Susan Phillips Gunther Jochl Village Manager Mayor Stacy C. Eggers IV Scott Brown Village Attorney Mayor Pro Tem Council Members David Ammann (828) 898-9292 Dick Casey www.seesugar.com Wade Wittman THE VILLAGE, OF SUGAR MOUNTAIN 251 Dick Trundy Lane Sugar Mountain, NC 28604 Manager's Monthly Report April 15, 2025 Hurricane Helene: Work continues throughout the Village on assessing damage from Hurricane Helene. The deadline for submitting our inventory of damages to FEMA has been extended until April 17th. The Village requested this extension due to additional damages to our roads that have been discovered that were not previously visible. The FEMA Inspectors have completed all inspections except for these additional damages that we have found. The process of the debris removal and repairs to our infrastructure has begun as previously reported. Repairs have been completed on Rough Ridge Road as well as the removal of the dirt and debris from the slide outside the Reserve II gate. Repairs and stabilization of the bank on Park Lane continues. Tri-County Paving will complete the repairs and repaving of Briarcliffe Road early next week. The process ofthe debris removal continues and will last through early May. Part of the cleanup program is a mitigation effort to remove trees that present a potential danger to public health and safety throughout the Village. This does require the occasional removal of a live tree along the roads that have been classified as a hazard tree under FEMA regulations. The removal of live growth will be kept to only FEMA eligible trees, with several needing to be removed during the debris operation. We currently have four of the Sennebogen machines working in the Village. These machines have a thirty-five foot arm with a saw and grapple attachment on them that is capable of lifting 14,000 pounds of debris at once. A report from Avery County showed there have been 35,548.6 cubic yards or 1,123 loads removed from Sugar Mountain as of April 8, 2025. There have been 543,826.8 cubic yards or 12,360 loads removed as of this date in Avery County. The weekly FEMA Assistance data points for Avery County reported that more than $14,000,000 has been awarded in Individual Assistance (IA) to residents of Avery County as of April 7th. Ofthe 4,321 valid registrations, 3,841 were referred to IA where 2,833 were found eligible for Housing Assistance and/or Other Needs Assistance. Currently, less than ten (10) households from Avery County are checked into hotels through the Transitional Sheltering Assistance program. Golf Course: With the Contract approval by the Council on Tuesday, April gth to Wildlands Construction, the repairs to the golf course will begin in the upcoming weeks. The engineers are currently working on the design elements of the project. While it is a time and materials contract, preliminary estimates are $1,000,000 plus for all of the repairs to the golf course and streams. Currently, we are planning to open the course for play with nine holes on Saturday, May 10th. As work progresses, we will open additional holes and have a better idea of an anticipated date of completion of the repairs to the entire course. 2025 Tennis: The tentative opening day for the 2025 Tennis Season is Friday, May 16th. Weather permitting, staff will begin preparing the courts for play in the upcoming weeks. The fence on courts 1 and 2 that was damaged by Helene will be repaired and posts replaced in early May. Homewood Suites (Morlin Hospitality, Tynecastle Hwy): The Board of Adjustment will meet on Tuesday, May 27th at 10am to consider an application from Morlin Hospitality to amend the Special Use Permit previously granted. Morlin Hospitality is requesting an amendment to the permit to be able to divide the 22.76 acre property into two parcels; one 8.56 acres that the hotel will be constructed on and another tract of 14.20 acres. Billboard Tynecastle Highway: Six months ago, Hurricane Helene's winds brought down the billboard at 2515 Tynecastle Highway. It lay on the ground for several months, then was dismantled and it lay in pieces until recently when the owner of the property began to reconstruct it. The Village issued a stop work order on March 24, 2025. The owner has applied for a sign permit to rebuild the billboard. The application has been denied due to the structure being more than 50% damaged. The applicant has reçeived the denial letter and has ten days from receipt of the letter to appeal the Zoning Administrators decision to the Board of Adjustment. This same applicant has petitioned the Council to consider a zoning ordinance amendment to allow him to rebuild the billboard due to damage caused by a natural disaster. Property Tax Collections: Of the $1,435,955 total 2024 levy, $1,421,608 or 99% has been collected with a balance of $14,347 uncollected through April 10, 2025. Kudos to Tammy on this collection rate! A balance of $1,214 remains uncollected for the 2015-2023 tax years. Taxes were due by Monday, January 6,2025 and now all unpaid taxes have begun to accrue interest and penalties. Tammy has sent reminder letters to all property owners that have past due property taxes and will ask Council to approve advertisement of the 2024 tax liens at the April 15th Council meeting. Administrative Matters: The Village offices will be closed on Good Friday, April 18th. The Police Department will be on a regular schedule throughout the holiday weekend. There will be no change in the Village household trash pick-up schedule. All Avery County convenience sites will be closed on Friday, April 18th. Respectfully submitted, / - In ypo Susan Phillips Village Manager