Home Care In Julian, NC

Today’s round of questions, my smart-aleck replies and the real answers:

Question: When time limits my getting up into the mountains to kayak on the reservoirs, I often kayak on Lake Julian. I have always launched from Lake Julian Park. When Duke Energy switched from burning coal to all natural gas to produce energy — and apparently quite soon some solar energy — they removed the railroad tracks coming into the facility. In doing so they removed a barrier to what I think of as the backside of the lake. I can now kayak on two large sections on either end of the lake that I had never experienced before. That part of the lake has become my favorite. Considering the location there are areas that are extremely quiet and I often have the lake to myself in those areas. I’m curious about the geography and the geology of Lake Julian. Other than the dam, how much of the lake is natural? Were there any significant alterations made to impact the size of the lake and the movement of water? When was the lake constructed? Was there a body of water there before the lake reached its current size? What is the size of the lake, and what is the maximum depth? In those sections of the lake that I can now paddle on, there is what I think of as a long, relatively narrow corridor connecting the two large sections of the lake. That area of the water runs alongside what used to be the railroad track. Is that natural, or was it manmade when they built the elevated section of the track? What is the average inflow and outflow of the lake? Have there been any significant changes in the ecology of the lake now that the water is so much cooler than it used to be? Has it impacted the volume and types of fish and/or aquatic plants or the purity of the water?

My answer: Not to be a stickler here, but I’m counting 10 questions packed into one alleged question. I’ve got to assume when this person goes apple picking, he loads the bushel basket up like a pyramid, and then maybe tucks a few apples in his pants.

Real answer: Duke Energy spokesperson Ellen Morton found all the answers on this one. Let’s start at the beginning with the basic facts:

“The entirety of Lake Julian is man-made,” Morton said via email. “While the natural topography of the area may have supported a reservoir, it’s difficult to say if or how much of the lake’s volume is due to excavation as the lake was being constructed.”

As the paddler/multiple questioner well knows, Lake Julian is a sizable lake — 321 acres of surface area with 4.9 miles of shoreline when at “full pond” level.

Fun fact: “Full pond at Lake Julian is 2,165 feet above mean sea level,” Morton said. “At full pond, average depth in the south arm of the lake is 13 feet, and 30 feet in the north arm.”

As you might imagine, inflow to the lake varies with rainfall. Morton noted the lake’s drainage area is about five square miles, “placing the average natural inflow at less than 10 cubic feet per second.”

The lake has seen some significant changes in its biology, as it has cooled considerably after the switch from coal burning to natural gas. That temperature drop was not so good for the non-native tilapia that called the lake home for many years.

“As there is no longer thermal input from the operation of Asheville Steam Station, which closed in 2020, to Lake Julian, water temperatures are more reflective of a cool mountain reservoir,” Morton said.

The surface water temperatures now range from 45 to 79.5 degrees, compared to 58 to 88 degrees when the steam plant was active.

“Our environmental teams conducted sampling of the fisheries in 2021 with fairly consistent results as those seen previously, with the exception of blue tilapia and armored catfish, both nonnative cold intolerant fish,” Morton said. “It is likely that these fish no longer dwell in Lake Julian.”

That’s a nice way of saying they croaked. There is an upside, though.

“With the absence of the herbivorous blue tilapia, the lake has seen an explosion of mostly native submerged aquatic vegetation, when previously there was none,” Morton said. “This vegetation has created valuable fish habitat, although the fisheries in the lake will experience a shorter growing season moving forward due to the lack of thermal input.”

The cooler water also means a shorter growing season “for organic particulate matter like phytoplankton and zooplankton, which has contributed to improved water clarity,” Morton said.

So, what we have is a cooler, clearer lake with native species of fish. And some very pleasant paddling.

Question: On Hendersonville Road at the Mills Gap intersection, there are crosswalk signals, but there is no striping on the road marking a safe place for pedestrians to walk. How is that possible?

