MARSHALL – County Manager Rod Honeycutt provided updates on the county’s 16 FEMA-related projects.
The report came during the Madison County Board of Commissioners July 8 meeting.
Among the 16 projects:
The Hot Springs Library, which was approved for the scope of work. The repair work project is to be bid out to three contractors. According to the county manager, the scope of work should cost under the FEMA threshold, and the county’s insurance will likely cover the repairs.
As for the contents of the building, FEMA issued the county a nearly $72,000 check for the library’s contents, according to the county manger.
Both the Sprinkle Shelton Building and the Madison County Courthouse in downtown Marshall will require a sit-down between the UNC School of Government, county attorneys and FEMA attorneys to change language in the contractor for the construction group, Van Noy Construction, to meet federal regulations in order to apply FEMA money to those contracts.
In 2024, FEMA performed an assessment of the downtown Marshall courthouse, which at the time of the storm was one of the oldest operational courthouses in the state, as it was built in 1907-08.
Honeycutt said the county paid ServiceMaster of Buncombe County more than $471,000 to tear sheet rock and flooring out, adding that furniture along the first floor of the building was destroyed, and mud had washed up under the floor joists in the basement.
The county withdrew its Sprinkle Shelton Building contents application, according to the county manager, as the county’s insurance covered the contents.
As for the contents of the Madison County Courthouse, FEMA issued the county roughly $9,000 for courthouse contents.
At Barnard Park in Marshall, the county has received permission from the FEMA engineer/environmental health team to proceed work with no extracurricular activities.
Hot Springs’ Duckett Top Tower is a two-story lookout tower built in 1936 by the Civilian Conservation Corps for the U.S. Forest Service, and later transferred to the N.C. Forest Service.
As such, according to the county manager, the county does not own the tower itself, but the equipment on the tower.
Honeycutt said the county has been tentatively approved to receive $575,000 for damages to the tower equipment. The county manager said he expects the county to receive that payment from the state by August.
The county was also approved for $14,000 for Duckett Top Road repairs, which the county manager expects to receive at some point this month.
To date, the county has received $5.3 million, including $1.6 million from the state bridge loan. It has spent $2.4 million, according to Honeycutt.
The Madison County offices are located at 5707 U.S. 25-70 in Marshall.
Personal property and debris removal
According to Honeycutt, the county had withdrawn both of its FEMA applications to the grant portal, as the state has now assumed that program through the North Carolina State Mission Assigned Recovery Taskforce (SMART) Program, which was established to assist in the recovery from Tropical Storm Helene, particularly regarding debris removal on private property.
The program was available for any applicants who responded from Sept. 27, 2024 through March 24, 2025.
Temporary courthouse
According to the county manager, the county’s 18 modular office spaces to host its temporary court facilities were delivered. The temporary facility will be located in the fields behind the Madison County Fairgrounds site.
Honeycutt said he anticipates the new court facility to begin operations Sept. 1, adding that FEMA distributed $1.6 million for that facility, of which the county has spent $1.4 million.
More: Madison could receive $5.1 million from FEMA for new courthouse construction
More: Madison County Courthouse plans: 80,000 square foot building, $60 million budget
More: Madison County moving courthouse operations to site near fairgrounds. What’s the timeline?
Johnny Casey is the Madison County communities reporter for The Citizen Times and The News-Record & Sentinel. He can be reached at 828-210-6074 or jcasey@citizentimes.com.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Madison court operations slated to begin at new facility Sept. 1