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I get that it’s time to reopen for tourism, but it still feels a little … odd • Asheville Watchdog

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avlwatchdog.org – JOHN BOYLE – 2024-11-04 06:00:00

Among the many post-Helene issues we’re having to deal with is: When is it OK to go back to normal things?

Don’t hate me for this, but the before last I snuck out of town to play golf. I just needed a break from a month straight of volunteering somewhere every Saturday and fixing my own mess of a yard on Sundays.

advice for anyone with downed trees: Pay someone to grind the stumps. Or rent the biggest stump grinder on the market.

As my 26-year-old son told me about six hours into grinding, “I’ll never forgive you for not renting the big one.”

Hey, the insurance wasn’t paying.

Nestled among our slow, sometimes uncomfortable return to normalcy is the homecoming to our -dominated economy, whether we’re tourism fans or not. Some may groan, but we really can’t fault the tourism industry for wanting visitors to come back, where it’s safe and makes sense.

We also cannot fault the artists, waiters, bartenders, hotel staff, retailers, musicians and thousands of other workers from wanting to be able to make some cash and pay the bills.

Explore Asheville, the tourism bureau that’s part of the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority, put out a recent release noting the Asheville area is “Reopening in stages and pockets.” It was tastefully done.

“Like the rest of our community, Explore Asheville has been heartbroken by the devastating losses from Hurricane Helene that our region has endured,” the release states. “And we are heartened by the gumption, grit, and sense of community of our people and place.”

It goes on to note that “many businesses and restaurants are reopening as widespread power and water service return. The Asheville Regional Airport is open and operating.”

Well, that water service, at least for Asheville customers, means highly chlorinated lake water that you can’t drink, but you can shower in it. So I guess you can call it a return of sorts.

The French Broad ‘s flooding devastated the River Arts District, including the site of the Salvage Station. // Watchdog by Victoria A. Ifatusin

It is important to note that downtown came through the Sept. 27 storm largely untouched, and West Asheville, the South Slope and other areas are in good shape. Some local towns such as Weaverville, Black Mountain and Hendersonville, among others, tout they’re open to tourists.

“Hendersonville is pleased to welcome back visitors,” Mayor Barbara Volk said in a recent news release. “Although we regret some of our businesses are still recovering from Helene’s impacts, the majority of shops, restaurants, and attractions are fully open and ready to offer their usual warmth and hospitality. Fall is usually a busy time here and we know how much visitors contribute to our local economy.”

Still, I’m ambivalent about all of this. It’s kind of like figuring out when it’s OK to joke again about a departed loved one, or go to a party, or do anything. Driving up to Marshall the other day, I was still astounded by just the absolute devastation the river caused, and the mess that remains in so many places.

But plenty of places came through OK, and businesses need that tourism stimulus. So maybe it is time to invite some guests back into the parlor.

Even some of the businesses in Asheville’s heavily damaged River Arts District remain open, and they’re encouraging visitors to come back down.

A slightly uncomfortable feeling

I stopped by and talked to a few artists Friday afternoon, noting that to me it seems a little uncomfortable, even a touch weird, to be pushing tourism after so much destruction. 

“I don’t think it’s weird at all,” Michael Hofman, who owns a porcelain studio and in the RAD, told me. “I think we all need to move on.”

He noted that in the River Arts District, anything between the river and the railroad was “basically wiped out.” That’s about 80 percent of the district.

“The buildings might be there, but they’re not inhabitable and won’t be for a while,” Hofman said. “So what’s happened is a lot of the artists who were in buildings like mine that weren’t damaged, we’ve adopted artists from that area.”

In other words, they’re to move on, to help people stay in business.

So under these extraordinary circumstances, I’m going to do something rare for me: promote tourism. Hey, I’ve always said it’s a double-edged sword that gives us so many wonderful opportunities (40 brewpubs in Buncombe County) that we wouldn’t have without the visitors.

This weekend the RAD artists will hold an art fair for fellow artists who were displaced. Called RADfest, the will take place from noon till dusk Saturday and Sunday in the upper part of the district, above the railroad tracks. Artists who’ve been displaced will set up in tents in the Pine Gate Renewables parking lot (130 Roberts St.), and studios in other buildings will be open.

Swing on by, and buy something. They need it. Look for more information on Instagram on the riverartsdistrictasheville account.