My answer: Hey, the water-based paint seemed like a good idea at the time.

Real answer: The NCDOT is likely fixing this issue as you read this, or it might already be done.

“NCDOT officials here in Asheville identified a need to upgrade pedestrian facilities at this intersection and recently started those improvements,” Anna Henderson, a traffic engineer with the DOT’s Asheville office, said Sept. 6 via email. “Crews have already completed ADA-compliant curb cuts, plus the landing pads and truncated dome installation.”

No, I didn’t know what “truncated domes” were, either. They are a type of “detectable warning” surfaces found “underfoot at major intersections, crosswalks, and transportation platforms across the United States,” according to Perkins School for the Blind.

Truncated domes are often yellow and consist of small, raised domes in several connected blocks. “These warnings are required to be tactual for blind travelers and have high visual contrast for low vision travelers,” Perkins notes.

The crosswalk was set to be installed “in the very near future, possibly as soon as Sept. 6,” Henderson added.

The crosswalk signals have been in place for quite a while.

“The pedestrian heads (signals) have been in place since at least March of 2008,” NCDOT spokesperson David Uchiyama said. “Since we recently noticed that there was not a crosswalk, we have worked diligently to add the curb cuts and crosswalk.”

Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. Got a question? Send it to John Boyle at [email protected] or 828-337-0941. To show your support for this vital public service go to avlwatchdog.org/donate.

Tagged: Answer Man, Asheville, John Boyle

When football coaches talk about complementary football, it’s easy to think about offense and defense. Special teams gets overlooked, despite it being a hybrid unit that impacts the other phases. It shouldn’t be forgotten.

The N.C. State defense took a few weeks to settle into a rhythm. The offense still hasn’t figured everything out. Special teams, though, has provided consistency through the whole season.

Caden Noonkester and Collin Smith provide the defense with excellent field position in the punting and kickoff roles, respectively. Noonkester averages 42.9 yards per attempt, his longest clocking in at 67 yards. Smith averages 61.1 yards per kickoff and has recorded 19 touchbacks.

On the offensive side, though, Jalen Coit and Julian Gray deserve a lot of ongoing credit for their efforts. They have N.C. State in the ACC’s top two for returns and are finally getting the attention and playing time they’ve been waiting for.

N.C. State got some help from Keon Lesane and Trent Pennix on kickoff returns against Marshall, but Gray and Coit remain the main figures back to receive.

“Our return game in both phases – kickoff return with Julian, punt return with Jalen – has been very, very productive,” Wolfpack head coach Dave Doeren previously said.

Fans got to see exactly what the return game can be when N.C. State hosted VMI and dominated on special teams.

Gray recorded an 82-yard kickoff return touchdown, scoring for the first time in his career. That came in addition to another 12-yard return.

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September 16, 2023 2:20 PM

“I kind of just bolted. I didn’t really look back or think about where anyone was at,” Gray said this week. “It was my glimpse of green grass. It was, like, as soon as I saw it, I just took off.

“To have the opportunity to score in the Carter, it felt really good. I just thank God every day just for the opportunity just to play football.”

He finished with 181 all purpose yards in that game. Since then, the redshirt sophomore hasn’t scored, but he’s up to 362 kickoff return yards and 500 all purpose yards. On kick returns alone, the Charlotte native averages 30.2 yards. With the 82-yard touchdown removed, his average still sits at 23.3 yards per attempt.

Doeren called Gray “exceptional.”

Gray likes knowing the coaches and his teammates trust him to make plays. He put in countless hours to improve this offseason and now it’s all paying off.

“They know we can score,” Gray said. “There is a chance that we will score on kick returns. That’s kind of a big thing.”

Fellow returner Jalen Coit said he’s happy for his teammate. They vowed before the season to make the return game dominant. Now, he has extra motivation to score on a return.

