Black Mountain community sings during vigil
Members of the Black Mountain community gathered October 29, 2024, to reflect on the past month since Tropical Storm Helene devastated WNC.
- Black Mountain submitted its damage inventory to FEMA, totaling $27 million.
- There are approximately 32 projects in Black Mountain that need completing after Helene.
- Town Council approved funds for a temporary fix on Hilltop Road.
BLACK MOUNTAIN – The town of Black Mountain is in a “long-haul marathon” when it comes to recovery from Tropical Storm Helene according to Assistant Town Manager Jessica Trotman.
She provided Town Council with a “high level” update on Helene’s impacts and the town’s finances as a result in a special call meeting Feb. 17.
“It all happened in a couple of hours, but it’s going to take more than that for us to figure out how to recover,” Trotman said.
She said the town has completed a damage inventory and submitted it to FEMA. According to that inventory, estimated damages to the town are just over $27 million. This amounts to approximately 32 projects across Black Mountain.
Of the $27 million, Trotman broke it down into estimated costs by FEMA category:
- Debris: $100,000
- Emergency protective measures: $3.8 million
- Permanent work on roads and bridges: $3.7 million
- Permanent work on water control facilities: $4.7 million
- Permanent work on public buildings and contents: $11.2 million
- Permanent work on parks, recreation and other facilities: $3.2 million
She said the debris category is a “placeholder at this point” because of the debris management the Army Corps of Engineers has provided.
Trotman said the damage inventory is not a lump sum of money, but is instead a high level summary of damages that is used to schedule site inspections and create projects. She said these projects are “grouped in a logical order,” sometimes geographically or by project type.
In addition to submitting the damage inventory to FEMA, it was also submitted to the North Carolina state treasury office to begin the process of a cash flow loan.
Trotman said the estimates for equipment, vehicles and building contents are “more developed” than estimates for restoration and repair of facilities because it is easier to put a fair market price on the former categories than the latter. She said the town will not know the “full scope” of restoration and repair projects until those projects go into development.
Trotman said these initial estimates get the town back to it was pre-storm with “appropriate mitigation.”
She described the multi-step process the town must go through in order to have a project be reimbursable by FEMA as “complicated.”
“It is a complicated process because we are subject to rules we are not typically used to dealing with,” Trotman said. “You cannot go do it yourself. A well-meaning person cannot go and do it on their own for half the price. If you do not follow these rules, you do not get reimbursed.”
Town Manager Josh Harrold told Town Council that, for November, sales tax numbers were up to $220,000 from October, which was less than $190,000.
“Very surprisingly, our November sales tax numbers were up 5.3% from last year’s numbers,” Harrold said. “Hard to believe, but I am going to ride that one as long as I can.”
Trotman said these numbers were “a huge surprise,” but are “very encouraging.”
She provided council with a list of initial progress items the town has completed for Helene recovery:
- Developed and submitted damage inventory
- Secured a $3 million loan from the Department of Environmental Quality
- Purchased a mini-packer truck to replace two scout trucks
- Started request for state cash flow loan
- Submitted an expediated request for $1.7 million from FEMA, of which $880,000 has been received
- Started building emergency operations centers and water distribution systems
- Started working with insurance on claims and received some payments
- Started work on a temporary watershed to make wells operational
- Restored three fields and replaced fencing at Veterans Park
“They’re baby steps in the right direction,” Trotman said.
In order to fund all projects, Trotman said funding must be found and she provided a list of possible options, including the FEMA public assistance reimbursement model, public loans like the DEQ and state cash flow loans, using the town’s fund balance, insurance proceeds, delaying capital projects, programming funds for recovery into annual budget, grants, private loans and partnerships with private entities or philanthropic support.
The fund balance currently sits at $7.4 million, or 21% of expenditures. The town has an internal policy to keep the fund balance at at least 30%.
Trotman said it “feels good” to see that number not as low as it was getting and that it is “trending in the right direction.”
“Do not get excited about this number,” Trotman said. “This number is going to fluctuate a lot in the months and years to come as we draw money down from things and get reimbursed, or as a grant comes in or as insurance comes in, it’s going to go up and down.”
To date, more than $2.1 million of insurance proceeds have been received.
“That is a lot of money,” Trotman said. “By no stretch of the imagination is that just a tiny little bit of money. However, it represents a whole lot of different things and it represents specific things.”
Trotman said there will likely be a funding gap, but the town will not know what this gap is until are projects and reimbursements are known.
At the Feb. 17 meeting, Town Council voted to use funds that were previously allocated for paving to go toward the stabilization of Hilltop Road. This is meant to be a temporary fix that will aid in the permanent fix. Council member Pam King made the motion to use the funds, not to exceed $300,000, for the project. The motion passed unanimously.
Town Council meets for their annual budget retreat March 1.
Karrigan Monk is the Swannanoa Valley communities reporter for Black Mountain News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at kmonk@blackmountainnews.com.
