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No applications for Jackson Tourism Capital Project Fund
BY HANNAH MCLEOD STAFF WRITER
The Jackson County Tourism Development Authority created its own Tourism Capital Project Fund this year. However, when the deadline came around for the first cycle of funding on Aug. 1, no applications had been submitted.
The Tourism Capital Project Fund’s purpose is to “provide leveraged investment in tourism projects that will increase visitation and attendant spending and overall economic impact for Jackson County.”
This allows a process through which stakeholders in the county can apply for money generated through tourism, by way of a room tax, to fund projects that improve the county for residents and tourists alike. By funding capital projects, tourism bureaus increase the demand for accommodations, local spending and visitor satisfaction, thereby bringing more money into a county.
According to the TDA, “the Tourism Capital Project Fund offers a level of financial support to create sustainable tourism development activities at the local level that maintain and/or create jobs, attract tourists, and enhance the visit experience.”
Capital projects include things like convention and conference centers; arenas and stadiums; sports facilities; performing arts venues; museums; parks; greenways; trails; public art; visitors centers and wayfinding signs.
Up for grabs this cycle was $500,000 which the TDA had allocated for the TCPF during fiscal year 2021-22. Because applications for the funds were not due until Aug. 1, that $500,000 was rolled over into fiscal year 2022-23. An additional $250,000 is being allocated this year for a total of $750,000 available in fiscal year 2022-23 for capital projects through the tourism fund.
In June, Jackson County TDA Executive Director Nick Breedlove told The Smoky Mountain News that any money not used during the summer cycle of TCPF would remain allocated for TCPF in an upcoming round of applications set for the new calendar year.
“We’d like to see this program continue to grow,” Breedlove told the county commission back in February. “We will scrutinize these projects to make sure they are really good fits, not just that we use up that pot of money. So if there is money left over from this fiscal year, we will roll it into next fiscal year.”
Future fiscal year allocations will depend on anticipated occupancy tax collections.
According to Breedlove, while there was interest in applying for the funds this cycle, several parties said that applying next year would be more feasible.
Earlier in the year, when the application and process for the Tourism Capital Project Fund was presented to the Jackson County Commission, Commissioner Gayle Woody asked Breedlove whether or not the county would be able to apply for funds. Breedlove told the commission that the county would be eligible to apply for funds, with the appropriate county department acting as the applicant.
In Haywood County, the Tourism Capital Project Fund application deadline ended on April 29, and nine applications were received from local municipalities and Lake Junaluska. The Haywood TDA had allocated $500,000 for the fund and awarded that money to five out of nine projects that submitted applications for the funds.
Electric Vehicle Charging Station Now Operational at Town Hall
The Town of Franklin partnered with Duke Energy to install a level 3 fast-charging station in the town hall parking lot. Town Planner/IT Director Justin Setser worked closely with Duke to have the installation done without cost to taxpayers.
This is a fast-charging station, and the cost is set through Shell Recharge via the Green Lot App. The fees are paid via a credit card scanning system, and the Town does not receive any funding from the stations.
“The need for EV charging was brought to our attention and we felt that the location would be beneficial for downtown visitation,” Setzer said.
There are two charging stations available with one indicated for handicapped accessibility. The charge time is dependent upon a vehicle’s battery status at the time of charging.
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This map shows the borders of Haywood County, along with the
most impacted and distressed (MID) section. NCORR photo
Haywood to receive substantial grant funding for affordable housing
BY CORY VAILLANCOURT POLITICS EDITOR
An unexpected $8 million windfall from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has the potential to help community stakeholders make significant progress in the fight to bring more affordable housing to Haywood County.
“It was a surprise to us, and a welcome surprise as well,” said David Francis, county program administrator and community and economic development director. “This wasn’t something, per se, that we applied for. It was that FEMA came down and in conjunction with the state looked at the situation and said, here’s how much you deserve. We’ve never had this much money to be able to put towards affordable housing.”
The grant comes as the result of a draft action plan issued by the North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency.
“What this document has is the background information from HUD to the Community Development Block Grants,” said Francis. “They take statistical information that they have to build the case needed to arrive at an amount.”
According to a preliminary damage assessment conducted by FEMA from Aug. 25 to Sept. 2, 2021, 563 residences were impacted in the 11-county disaster region, with almost 10% of them a total loss.
Another 206 residences were deemed to have major damage, defined as “substantial failure to structural elements of residence or damage that will take more than 30 days to repair.”
