Special Montreat Minute – May 14, 2024

Fellow Montreaters—

Ordinarily, I look forward to writing you about all things Montreat. But this time less so. First, the positive news.

As you know, after the Hurricane last September, our Town was devastated. All five bridges were impassable, mud slides severely affected roadways, more than 180 trees fell on Town rights-of-way, and countless more on private property. Over a dozen water culverts were destroyed. Our water system, like everyone else’s in WNC, was rendered inoperable. 13” of rain took a toll on all of our roads, collapsing surfaces and undermining edges. Streambanks, so critical to our beautiful Flat Creek, were devastated, creating even more mud slides. And much devastation.

But through it all, even well before the hurricane made landfall, your Public Works staff, Police department and Town office staff were preparing for the storm. During the storm, Public Works was endangering their lives clearing culverts, moving trees from live electrical lines, and other dangerous work to keep us safe. The Montreat Police officers endangered their lives knocking on doors telling residents to evacuate and doing welfare checks. It was heroic work, far above and beyond the call of duty.

For the last seven and a half months, those same staff have been assessing damage and prioritizing projects, repairing and restoring high priority projects, and working closely with FEMA representatives and a disaster assistance consultant. They have identified and grouped 68 storm projects with an estimate of nearly $12 million to restore. That is more than five times our annual budget. We have spent more than $800,000 on storm projects thus far and have not been reimbursed a penny yet. Those funds were used to:

• Repair our water system within two weeks of the storm, other municipalities were without water for two months or more.
• Pay overtime to staff and hire contractors to supplement our staff
• Bring all five bridges to passable standards
• Repair or replace culverts, protecting against further damage
• Undertake Flat Creek and tributary stream stabilization
• Remove hundreds of dump truck loads of trees and brush to clear our roads and pathways
• Repair some portion of the 17 miles of Montreat roads, stabilizing them until restoration can be done
• Restore the Town Hall to full operating condition
• And so much more

And now to my primary point. Many residents are not satisfied with the work that has been done and/or the speed of progress. They have been contacting Town staff and Public Works Director Barry Creasman, even calling him on his personal cell phone. I ask you to please stop telephoning Barry. He is aware that your road needs to be paved or a culvert needs replacing or a tree is leaning toward your property. He cannot and will not move your concerns ahead on the priority list. The primary driving factor in completing many of these projects is financial– obtaining funds to purchase materials and pay contractors.

Bumpy roads and dodging potholes will be a way of life for us for quite a while.

This damage happened overnight but will take years to be completely repaired. If you have something of a recent nature to report, please do so by reporting it to Town Hall staff at 828-669-8002 (not Barry) and they will contact our Public Works Department.

If you would like to see the list of projects we have submitted to FEMA, CLICK HERE.

For 128 years, Montreaters have come together to solve problems and make Montreat a better place. I know that with patience and working together, we will succeed once more.

Mayor Tim Helms