Montreat Minute for March 27, 2026
More About the Sanitation Ordinance
At the March Town Council meeting, the Council passed changes to the Town’s Solid Waste Disposal and Refuse Collection Ordinance, commonly known as the “Sanitation Ordinance.” The Sanitation Ordinance is part of the Town’s General Code of Ordinances and addresses how solid waste, recyclables, leaves and brush, bulk items and white goods, the Convenience Center, and enforcement are handled in Montreat.
Although many portions of the Sanitation Ordinance were largely unchanged, there were significant changes made in other areas. These changes were made primarily to address and control the Town’s experience with bears getting into trash and creating public health and safety hazards. We must stop inadvertently feeding the bears, thereby endangering ourselves and others with our trash. A copy of the revised Sanitation Ordinance is available by CLICKING HERE.
To insure everyone is aware of the changes, we will be having a series of communiques, including live public information sessions, articles in the Montreat Minute and other Montreat publications, a special email address just for sanitation issues, and a Question-and-Answer document that will answer many of your questions.
This Q&A was prepared to fully inform Montreaters and visitors of the changes and responsibilities of homeowners, renters and guests. For any other questions, please contact Town staff by email trash@townofmontreat.org or call 828/669-8002.
Here are two Q&A’s from the document. For the entire document, CLICK HERE.
Q: Why are you doing this, making so many changes?
A: It is a matter of public health and safety. There are more bears in Montreat than ever before and we have been inadvertently feeding them with our trash. One of the biggest issues Town staff deal with is bear related matters. Montreat police are constantly being called because bears have gotten into a house or a bear has been seen approaching a group of people or children. When they get into trash cans and strew refuse and garbage all over, a safety hazard occurs. They have learned that they can get food just by breaking into trash containers. This has made them less wild and dependent upon our waste to sustain them. Given the growing bear population and numbers of people in Montreat, it is just a matter of time before someone is hurt. It is also a waste of Town resources in constantly cleaning up after bears.
Q: What are the major things that will affect me in the revised Sanitation Ordinance?
A: The biggest issue is the way residents will need to handle their solid waste and recyclables disposal. The Town will continue to pick up trash on Mondays, but all containers holding trash must be bear resistant. Any portable containers that are carried/wheeled out to the curb and/or permanent curbside refuse bins must be bear resistant. The Sanitation Ordinance refers to them as BRCs (Bear Resistant Containers) and BRC Systems.
Speaking About Bears…
Last weekend, a Montreat family had quite a Montreat wildlife experience. A bear got inside their unlocked car parked in their driveway. The owner wrote the following account of what happened:
“During the evening on March 20, we heard noise outside and realized there were two cub bears and their mother roaming on the side of the house. At some point we realized one of the bears had opened our daughter’s unlocked passenger side car door. The door apparently closed afterwards, and the bear was trapped inside. I called 911 and the response was immediate from Officer Kayla Gant of Montreat PD and two other officers from Black Mountain PD and the Buncombe Sheriff’s Dept. They handled the situation well and were able to open the door safely and the bears all left our property. We are grateful no one was injured. Officer Gant was calm and professional in handling the situation.
Our daughter’s car has been declared a total loss for the damage caused inside her car. Lesson learned -keep car doors always locked.”
It is not just trash cans bears get into. Please lock your doors– cars, houses, sheds, and any place hungry bears would want to get into. And we thank veteran MPD Officer Kayla Gant for her professionalism.
Wildfire Risk- Take Precautions
As has been the case the last several spring seasons, there is increased fire danger at the present time. The Buncombe County Fire Marshal is discouraging all types of open burning. North Carolina has experienced a significant lack of rainfall over an extended period, leading to moderate to extreme drought. In addition, we are experiencing hot, dry, and breezy conditions. Dry grass, dead leaves, and other vegetative debris could easily ignite and spread quickly.
Please hold off on any outdoor pit fires, campfires, and similar activity. Of course, Montreat does not allow open burning of yard debris.
