A long road led Brandon Enoch to become the town administrator of Green Level, a role assumed at the beginning of this year. He first worked in Green Level as the parks and recreation director. Now, he wants to bring the Green Level Woodland Trail, adventure tourism and a higher tax base to the town.
Enoch, who is Black, came to work for Green Level after a firing suggestive of “racial injustice” in 2022 from the town of Pickens, South Carolina, according to a GoFundMe page made to support his family after he lost his role. Enoch described the racially diverse Green Level as a “utopia.” According to 2020 Census data, 46.3% of Green Level’s residents are Black and 35.9% of residents are Hispanic.
“The residents, being that it is so diverse, never have any problems when the cultures collide,” Enoch said.
His goal now is to put the town on the map by attracting local businesses for the tax base.
Late last year, Green Level netted $425,000 to use on public infrastructure from the State Capital and Infrastructure fund and Impact Alamance, a prosperity-focused nonprofit Alamance County. Green Level’s updated park and playground debuted in June of last year, but flooding concerns continue to hold up the proposed Green Level Woodland Trail.
“A trail will bring in the elements of adventure tourism with conservation,” Enoch said.
The funding for both of the grants came in a spurt of growth for Green Level. Much of the woodland ground shifted after Tropical Storm Chantal. For now, the trail is being built with caution. Enoch said the residents need an indoor gym to use in case of a power outage.
An engineer from the Department of Environmental Conservation found the trail faced a high possibility of erosion in December, according to the Town Hall Minutes. Since then, the efforts to build the trail have been more muted.
“We saw what happened with Chantal and we are making sure that we have the smallest footprint possible before we build,” Enoch said.
The Green Level Woodland Trail was Enoch’s conception. He wrote grant proposals for both projects last year when he started working with the town as the parks and recreation director. He authored the grant and followed through with the projects.