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Town manager reports website launch, FEMA recovery progress and upcoming projects
Summary
Spruce Pine's town manager outlined staff hires, a soft launch of sprucepine-nc.gov, FEMA recovery work (roughly $22 million obligated), an upcoming Highway 226 waterline project, and progress on a new visitor center and pool renovations.
Town manager/planner (speaker 3) delivered an extended staff update covering recruitment, parks and recreation, capital projects, and tourism initiatives.
Staffing and parks: the town advertised the Parks, Recreation & Tourism director position and had received six resumes; the council was told there are two police vacancies and the town is interviewing candidates for a part-time position. Pool renovations took longer than expected — what was originally scheduled as a "2 to 4 week" contractor job became "8 week plus" — but inspections are nearly complete and the facility is being finished alongside concession-stand and amenity work.
Website and tourism: speaker 3 announced a soft launch of the new Spruce Pine website at "sprucepine-nc.gov," said minutes back to the late 1990s were uploaded and described planned online permit modules, a community calendar and tourism content. Staff invited council and the public to review the site and suggest additions or corrections.
Infrastructure and FEMA recovery: the manager said the town has approximately $22,000,000 in FEMA-obligated payments for recovery projects and described several projects in process or awaiting decisions — Westwater Treatment Plant, Riverside/River Bend and the Elm Street project — and explained that some projects are in a contested or slower stage of federal recovery. Contracts for the Highway 226 waterline are complete but staff have not issued notice to proceed and are coordinating timing around events such as the Gem and Mineral Festival.
Visitor center and events: the downtown visitor center is complete and being outfitted with signage and brochures; staff plan to finalize short-term staffing. The manager reported the July 4 Independence Day event drew an estimated 3,100 attendees and described positive cross-departmental staff involvement during events.
The update provided timelines and next steps for staffing, infrastructure work and website improvements; several projects (waterline notice to proceed, FEMA fee and RQ work) remain active and require further administrative action.
