Black Mountain mayor and vice mayor express gratitude in final full meeting
Town council receives report on local bear activity, approves one-way designation for Honeycutt Street
Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
November 17, 2022
Black Mountain Mayor Larry Harris, right, and Vice Mayor Ryan Stone participate in their final full regular town council meeting, Nov. 14. Photo by Fred McCormick
A busy agenda awaited the Black Mountain Town Council, Nov. 14, when the board gathered for its first regular monthly meeting less than a week after the 2022 General Election. The session marked the final full regular session for Mayor Larry Harris and Vice Mayor Ryan Stone.
Harris, who lost his bid to retain the seat to challenger and former mayor Mike Sobol, opened Monday’s meeting by congratulating Sobol, newly elected town council member Alice Berry and Bill Christy, who maintains a 47-vote lead over Rick Earley during the canvassing process.
“I want to offer my appreciation to council member and vice mayor, Ryan Stone,” Harris said to open the session. Stone, who has serve with Harris on the town council for nine years, did not seek a third term in the Nov. 8 election.
Stone was grateful for the support he’s received from Harris while serving on the council.
“It’s been a pleasure serving with you,” he said in the final minutes of the meeting. “I’ve always appreciated the courtesy and respect you’ve shown me, even at times we disagreed. I also appreciate the leadership you’ve shown this town and I know it has come from a good place with the best intentions. The town is grateful for your service.”
Each member of the town council recognized Harris and Stone for their service on the board.
“I’ve enjoyed two years of civil discourse, guidance and support from both you,” said Councilmember Pam King. “You’ve both been so helpful.”
With the installation of Sobol and Berry set for December’s regular meeting, the current town council opened Monday’s session with a report from N.C. Wildlife Resource Commission Assistant Black Bear Biologist and Furbearer Ashley Hobbs.
“I deal with black bear management statewide, however I’m located in Buncombe County,” she said. “Last year, about 34% of all human-bear interaction reports came from Buncombe County. On average, that number is usually around 42%. In 2020, we had a particularly crazy year with the pandemic, and more people home during that time, and of course we have more bears.”
A family of bears explores a Black Mountain neighborhood in October. Photo by Fred McCormick
Buncombe County was the location of 64% of the interactions between humans and bears in N.C. that year, she continued.
“In the past we’ve seen interactions between humans and bears as an Asheville problem, but now that development moving out from Asheville to places like Black Mountain, Swannanoa and Montreat, we’re getting more and more reports from this area,” Hobbs said.
The biologist cited a nationwide trend of increased contact between the animals and people, specifically in the southeast region of the country, as the impetus for the BearWise program.
“In 2018, bear biologists from all 15 states in the southeastern U.S. came together and had a conversation,” Hobbs said. “We were all seeing the same thing: more people, more bears, more interaction.”
BearWise, which is now supported by 34 state agencies across the country, offers science-based information on how humans can safely coexist with the animals.
“Whether you’re in a beach house in Florida or a mountain house in Black Mountain, you get the same message on how to live around bears,” Hobbs said. “The information comes straight from the source, meaning it comes from the people who manage the bears in your state.”
The resource focuses on preventative measures, including six “BearWise basics” ranging from cleaning and storing grills, removing bird feeders when bears are active and keeping pet food indoors.
“We want to encourage community initiatives that keep bears wild, because when we keep bears wild we keep people and bears safe,” Hobbs said. “Right here in Black Mountain, you guys have what I believe is the second BearWise community in the U.S.”
Participating in the program can reduce the number of bears in yards and around homes, she added.
“When bears are spending time in developed areas they’re more likely to be hit by a car,” she continued. “We get a lot of bears hit by cars on I-40, particularly right before the Black Mountain exit.”
As more municipalities become involved in BearWise, Hobbs said, the organization would like to bring Black Mountain into the fold.
“If we can fit together these different puzzle pieces of neighborhoods, towns and cities, we can have large areas of communities practicing BearWise,” she concluded.
Following the presentation, the town council addressed traffic patterns along Honeycutt Street, which runs between the Public Safety building and Town Square. Colin Kinton, senior project manager for Traffic Planning and Design, Inc., shared data regarding the usage of the road and parking.
The Black Mountain Town Council voted 4-1 in favor of designating Honeycutt Street, which runs between the Public Safety building and Town Square, a one-way traffic pattern, with vehicles traveling east to west. Photo by Fred McCormick
“We counted traffic on Honeycutt and compared the volume with the counts at intersections in the surrounding area,” Kinton said of the study, which was conducted in August. “With that data, we realigned and moved the traffic around to view it as a one-way street.”
The study revealed motorists’ tendency to utilize the narrow roadway in an effort to avoid nearby traffic, he continued.
“There are a lot of users in that area, including fire and police (departments), the splash pad and the park,” Kinston said. “There are a lot of conflict opportunities on Honeycutt, and someone using it as a cut-through may not be as observant of the other users in that area.”
Further analysis revealed that a one-way traffic pattern on the street, traveling east to west, would not significantly impact nearby roadways.
"We think it will be a safer solution,” Kinton told the board, which voted 4-1 in favor of the one-way designation.
“It seems like it makes a lot of sense that you wouldn’t want cars coming in while emergency vehicles are going out,” King said of the recommendation.