Since April 2019, Blowing Rock Town Manager Shane Fox has served our town personally and professionally to the highest quality our citizens and Town employees could hope for. It is with a heavy heart that after 4 years, we must professionally say goodbye to the Fox family.

In closed session, at the April 11th Town Council Meeting, Shane submitted his resignation, accepting a position as County Manager at a neighboring County. Shane will begin his new role in June, staying with the Town through completion of the FY 2023-24 budget.

Shane shared that while he has enjoyed the people and staff of Blowing Rock during his time here, he will be serving as Manager of a County that is near where he grew-up and he looks forward to going back home to serve a community that is close to his heart.  

Our Town has grown and prospered under Shane’s leadership, including the following initiatives and accomplishment just to name a few:

• Completion of Sunset Drive Streetscape
• Main Street Crosswalks and Pedestrian Crossing
• Memorial Park Playground Upgrade and Replacement
• Adoption of a 10 Year Comprehensive Improvement Plan (CIP)
• Bass Lake Sidewalk
• Police Dispatch Replacement back to Blowing Rock
• History Walk Partnership with the Village Foundation
• Townwide Information/Communications: E-Newsletter & Facebook Page Development
• Wayfinding & Master Signage Plan Development
• Various Water/Wastewater and Stormwater Projects
• 100% Employee Retention over the past year
• Blowing Rock Employee Children’s Academy
• Projects in Progress: Water/Sewer Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) system, Main Street Water/Sewer Line Replacement project & Memorial Park Improvement Project & Restroom Addition/Renovation (PARTF)

Evidenced in part by this list of accomplishments and leading initiatives, one would be hard pressed to find an aspect of our Town that was not improved during Shane’s leadership. Shane has shone bright in the face of major issues our Town has faced from the COVID-19 pandemic starting in 2020, to total water loss due to catastrophic water line damage in 2022. Our Town thanks him and his family for their dedication and the sacrifices they have made to serve this community to the fullest.

THANK YOU, SHANE!

The Town Council will now begin work on determining an Interim Town Manager to lead until such a time a permanent replacement is found.

Please join us in expressing our appreciation to Shane and his family for all their hard work and dedication to the Town of Blowing Rock and mail cards to Shane and his family at P.O. Box 47, Blowing Rock, NC 28605 or by email at sfox@tobr.us. 

The Town invites all members of the community wishing to learn more about the proposed Underground Power and Communication Lines Project to attend a Community Information Meeting, to be held on Monday, May 1, 2023 at 6:00 p.m. at the American Legion Building located at 333 Wallingford Street, Blowing Rock. See you there!

The hanging flower baskets along Main Street and Sunset Drive make Blowing Rock come alive with color! The Blowing Rock Appearance Advisory Commission’s Memorial/Honorary Hanging Flower Baskets hold a special place in the hearts of our citizens who sponsor these baskets. Hanging flower baskets provide an opportunity to show appreciation in many ways. If you would like to contribute $75 to BRAAC in honor or remembrance of a loved one, Memorial/Honorary hanging basket donations will be accepted through June 30th. Please mail your check, payable to The Town of Blowing Rock, PO Box 1628, Blowing Rock, 28605, Attn: BRAAC. Don’t forget to note whom you wish to honor or remember with your gift. Please call (828) 295-5222 with questions.

The Main Street Project will start with the pre-construction phase planned for May 2023. Watch for updates as we move closer to ground-breaking!

Pavement preservation work at Blue Ridge Parkway overlooks, parking areas and picnic areas (from milepost 294 to 384 between Blowing Rock and Asheville) and milepost 394 to 443 (south of Asheville to Balsam Gap) is planned for the 2023 visitor season. Work is expected to begin this week and continue through the fall of 2023 in multiple locations within the identified sections. Once underway, park visitors and neighbors can expect intermittent, short-term closures at individual sites with short, single-lane closures of the mainline road as needed. 

Project work begins this week, at Bass Lake Drive, located off of US Hwy 221 in Blowing Rock, North Carolina. Visitors can expect Bass Lake Drive and the adjacent parking area to be closed throughout the week. The Cone carriage trail system will remain open for use. Parking will not be available at Bass Lake while paving operations are underway.  

Next week, beginning April 24, 2023 (and weather permitting) the Cone Manor House (milepost 294) parking lot will be closed for paving. On the days that paving is underway, Manor House operations, including the America’s National Park bookstore and Southern Highland Craft Guild retail store, will also be closed. 

Across the season paving operations will move to additional locations between milepost 294 to 384 and milepost 394 to 443. Project locations for pavement preservation work will be updated regularly on the road status page on the Parkway’s website. 

Multiple road projects are underway and planned this season, and as with any road project, park visitors and neighbors must exercise caution and observe closures. The Parkway website and road status page are important planning tools that provide milepost by milepost status information daily with links to additional project information or detour maps where applicable.  

Parkway officials remind visitors to have a plan and recreate responsibly. A complete schedule of facility seasons is also available on the Parkway's website. 

The Memorial Park restrooms portion of the PartF project will be

re-bid, bids are to be back by around June. More news to come as the process continues!

Blowing Rock Police Department has been vigilant in traffic enforcement for our Town.

Here's an update on traffic enforcement measures:

-Speed Mats are being installed for a temporary/test basis at Cornish Road and Clark Street.

-The Police Department had over 600 traffic stops between February and March.