Typically, October is a huge month for tourists, as the autumn leaves peak and visitors flock here by the millions. That translates into big business for local shops, studios, restaurants, bars, breweries and yes, hotels.

But this October was pretty much a wipeout.

The River Arts District’s Riverview Station had flood waters rise inside onto its second floor. // Watchdog photo by Starr Sariego

Hofman said October usually accounts for 30 percent of his sales, and tourists drive those sales. The last four months of the year provide about half of his profit for the year, and about half of his business comes from tourists.

“People who are from nearby are coming in to specifically make purchases, to support artists and things like that, which I think is great,” Hofman said. “We can pay the rent on that, but that’s about it.”

Jeffrey Burroughs, president of the River Arts District Artists organization and a fine jeweler with a shop in the undisturbed part of the RAD, said flatly, “October is the No. 1 month out of the year where so many artists make their money.” As much as 90 percent of his business comes from tourism.

He noted that the remaining artists have to pay their bills, including rent. Burroughs found recently that his building is requiring rent in full, as well as utilities, for October, even though they had almost no traffic or sales.

‘I don’t think I’ve processed what’s happened yet’

“If you were to ask me, I don’t think I’ve processed what’s happened yet,” Burroughs said. “But the reality is, I don’t have a choice, because I have to pay rent.”

On Friday, artists Elise Okrend and Tricia Hargrove were sitting inside Okrend’s in Wedge Studios, which survived unscathed. They both noted that October was a near-total bust for artists, and it should be the best month of the year.

They also said tourists are the district’s lifeblood. Okrend said as much as 75 percent of her business comes from visitors, Hargrove between 50 and 75 percent.

Artists Elise Okrend and Tricia Hargrove say they’d like to see tourists return to the River Arts District, in part because so many artists lost not only their studios but also their income for the whole month of October, usually the busiest month of the year. // Watchdog photo by John Boyle

It is appropriate to urge the tourists to return, they said, but they also get that this remains a sensitive time. Hargrove noted that artists, like everyone else, have homes, and many of them sustained damage at their residences or their studios, and sometimes both. 

Some came through largely unscathed but continue to wrestle with survivors’ guilt.

“I think everybody’s got trauma to some extent,” said Hargrove, a painter. “And yes, I feel the survivors’ guilt and I’m grateful that my studio survived. But yeah, I just feel like everybody probably has some kind of trauma.”

Okrend pointed out that the RAD exists in its current state in large part because of tourists.

“I think that most people that are in the River Arts District are really here because of the tourism and because of the love of the arts, and specifically come here for it,” Okrend said. “So we are very dependent on that. All of our businesses have grown over the years because of the influx of tourism, because of the development of more arts and creative buildings and more artists coming in.”

The upshot?

“I think it’s critical that we do what we can to promote that we’re open now,” Okrend said. “We’re also trying to support the other artists that are displaced and that don’t have space in whatever ways we can.”

Okrend said it’s time for tourists to “start trickling back into the area, and especially for people that can do it for the day.

“So if you’re within an hour or two hours and you can come up and support us, that’s amazing,” she said.

Arts AVL, the local arts agency, commissioned a report that showed the RAD, pre-Helene, was generating $1 billion in sales annually and supporting 8,500 jobs in Asheville. 

We reported last year about what a giant machine tourism has become — the good, the bad and the ugly — which included the TDA’s statistics on just how big tourism is for Buncombe County. For 2023, tourism generated $2.97 billion in direct visitor spending, which is 20 percent of Buncombe County’s gross domestic product. It supports 29,000 jobs, one in seven.

In short, the nearly 14 million annual visitors spend a lot of dough here. I have argued that the TDA can certainly dial back the promotional spending – could we get by on 12 million tourists? Probably so – and that they could direct more money to community projects.

But like it or not, we’re a tourist town. Always have been, likely always will be.

So right now, we need tourists to come back and spend money with us. Maybe not 14 million of them, but a good number.

Burroughs points out that the 20 percent of the RAD that’s still operational wants to carry the torch and keep the lights on so the other artists have a place to come back to. 

“If we want the district to continue to survive — not even thrive right now; just survive — if our local community doesn’t show up, if we don’t get any tourists to show up, there’ll be nothing for part of the RAD that’s been destroyed to come back to,” Burroughs said. “I don’t think people understand how close we are to losing the beating heart of our city.”

So if you’re in Charlotte or Hickory or Knoxville and you came through the storm all right, come visit the RAD, or a restaurant brewpub in West Asheville or downtown, or in Arden. Check out the stores and galleries that are open. 

