The City of Marion worked with the U.S. Census Bureau to promote the 2010 Census. The City participated in a comprehensive review of all addresses with the Census Bureau at the most detailed level allowed by the Census Bureau, in an effort to ensure the most accurate population count for the City. Census figures for local governments such as the City of Marion are expected to be released in early to mid 2011. proper identification you are encouraged to contact the Marion Police Department.

Planning Director Heather Cotton worked with McGill Associates and the McDowell Trails Association on Phase I of the Joseph McDowell Historical Catawba Greenway Project.  Construction on the project was completed in Summer 2010 and Phase I opened to the public in September 2010. Phase I of the Greenway offers a one-mile recreational trail, picnic area, fishing pier, wildlife observation deck, and access to the Little Round Hill Trail.  The entrance to the greenway is located on Sam Phillips Drive just west of the Lowes Home Improvement Store on Highway 70 West.

Phase II of the Greenway will extend from the end of Phase I under the Highway 221 Bypass at least as far as the McDowell House property. The City is working on grant applications to provide partial funding for Phase II. Donations from the public will be needed to make the project a reality.

The City has also leased property from Great Meadows, Inc. off of Highway 221 North Business for a canoe launch site and nature park area.

In 2008, the City of Marion was awarded a Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Action Plan grant from the North Carolina Department of Transportation.  The Safe Routes to School Program was created by the National Center for Safe Routes to School, and is maintained by the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center with funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration. The Center assists communities like Marion in enabling and encouraging children to safely walk and bike to school by equipping local communities with the knowledge and technical information to implement safe and successful strategies.

The historical resources located in Marion is one of the City’s most valued and important assets. The conservation and preservation of individual historic properties and historic districts ties the community together and strengthens the economy.

City Council adopted an ordinance on March 24, 2009 establishing Marion’s first Historic Preservation Commission. The Historic Preservation Commission is comprised of five members appointed by the Marion City Council who are responsible for the general oversight of the historic preservation ordinance. In addition, the Historic Preservation Commission is responsible for making recommendations to City Council on the nomination of local landmarks and districts.

McDowell House
The City has partnered with McDowell County, the McDowell County Tourism Development Authority (TDA) and other local agencies to develop plans for the restoration and future use of the McDowell House.  The McDowell House, built by the namesake of McDowell County, Colonel Joseph McDowell, is one of the oldest surviving structures in McDowell County.  McDowell County purchased the McDowell House in early 2008, with financial support from the City and TDA.  A committee is currently studying possible uses for the house and property, particularly uses that will allow the public to have access to this historic structure.  The committee is also looking at ways to raise funds for the restoration of the house.

The City of Marion is currently working on several economic development projects, including retail and commercial, industrial, residential and governmental projects, in an effort to create jobs locally, to expand local shopping opportunities and to expand the property and sales tax base for the community.  Some of the projects are confidential, but information is shown below on some projects which have been announced or which are pending:

1.       Sugar Hill Road/Wal Mart Supercenter Commercial Development – The City has worked with a commercial developer and McDowell County to recruit a large commercial development, to be anchored by a Wal Mart Supercenter at the interchange of Sugar Hill Road and Interstate 40.  This development will create hundreds of jobs and several hundred thousand square feet of retail space.  In addition to the Wal Mart Supercenter, additional retail space for smaller stores is planned and several retail outparcels on Sugar Hill Road will be available.  The City has obtained $1.3 million in grant funds from the North Carolina Rural Center and the Appalachian Regional Commission to fund one-half of the costs to extend water and sewer service on Sugar Hill Road to I-40.  The water and sewer extension will begin upon the execution of a performance agreement with the developer.  The developer closed on the property in May and has begun grading. Construction is anticipated to begin in January, with the retail center and Wal Mart Supercenter projected to open in Fall 2011.. The development will be annexed by the City. 

2.       The Spectrum Dyed Yarns plant on Barnes Road has reopened and plans to employ 49 people.  The new owner of the plant, Mr. Kim, has been in the textile business for many years, and viewed the Spectrum plant as a solid investment.  Mr. Kim’s announcement stated that the former Spectrum facilities in Marion and Kings Mountain will be consolidated into the Marion facility.  This is a great opportunity to re-establish the textile sector in Marion, for jobs to be created and investment to be made in Marion.  The City, County and State worked with Mr. Kim on this project.

3.       Construction was recently completed on a new Bojangle’s restaurant at the intersection of North Main Street and McDowell High School Road. 

4.       The City is working with Mr. William Self, who is seeking a commercial development on his property at the Highway 226/I-40 interchange across from McDowell Technical Community College.  The City will extend water and sewer to the property and annex the City upon announcement of job creation.  There has been considerable interest in this visible property along I-40.

