County creates Helene recovery office role; draft recovery plan due for public comment this fall

Rachel Sawyer, serving as Helene recovery lead, told the Buncombe County Board on July 15 that the county is building staff capacity for longer-term recovery work, has posted a Helene recovery officer position and expects to return to the board with a formal project list and timeline.

Sawyer said the Helene recovery officer position (funded in the FY26 budget) has been posted, interviews are underway and the county intends to establish a recovery office with project-management support for capital, programmatic and grant-compliance work.

She described the Helene recovery plan process: staff gathered community input through the Envision Buncombe survey in the spring, have been developing jurisdictional project lists in coordination with Asheville and the five towns, and plan to present a preview of the county project list in August. Sawyer said the county aims to release a draft plan for public comment in September and to bring a final plan to the commissioners for adoption in November 2025.

Sawyer emphasized the county is not waiting for final adoption to pursue funding opportunities. She said staff submitted letters of interest for Hazard Mitigation Grant Program infrastructure projects — "we submitted 29, across 6 or 7 different categories, totaling roughly $98,000,000" — and that the county is working with Tetra Tech and state partners to refine submissions.

She said the Helene Resource Center remains the primary contact point for residents with questions and that county staff will return with more detail once the recovery officer is hired and the recovery office structure is developed.