Just be kind, and remember that just about everyone is still hurting in some way. 

As Explore Asheville puts it, “There are areas that need more time and support. We are mindful that high impact areas — including parts of the River Arts District, Biltmore Village and Swannanoa — have a much longer road ahead, so checking status online, calling ahead and making sure roads are open is strongly advised before traveling to these areas.”

Explore Asheville has a lot of information about what’s open and what’s not on its website, so definitely check first. As the site states, plan ahead, and, “If you want to support local businesses, please visit respectfully, with heart and patience.”

I’m going to keep helping my neighbors, volunteering where I can, donating money to solid causes and people, and working on my damn yard and fence.

But I’m also going to swing by the RAD this weekend, and pop over to Highland Brewing for the Cold Mountain holiday ale release. 

Hey, we’ve all got to do our part.


Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. John Boyle has been covering Asheville and surrounding communities since the 20th century. You can reach him at (828) 337-0941, or via email at jboyle@avlwatchdog.org. To show your support for this vital public service go to avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/.

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As North Fork turbidity improves, Asheville also pursues Army Corps of Engineers filtration plan • Asheville Watchdog

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avlwatchdog.org – JOHN BOYLE – 2024-11-04 14:02:00

As the murkiness of North Fork Reservoir continues to improve — some residents noticed clearer tap over the — the City of Asheville is pursuing a filtration plan from the Army Corps of Engineers that could be in place by the end of the month.

“Some good is Water Resources now has a second option at its disposal for treating the turbid water at North Fork reservoir,” city Water Reources Department spokesperson Clay Chandler said at the Monday Buncombe County Helene briefing. “The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is in the early stages of implementing an alternative treatment project that could possibly — and I want to stress possibly — be operational in very late November, very early December. That’s based on information the Corps of Engineers has given us.”

The city has installed turbidity-reducing curtains in North Fork, which supplies 80 percent of Asheville’s drinking water, and it has completed two rounds of treatment with aluminum sulfate and caustic soda, which cause coagulation of sediments and reduce sedimentation. That the city to put 10 million to 15 million of treated water a day into Asheville’s system over the weekend, which likely accounted for the clearer water customers say they saw over the weekend, Chandler said.

The Corps of Engineers system will rely on mobile treatment units, which will be staged at North Fork in a clearing above the dam. The exact number of the units, which Chandler described as “generally shaped like a shipping container,” and precise layout are still being determined. He said the city hopes the system is operational by early December.

“We will pursue this option concurrently with the in-reservoir treatment , and we’re absolutely not giving up on that, not by any means,” Chandler said. “And it’s possible that the in-reservoir treatment process clears up the lake enough for us to start treating water on a very large scale before the Corps of Engineers system is even operational.”

At the briefing, Chandler said the reservoir’s turbidity had dropped to 18.5 by Monday morning, down from 21.2 on Oct. 31. Measured in Nephelometric Turbidity Units (NTUs), turbidity needs to hit about 1.5-2.0 for the city to be able to fully treat the water to make it potable.

Chandler stressed that the Corps of Engineers’ plan is a construction project, so weather, equipment procurement and other variables could cause delays. Planning started Oct. 1.

Despite the variables, Chandler said, “We are very, very hopeful and optimistic that by early December, based on the information that we have right now, that system will be operational.”

The goal is to reach a capacity of 25 million gallons of treatable water a day.

“That’s enough to keep the system pressurized and provide flushing capacity,” Chandler said, referring to clearing the system of non-potable water. “The flushing part of this is going to be very, very important.”

Once the city starts pushing out nothing but potable water into the system, “we’re going to have to completely replace the water in the tanks and our main transmission and all auxiliary transmission lines,” Chandler said.

That process will take a couple of weeks.

System flush, testing must happen before boil water notice can be lifted

“I think the latest timeline we have for that is two and a half to three weeks, so even though we start pushing potable water, that does not mean that the boil water notice will be lifted immediately,” Chandler said. “We will have to again flush the system and perform some extensive back-end testing before we can lift that boil water notice.”

The entire system, which serves 63,000 residential and commercial customers, remains under a boil water notice. The tap water available now is safe for showering and flushing commodes, but bottled water is recommended for consumption.

Chandler stressed that the Corps of Engineers’ installation timeline may change. The federal agency is in the process of procuring materials, equipment and personnel.