5.       The City continues to work with a developer on a possible retail shopping center in the City Limits at the intersection of US 70 East and Stacy Hill Road.  The City hopes to receive plans on this development in the near future.

6.       The City continues to work with the McDowell Economic Development Association to recruit industry into the City.  Specifics will hopefully be announced in the upcoming months, if projects are approved.

7.       Little Siena, an Italian restaurant, currently located on Highway 70 West in the Pleasant Gardens community, soon plans to relocate to Marion near the Highway 226/221 South intersection.  The restaurant will be located in a building being constructed by the McKinney family.

8.       The City recently submitted a Main Street Solutions Fund grant application to the State, requesting $126,000 of funding to renovate a downtown building to allow a restaurant to locate in the building.  The project would involve the creation of seven full-time and 13 part-time jobs. The grant was not approved by the State, but the City hopes the restaurant project can occur.

9.       The City worked with the owners of the new Open Flame Restaurant on identifying potential funding to allow them to locate their restauirant in the former Sagebrush Steakhouse building on US 221 South.

10.      Mr. Allen Gurley has constructed a new medial office building on Sugar Hill Road that will house phyisician offices for the McDowell Hospital. The City participated in the grant application for this project.

11.       The City is also working with several other property owners and developers on retail and commercial projects of varying size, both in the downtown area and in other areas of the City.  The current economy has slowed down many of these projects; however, interest in Marion remains high and announcements may be made in the near future.

12.       As part of the N.C. STEP Program, the City made $50,000 in grants available to small businesses in the City to allow for job creation and/or retention, inventory expansion, marketing or physical improvements to businesses.  The 13 grant recipients were announced in August 2009 and projects were completed by the end of 2009, resulting in the creation and/or retention of many jobs.  The Mayor and City Council anticipate that these grants will have a great impact on many small businesses in the City for years to come.

13.       The City, County and other local agencies continue efforts to recruit a new medium security prison to the community.  The City Council has offered to give the State of North Carolina at no charge either of two large acreage sites owned by the City for a new prison and/or prison laundry facility. 

14.       The City, County, Chamber, Marion Business Association and other local agencies continue to promote available commercial property on a website, www.mcdowellcommercialsites.com.  This site can be accessed through a variety of internet searches related to commercial property in Marion, Old Fort, McDowell County and Western North Carolina.  Realtors and property owners with available commercial property are encouraged to contact Freddie Killough at the Marion Business Association at (828) 652-2215 for information on how commercial property could potentially be listed on the website. 

15.       The City offers a Residential Development Incentive Program to encourage development of single-family and condominium/townhouse development in the City.  The program provides for cost sharing of needed infrastructure for a residential development between the City and a developer.  For more information on this program, please contact City Manager Bob Boyette at (828) 652-3551.

For more information on City economic development efforts, please contact City Manager Bob Boyette at (828) 652-3551 or Marion Business Association Executive Director Freddie Killough at (828) 652-2215).

The City has begun a $6.6 million project to eliminate the Catawba River Wastewater Treatment Plant and its discharge upstream of Lake James and to upgrade the City’s Corpening Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant.  As part of the project, the Catawba Plant will be turned into a pump station and wastewater flow from the Catawba Plant pumped to the Corpening Creek Plant.  The project will also seek to greatly reduce inflow and infiltration of stormwater and creekwater into City wastewater collection lines.  The project will modernize and improve the Corpening Creek Wastewater Plant and make the facility a true 3 million gallon per day wastewater plant capable of meeting all current and future State and Federal regulations.

Completion of the project was necessary to avoid possible State fines and the prospects of the City not being able to connect additional wastewater customers, which would have effectively shut down the City’s economic development program, as well as County industrial recruitment efforts around Marion.

The City has obtained $5.3 million in grant funding for the project and $1.3 million in no interest 20 year loans to complete the project.  This funding includes $3 million in Clean Water Management Trust Fund grants, $1 million in Rural Center grants, $1.3 million in Federal Stimulus Funding grants and $1.3 million in Federal Stimulus Funding no interest 20 year loans. 

Construction on the project began in 2009 and will be completed in 2010.

The City maintains a prioritized list of planned street and sidewalk improvements.  Work that is planned for the next year includes:

After years of searching for land for a community park in the Clinchfield neighborhood, the City was recently given land off of Hill Street in the Clinchfield neighborhood by Mr. Frank Boldon.  The property will be accessed through a parking lot leased by the City from Chamad Inc. at the intersection of Branch and 4th Streets.  The property will also be reached through a greenway that will extend from Virginia Road, allowing good access from both sides of the Clinchfield neighborhood to the park.  The park will be similar to community parks constructed by the City in the West Marion and Cross Mill communities and contain playground equipment, a picnic shelter, a walking track/greenway and a basketball court. 

