On February 4, 2019, David Harper, executive director of Unique Places to Save (hereafter referred to as UP2S), a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization, appeared before the Ramseur Board of Commissioners seeking a letter of support to supplement a fundraising grant application to the Clean Water Management Trust Fund. Mr. Harper’s remarks were listed on the agenda as ‘dam removal project’. I can’t speak for anyone else in the room that night, but it seemed like a topic out of left field. I did not see that coming.
According to Mr. Harper, his organization is partnered with a group of investors called Watauga Unique Properties, LLC (hereafter referred to as Watauga), which recently acquired approximately 22 acres along both sides of Deep River, straddling the Brooklyn Avenue bridge. Mr. Harper explained that his organization’s role is to, “find a way to convey some of that land to the Town of Ramseur as a potential park and greenway site.” Continue reading “Ramseur Dam Removal Project”