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Capital quarterly update: city outlines recovery projects, $415 million HMGP applications
Summary
Interim Capital Director Walter Eyre presented a quarterly capital update that highlighted completed garage repairs, the Nasty Branch Greenway design, Oakley Civic Complex/Fire Station 9 plans and a package of eight HMGP project applications with up to $415 million in potential mitigation improvements under review.
Interim Capital Management Director Walter Eyre told the Asheville City Council the city is framing capital and recovery work around making a "stronger, safer and more connected" Asheville as it completes steady-state and recovery projects.
Eyre listed recently completed work including repairs at the Rankin and Wall Street garages and upgrades to Burton Street playgrounds and courts. He said the design for the Nasty Branch Greenway (a three-quarter-mile greenway from McDowell Street to Depot Street) is expected to be complete by the end of the year and construction would start early next year with an estimated 18-month duration.
For bond-funded work, Eyre discussed the Oakley Civic Complex Phase 1 project (New Fire Station 9), describing a planned 2.5-bay LEED-certified fire station with a solar array and later renovation of vacated space for a police substation. He said design and community engagement will continue through fall 2026 and construction is expected to begin in early 2027.
On infrastructure recovery, Eyre reviewed federal funding sources and sequencing: FEMA Public Assistance (PA) for base repairs, FEMA HMGP for higher-level mitigation, and HUD CDBG-DR for community-driven recovery investments. He said city staff worked with recovery consultant Haggerty to submit eight HMGP project applications that, if fully awarded, "would result in $415,000,000 worth [of] potential mitigation improvements." Those applications are under review by the North Carolina Emergency Management Division, with staff expecting feedback in November and noting the federal review process can take up to two years.
Eyre also described HMGP project scopes that include structural upfits and a secondary-power package of traditional generators plus solar and storage for 12 city-owned critical facilities (including municipal buildings, multiple fire stations and the Harris Cherokee Arena), and he emphasized design sequencing to match inbound funding. He closed by reminding the public that the city project dashboard is available at ashvillenc.gov/projects.
No formal council action was taken on the capital update; staff committed to follow up on specific signal-timing questions and dashboard clarifications raised by council.