“We were out here during the summer working. To see us actually doing it in game time; all the hard work paid off. We just keep building from here,” Coit said after the win over VMI. “We can’t just settle for three games. We’ve got to keep building the whole season, so that when we come to the end of this thing, special teams really played a big part in it.”

Gray feels like he has a high ceiling and set a lofty goal of scoring 10 touchdowns this season. It’s not easy, but he believes in himself. Even when they don’t score, their success in the run game is key to field position.

Coit has 152 yards on punt return duties, including a career-high 33-yard return. He didn’t record any punt returns against Louisville, opting for the fair catch. In the outing versus Marshall, he finished with three returns for 42 yards.

Doeren called Coit a natural and a difference maker. The redshirt sophomore has good hands, can judge the ball well and get underneath. Then, he’s someone who can run fast and change directions effectively.

“I’m really proud of him,” Doeren said two weeks ago. “He showed us in the spring and in fall camp that he was a very, very trusted ball catcher as a punt returner, but until it’s live, you don’t know how they’re going to handle that exposure to the bullets or the missiles running down at you.”

The veteran coach also praised Coit’s decision-making skills; an underrated aspect of the return game.

“He has shown us that he knows what to do: when to fair catch it and when not to do something that could hurt the team,” Doeren said back in August.

The Pack currently ranks No. 4 in the ACC for kickoff returns and No. 26 in FBS, averaging 24 yards. It is No. 3 in the conference and No. 21 nationally in punt returns, logging 14.1 yards per attempt.

“Our special teams have done a very, very good job this year,” Doeren said Saturday. “There’s areas that I know Coach (Todd) Goebbel wants to be better, but they’ve definitely held their own.”

They credit now-Minnesota Vikings receiver Thayer Thomas with much of their development.

Thomas left the N.C. State program with 25 career touchdowns (24 receiving, 1 punt return) for 12th in program history. His 24 receiving TDs ranks No. 2 in the record books.

Additionally, Thomas finished with a 9.73-yard punt return average, ranking him No. 13 all time, and 2,484 receiving yards put him at fifth in Pack history.

The duo needed to adjust a bit to their new roles, but they felt prepared and ready to go. Coit, specifically, noted some hesitation in the opener at UConn, but he’s found his footing. They studied Thomas – and still look up to Keyon Lesane – and know it’s possible to meet and possibly exceed the expectations he set.

“It got tough at times, of course, but having older guys like that led the way and guided you really helped,” Coit said. “I came here for a reason. God put me here for a reason, so I feel like if I just stay focused and keep the passion that I have for football, everything will work out.”

BUNCOMBE COUNTY, N.C. (WLOS) — It’s been one year since Duke Energy’s coal plant at Lake Julian was retired, ushering in a new era with natural gas.

The absence of the smokestacks in the South Asheville skyline is a symbol of what’s been going on: Big changes as the company has moved away from its more than five-decades-long relationship with coal.

“It was about a year ago when customers across this region were receiving the benefits of the new power plant with a cleaner environment, lower fuel costs and host of other benefits,” said Jason Walls, district manager for Duke Energy.

By the end of last January, Duke had switched to its new Asheville combined cycle station. It fully replaced the 344 megawatt Asheville coal plant, which the company is still in the process of demolishing.

The new plant is a 560 megawatt plant powered by natural gas.

A report the EPA uses estimated more than 29,000 people live within a 3-mile radius of the plant, so what does this change mean for the community? News 13 spoke with two mountain environmental experts.

“I’ve spent a decade telling people how bad Duke was but we are moving in the right direction, so I’m a little uncomfortable not telling everyone how bad they are," said Hartwell Carson, MountainTrue's French Broad riverkeeper. "But it’s a good thing for the French Broad River."

One of the major concerns with the coal plant was groundwater contamination from coal ash, a toxic waste product of the former plant.

Up until last year Duke Energy had been storing the coal ash in unlined pits. It was a battle Carson had fought for years.

