The state is donating 11 acres of land to Black Mountain for a new emergency operations center.
Black Mountain town officials are proposing a "multi-purpose emergency services station" on the site, state records show.
It would be used to train firefighters, law enforcement and emergency managers, according to the documents. Town manager Josh Harrold declined to discuss the matter before hearing from the state.
The Council of State, led by Gov. Josh Stein, unanimously supported the gift in a vote Tuesday morning.
The land was the property of the Department of Health and Human Services, on the state's Neuro-Medical Treatment Center campus. It's located off North Fork Road.
Black Mountain's response to Helene
Hurricane Helene hit the area hard, dropping more than 13 inches of rain across two days. Winds flattened trees, and floodwaters washed out roads and bridges, leaving people trapped without power or cell service.
In the days after Helene hit the area, Black Mountain responded to the communication outages by using old-fashioned gatherings known as a town meeting. Officials stood on a picnic table in the center of the town and gave key updates to whoever was gathered around at 3 p.m.
"Helene was a devastating storm that tested every part of our infrastructure and emergency systems,” Harrold said.
About 40% of the storm's 108 deaths happened in Buncombe County, home to Black Mountain and Asheville.
In July, Black Mountain established an Office of Recovery and Resiliency to oversee disaster response — "not just replacing what was lost, but creating systems and structures that will serve and protect Black Mountain for generations to come," Harrold said in a press release.
The town is also forming a Community Emergency Response Team, comprised of civilians trained by the fire department.
"The concept is simple and vital: volunteers that are prepared for disasters as individuals and for their family; be ready to assist their immediate neighbors nearby; and be trained and equipped to 'plug in' to the first responder organizations in the community to aid," a press release announced.
