Buncombe County subcommittee recommends funding for greenways, conservation and park repairs after storm delays

The Buncombe County Passive Recreation Lands Subcommittee on a virtual meeting recommended awards for seven passive-recreation projects totaling $4,376,262 and voted to ask the Board of Commissioners to consider a second round of applications for the remaining bond funds.

The recommendations, made during an Oct. meeting of the subcommittee that reviewed updated proposals after Tropical Storm Helene delayed the program, include allocations for greenway connections, trail repairs, park improvements and easement or acquisition funds. Subcommittee members also asked staff to bring the recommendations to the county commissioners for a briefing Nov. 4 and a decision meeting Nov. 18.

Why it matters: The projects are funded from voter-approved general obligation bonds for open space and related passive recreation projects. County staff told the subcommittee that Helene both delayed the program and produced new county needs — damaged parks and dozens to hundreds of properties expected to transfer to county ownership through FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) buyouts — and recommended holding some funds in reserve for future site activation or resilience work.

At the meeting Rachel Sawyer, Buncombe County strategic partnerships director, summarized staff outreach to applicants after the storm and the county’s financial review. “We actually do have the ability to continue with this process,” Sawyer said, noting the open-space bond was originally $30 million and about $17.5 million has been committed to date. Sawyer told the group that the county’s passive-recreation allocation available to the subcommittee is roughly $9,934,430 before today’s recommendations.

The subcommittee first reviewed the financial context and then considered each project with…