“Force them to reckon with their waste, which was a toxic stew of heavy metals that they had been dumping in unlined holes in the ground from the banks of the French Broad River,” said Carson.

Since last summer, Duke Energy has been building a lined, on-site landfill. It has also stopped trucking its coal ash to the Asheville Regional Airport and another waste site in Georgia.

DUKE ENERGY PULLS PLUG ON ASHEVILLE COAL PLANT, LOOKS TOWARD ENVIRONMENTAL FUTURE

Duke Energy is having to pay for its coal ash cleanup; a recent settlement is making the company pay for one-quarter of the cleanup costs between 2015 and 2030, plus another $100 million environmental fine.

“This is a state-of-the-art protection landfill that’s being designed to store ash forever,” Walls said. “It’s a really nice thing to kind of put coal ash in the rear view and look forward to the future.”

Lake Julian has also changed. It used to serve as the coal plant’s cooling site.

Now that it’s no longer needed, the water is returning to more mountain-like temperatures.

“Lake Julian at some point was over 100 degrees," said Carson. "We had done some monitoring years ago, and Lake Julian was an extremely unnatural waterway for North Carolina. That’s a positive thing to return it to what it’s supposed to be.”

However, according to some, it’s not all positive.

Kelly Sheehan Martin is the director of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Dirty Fuel Campaign. She tracks how power plants operate across the country.

“I think that Duke Energy, by switching from one big polluting coal plant to another big fossil fuel plant, really missed a huge opportunity here,” said Sheehan Martin.

According to Duke Energy, the new natural gas plant cuts carbon dioxide emissions by 60%, sulfur dioxide by 99%, nitrogen oxides by 40% and completely eliminates mercury.

Those critical of natural gas point to the way it's obtained -- through a controversial process known as fracking, which means drilling into rock to release the gas.

SCRUBBER STACK AT LAKE JULIAN BEING DISMANTLED

Sheehan Martin said that natural gas is not a resource with an endless supply, like solar or wind energy.

She said she wishes the company would have made a hard switch from coal to a renewable energy source.

“So you’re saying that they could have kept the coal plant running for a little bit longer?” News 13’s Caitlyn Penter asked.

“Maybe a year or two if that’s what they needed,” Sheehan Martin said. “Now we have a situation where we are locked into reliance on fossil fuels for decades to come.”

Leaders from Duke Energy said they remain committed to the goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

“It’s aggressive, but it’s attainable if we work together as a community to make that happen,” Walls said.

DUKE ENERGY EXPECTS NO SAFETY IMPACTS FROM COAL PLANT SHUTDOWN

Once the coal ash has been fully moved to the new landfill, the old site where it was stored will be covered in solar panels.

In the last year, the company has also started using battery storage sites to store some of its energy produced by the natural gas plant.

“We see a future where renewables will certainly increase. You know natural gas will provide a lower carbon reliable generation,” Walls said.

For those who fought for the end of the coal plant, they said the fight for a cleaner community is still not over.

As the end of the coal plant was a step forward, they said they’re prepared to keep holding Duke Energy accountable.

“They didn’t want to close the coal plant, they didn’t want to clean up their coal ash, but they were held accountable by the citizens of North Carolina and the government of North Carolina to do that," Carson said. "I think they’ll do that if we hold their feet to the fire."

By Natalie Anderson [email protected]

SALISBURY — Federal, state and local money will fund about 17 city transportation projects, with about a half-dozen slated for construction this year or the 2022-23 fiscal year.

The city’s total match for projects expected during the current fiscal year and the 2022-23 fiscal year, which begins July 1 and ends June 30, is roughly $843,000. Approximately $15.87 million in federal and state grant funding, along with funds from the city’s sidewalk pay in lieu of program, will make up the difference.

The city is a member of the Cabarrus-Rowan Metropolitan Planning Organization, which plans for regional transportation needs including highway, transit, air, bicycle and pedestrian facilities. City Engineer Wendy Brindle said the city’s participation in the MPO is the primary reason it’s been able to secure a majority of its transportation funding for projects.

