Ashe County approves up to $45,000 from insurance proceeds for Riverview Community Center electrical design after flood damage

The Ashe County Board of Commissioners on June 2 approved up to $45,000 from insurance proceeds to pay for an electrical engineering design for the flood-damaged Riverview Community Center.

The request came from Steve Trinkle, a recent board member with the Riverview Community Center, who said the center — a county-owned facility that provides food distribution, a thrift shop, a hair salon and community events for the county’s western half — remains unsafe in parts after Hurricane Helene. “The greatest risk to the Riverview Community Center right now is in the electrical system,” Trinkle said. "We gotta fix the electrical. We have to fix that." The county asked the consulting firm Clark Nexon to produce a design, and Trinkle said Clark Nexon quoted $38,000; commissioners amended and approved the request at a not-to-exceed $45,000 to allow a modest contingency.

The center’s volunteers and board members described extensive recovery work already completed, including water and septic repairs, replacement of propane heaters and…