After years of searching for land for a community park in the East Marion neighborhood, the City was provided land adjacent to Eastfield Elementary School, through a long term lease with McDowell County Schools.  The property is accessed off of Perry Street.  The park is similar to community parks constructed by the City in the West Marion and Cross Mill communities and contains playground equipment, a picnic shelter, a walking track/greenway and a basketball court. 

The North McDowell Avenue extension has been opened to traffic, as of late 2009. The opening of the street concluded a two year project of the City to improve traffic flow in the vicinity of East Court Street, Oak Street and McDowell Avenue.

As part of the new street alignment, motorists on North McDowell Avenue have the right of way at the intersection with Oak Street.  Motorists on Oak Street must stop at this intersection.  Traffic signal improvements were made by the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) at the McDowell Avenue/East Court Street intersection to provide for safety on the new street. 

The City acquired property from Dr. James Peppers in 2007 to allow for the North McDowell Avenue extension to take place.  The City received funding from NCDOT and Norfolk Southern Railway to pay for 100 percent of the design and construction costs of the street extension, as part of the City’s agreement to close the Clay Street railroad crossing.  The City and NCDOT later agreed to have NCDOT complete part of the construction work and to hire contractors to complete parts of the project that could not be done by NCDOT personnel.  NCDOT began work on the street extension in June and completed the final work on the traffic signals at the East Court Street/North McDowell Avenue intersection on December 3, allowing the street to be opened immediately.

The Clay Street railroad crossing was closed in early 2010 and the traffic signal at Clay Street and East Court Street was subsequently removed. 
Mayor Steve Little stated that “the North McDowell Avenue extension is a creative example of the City trying to meet a local need by helping to alleviate traffic congestion in several residential areas.  This project will hopefully help improve traffic flow around the City, particularly between East McDowell Junior High School and Marion Elementary School and surrounding areas.”  Little added that the City appreciates the efforts of NCDOT in providing funding for the project and in coordinating the construction.

For further information, please contact City Manager Bob Boyette at 652-3551.

On New Year’s Eve, the first annual New Year’s Eve Celebration was held in Downtown Marion.  The event was co-sponsored by the Marion Rotary Club, Marion Business Association, City of Marion and McDowell County, with additional support for the event provided by the McDowell Arts Council Association, North Carolina Gold Festival and the McDowell Chamber of Commerce.  A large crowd enjoyed a range of activities for the whole family throughout the event.

The New Year’s Eve Celebration ran from 9:00 p.m. until shortly after 12:00 Midnight and included music, food and entertainment.  During the Celebration, Main Street was closed between New and Henderson Streets.  Several downtown businesses remained open during the event and provided food, beverages, entertainment and shopping opportunities for the public.

The McDowell Arts Council Association (MACA) graciously donated the use of its building as a focal point of the Celebration and so restrooms could be available to the public.  A DJ played oldies music at MACA.  During the Celebration, First Baptist Church was open for people to have quiet meditation.  Carriage rides around the Downtown area were available for a small charge and were a popular attraction.  

A scavenger hunt was organized by the Marion Rotary Club.  Approximately 200 teams participated in the scavenger hunt, with First and Second Prizes being drawn from those teams answering all questions correctly.

The City of Marion provided staffing for the event from the Police, Public Works and Fire Departments and McDowell County provided EMS staffing. 
McDowell County allowed the Courthouse to be open so that the public could have restrooms open.  The County also allowed the use of the Courthouse Lawn for festivities.

The highlight of the event had to be the drop of a gold nugget at 12:00 Midnight.  The large replica of the gold nugget included 597 lights which looked beautiful in the nighttime sky.  The gold nugget was built by the North Carolina Gold Festival.  Special recognition goes to Don and Carol Markum and Doug and Liz McCormick with the Gold Festival for their efforts in constructing the gold nugget.  The Gold Festival also held a drawing for an actual gold nugget shortly before Midnight.

At 12:00 Midnight, there was an estimated crowd of more than 1,000 people that witnessed the gold nugget drop.  The gold nugget was dropped from a crane provided and operated by McDowell Cement.

The idea for a New Year’s Eve Celebration began as an initiative of Marion Rotary Club President Bob Limone.  President Limone asked Bobbie Young of the Marion Business Association, City Manager Bob Boyette and County Manager Chuck Abernathy to serve as co-chairs of the event. 