An additional 160 residences received minor damage, meaning they could be made inhabitable with repairs in a short period of time, and 141 residences were designated as “affected” but still habitable.
To help residents find assistance, the North Carolina Office of State Budget Management set up a disaster recovery center in the Historic Haywood County Courthouse. The office received 205 applications for assistance from Haywood County residents, with 45% of them asking for housing repairs.
Two months after President Joe Biden’s Sept. 8 disaster declaration, FEMA had counted more than $18 million in federal grants, flood insurance payments and loans for businesses, homeowners and renters in Buncombe, Haywood and Transylvania counties.
The $18 million included just over $3 million in grants for 673 households, $3.5 million in U.S. Small Business Administration disaster loans and $11.8 million in National Flood Insurance policy claims.
Of the individual assistance rendered by FEMA, 13.3% went to households below the poverty line, 13.9% went to people with disabilities, 16.7% went to seniors 65 and older, and 21.9% went to persons under the age of 18 — some of the region’s most vulnerable groups.
The State of North Carolina also chipped in, to the tune of $44 million across 11 counties.
Even with all that aid, unmet needs remain, according to an assessment from June of this year.
The most impacted area, according to the assessment, is within the Haywood County zip code of 28716.
Totals of unmet needs include $16.2 million for housing and $750,000 for infrastructure, which is where the draft plan for the $8 million in Community Development Block Grants enters the picture.
In May of this year, HUD allocated $2.2 billion in funding to the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery program for presidentially declared disasters occurring in 2021.
Of that $2.2 billion, $7,975,000 is expected to be received by a division of the State of North Carolina’s Department of Public Safety, the Office of Recovery and Resiliency (NCORR).
The allocation was made possible through the Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2022, despite an almost total lack of Republican support on a state and national level.
On Sept. 21, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a continuing resolution, called H.R. 5305, that included the Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act.
All 220 House Democrats voted yes, and all 211 Republicans, including North Carolina’s entire Republican delegation, voted no.
Nine days later, the bill cleared the senate by a margin of 65 to 35. North Carolina Republican senators Richard Burr and Thom Tillis both voted yes.
Later that day, when H.R. 5305 returned to the House, it had gained the support of 43 Republicans and passed by a 254 to 175 margin.
Again, all 220 House Democrats voted yes. Again, every single member of North Carolina’s Republican congressional delegation — except for Patrick McHenry (RLincoln) — voted no.
To meet HUD spending guidelines, the project budget stipulates that 5% of the $7,975,000 grant will be used for administrative costs, and a little over 7% will be used for planning costs.
The rest, exactly $7 million, will be used for affordable housing development, while at least 15% of the total grant must be used for mitigation.
At least 70% of the $7 million must be used to the benefit of low- to moderateincome persons.
Francis said the county could expect to see the money as soon as December, and that he wants to be ready to maximize its impact.
“So what we’re now doing is building our inventory and considering how to deploy that money. We’re working with Mountain Projects. They have Bethel Village, they have Harkins Avenue. We’re acquiring new construction figures for those projects and we’ll now be able to move those along. We’re meeting with Habitat for Humanity and the Waynesville Housing Authority and just recently, Mountain Housing Opportunities has reached out,” he said. “We’re meeting with those folks, and trying to develop a program. One of the things we definitely want to do is increase affordable housing, but also increase the rental stock here in the county as well.”
Patsy Davis, executive director of Mountain Projects, said she had presented several ideas to the county that include Bethel Village and infrastructure and development costs for Harkins Avenue.
“We’re looking at how to maximize assets dedicated to affordable housing that we already own,” Davis said.
Notably, none of these plans are yet set in stone; as part of the granting process, a 30-day public comment window opened on Aug. 1.
Haywood County commissioners will host a representative from NCORR during their regular meeting on Aug. 15 to give a presentation on the grant and the methodology behind it.
The presentation will take place in the context of a public hearing, and all comments will end up back with NCORR, which will then submit a final plan to HUD.
For those who can’t make it to the meeting, submit public comments before Aug. 30 to publiccomments@rebuild.nc.gov.
Be heard
The Haywood County Board of Commissioners will call for public comment on potential uses or ideas for the $8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. A representative from the North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency will give a short presentation. Read the entire draft Tropical Storm Fred Public Action Plan online at rebuild.nc.gov/media/2550/open. Those wishing to speak at the meeting should arrive 10 minutes early to sign up for public comment. • Date: Monday, Aug. 15 • Time: 5:30 p.m. • Location: History Haywood County
Courthouse, 215 N. Main St., Waynesville
