The event will begin and end at Darnell Farms to Old River Road- Deep Creek and back.
Wiggins said there will be more than 200 runners and the event should break even. Within North Carolina, 17% of registered runners are from the Eastern part of the state, he said and there are runners from 14 states.
Event management
The board also heard a proposal from Gene Blankenship about providing event management for TDA events in the future. Blankenship was involved with the inaugural rodeo held at the event park that drew about 700 people. He has also worked on organizing events from commissioners’ picnics to converts and even helped with four Super Bowls.
The board discussed the proposal during a 50-minute closed session with no decisions made.