Montreat Minute – August 1, 2025
Please Take the Montreat Police Department Survey
The Town of Montreat is committed to making sure our community remains a safe and welcoming place for all. We’re inviting you to share your thoughts and opinions on public safety issues through a brief survey. Please know that all responses are completely anonymous, so tell us what you think.
Your input will help us identify the concerns that matter most to you. Once survey results are in, we’ll share the findings with the community and Chief Eaton will host a series of Town meetings to discuss the top priorities in more detail.
For those of you who have already completed it, thank you. For those who have not, the average time to complete the survey is 6 minutes and 53 seconds. Please take those few minutes to help shape the future of public safety in our Town.
Take the survey by CLICKING HERE
One More Message About CodeRED
Two weeks ago, we shared some valuable information about CodeRed, the emergency notification system for Montreat and Buncombe County. If you missed it, CLICK HERE for the story.
We have heard from some Montreaters that it is a bit of a challenge to sign up. You have to set up an account, make up a password, then set your preferences. It takes a few minutes to do it. But the result can save your life. During Helene, the Town used CodeRed twice to announce evacuations along Flat Creek below the dam. Besides evacuation information, it is also used to announce severe weather, wild fire alerts, Amber Alerts, missing persons, and more.
How many Montreaters think it’s important? As of this week, Montreaters have enrolled:
- 690 phone numbers
- 277 text preferences
- 220 email addresses
Sign up for CodeRed by CLICKING HERE.
Hurricane Helene Restoration/FEMA Update
Progress on Hurricane Helene restoration continues by both Town workers and contractors. The Town Council approved the first round of paving projects last month, and we are expecting to get started on them within the next two weeks. It will be a slow process, as we have submitted $3 million worth of road paving projects to FEMA, and are awaiting approval and funding. But, we expect reimbursement for the Welch Field debris removal, which is over $120,000, any day. We will use those funds, along with other cash on hand, to start the paving projects.
Town Manager, Savannah Parrish, and Public Works Director, Barry Creasman, met with FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation team this week and mutually developed ideas on how to make our infrastructure more resilient. Mitigation, as opposed to restoration, focuses on how to prevent damage from happening as opposed to simply fixing it.
Again, we are most grateful for your patience and encouragement.
Adult Summer Club Picnic on Wednesday, August 6th
The Montreat Adult Summer Club’s final event of the summer is always the highly anticipated Summer Picnic. It will be held on Wednesday, August 6th at 6:00 pm in Gaither Fellowship Hall. Everyone is invited to this free event. Bring a covered dish if you are able. There will be plenty of food and fellowship.
This year’s Picnic will feature The RockHoppers, who will lead an old fashioned “Montreat Sing-Along”. Enjoy seeing old Montreat friends and meeting new ones in the beautiful chestnut-paneled Gaither Fellowship Hall. Come celebrate a wonderful Montreat summer.
Meet Rich Caplan, Zoning Administrator
We regularly profile a Montreat Town staff member or Town Council member. Today we are featuring Rich Caplan, Montreat Zoning Administrator.
July 1 brought a new face to the Montreat Town staff. Rich Caplan began his role as the Town’s Zoning Administrator, taking over from Kayla DiChristina who left to go into private consulting.
Rich brings significant experience to the role, both geographically and professionally. Rich was born in New York but moved with his family to California when he was two, he made California his home for many years, graduating from University of California Berkley with bachelor’s and master’s degrees. He then worked for the town of Simi Valley, just outside of Los Angeles, advancing to Assistant Town Manager. Rich finally decided to leave California and head east, but not too far as he settled in Vail Colorado as Town Manager. In both Simi Valley and Vail, Rich honed his skills in city planning and development– so much so that he began doing consulting and planning for cities across the country. His consulting practice grew, enough so that he resigned his position in Vail and dedicated himself to consulting full-time.
During this time, he married his sweetheart, Nancy, and they had three children. Now, after 43 years of marriage, he and Nancy are proud grandparents of three grandchildren, two of whom are in Greenville, SC, where his daughter lives. In fact, it was that strong family attachment that caused Rich and Nancy to move to Greenville nine years ago. Wanting to stay closer to home and becoming tired of constant travel, Rich decided to go back to municipal government and became the City Manager and Zoning Administrator of Landrum, SC. He decided to retire his full time position earlier this year, but was intrigued with the part-time Zoning Administrator position in Montreat. He interviewed, and Savannah was as impressed with Rich as Rich was with Montreat! He began in Montreat on the first day of our new fiscal year, July 1.
In his spare time, Rich enjoys playing tennis, traveling with Nancy, and is a real fan of college and professional sports. But his favorite past time is spending time with his two grandchildren, ages 8 and 5. They keep him young!
Rich’s Montreat experience has been fast paced during his first 30 days. He’s working closely with the Planning & Zoning Commission on revising sign and flood ordinances as well as getting to know Montreat. What does he think so far? He loves the beauty of Montreat and the pride people have for their town. “I’m very satisfied and glad I’m here because of the people”, Rich commented. “The positive attitude of the community is wonderful. It’s really a pleasure to be here.” We, too, are grateful Rich is here!
Rich works Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and can be reached by phone at 828/669-8002, ext 3.
Updates and Reminders
- As mentioned last week, we are extremely grateful and humbled in having received a $25,000 anonymous gift from a Montreat cottager for storm relief expenses. We offer heartfelt thanks to her and all those who have generously given to the Hurricane Relief Fund.
- The Montreat Landcare Committee will meet on Wednesday, August 6th, at 9:00am in the Town Hall Community Room for its regular monthly meeting. The meeting will be live streamed and everyone is invited to attend. For streaming instructions, CLICK HERE.
- The Planning & Zoning Commission Zoning Ordinance Sub Committee will meet on Wednesday, August 6th, at 9:00 am in the Town Hall Conference Room. The meeting will not be live streamed, but all are invited to attend. For a copy of the agenda, CLICK HERE.
- The Planning & Zoning Commission Sign Ordinance Sub Committee will meet on Wednesday, August 6th, at 10:30 am in the Town Hall Conference Room. The meeting will not be live streamed, but all are invited to attend. For a copy of the agenda, CLICK HERE.
- Do you receive your own copy of the Montreat Minute or know someone who doesn’t? Sign up for the Sunshine List to receive the Montreat Minute and stay “in the know” about the Town’s happenings. CLICK HERE to sign up for the list!
- Do you receive Montreat CodeRedalerts, an emergency communications system used a number of times during the hurricane and wildfires? To learn more about CodeRed or to be added to the list, CLICK HERE.
Questions or Comments?
Do you have Town-related questions or comments to offer? If so, please send them to Angie Murphy at info@townofmontreat.org and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
Have a great weekend