The City of Marion has been honored as an NCLM Green Challenge municipality by the N.C. League of Municipalities.  The City of Marion achieved Advanced Level status by completing specific activities and projects to save energy, natural resources and money.  Marion was one of only 22 out of more than 540 cities, towns and villages in North Carolina recognized for reaching the Advanced Level.

Cities and towns that achieved NCLM Green Challenge status were honored at the NCLM Annual Conference, October 25-27, 2009, at the Greenville Convention Center.  

“Municipalities continue to lead the way in implementing sustainable operations and innovations that save energy, natural resources and money,” said Morehead City Mayor Jerry Jones, 2008-2009 NCLM president. “The League is proud to honor these cities and towns that have made tough decisions that will have a positive impact on their communities, citizens, region and state for years to come.”

The NCLM Green Challenge was the brainchild two years ago of then-NCLM President Susan Burgess, Charlotte council member, as a way to honor those municipalities that have taken the initiative to conserve energy and natural resources at the local government level.

Approximately 80 North Carolina municipalities, including Marion, achieved Level One Green Challenge status last year. This year, 22 more have been approved for Advanced Level, while 13 have been approved for Intermediate Level. In addition, four municipalities joined the ranks of the Level One Green Challenge communities this year.

“It is so exciting to see so many municipalities across the state continue to work hard on sustainability issues,” said Burgess. “We will no doubt see municipal officials from these cities and towns share their good ideas with others over the next months and years so that even more communities can save energy and natural resources.”

Marion Mayor Everette Clark stated that the City of Marion achieved the Advanced Level Green Challenge Status by demonstrating efforts to promote recycling, greenways and trails, energy conservation in City facilities, high density development and mixed use developments in areas served by existing infrastructure, tree planting and preservation and by pursuing other activities.  Mayor Clark stated that “the Advanced Level recognition puts Marion in the top five percent of municipalities statewide in efforts to protect the environment, conserve energy and to save money.  This award is a testament to the efforts made by our City Council, City staff and volunteers such as our Tree Board in numerous areas.”

Taxable retail sales in the City of Marion increased in the 2008-09 Fiscal Year by 10.21 percent over the 2007-08 Fiscal Year.  During the same time period, taxable retail sales in McDowell County decreased by 2.75 percent and taxable retail sales in North Carolina decreased by 7.64 percent.  These figures came from the North Carolina Department of Revenue monthly Sale and Use Tax Reports for the 2007-08 and 2008-09 fiscal years.
In Fiscal Year 2008-09, the percentage of taxable retail sales in McDowell County taking place in the City of Marion was 76 percent, up from 67 percent in 2007-08.  The total of taxable retail sales in the City in 2008-09 was $178,792,526.

The City of Marion’s increase in taxable retail sales was higher than many other cities and counties in the region, including Asheville, Black Mountain, Forest City, Lenoir, Morganton, Shelby, Lincolnton, Brevard, Buncombe County, Rutherford County and Burke County.  Many of these communities had decreases in taxable retail sales between 2007-08 and 2008-09, including decreases of 0.88 percent in Morganton, 4.30 percent in Lenoir, 5.89 percent in Burke County, 6.98 percent in Asheville and 10.36 percent in Black Mountain.

Marion taxable retail sales total in 2008-09 was higher than that of Forest City and Brevard and only slightly below that of Lincolnton, a city with nearly 4,000 more people.  Most notably, Marion’s taxable retail sales were nearly three times than Black Mountain, a city of slightly larger population which only had $65 million in taxable retail sales in 2008-09.

The City of Marion also had the second highest per capita taxable retail sales of the 11 other surveyed communities in 2008-09, with taxable retail sales of $24,485 per person, second only to Asheville’s $29,475 per person.  In contrast, Morganton had per capita taxable retail sales of $17,760, Shelby had $17,504, Lenoir had $14,005 and Black Mountain had $8,234.

Mayor Everette Clark stated that “the increased retail sales in the City of Marion indicate that the City’s retail and commercial sectors have remained stronger on a relative basis than what has been experienced in our region and Statewide.  This demonstrates clearly that Marion is growing as a regional economic center.”

Marion Business Association Executive Director Freddie Killough added that “the numbers reflect that efforts to promote local shopping are paying off” and urged local residents to consider local stores before going out of town for purchases.  “Local sales provide local jobs and provide the City and County with sales tax revenue that helps keep the property tax rate low,” stated Mayor Clark.

Marc Cook, President of the Marion Business Association stated “when times get tough and money is tight we become cautious with our money. Our best strategy is to stay close to home and buy from our neighbors whom we trust. These sales numbers show us that we stayed close to home when gas prices skyrocketed and I think we should continue to shop at home while we fight through this recession.”

