A first-of-its-kind effort to mitigate landslide risks will soon be underway in the Grovemont neighborhood of Swannanoa. The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday night to approve a $794,000 contract for design and engineering work on the project with Raleigh-based ECS Southeast.
As previously reported by BPR, the Grovemont landslides triggered by Hurricane Helene were extensive: nine separate slides, together nearly 2.4 miles long, with an average width exceeding two football fields. Federal and state agencies don’t have a clear process for addressing such large landslides, so county staff have been working to pilot a funding and implementation strategy.
Kevin Madsen, Buncombe’s Helene Recovery Officer, noted in a presentation to the board that Federal Emergency Management Agency funding will completely cover the cost of the ECS contract. The company’s efforts will include aerial imaging of the landslides, soil testing, and recommendations for engineering projects that could prevent further slides in the area.
Work is expected to begin in early January and conclude in October. Madsen did not share any cost or timeline estimates for actually implementing mitigation measures, although a prior FEMA estimate reported by the Citizen-Times projected the expense at roughly $17 million. (The engineering study itself came in under an initial budget estimate of $1.3 million.)
While Board Chair Amanda Edwards acknowledged that money for mitigation remained uncertain, she said the effort still reflected Buncombe’s responsiveness to community concerns. “The residents of Grovemont that I know that live there, that are impacted, are very excited to see this happening, and to know that the county and FEMA are taking a real interest in the long-term impacts to their neighborhood,” Edwards said.
Should the Grovemont project be successful, Buncombe officials hope to use the same model for 24 other complex landslides caused by Helene across the county. Landslide mitigation is among the initiatives included in the recently adopted Helene Recovery Plan; the document notes that the “primary consideration and challenge for this project will be funding and cost reasonableness.”
Other tidbits
- On behalf of the county’s Early Childhood and Development Committee, which directs a roughly $4 million annual fund supporting pre-kindergarten and other youth education, Commission Vice Chair Martin Moore updated his colleagues about revisions to the committee’s approach. In contrast with its current “blend of projects across various priority areas,” Moore said the committee would move to a “focused funding strategy” in fiscal year 2027-28. It’s unclear if overall funding would increase. The county resolution that established the fund in 2018 called for an annual increase of 2%;, however, this fiscal year’s funding levels remained the same as last year’s. Current efforts backed by the committee include Community Action Opportunities, the Irene Wortham Center, and the YWCA of Asheville.
- At a briefing prior to Tuesday’s meeting, county Budget Director John Hudson outlined a new proposal for funding local schools — a heated topic in recent budget cycles. The draft agreement would allocate 37.76% of the county’s property and sales tax revenues toward operations at Asheville City Schools and Buncombe County Schools, with adjustments made for enrollment changes or emergencies. If it had been adopted this year, the formula would have recommended $119.5 million for local K-12 systems, a 1.9% increase over the $117.3 million actually budgeted. The board plans to vote on the agreement Tuesday, Jan. 6.
- Commissioners unanimously approved ending the Commercial Hauler Rebate Program, which since 2015 has subsidized landfill fees for large disposal companies. Dane Pedersen, Buncombe’s solid waste director, said the program was originally meant to attract high-volume customers but was no longer necessary, especially given greater-than-anticipated landfill usage in recent years. The move becomes effective at the end of the month and is expected to save the county about $500,000 per year.
- The board appointed members to the newly established Pedestrian Plan Steering Committee. The group will shape the design of the sidewalk, crosswalk, and walking path network throughout unincorporated Buncombe County, which has historically not constructed such infrastructure. A draft of the plan is expected by August.
- The county updated its policy governing ceremonial proclamations by the Board of Commissioners. At a Nov. 18 board briefing, board clerk Sarah Gross had said that “questions have been raised” about the process, without providing further details. The new policy provides clearer guidelines about what types of proclamations are acceptable.
The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners regularly meets every first and third Tuesday, at 200 College St., Room 326, in downtown Asheville, beginning at 5 p.m. The next meeting will take place Tuesday, Jan. 6. See the full recording and agenda of the Dec. 2 meeting.
