Buncombe County committee: strategic partnership grants approved; contracts expected by July 1

Rachel, a staff member supporting the committee, told members that the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners adopted the county budget and included the committee's strategic partnership grant recommendations. "The board of commissioners adopted a budget on Tuesday evening and included strategic partnership grant recommendations," Rachel said, adding the county budget is "between 450 and $500,000,000."

Rachel said staff has held a grantee kickoff for awardees, with 14 of the 16 grantees attending. She described a one-hour virtual session focused on introductions and an overview of contracting and insurance expectations, and said staff is preparing draft contracts and performance milestones to share with grantees. "We're working on the draft contracts now so they should be getting those relatively soon so that, hopefully, they can all be signed and fully executed by July 1," Rachel said.

Committee members asked whether unfunded applicants received feedback; staff and members said that targeted feedback was offered to several applicants and that competitiveness was high. Rachel said staff will assemble reporting workbooks and performance milestones and will share those with the committee.

The committee did not take a separate formal vote on the awards during this meeting; Rachel noted that the Board of Commissioners has already adopted the package in the county budget. The committee recorded a separate procedural voice vote to approve the minutes from April 2, 2026, during this session.

Why this matters: the contracting timeline sets a near-term deadline for grantees to begin work and for staff to finalize performance measures that will guide reporting and site visits. Staff said some grantees will be asked to participate in committee site visits and a potential fall grantee showcase to strengthen committee–grantee connections.

Next step: staff will circulate draft contracts and reporting workbooks to grantees and the committee; committee members plan to present highlights to the Board of Commissioners on Aug. 18.