Rod Birdsong, Executive Director of the McDowell Chamber of Commerce, added that “in spite of the loss of property tax and utility revenues due to business closings, most notably Swift Galey, retail sales are helping the City offset some of the loss.  There may be several reasons why Marion’s sales figures have increased this much, but I believe it’s at least partly due to folks who’ve made efforts to give local businesses a chance before shopping outside of the county.  I’m glad the City has compiled this information because it shows that our shopping habits can have a definite impact on the local economy.”

This past year’s increase in retail sales in the City continues the positive trend experienced in past years.  Taxable retail sales in the City of Marion increased by 6.42 percent during the 2007-08 Fiscal Year over the 2006-07 Fiscal Year.  The total taxable retail sales in the City of Marion were $162,235,579 in 2007-08. 

In 2006-07, the State began reporting taxable retail sales separately for the City of Marion.  The City’s growth in retail sales from 2006-07 to 2007-08 was 5.1 times higher than that of North Carolina as a whole.  As noted above, the City’s growth in retail sales from 2007-08 to 2008-09 of 10.21 percent was totally contrary to the sharp decrease of 7.64 percent in taxable retail sales experienced Statewide over the same time period and decreases found in many surrounding communities.

“For those who think that Marion is a dying city that has no retail and is experiencing no growth, these retail sales figures reflect just the opposite.  Despite the devastating industrial job losses we have experienced in recent years, our economy is growing and Marion remains a strong force in the Western North Carolina economy,” added Mayor Clark.

For more information, please contact Bob Boyette, City Manager, at City Hall at 828-652-3551.

The City has recently installed a free wi-fi network in the downtown corridor.  Several months ago, the City released a Request for Proposals to interested companies to build the wi-fi network.  Trificient Technologies out of Mount Airy, NC was selected to make the installation.  The installation was funded through an N.C. STEP Program grant at no cost to City taxpayers.

The system is run out of City Hall, with transmitters located on the Griffith’s Jewelers building, the Police Department and City Hall.  The service is available all along Main Street stretching from City Hall and the Community Building to just south of the Police Department.  Service is also available about one block off of Main Street, at the new Historic Marion Tailgate Market Shelter on West Henderson Street and in the Depot area.

The service can vary from 1.5 Meg downloads up to 6 Meg.  The services are best along Main Street and the bandwidth speed drops off some as you move out to the side streets.  The City also installed a time monitor to make sure no one is abusing this service.  After one hour, the network will require a user to log back on.  Vendors at the new Tailgate Market Shelter will be able to stay connected when they are away from their home or office.

The City will be exploring with DOT the possibility of installing signage along highways in and around the City advising visitors of the downtown wi-fi network.

City officials are reminding people who use the network that the City is merely making the service available and that City staff will not be able to assist with individual problems like how to surf the Internet or use the system.  The service is open and free to the public. 

People having problems connecting to the downtown wi-fi network are encouraged to report such problems to City Hall at 652-3551 between 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, excluding holidays.  People may call the Police Department non-emergency number at 652-3231 to report connection problems on nights, weekends and holidays. 

Officials from the City of Marion and McDowell County have completed a voluntary Source Water Protection Plan for the Buck Creek intake and the surrounding watershed.  The resulting plan identifies strategies to protect public drinking water derived from this source.

The cooperative effort encouraged public participation and promoted partnerships with other groups and agencies.  The North Carolina Rural Water Association, the Public Water Supply Section of NCDENR and the North Carolina Division of Water Quality all pledged to support this effort. 

The source water protection planning team reflected a diverse coalition of local expertise and interests, including representatives from the City of Marion, McDowell County, McDowell County Soil and Water Conservation, the North Carolina Department of Transportation, Isothermal Planning and Development Commission and the Lake Tahoma Homeowner’s Association.  Chris Hollifield, Public Works Director for the City of Marion and Ron Harmon, Planning Administrator for McDowell County, led the planning team.

In 2007, the City received two State and Federal grants to fund the acquisition of 36.96 acres at the top of Mt. Ida which overlooks the City.  The City Council approved the acquisition of the property to protect the top of Mt. Ida from potential development that would have drastically altered the mountain view and landscape.  The City eventually plans to improve and construct walking trails from the bottom of the mountain to the mountaintop and to construct a picnic shelter and possibly a small meeting space. 

After more than two years of negotiations, the City recently received approval from State funding agencies to allow existing television towers on the property acquired by the City to remain.  The State and Federal grant rules required the existing towers to be removed, but the City Council requested the State to allow the existing towers to stay, to allow for people receiving television service by antenna to continue to receive good reception.