“Over the next couple of weeks, equipment, materials and personnel will begin arriving at North Fork for construction and setup,” Chandler said. “Once construction and setup begins, the contract’s terms will require the contractor who’s going to do all this work to work for 24 hours a day until the system is operational. So we’re our best to move this process along as quickly as possible.”

A third round of aluminum sulfate/caustic soda treatment is planned. The city will give the second round more time to work, so the third round will likely take place Monday or Tuesday of next .

“I want to emphasize again, it is important to note that the in-reservoir treatment process could clear up the reservoir before the Corps of Engineers project is operational,” Chandler said. “However, to maximize redundancy, we are going to pursue the Corps of Engineers project regardless. And keeping that system in place until we have the upgraded filters that we’ve been seeking is a possibility that we’re going to pursue.”

A third round of aluminum sulfate/caustic soda treatment is planned for North Fork Reservoir. The city will give the second round more time to work, so the third round will likely take place Monday or Tuesday of next week. // Credit: City of Asheville

FEMA will pay for the Corps of Engineers system, but the cost was not available at the briefing.

North Fork, which opened in 1955, uses a “direct filtration” system designed for extremely pure water, which the reservoir normally delivers, mainly because of its pristine 20,000-acre wooded watershed. The system cannot handle higher turbidity.

Plates can filter out stubborn sedimentation

The Corps of Engineers works with a system of “sedimentation plates” that removes sediment. The lake sediment is mostly very fine clay particles that have stubbornly remained in suspension, and the plates can filter that out.

“To simplify that, it will basically remove not 100 percent but pretty close to 100 percent of the sediment that’s in the water, which is what’s causing it to be turbid right now,” Chandler said.

Chandler said previously that installing a permanent filtration system designed for high turbidity would cost the city more than $100 million. The city does have a “filter upgrade wish list” for North Fork and its other reservoir, Bee Tree in Swannanoa.

“Essentially, if we were to get that project funded, the technology that we would be using at that point is the same technology that the Corps of Engineers will use with their system,” Chandler said. “We would absolutely love to keep this Corps of Engineers system in place until those filter upgrades are made. And if it’s up to us, we will. It’s not completely up to us, though, but we’re going to make that case.”

Asheville City Councilmember Maggie Ullman broke the news about the Corps of Engineers equipment installation and timeline in a Friday Instagram post. Chandler addressed the county briefing the day before but didn’t mention the Corps of Engineers plan.

“It became viable Wednesday night and made its way down to me after the briefing on Thursday,” Chandler said. “We didn’t have a community briefing until . There was no immediate deadline for any kind of action or anything like that, so we felt comfortable waiting until today to detail it.”

He noted that the timeline was provided by the Corps of Engineers, not the city, which has steadfastly refused to offer a timeline on potential potable water restoration other than to say it is weeks away.


Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. John Boyle has been covering Asheville and surrounding communities since the 20th century. You can reach him at (828) 337-0941, or via email at jboyle@avlwatchdog.org. To show your support for this vital public service go to avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/.

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Duke professor dives into early voting numbers

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www.youtube.com – ABC11 – 2024-11-04 12:45:10


SUMMARY: In North Carolina, both presidential campaigns are focused on swaying the remaining voters as over 57% have already cast ballots. Political expert Matt McCor suggests candidates should emphasize unity and positive messaging about the . He predicts Stein is likely to win the gubernatorial race, but questions whether it will be by the margins indicated in polls. A strong win for Stein could signal for Democrats in down-ballot races. He also notes that while young voters (18-29) are not in large numbers, those who did often lean Democratic, though trends vary outside of college campuses.

Pope ‘Mac’ McCorkle is with the school’s Sanford School of Public Policy.

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Trump border security policy may include Mexico tariff | National

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www.thecentersquare.com – By Christen Smith | – 2024-11-04 11:33:00

SUMMARY: Former announced a proposed double-digit tariff on Mexico if illegal border crossings are not halted, during a rally in Raleigh, N.C. He claimed the policy would effectively work, suggesting he could increase the tariff to 50%, 75%, or even 100% if necessary. This announcement as Trump campaigns vigorously leading up to Election Day, with rallies in key swing states. In contrast, Vice President Kamala Harris is also campaigning in Pennsylvania, focusing on securing votes in a critical electoral college . In 2022, U.S. imports from Mexico amounted to $493 , reflecting significant trade growth.

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