What can I do?

Sometimes tackling large projects and larger bureaucracies can seem overwhelming. What can I do? And will anything I do make a difference? The answers are, yes, there’s a lot you can do, and yes, you can make a difference.

Go

To all Flat Rock village council meetings—there are two meetings a month held regularly with the occasional special meeting. All council meetings are announced at least 10 days in advance and will be on the village website calendar.

To all Henderson County Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) meetings. The 2021 schedule is:

• January 20
• February 17
• March 17
• April 21
• May 19
• June 16
• August 18
• September 15
• October 20
• November 17

Meetings start at 4:00 p.m. and are held in the King Street Meeting Room, County Administration Building, 100 North King Street.

To the FBRMPO meetings to see what is planned regionally. The 2021 schedule is:

• January 28
• February 25
• March 25
• April 22
• May 27
• June 24
• August 26
• September 23
• October 28
• November 18

Meetings start at 1:00 p.m. and are held at Land of Sky Regional Council, 339 New Leicester Highway, Suite 140, Asheville.

Write

Elected officials can only go by the information they have, so make sure they have the information you think is important. Write a letter or send an email. That way you can make sure they have all of the facts you think they should know, and you can make sure they know how you feel on any particular issue.

If you are writing a group, like the village council, write or email each individual member. Don’t rely on one letter to get to all group members.

What to do now: Write or email the Flat Rock village mayor and council members and the French Broad River MPO chair about your concerns on the N. Highland Lake Road project (contact info here). Don’t worry if you’ve already written—write again.

Speak up

To local officials—most public meetings have a time for public comments but that time can vary with each group, so check ahead. Or meet with your elected officials one on one to discuss your concerns.

To your neighbors–together we can work to make sure our community’s voice is heard.

What to do now: Talk to your neighbors and let them know the long-term impact of currently scheduled NCDOT projects in the village—a loss of our rural character and the possibility of future construction on our scenic roads with little say-so from village residents.

Go public

Let your concerns be known by the larger community. In addition to talking to friends and neighbors, write a letter to the editor.