Buncombe County Commissioners honor Hispanic Heritage Month, expand Enka recreation destination offerings, increase shelter beds and more

Press release from Buncombe County

With election season in full swing and Early Voting set to kickoff next month, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners honored the winner of this year’s election sticker contest during its meeting on Sept. 17. With more than 2,300 people casting a vote, 12-year-old Maya LeRoy’s ‘I Voted’ sticker design won the 2024 Youth Election Sticker contest. The Asheville City Schools rising seventh-grader says, “I want voters to know that it is important for all different types of people to vote because they should get to have a say in the people that will run our country.”  We asked her to share a little bit of the inspiration behind her design – “The heart is for love and the colors are for diversity.” Maya’s design, along with the traditional sticker, will be available after you cast a ballot in this November’s presidential election. For all the info you need about Early Voting, absentee ballots, and more, click here.

CAPE wins two 3CMA awards

Commissioners also celebrated the County’s Communications and Public Engagement (CAPE) team’s victory of two national awards from the City-County Communicators and Marketing Association (3CMA). The Savvy Awards recognize programs that effectively engage the community and elevate the profession. This year saw more than 1,100 entries in 38 categories and the

CAPE team won Savvy awards for:

• Excellence in an Interview, talk show, or news program for videos featuring artists Leslie Reynalte and Gabriel Eng-Goetz.
• Savvy Award for a one-time event for the 2023 Community Reparations Summit.

Congratulations to the CAPE team for these outstanding accomplishments that represent a commitment to engaging and informing the Buncombe County community.

National Manufacturing Month

National Manufacturing Day is coming up on Oct. 4. To honor this event, Commissioners issued a proclamation citing the importance of manufacturing in Buncombe County. It reads in part: “Buncombe County is home to nearly 400 manufacturing firms specializing in the manufacture of a wide range of products including automotive and heavy-duty truck components, aviation components, food and beverage, plastics, healthcare devices, printing and related support activities, and more. Over the past ten years manufacturing jobs have increased over 27% in Buncombe County adding close to 3,000 jobs.” You can read the entire proclamation here.

Hispanic and Latino Heritage Month

Commissioners are honoring National Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15-Oct.15) as a month-long celebration of Hispanic and Latino history and culture. The proclamation states in part: “In 2000, 2.8% of the County’s population identified as Hispanic or Latino and that grew to 6% in 2010 and 8.1% in 2020, which represents a significant and fast-growing demographic. Representatives from the Hispanic and Latino community assisted the County in developing its inaugural comprehensive Language Access Plan that is helping to make all of the County’s services more equitable. You can read the entire proclamation here. Dozens of representatives from Unete were on-hand to accept the proclamation.

Health and Human Services Board update

The Health and Human Services Board provided Commissioners with its annual update. The report stated some previous challenges include the COVID pandemic and lack of foster care placement options. Looking forward, the HHS Board’s future goals include:

• Identifying communities with a high social vulnerabilities index and increase outreach events by 5% in all areas identified by December 2027.
• Decreasing the Black and white infant mortality disparity ratio by 10% by December 2027.
• Increasing the retention of social work staff by 25% by December 2027.
• Collaborating with other departments and community partners to increase opportunities for “no wrong door” events where Economic
• Services staff are available to complete applications for public assistance programs.

You can view the entire HHS Board presentation here.

Enka Recreation Destination budget amendment

Commissioners approved accepting $4 million in grant funding from the Tourism Development Authority (TDA) to help with the Enka Recreation Destination project. The money will help add four more turf fields and lighting at three more fields. Additionally, the money will help install an inclusive playground, renovate the central restroom, install a new shelter, and more.

The Enka Recreation Destination is extremely popular among locals using its multiple walking areas, challenge course, sports fields, and other amenities. It also continues to boost its profile as an attractive location for regional sports tournaments that generate significant out-of-town spending for the local economy. You can read more about the Enka Recreation Destination here.

Resolution expanding emergency shelter beds

Commissioners are using $3.6 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding that must be obligated by Dec. 31, 2024 to help increase the availability of shelter beds. Last year the County and City of Asheville entered an agreement to fund the expansion of shelter availability that agreement will be extended. In doing so, the County will fund projects by Haywood Street Respite, Safe Shelter, and the Salvation Army that will help increase the amount of shelter beds in Buncombe County. The funding breakdown is as follows:

• $1.6 million to help Haywood Street Respite expand from nine to 25 total beds.
• $1,002,391 to help Safe Shelter create a shelter bed program to eventually have 25 spaces.
• $980,897 to help Salvation Army expand its bed space from 54 to 115.

You can read the presentation given to Commissioners here.

Employee health care plan changes

Commissioners approved changes to the County’s health care plan. After getting updated information from USI, the County’s health care consultant, Commissioners approved the following health care plan changes for 2025:

• Increase to employee contributions ($340,000)
• Modify coinsurance for Standard Plan ($55,000)
• Increase deductible and maximum out-of-pocket on HSA plan as required by IRS ($5,000)
• Co-pays for GLPs for non-diabetic use will increase from $50 to $200
  Approval of weight-loss program VIDA, a program for employees using GLP-1s for weight loss.  The VIDA Weight Management Program would cost $142 per participant per month and includes clinical assessment, medical and nutritional therapy, clinical diabetes and obesity treatment, weight loss and cardiovascular risk reduction tracking, and more

There will be no change to GLP-1 coverage for diabetes treatment. The County will also continue to cover the cost for some weight-loss medications. The changes outlined above result in an additional annual increase of $2 million with the County paying $1.6 million and employees covering the remaining $400,000.

Budget carryforwards

Commissioners approved budget carryforwards $5.1 million for multiple reasons including projects that will be completed in fiscal year 2025, services obligated in fiscal  year 2024 that were not completed by the end of the fiscal year, and other reasons. Those carryforwards by fund are:

• General Fund: $1,762,932
• 911 Special Revenue Fund: $516,758
• Mountain Mobility Special Revenue fund: $2,043,359

Additionally, in fiscal year 2025 the purchase of ambulances will be moved to the Capital project fund due to delays in vendor availability and length of time between when a purchase is made and when the vehicle is received. Total Capital project budget requested to be carried forward are as follows: FY24 Ambulances $854,640. You can read the budget carryforward ordinances for General and 911 Special Revenue Fund here and for Capital Projects Fund here.

Resolution amending Title VI Plan

Commissioners approved a resolution amending the Title VI Plan. As a recipient of federal and state funds for public transportation services, the County is required to adopt a Title VI Plan and execute a Title VI Nondiscrimination Agreement with necessary U.S. DOT Title VI Assurances. Buncombe County first adopted a Title VI Plan for Mountain Mobility in 2008. The Title VI Plan is required to be reviewed and updated each three (3) years. The last Title VI Plan update occurred in 2021. A proposed updated Title VI Plan, based upon the North Carolina Department of Transportation’s (NCDOT’s) provided template, has been provisionally approved by the NCDOT Office of Civil Rights. A detailed summary of the updates to the Title VI Plan is provided in the Management Review Report. You can read the resolution here.