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Town manager reports park repairs complete; FEMA reimbursements progressing and SRF sewer outreach underway
Summary
The town manager said repairs to park facilities and a bridge from storm damage are complete, the town has about $600,000 obligated by FEMA with roughly $130,000 reimbursed so far, and staff are pursuing SRF funding and surveying households for sewer connections.
The Fletcher Town Manager reported that storm-damage repairs to the town park — including ball fields, electrical work, a new electronic sign and a repaired bridge and stream bank — are complete and that the town received a certificate of completion with a one-year warranty for the work.
"We got our certificate of completion," the manager said, praising the contractor’s work and noting the bridge is reopened for public use.
On Hurricane Helen recovery, public works identified roughly 10 piles of stump and root-ball debris that the town lacks equipment to remove. The manager said the county and FEMA contractor have been contacted, but slow progress could lead the town to rent equipment and haul small piles itself, with the additional cost treated as a town expense if necessary.
Regarding federal assistance, the manager said FEMA has obligated about $600,000 toward roughly $1 million in eligible public assistance expenses, with about $130,000 reimbursed so far. "We've got over five, I think 600,000 that's obligated. We've had about 130,000 actually reimbursed back," he reported, adding that the town has cash reserves to bridge timing gaps while reimbursement is processed.
On sewer expansion funding, staff reported they surveyed 34 households about potential connections via State Revolving Fund (SRF) assistance; roughly half returned full responses. Early indications are SRF could provide turnkey connections covering most costs, but staff will follow up with the health department for need documentation and pursue sealed cost estimates.
The manager also announced two upcoming community events: a Fall Community Appreciation Day (shredding and medication take-back) on Oct. 24 at First Citizens Bank, and a Halloween Crawl at Bill Morgan Community Park on Oct. 25.
Next steps: staff will continue FEMA reimbursement follow-up, decide whether to address remaining stump/root-ball removal in-house, pursue SRF application details and cost estimates, and coordinate event logistics.
