Board of Commissioners Recap: June 16, 2026

At its June 16 regular meeting, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners held public hearings on special bond referendums, approved a design and engineering contract for potential landslide hazard mitigation options in the Garren Creek community, and adopted the 2026 Buncombe and Madison County Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan. The Board also recognized Governor’s Volunteer Service awardees, approved policy updates, and approved multiple budget amendments. 

Public Hearing on General Obligation Bond Orders

Commissioners held public hearings on bond orders authorizing the issuance of a $30 million General Obligation Open Space Bond and a $40 million General Obligation Housing Bond. Following the public hearings the Board adopted the bond orders for Open Space and Housing and approved a resolution setting the Special Bond Referendum. “As it relates to recovery, these bonds allow us to leverage millions more for our community,” said Commissioner Terri Wells.

Design and Engineering Contract Approved for Garren Creek Landslides

Tropical Storm Helene caused widespread damage in Buncombe County, including nine landslide sites in the Garren Creek and Craigtown communities in Fairview where tragically, 13 lives were lost. The Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) has obligated funding to pay for design and engineering services to examine potential landslide hazard mitigation options. For background, 55 landslides in Buncombe County were initially identified as impacting two or more properties, 25 met FEMA criteria for Architectural & Engineering services, and the County developed three separate projects. Garren Creek is the second project. In November of 2025, the County released a request for proposals for this work and selected ECS Southeast LLC to complete this work with the contract amount of $1,826,800. This work will be paid for with Public Assistance funding from FEMA and NC Emergency Management. The Board approved contract execution with ECS Southeast LLC. Read the entire presentation.

Buncombe and Madison counties face a variety of natural hazards that pose risks to life and property, prompting both jurisdictions to coordinate mitigation efforts. In response, a multi-jurisdictional hazard mitigation plan has been developed with input from appropriate local and state officials to reduce long-term exposure to such hazards. Adoption of this plan supports the counties’ obligations under state and federal law, including the North Carolina Emergency Management Act and the Stafford Act, ensuring continued eligibility for disaster assistance. The plan has been reviewed by North Carolina Emergency Management and FEMA and has been approved pending completion of local adoption procedures. This plan is a living document and additions or edits may need to be added during the five-year lifespan of the program. Key updates include: 

• Helene recovery lessons integrated throughout the plan
• Expanded future conditions and resilience analysis
• Enhanced social vulnerability assessment
• Updated risk and vulnerability data
• New mitigation actions and priorities
• Expanded alignment with recovery and resilience initiatives

The Board approved the updated plan. Read the draft plan. 

Buncombe County Commissioners recognized and celebrated our local awardees for the Governor’s Volunteer Service Awards. These individuals honor the true spirit of volunteerism through their contributions to our community. This year’s honorees are:

• Lyndall Noyes-Brownwell, Friends of Black Mountain Public Library
• Betsy White, Alliance on Mental Illness Western Carolina
• Kris Medic, Sand Hill Community Garden
• Anne Vilen, Pisgah Legal Services

Avril Pinder introduced Josh Hallingse as Buncombe County’s new Intergovernmental Affairs Director. Read more about Josh Hallingse. 

As part of the County’s regular policy review process, three existing policies were evaluated and updated: Overtime Pay, Sustainable Fleet, and Payment Card Industry (PCI) Compliance. The most substantial change is within the Overtime Pay Policy, which removes compensatory time as a payment option. Beginning with the pay period starting June 27, 2026, all non-exempt Buncombe employees will be paid time-and-a-half for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek.

Updates to the Sustainable Fleet Policy do not introduce major changes. Revisions focus on clarifying language to bring the policy up to date with current practice and shifting operational details from policy to procedures.

For the PCI Compliance Policy, updates are technical in nature. The updates maintain credit card security and ensure compliance with industry standard changes. The revisions also clarify the responsibilities of the Finance Director and the Computer and Information Security Officer.

The Board approved the updates to the Overtime Pay, Sustainable Fleet, and PCI Compliance policies and moved future approval of Overtime Pay and PCI Compliance policies from Board Approved to County Manager Approved policies. 

As the Finance Department completes its year-end accounting compliance, the Government Accounting Standards Board requires several adjustments to lease or subscription financing expenses. These amendments do not require additional use of funds as they are offset by lease and subscription financing revenues. The Board approved the following budget amendments.

The Board also approved budget amendments to increase budgetary capacity for debt service charges and debt issuance costs resulting from the issuance of Limited Obligation Bonds 2026A and 2026B in the current year. Costs in the Public School Capital Needs Fund, the Capital Projects Fund, and the Solid Waste Capital Projects Fund will be fully offset by debt proceeds, while costs in the General Fund will be offset by both debt proceeds and existing available budget. The Board approved the following budget amendments.