Gov. Josh Stein visited Old Fort on Thursday to highlight $270 million in federal funding that will go toward water infrastructure projects in areas hit by Hurricane Helene.
Nearly five-dozen water and septic system projects in 26 western counties will receive funding through the state Department of Environmental Quality. The funds are part of a total of $685 million appropriated by Congress last December to help communities in North Carolina rebuild their water and sewer infrastructure to be more resilient to future flood events.
Old Fort will receive a total of $15 million — including $5 million for sewer repair and $10 million for water line improvements.
Most of the projects will take years to complete. Stein said the increasing frequency of major flood events makes it vital for local communities to rebuild with resiliency in mind.
“We have to be better prepared to withstand these storms when they hit our state,” he said at the event at the McDowell Technical Community College Workforce Education Center. “Projects like this one in Old Fort is just one example of how DEQ is incorporating resilience into that recovery work.”
State Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Reid Wilson and Old Fort Mayor Pam Snypes joined Stein at the event.
“Old Fort is not alone,” Wilson said. “All across the mountains, towns have experienced major damage to their drinking water systems, their wastewater systems, their septic systems. Here, it washed away portions of the water distribution system and the wastewater collection systems in several areas. And it was just kind of amazing to see that extent of devastation.”
Old Fort aims to improve a total of 23,600 linear feet of water lines and 5,500 linear feet of sewer infrastructure. Snypes said the funding will be transformational for the town.
“It’s not going to be a fast process,” Snypes said. “But once it’s completed, the town of Old Fort’s water and sewer system will be one of the best in Western North Carolina.”
Where else the money is going
Among the other recipients highlighted by the governor’s office:
- Chimney Rock Village (Rutherford County) will receive $2.7 million for a drinking water system resiliency project, $5 million for a new wastewater treatment plant and sewer resiliency improvements, and $4 million to extend sewer lines to connect homes with septic systems.
- Western Piedmont Council of Governments will receive $7.5 million to repair 300 Helene-damaged and failed septic systems in Alexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Burke, Caldwell, Catawba, Mitchell, Watauga, Wilkes, and Yancey counties.
- Town of Burnsville (Yancey County) will receive $8.2 million for drinking water supply and distribution improvements and nearly $4.9 million for Hickory Lane and West Glendale Avenue sewer line improvements.
- Town of Clyde (Haywood County) will receive $4.3 million for a drinking water system interconnection with the Towns of Canton and Waynesville, and $5 million for wastewater system resiliency improvements.
- Town of Crossnore (Avery County) will receive nearly $5.4 million for drinking water system resiliency improvements and nearly $5 million for wastewater system resiliency improvements.
The full list of recipients can be found here.
Two more deadlines for additional funding are coming up in January and March. Local governments can apply through the state Department of Environmental Quality.
FEMA reimbursement delays
Stein also said he and members of the state’s congressional delegation will continue to push the federal government to pick up the “incredibly slow” pace of FEMA reimbursements for local municipalities that are struggling after having to use their own funds to cover the cost of disaster recovery.
There is currently about $1 billion worth of funding that has been expended by local governments and is currently awaiting FEMA review, Stein said. The requirement by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem that all expenses over $100,000 must receive her personal approval has created “an additional layer of red tape,” he noted.
“We have been championing our local governments that put money out the door with the full expectation that FEMA would reimburse them. … What happens is it just immediately builds back up, because it’s taking too long for that review to happen,” Stein said.
