County Offices Reopening, NCDMV Updates & Restaurant Re-Opening Plans

Buncombe County -- October 23, 2024:  Today,  Buncombe County will reopen to the public during regular business hours

with the exception of most parks and two libraries. Only North Buncombe Fields and Hominy Valley Park will open; all other parks remain closed. All libraries will open with the exception of Oakley/South Asheville Library and Swannanoa Library. Mobile parks and library programming will be announced in the coming days as plans are finalized to bring these services to communities. 

As of this morning, 127 Duke Energy customers in Buncombe County remain without power. Spectrum has restored service to 90% of their customers, but in some places, repairs are taking longer than expected for about 10,000 customers.   

A new Community Care Station opened today at Owen Pool in Swannanoa. Currently, the laundry service is being set up but will be available later today. Community Care Stations continue to be open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and have showers, laundry, food, and in some cases medical care, all available at not cost. The locations for these are:   

A.C. Reynolds High School  
At Home Store (parking lot)  
Big Lots/Innsbrook Mall  
Buncombe County Sports Park  
Bethel United Methodist  
A.C. Reynolds Middle School  
Ingles Swannanoa  
Morgan Hill Baptist Church   

A Boil Water Notice for all City of Asheville and Town of Black Mountain water customers is still in place, meaning this water must be boiled vigorously for one minute before consuming including drinking and cooking. This water is safe to shower in, but still use bottled or boiled water for brushing your teeth. 

Food and water distribution are at: 

Sky Lanes Bowling Alley  
Black Mountain Ingles  
Fairview Elementary  
Swannanoa Ingles  
Linwood Crump Shiloh Community Center  
Pack Square Park  
Buncombe County Sports Park  
A.C. Reynolds Middle School  

Early Voting  

Early voting sites are open everyday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The ballot, wait maps, and other voting information can be viewed at buncombecounty.org/vote. Early voting location sites include:  
Black Mountain Library  
East Asheville Library  
Enka-Candler Library   
Fairview Library   
Leicester Community Center  
South Buncombe Library  
UNCA Health & Counseling Center  
Weaverville Community Center  
Dr. Wesley Grant Southside Center   
West Asheville Library 

Solid Waste 

This week, WastePro is running normal routes for trash and recycling where accessible. 
The landfill is open at 85 Panther Road in Alexander on Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. The Transfer Station at 190 Hominy Creek Road in Asheville is open 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. This is for residential bagged trash and household recycling. Regular fees apply.  
Today only, bagged trash can be dropped-off at AB Tech Enka from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., and tomorrow, Wednesday at 

Owen Pool. 

Recycling can be dropped off at Curbside Management, 116 N. Woodfin Ave., Asheville, Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. There is a drop-off area just inside the gate. 

D-SNAP   

Buncombe County residents can apply for help buying food through the Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (D-SNAP). The deadline to apply is in two days – Thursday. Individuals and households not currently receiving Food and Nutrition Services benefits who were impacted by Hurricane Helene can apply for D-SNAP. Applications can be submitted in-person at Buncombe County Health and Human Services at 40 Coxe Avenue in Asheville from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The application process can also be started online by pre-registering at epass.nc.gov and then calling the DSNAP Call Center at 1-844-453-1117.   

Donations 

Due to the incredible outpouring of support, organizations throughout Buncombe County have received an influx of donations like clothes, shoes and blankets. We can’t accept any more, because we simply don’t have the resources available to store and distribute them. We encourage anyone who wants to assist to make financial contributions to reputable organizations supporting Helene recovery. 

The sentiment extends to volunteers, as well. We have a strong presence from FEMA and emergency response teams from across the state and around the country. The county doesn’t have opportunities available right now for volunteers to work outside of the emergency response structure. We want to respect people’s time and energy, so we gently ask that they only come here if government agencies request their presence or if they have pre-arranged opportunities with community organizations. 

N.C. Department of Motor Vehicles 

At its peak, 25 driver license offices and 28 license plate agencies in Western North Carolina closed due to impacts from the storm. Currently, there are only a few driver license offices closed, one at Burnsville and another at Spruce Pine.   
All WNC license plates agencies have reopened except for Marshall, which suffered extensive damage.  

Some updates: 

Open driver license offices are now designated as credential pick-up centers. 
If your license or ID card cannot be delivered by mail, you can return to the location of your in-person transaction after 21 days to pick up your credential. 

If you complete (or completed) your renewal or ordered a duplicate online, or at an office that hasn’t yet reopened, please visit ncdmv.gov to see where your credential can be picked up. Allow at least 21 days from the date of your transaction to see if it can be delivered to your home or for it to arrive at the designated office for pickup. 
All these details can be found at ncdot.gov/WNCcredentialPickup. 

The DMV License and Theft Bureau, the DMV’s law enforcement arm, assisted 17 law enforcement support requests as a part of this recovery effort, including deployment of 121 personnel to WNC.  

Home Well Testing 

During Hurricane Helene recovery, Environmental Health has received 900 water sample applications. While most of these wells were not directly affected by flood water or damaged by the hurricane, these water sample applications have provided peace of mind for those relying on wells for drinking water.  

Environmental Health will now be focusing on flooded or damaged wells due to the storm. Starting today, Environmental health will shift to only sampling wells that were flooded or damaged during the storm. The office will screen water sample applications to determine if the well was flooded or damaged. For the wells that meet this criteria, well disinfection kits and water sample collection kits will be provided. 

Environmental Health highly recommends residents to only apply for a well water test if their well was flooded or damaged. If the well was not flooded or damaged, residents should consider waiting to submit applications for a water sample. This will allow the office to prioritize our recovery and response activities to help those in our community most impacted by the storm.    

Restaurant Re-Opening 
To help food service establishments reopen as quickly and safely as possible, Buncombe County Environmental Health launched a new, streamlined “Emergency Operations Plan for Food Establishments” form operators can complete and submit online at buncombecounty.org/eh. 

Environmental Health has processed and approved 276 streamlined Emergency Operation Plans for Food Establishments since Thursday of last week.   

Environmental Health is also working with the Division of Child Development and Early Education to assist childcare centers with reopening. Forty-two Emergency Operation Plans have been received for childcare centers; 40 of them have been reviewed, and 32 plans can be approved. Approved plans are shared with the licensed childcare consultant responsible for completing the final review. After the final review, Environmental Health will make a site visit to complete the reopening process.  

If you have questions, you may reach out to Buncombe County Environmental Health by phone at 828-250-5016 or by email at ehrequest@buncombecounty.org