Politics

Lapsley rips Balkcom over loss of $13M sewer grant

County Commission Chair Bill Lapsley makes a point during a meeting on Nov. 3.

By Bill Moss, Published: November 4, 2025

Henderson County has not only lost a $12.7 million grant to fund the Clear Creek sewer line in Edneyville but most likely would forfeit an option B —making major repairs to the failing Etowah sewer system.

That was among the revelations to come out of a meeting of the Board of Commissioners Monday night during which board chair Bill Laplsey fired a withering broadside at state Rep. Jennifer Balkcom, whom he blames for shifting the $12.7 million grant from Edneyville to Etowah without notice.

In a lengthy castigation of the Legislature’s action — “my summation and sermon for the meeting” — Lapsley declared that had Balkcom bothered to call, text or email county officials, she would have learned that the Edneyville project was ready for construction while the Etowah work would take years to design, bid and complete — too late for the state grant that must be spent by Dec. 31, 2026.

“This repurposing of funds came as a complete and utter surprise to not only the board but the staff as well,” Lapsley said. “There was absolutely no advance communication from Rep. Balkcom or Sen. (Tim) Moffitt to us about this change. …

“If you sense my frustration, I hope you do. This is unprecedented to me,” Lapsley continued. “In my 10 years on this board I don’t believe anything like this has ever happened to the county commission. We’ve always had the support of our legislative delegation. To be slapped around like this is just uncalled for and unnecessary.”

Although Balkcom did not respond to the Lightning’s request for an interview, Moffitt defended the Legislature’s decision.

“When the county decided to take over an Etowah sewer system widely known for its failures and discharge violations, they’re now responsible for its repairs,” he said. “So the General Assembly’s position is fix what is the most imminent problem, which is Etowah. ... I have come to find out there are a lot of special interests in Edneyville that are upset about this but we have been overwhelmed by comments from people that don’t want Chimney Rock Road to turn into another Four Seasons Boulevard.”

Etowah repairs: $15 million

In a wide-ranging discussion, commissioners were told Monday night that it would be impossible to design, engineer and award a contract by the end of next year to fix the Etowah sewer lines and treatment plant, which turned out to be in much worse shape than commissioners believed when they bought the system in the summer of 2024.

“We have moved $12.7 million from a viable project to a project that it can’t be used on,” County Engineer Marcus Jones said. “The plant is well beyond its serviceable life.” A rough estimate of the repairs and replacement cost is at least $15 million, but that’s before county engineers have a full understanding of all the problems, Jones said.

Meanwhile, the state Legislature’s decision to defund the Edneyville sewer lines — via a paragraph inserted into a budget bill it adopted on Oct. 21 — leaves the county scrambling to salvage the project. It’s already spent $1,998,005 on design and engineering and the purchase of easements, and last month commissioners authorized a $14 million contract to run the sewer lines, which would connect to the city of Hendersonville sewer system.

Among the options Lapsley described were dropping the project, scaling it back as much as possible — to at least serve Edneyville Elementary School, which is on a failing septic system — or borrowing money to see it through. If that happens, property taxpayers, not ratepayers, would pick up the cost.

“So that means the general taxpayer in Laurel Park or Flat Rock or Mills River — they’re going to have to chip in to pay the debt service on the sewer system in Edneyville, and from day 1, it’s been my position that’s not fair. That’s not right,” Lapsley said. “It should be self-supporting. So that’s why the grant from Raleigh was so key to the whole thing, and now they’ve in effect killed it and pushed the financial burden over on everybody else in the county.”

Lapsley also announced, again chagrined, that Balkcom issued a sweeping public records request to the county last Friday night for all communications among county officials about the Clear Creek sewer project.

“Apparently Rep. Balkcom thinks there’s some kind of shenanigans between this board and the people in the Edneyville community related to this project,” he said. “I have personally never heard of a public official filing a public records request to another public official. I’m astounded at that request. … What a slap in the face to this board by our legislative representative.”

In closing, commissioners directed county administrators, engineers and finance staff to come back with options for a path forward on the Clear Creek sewer system. That analysis, County Manager John Mitchell said, would include a look at the potential for a property tax increase to pay for the sewer line borrowing and the legal consequences, if any, of purchasing easements the county might not use.