Chamber Lunch & Listen:

‘Everything is discussable’
By Frank Ruggiero
ruggiero@wataugademocrat.com

The Boone Area Chamber of Commerce served up a helping of its newest community feedback program, the Lunch & Listen.

The March 20 meeting allowed members of the business community the opportunity to express concerns and ask questions to members of the Boone Town Council and staff, with sandwiches on the side.

“Everything is not actionable, you know that,” chamber president Dan Meyer said. “But everything is certainly discussable.”

Meyer opened the floor to questions, the first of which was from Tuesdae Rice, director of the Downtown Boone Development Association. Rice asked if council members could elaborate on the planned development of a land use master plan.

Council member Lynne Mason said the process would involve “broad-based community support,” and that a design charrette, an intensive series of meetings, should take place in several months to hopefully be completed by the end of the year.

Boone planning director John Spear said the charrette would be a weeklong process, and members of the public could visit throughout the entire week and offer input.

“It is a collaborative process, where alternatives are presented … all done in a very condensed amount of time,” Spear said.

He called it a blueprint for future growth and development. “Throughout the planning process, we’re going to be looking at where are areas in Boone that we want to specifically encourage a specific amount of development,” Spear said. “Where are opportunities for infill development? Where are opportunities for new development?”

Considering that many members of the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce are not residents of Boone, Meyer asked if they could still play a role in the design charrette. Mayor Loretta Clawson said they could participate, since non-residents can still be stakeholders in Boone.

Spear wished to remind residents and non-residents that Appalachian State University is also developing a campus master plan, including elements like transportation, parking, sidewalks and bike lanes – elements similar to those in the town’s plan – and he urged them to participate in both processes.

Diane Deal, owner of Cornett Deal Christmas Tree Farm, asked if the plan would include an assessment of the town’s water capacity. Mason said the town had already commissioned a comprehensive study years ago, which determined Boone would require a new intake to sustain future growth, a project that would cost $16.5 million alone.

To add an additional treatment facility would cost up to $17.5 million. Initially, Mason said, the town will high-rate its current plant to boost capacity.

On a different note, council member Stephen Phillips said the council will be examining multi-modal transportation, to encourage the use of bicycles, buses and other alternative means. Spear agreed, saying part of the transportation plan is not just planning new facilities to handle more traffic, but examining ways to reduce the amount and need of traffic.

Mike Hall, owner of Bandana’s Bar-B-Que and Grill, said the business community feels “the need to get more input and ownership … in the decision-making process in Boone.” Though he commended the town on its collaborative efforts with the university, as well as reaching out to the business community, Hall said, “…I think there’s a sense of possible disenfranchisement on part of some of the business community.”

“Whether that disenfranchisement feeling is warranted or not,” he added, “I have mixed emotions about that, but I think that’s a reality.”

Hall said he believed the majority of the business community felt as if the council and staff would do exactly as they pleased, whether the business community provided input or not.

“So, whatever the town and town council can do to genuinely reach out to the business community and recognize that businesses compromise a very important part of what goes on … and also recognize that, right now, business is tough,” Hall said. “It’s a tough time, generally speaking.”

Meyer asked if any one in attendance could recommend ways in which the town could reach out to business. Phillips said the Lunch & Listen was a good start, in that the town can better act in the public interest if input is gathered in the beginning stages.

Mason added, “If someone sees a problem with something, the more specific you can be, the easier it is for us to address.”

To contact council members and town staff, call Boone Town Hall at (828) 262-4530 or visit www.townofboone.net on the Web.