2026 Sanitation Calendar Available
You may have noticed that you did not receive a 2026 Sanitation Calendar in January as usual. The reason was that the sanitation ordinance revisions were in process and would possibly affect the schedule. Now that the ordinance is passed, the 2026 calendar is available. CLICK HERE for a downloadable copy or stop by Town Hall for a printed copy.
Several items of note:
- Monday collection days are unchanged. Wednesday brush and leaf pickup are also unchanged.
- Bulk pick up will remain as in the past in July and October.
- Note the Police contact number; although it is unchanged, many people were not aware of it.
- We have added an emergency number for all sewer issues. Sewer issues are handled by the Metropolitan Sewerage District, not Town staff. Please call the number shown. MSD is very responsive to emergency calls.
Did You Know?
Since the first conference convened in Montreat in 1897, housing for everyone who comes has been challenging. For the first few years, tents were the only option. In 1900 Hotel Montreat opened, but it was not nearly large enough to accommodate all visitors. The addition of the Alba Hotel in 1907 helped, but even both hotels could not meet the demand.
Before the construction of Hotel Montreat, at least two of the early residents, the Salernos and Louise and Adaline Green, opened up extra rooms in their homes to visitors. By 1900 the Green sisters had constructed Hickory Lodge, a three-story structure intended as a boarding house from the start.
Other individuals soon followed suit. An early Montreat brochure, circa 1906, lists the following boarding houses: Hickory Lodge, Ivy Cottage, Rest Cottage, Caraway Cottage, Cooper Cottage, The Jessamine, Salerno Cottage, Mountain View, and Restdon. Some of them offered single rooms; others were divided into small apartments; two of them were for single families only. Those that did not provide meals usually recommended boarding with the Misses Green.
By 1911 some larger boarding houses appeared. Margaret Oliver constructed a three-story house on Texas Road that she named Minnehaha. The first floor contained a small bedroom, parlor, dining room, and kitchen. Each of the second and third floors had five or six bedrooms with a bath at the end of the hall. This home remained a boarding house until the late 1960s.
By 1923 a number of large boarding houses appeared in advertisements, including Chapman Home, the N. C. Home, the William Brearley Home, and Geneva Hall, as well as about a dozen more smaller boarding houses.
The Presbyterian Heritage Center would like to know more about the boarding houses of Montreat. Was your home was once a boarding house? What boarding houses have you heard about (we are betting that there were quite a few)? Please contact Nancy Midgette (nancy@phcmontreat.org) with any information you have!
Thanks to the Presbyterian Heritage Center, especially Nancy Midgette, for this glimpse from the past. Stop by the PHC for additional Montreat history and so much more. Have an idea for a future “Did You Know?”? Let Nancy know at midgette@elon.edu.
Updates and Reminders
- Welcome to the Town’s newest employee, Shelly Johnston, who started on Tuesday as the new Zoning Administrator. Shelly has been serving as the Planning Director in Forest City and brings many years of prior experience as a planner with the Bureau of Land Management. Shelly is part time and works Tuesday through Thursday. Stop by and welcome her to Montreat.
- The Montreat Landcare Committee will meet on Wednesday, April 1st, at 9:00 am in the Town Hall Community Room. The meeting will be live streamed. For streaming instructions and the agenda, CLICK HERE. All are welcome to attend.
- Mark Saturday, April 11th from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm for the Montreat LandCare Festival and Arbor Day Celebration. Plant vendors, local artists, Master Gardeners, information booths, and more will be featured at Moore Center Field.
- Do you receive your own copy of the Montreat Minute or know someone who doesn’t? Sign up for the Sunshine List to receive the Montreat Minute and stay “in the know” about the Town’s happenings. CLICK HERE to sign up for the list!
- Do you receive Montreat CodeRED alerts, an emergency communications system used a number of times during the hurricane? If not, CLICK HERE to register and ensure you will be contacted in the event of an emergency.
Questions or Comments?
Do you have Town-related questions or comments to offer? If so, please send them to Angela Murphy at info@townofmontreat.org and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
Enjoy your weekend!
