April President's Report
6/17/20262 min read
Greetings on a very pretty spring day here at Cattail. There is general agreement that this has been an unusually vibrant spring, with the green arriving early and beautiful displays of early rhododendrons, a wide array of colorful irises, azaleas, and the like—not to mention the hostas, which are gigantic.
Of other "nature" notes the bears are already out and getting into cars, and the butterflies have been insane!
This month has also seen plenty of "infrastructure" progress on multiple fronts, and I’ll try to list a few highlights and keep things simple.
The “Baden” bridge—the temporary railroad car bridge near the Badens' red and yellow houses—is being replaced. The road will stay exactly where it is, and the project is expected to take about a year. A temporary bridge and approaches will be installed on the upstream side.
Natasha Vidal is working with the Yancey County Long-Term Recovery Group to secure help with repairs for Tennis Court Road, from Deep Gap Road to Ogles Gap Road. The Secrest-Katz landslide has been cleaned up by the County, but Tennis Court Road itself remains in poor condition along much of its route.
FEMA has returned to Cattal Creek, and this week started bank clean-up between Rush Cove and Pensacola.
Heiko Baran has begun work on the Lower North Fork bridge and has completed permitting for the Hall project.
Carl Vitelino reports that French Broad Fiber Internet offers an “extender” feature that allows other French Broad Fiber users to connect when they are near a participating home. As he explains, if you are a customer and pass by another customer’s house, you can pick up a Wi-Fi signal—not from their private network, but from a shared network created within the fiber system. This is similar to what happens when Verizon customers drive by our house and pick up our Verizon extender. Carl notes that this could become a valuable safety feature if more of us participate. My sense is that this kind of technology may eventually supplement—or even replace—cell towers in remote areas like ours.
Our grant proposal for the Hall continues to move forward through the Samaritan’s Purse process, with regular requests for additional information. For example, last week they asked for a copy of our Articles of Incorporation. Carol Beals has been working with a local attorney to update these documents, as several members have noted outdated language in the originals. Fortunately, I was able to communicate this to Samaritan’s Purse.
Speaking of the Hall, Glen Ellington from the Building Committee has secured a commitment from Rebuilding Hollers to provide foundation block, rebar, and cement—either at manufacturer’s cost or possibly at no charge. Also from the Building Committee, Rob Adler (Limitless Electric) has installed a temporary electrical “service drop” at the Hall, and French Broad has already connected it.
The Building Committee is also working on a banner for the Hall that will shortly promote our new website and our renewed sense of community.
And speaking of the website, be sure to check out our ever-growing list of “All-Star” donors to the Hall project:
https://cattailcreeknc.com/membership
Kerry Meyer and I are continuing the Oral History Project, and we’ve added several new videos at the bottom of this page:
https://cattailcreeknc.com/videos
You might also enjoy occasionally visiting the Gallery page, where I regularly post newly discovered (old!) photos—the most recent additions are always at the bottom:
https://cattailcreeknc.com/gallery
If you have photos you’d like to share, feel free to attach them (or screenshots) in a reply to this email.
That’s probably enough to digest for one message! If I think of anything else, you know I’ll be in touch.
All the best,
Worth
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