Black Mountain Town Council appoints Larry Harris to fill vacant seat
Municipality introduces new recreation director, receives update on dozens of projects
Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
May 13, 2026
Former Black Mountain mayor Larry Harris was appointed to fill a vacancy on the town council, May 11, following a unanimous vote by the board. Courtesy photo
A former Black Mountain elected official is returning to the town council, following the May 11 appointment of Larry Harris, who will fill a vacancy on the board created by the resignation of Pam King.
Harris, who served as mayor until 2022, following multiple terms on the town council, was approved by a 4-0 vote, immediately reciting the oath and joining the board.
Eight citizens applied to fulfill the term of King, who was elected in 2020 and reelected in 2024, before announcing her move out of the state. An amendment to the town charter, approved in 2021, requires appointees to fill vacant terms through the next general election. That policy, according to Councilmember Doug Hay, influenced the decision to appoint Harris.
“Instead of thinking about who I think would do a great job for the next two-and-a-half years, I needed to look at the next six months,” he said. “These six months are going to be particularly difficult for the town. We will have a very difficult budget, post-Helene, and we will have the appointment of a new town manager, and the onboarding of that town manager.”
Hay expressed his preference to identify a person who could “hit the ground running.”
“I’m looking at who has the most experience, who can work on the budget and help with onboarding the new town manager,” he said.
Vice Mayor Archie Pertiller, Jr. considered the applicants until minutes before the town council’s regular monthly meeting, he added.
“I am also going to go with Larry Harris,” Pertiller said.
The town was fortunate to receive all eight applications, according to Councilmember Ryan Stone.
“We’re very appreciative of everyone who wants to serve,” he said, as the council completed ballots, unanimously selecting Harris to fill the seat.
The meeting commenced with the introduction of new recreation and parks department director, Jacob Guiot, former Mulberry Recreation Center Director for the City of Lenoir.
“I’m excited to be here,” said Guiot, who attended the meeting, following his first day in the position. “I love the area and I love the town.”
A report detailing the status of 41 ongoing capital projects, more than a dozen non-capital projects and associated grant funding was presented to the town council, following a request made by elected officials in the April meeting.
The spreadsheet, presented by budget analyst Matt Begley, offered an “overview of the landscape for projects and grants,” listing individual items as on-hold, active, future or completed. The data included listings of project area, total estimated costs, funding type and agency and whether funding had been obligated or received for each entry.
“There are a lot of programs that are Helene-specific, so now is a very good time to get grant funding,” Begley said. “Many of these projects are not just for recovery, a lot of them have mitigation attached to them to make our infrastructure more resilient, and, hopefully, have less damage during the next storm.”
While the spreadsheet included projects ranging from the public safety building and the use of temporary facilities for police and fire departments, Veteran’s Park repairs, golf course infrastructure, road repairs and greenway reconstruction, the analyst offered insight into factors complicating the process.
“Several projects have gone through many iterations of funding strategies, based on programs popping up or eligibility concerns with some programs,” Begley said. “For example, the golf course maintenance building, which was been a key one. It started out as FEMA-specific funding, then moved into a program through FEMA and the state program to help meet unmet needs, and now we’re adding to that an application for funding through the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority.”
The loss of institutional knowledge, following the departure of the town manager and assistant manager, coinciding with existing vacancies in the offices of project manager and financial director, creates capacity limitations for staff navigating the complex landscape, according to the analysis.
“We’ve not had a finance director for a little bit of time, and we’ve not had a permanent project manager,” Begley said. “Chad Goins, who is the interim project manager, has stepped in, done a great job, and taken a lot off of my plate… We’ve lost that institutional knowledge we had from staff members who had been here for several years.”
A “greatly increased number of projects” for a town the size of Black Mountain exacerbates those issues, he added, displaying a slide comparing the municipality's ongoing capital projects to nearby jurisdictions, including the City of Asheville, Buncombe and Wake Counties.
The Town of Black Mountain, with two-full-time employees and assistance from the part-time services of multiple Land of Sky Regional Council employees, lists approximately 41 capital projects. None of the other institutions listed reported more than 31, according to the presentation.
“I grouped a lot of the town roads projects together, but if I wanted to inflate the number it could be 16 higher, just in that one area,” Begley said. “We have a lot of projects and limited staff to manage them, especially for a town of our size.”
A recent partial shutdown of FEMA, which resumed full operation, May 1, further delayed the status of multiple projects, according to the budget analyst.
“There were not any developments on their side for about two months, and they were only working on emergency projects, which is a specific category of FEMA projects,” Begley told the town council. “That only includes temporary facilities for planning and public works, so a lot of progress did not happen on those projects, due to the status of FEMA at the time.”
The report offered a detailed examination of specific challenges faced by the Town of Black Mountain, including setbacks with FEMA Public Assistance projects.
“A lot of the projects are also more complex than other jurisdictions, we’re finding,” Begley said. “A lot of our projects were not scoped correctly.”
A complex landscape surrounding capital projects and grant funding was conveyed in the report, but Begley offered a snapshot of “bright spots” that emerged during his review. Helene-related projects represent around 70% of those included in the spreadsheet, according to the analyst.
“One of the biggest bright spots is Land of Sky Regional Council, which has really stepped up. They have six people helping us, and that’s been a huge assistance,” he said. “Another bright spot is that almost all of the projects have some method of having obligated funding or a clear avenue to us finding a grant or a forgivable loan, which is a remarkable thing for this many projects.”
Mayor Michael Sobol requested additional information regarding cashflow required to begin work on capital projects.
“It would be helpful to the mayor, and I think the board, too, to know how much cash we’re going to have to have, and for which projects, on a piece of paper…” Sobol said. “Especially, going into budget time, because we’re going to have to figure out how we’re going to do this.”
Projects estimated to cost more than $1 million must begin with funding from the town, prior to receiving reimbursement from FEMA, Begley told elected officials.
“I think we hear from people a lot who are tired of looking at a broken greenway or a bridge that’s missing, or any number of projects that are still very visible in town,” Hay said. “What would you tell someone if they came to you and asked why something hasn’t been fixed?”
Begley explained he has been surprised by the lengthy recovery process.
“For a lot of these, the engineering takes some time, and especially making sure that FEMA is going to cover the obligated costs, takes some conversations between FEMA and engineers,” he responded. “There are several projects right now that are getting underway, have the scoping correct, and are going to be moving into construction. I know there are several timelines we have with construction starting next year, and some that will start as soon as we finalize a contract.”
The town council, following a public hearing, adopted an ordinance, recommended by staff and the planning board, regulating data processing facilities and cryptocurrency mining. The provisions of the ordinance included height restrictions, use separation, submittal requirements, structural requirements and public utility approval. The facilities, limited to not exceed 55 decibels between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. and 50 decibels from 7 p.m. to 8 a.m., are approved for use only in the highway industrial zoning district and require screening around the perimeter.
Elected officials directed town staff to present a proposal for a moratorium on the facilities.
“It’s really a pressing issue across the state, and across the country. It’s a timely conversation that every municipality is having,” planning director Michelle Kennedy said. “We are lucky in the fact that as you look at the size of land that’s needed for a data center, as best we can determine today, there is really only one location, even possibly within the town limits of Black Mountain, even accommodate a small data center.”