Those of the highest priority include ones listed on the city’s Transportation Improvement Program, which is determined by the North Carolina Department of Transportation’s Strategic Prioritization Office. Brindle said projects submitted to the state’s Transportation Improvement Program every two years undergo a scoring process. The city’s TIP is a 10-year plan, and Brindle said the state’s TIP renewal process has been halted until the summer of 2024. That means new projects can be submitted then, but they likely won’t receive funding until 2026.

The only project currently slated for construction this year is the widening of Julian Road from Jake Alexander Boulevard to Summit Park Drive, which will begin this month. State and federal funding for the project is $14 million, with the city providing a match of $91,287. The city will also be adding sidewalks during the construction phase, and utility relocation is in progress.

Brindle said a railroad closure on Henderson Grove Church Road project will use $2.95 million in federal funding, with no match required from the city. Construction for the project is to be determined, but it will be coordinated with the Julian Road widening project.

In April, NCDOT is expected to begin installing turn lanes on Heilig Road at Faith Road, with no funds required from the city. Because of safety funds from the NCDOT’s Strategic Prioritization Office, the installation of a U-turn on Jake Alexander Boulevard near Morlan Park Road will come at no cost to the city. Construction time for that project has not yet been determined. Brindle said drivers have used the leftover median in that area to make U-turns, and the project will force them into the proper lanes and avoid frequent rear-end collisions.

A number of other projects will receive various sources of funding, including Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement grants, Transportation Alternatives Program grants and Surface Transportation Block Grant Program Directly Attributable grants. During the 2022-23 fiscal year, construction will begin on the installation of sidewalks on Old Concord Road from Ryan Street to Jake Alexander Boulevard, with the help of $331,000 in CMAQ funding and a $82,800 local match. Brindle said acquiring the right-of-way for that project is underway.

Another project in 2022-23 is the Brenner Avenue sidewalk from Statesville Boulevard to Horah Street, which will also install turn lanes at Brenner and South Link Avenue. That project will use $608,000 in CMAQ funding, along with a local match of $152,000. Right-of-way acquisition is also in progress for this project.

About $343,000 in Surface Transportation Block Grant Program Directly Attributable funds will aid citywide traffic signal system network upgrades, with the city providing $85,750. That project is ready to bid, Brindle said, with construction expected in April.

The city is handling four projects in-house, including the installation of stamped crosswalks along Innes and Long streets, which Brindle said will help the visibility of pedestrians. That project costs $300,000, in-house design has been completed and bid documents are being prepared. Construction is slated for March.

Brindle said signal timing upgrades are needed on major corridors, including Jake Alexander Boulevard, Innes and Main streets, and they are slated for March. The city’s required match has not yet been determined, but Brindle said the city had been waiting for the NCDOT’s visit for downtown re-striping and will begin the project in March.

The Public Works Department planned to handle the installation of sidewalks on Ryan Street from Celebration Drive to Old Concord Road, but Brindle said staffing challenges have required the department to bid the project. The city will provide $110,000, with $46,000 received from the sidewalk pay in lieu of program, which allows developers to pay the city to install sidewalks rather than constructing them. That project is scheduled to begin in March.

Similarly, the city plans to install a sidewalk at Lash Drive in April using $64,000 in supplemental funding, with a city match of $21,000, which includes $11,000 from the sidewalk pay in lieu of program. The in-house design of that project is about 90% complete, Brindle said.

Brindle said a multi-modal center at Salisbury Depot is a potential project, along with the extension of Bendix Drive to Old Concord Road. She added that the city continues to look for grants to fund more greenway and sidewalk projects and works alongside NCDOT for various needed safety projects.

During the City Council’s annual planning retreat last week, Brindle said staff in the spring plan to present a draft of the new traffic calming policy.

Contact reporter Natalie Anderson at 704-797-4246.