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Resident urges greater transparency on Woodfin greenways partnership with Buncombe County
Summary
At the Parks and Greenways Advisory Committee meeting a Woodfin resident asked town staff to provide clearer reporting and oversight about two Buncombe County-managed greenway projects and the status of federal funding and project budgets.
Wilson Sims, a Woodfin resident, told the Parks and Greenways Advisory Committee that citizens need clearer reporting and local oversight for two greenway projects being delivered in partnership with Buncombe County. Sims said he had raised six questions with town leaders and read those questions to the committee, asking specifically about the status of federally committed funds, construction guidelines after Hurricane Helene, and Buncombe County’s reporting on construction progress and budgets.
"What is the status of the federally committed funds? Who's checking and reporting if they're still committed?" Sims asked. He also asked whether the Woodfin–Buncombe County agreement from 2017 is being updated and whether the county provides regular construction progress and budget updates to the town.
Shannon, a town staff member who responded to Sims before the meeting, is reported in the record as having answered many of his questions but Sims asked that the town share the written responses with the committee and the public. Committee members asked staff to share Shannon’s responses with the committee.
Sims said Buncombe County currently aggregates greenway data across multiple projects, which makes it difficult for Woodfin residents to see details for the two local greenways (named in the public record as the "Bow Catcher" and "French Bridal" projects in his remarks). He called for more project-level data on timeline, objectives, budget and business performance practices and asked whether auditing or regular performance reviews have been done since 2017.
Committee Chair and staff acknowledged the request and agreed to share the material Sims referenced. No formal motion or vote on the greenways reporting issue was recorded in the meeting minutes; the transcript records a request from Sims and a staff promise to circulate the responses he previously received from Shannon.
The discussion occurred during the committee’s public forum; committee members noted they had asked Buncombe County for updates in other venues and that the town’s ability to require separate accounting depends on the terms of the interlocal agreement.
Looking ahead, committee members said they would forward staff-provided answers and encouraged the town to maintain clear lines of communication about multi-jurisdictional projects so residents can assess progress and costs.
