News

Edneyville sewer project moving forward

Commissioners consider plans for the Clear Creek sewer project during a meeting on Wednesday.

By Amy McCraw, Published: October 15, 2025

A sewer project eight years in the making in the Edneyville community moved forward Wednesday after county commissioners approved nearly $14 million for the project’s construction.

“This is a red-letter day. This is a pretty big deal,” Commission Chairman Bill Lapsley said shortly before commissioners voted unanimously to award the project’s construction contract to the Timberline Construction Group out of Pelham, Ala. Timberline was the low bidder for the project earlier this month.
The total $17 million price tag for the Clear Creek sewer project, including the $13,993,755.00 construction contract commissioners awarded Wednesday, will be funded through state and federal grants.
In the motion to award the contract, commissioners also voted to approve $350,000 to administer construction and authorize the county engineer to execute necessary documents.
The award of the construction contract is also pending approval by the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality.
Once the project is complete, sewer lines will run along U.S. 64 East in Edneyville from the N.C. Justice Academy to North Henderson High School where it will connect with the City of Hendersonville’s sewer system.
The sewer project will probably initially serve a handful of customers along the route but others could be added in the future, county staff said.
Lapsley said the project’s funding through grants is important to consider given that only a few customers will initially use the service.
“The fact that his project is being funded by grant money is critical in my mind,” he said. “Once it’s done, it’s going to cost money operate and maintain it.”
Customers of the service will help offset the costs of operating and maintaining the system, he said.
Plans for a sewer project in Edneyville began in 2017 when the county learned it needed sewer service for the new Edneyville Elementary School being built behind the old elementary school in the community.
Commissioners had considered building a sewer treatment plant as part of the project. But the board scrapped plans for the treatment plant last year after learning that the cost for the plant had spiked by 60 percent.
Lapsley said after Wednesday’s meeting that commissioners needed to vote to move forward with the project without the treatment plant because they were running out of time. The portion of the project funded through a federal ARPA award needed to be spent by Dec. 2026.
The final completion date for the project is April 2027.