Black Mountain residents advocate for repairs to Lakeview Center for Active Aging
Mayor and town council clash over proposal to address structural upgrades
Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
October 15, 2025
The Lakeview Center for Active Aging has been closed to groups larger than eight people since Tropical Storm Helene, after an assessment discovered past fire damage to the floor framing. Photo by Fred McCormick
Calls for repairs to stabilize the top floor of the Lakeview Center for Active Aging, allowing programming for senior citizen to return to the building, were shared, Oct. 13, as the Black Mountain Town Council assembled for its regular monthly meeting.
The structure, which experienced approximately four feet of flooding on the bottom level during Tropical Storm Helene, has been closed to the public since September of 2024, and is currently occupied for use as office space by the Black Mountain Recreation and Parks Department.
The two-story wood-framed building overlooking Lake Tomahawk is among many town facilities, damaged by the natural disaster, awaiting federal funding for repairs. While the timeline for completion of the bottom floor remains unknown, damaged framing discovered during the post-Helene assessment caused the capacity of the upper level to be reduced to no more than eight people.
Recreation and parks staff, displaced when their offices at 304 Black Mountain Avenue were flooded by the nearby Swannanoa River, moved into the top floor of the building late last year. The rest of the structure, supported by load-bearing masonry foundation and wood-framed walls, remains unoccupied.
A report detailing an evaluation, contracted by Belfor Property Restoration and conducted by Catawba-based Ruggles Engineering, was submitted last November. The document noted damage to floor framing, which was impacted by “a fire sometime in the past.” The recommendation that accompanied the observation required the installation of 2-inch x 10-inch joists to support the floor framing.
Mayor Michael Sobol contacted Asheville-based Medlock & Associates Engineering last spring to conduct a second evaluation.
“Medlock came back and concurred with the original evaluation,” Sobol said. “They came up with a design that would scissor truss onto the existing joists, which would be around 20, 2x10 joists, each around 20 feet long. Then attach an additional eight to 10 that were 10 feet long. That would shore up the floor.”
The mayor sought bids for the project and received an emailed confirmation from Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) representatives that the repairs would not present a duplication of benefits issue with the ongoing FEMA and N.C. Emergency Management public assistance project for the Lakeview Center.
The highest bid for the project, submitted by Ewing Construction, was $9,600 and included installation of the joists, in accordance with the structural engineering recommendations from Medlock & Associates. The price also covered moving or replacing of any plumbing, gas and electrical infrastructure, as required.
The design criteria presented the floor’s live load as capable of supporting 100 pounds per square foot.
Former Black Mountain mayor, Carl Bartlett, who was elected to the office seven times from 1989 - 1997 and from 2006 - 2013, criticized the town council’s lack of response to the mayor’s proposal during the October meeting.
Reading a prepared statement, Bartlett called criticism of town employees “unfair,” suggesting they were “doing exactly what the board wants them to do.”
“If there is anything irresponsible, it’s the board’s direction of the town manager and his employees,” he said. “Actually, the board serves as a board of directors, just like a board of directors in the commercial world.”
While temporary relocation of the recreation and parks employees after Helene was necessary, Bartlett conceded, he countered that the need to restore the recreational and educational space should be a priority for elected officials.
“The idea was to temporarily bridge the issue, until better arrangements could be made,” he said. “One year later, that bridge has become a parking lot.”
Prior to Helene, the Lakeview Center hosted a range of programs for local senior residents, including exercise, educational and recreational activities. The site, through a partnership with the Council on Aging, once welcomed residents ages 60 and over to eat lunch together. The meal program still exists, according to Senior Center Administrator Melinda Polites, through a pick-up program from Monday through Friday. Staff served 1,053 meals in September alone, according to Polites.
While that service is appreciated, according to Joyce Miles, it “misses the point,” she told the town council.
“When they take those meals home to eat them, they’re still alone,” Miles said. “Loneliness has become a chronic disease in America.”
Recreation and parks staff continue to host exercise and chair yoga classes at the Black Mountain United Methodist Church, Monday, Tuesday and Friday, and Sit & Be Fit, Tai Chi and Skip Bo games at the First Christian Church, other groups are meeting at private residences and businesses throughout town, according to Polites.
The Black Mountain Center for the Arts also allows space for a regular Mah Jong group, but not everyone can access those programs, Miles told the town council.
“We need the Lakeview Center for the seniors,” she said. “There are several seniors who only use Mountain Mobility as their means of transportation. Mountain Mobility took them to the senior center to participate in the games, activities, exercise classes and to hear the speakers that come. They have no other means of transportation to do any of that now.”
By not moving forward with repairs to the upper level of the center, elected officials are displaying “a lack of concern” for the seniors, according to Linda Shifflet.
“I was an ICU registered nurse for 40 years in emergency rooms and PACU and I’m well-experienced with the needs of the elderly. I’ve taken care of them all my life,” she said. “The population of elderly in this town is 22.1%, which is nearly a quarter of the population of Black Mountain, who vote for you and trust the town council to have their best interest at heart.”
Many of those seniors volunteered in the aftermath of Helene, she added.
“We did a lot, and I appreciate you all getting the town back up and running quickly,” Shifflet said. “So, it makes me very curious why the senior center is too unstable to have the seniors there, but they can put parks and recreation there. That’s really a misappropriation of use, and it’s been over a year now.”
The programs previously available in the building were often the only form of socialization for local residents living with disabilities, she continued.
“They also used to get Medicare information there, find people who could help them with their taxes and pharmacists would come in to educate them about their medications, which is really helpful when you get older,” Shifflet said.
Bartlett’s condemnation was more pointed.
“These are the people who built Black Mountain to the quality it is today, yet you totally want to ignore them,” he said. “The town receives federal funding through the Older Americans Act, which funds services, including a place to congregate. You’re not providing a place to congregate.”
The former mayor called loneliness a “key factor in the demise of seniors and elderly citizens.”
“Looking at economics, you’re supposed to be handling our funds and looking after taxpayer money,” Bartlett said. “When you look at the town budget, you folks invested $25,000 in revenue from rentals of the Lakeview Center last year. This year, you haven’t made a dime, you’ve continued to let parks and recreation park there.”
The town has received the engineering reports outlining the work that needs to be done and pricing for completing those repairs, he added.
While Bartlett’s allotted three minutes of public comment time expired before he could finish, he later spoke highly of the town employees who administer the senior services.
“The town is blessed to have Melinda and Trevia (Rhodes), who have worked diligently to provide the best services they can, while being handicapped without a facility,” he said. “Mayor Sobol and Ryan Stone have tried to support us, but the other four town council members have failed to step up and provide leadership skills.”
The audience applauded following Bartlett’s comment, and councilmember Pam King responded by admonishing the mayor.
“Do we need to pass the gavel to (Archie Pertiller, Jr.) to enforce that? To make sure we don’t have cheering,” she said.
The town council did not discuss repairing the senior center.
“I have a letter from FEMA that says this particular situation with the joists is a pre-existing condition to the flood…” Sobol said. “I want to remind the board that even though this is not on the agenda tonight, if a motion is passed unanimously, this board could then discuss whether or not to go ahead and authorize the town manager to get this senior center up and running.”