Frustration runs high on slow debris removal from the Pigeon River

Mar. 11—After a long discussion about the lack of common sense in government, the Haywood County Board of Commissioners approved a $1.6 million debris clean-up contract for McGill Associates.

The firm will oversee work on the remaining stream debris clearing sites made possible through an $8 million federal/state grant.

The issues that raised eyebrows concerned not allowing machinery to clear streams with conservation easements and protecting two endangered species in the area, the Elktoe Mussels and the Long-eared Bats.

"My frustration is when you start putting a bat and Elktoe mussel in front of people," said Commissioner Tommy Long, adding that the massive flooding likely washed any mussels in the stream all the way to Tennessee. "We have major problems to getting this fixed...This is what gives the federal government a bad name. Common sense, how dare we use that word in government."

His suggestion was to take a few onion sacks to collect any mussels left behind, put them in a fish tank for a couple of weeks and release them after the work is done.

Another frustration was the prohibition on cutting down any trees between mid-May and the end of July to gain access the stream in certain areas.

The Northern Long-ear Bat found in Haywood is susceptible to white nose syndrome, which has killed 90% of certain bat populations in North America in a decade. Rules don't allow any trees be cut down between mid-May to the end of July, the bats' nesting season.

Long had a thought on that issue, too.

Those who really think cutting a few trees on the creek bank will ruin the bats' breeding grounds when there are caves all over the mountains need to tour every church bell tower in the county as all have bats, he suggested.

"These are things that give even local government like us a bad name even though we have no control over this," Long said. "It's a crying shame to put this in front of people."

The process

Mark Cathey, who has been coordinating the Haywood projects for McGill Associates, told the commissioners the second phase of the cleanup following Tropical Storm Fred in 2021 involves the more complicated sites.

These are the sites that need to be engineered — something that's a requirement of receiving the government funding.

The contract price covers engineering, property access coordination, plan development, permitting support, bid procurement and contractor selection/award for 75 clearing and snagging locations and 19 stream stabilization locations. McGill, along with the county, oversees the contract work.

The "snagging and clearing" sites are pretty straight-forward, Cathey said, but the remaining sites require working with partner agencies on channel reconstruction, proposed bank protection measures, or channel stabilization. Hydraulic modeling may be required at 13 of the sites, Cathey said.

In addition to working around endangered species requirements, Cathey explained, the projects still need landowner permission for 35% of the sites. He asked the board members to lend a hand if they knew any of the property owners.

He also discussed the N.C. Land and Water Fund requirement that debris needed to be cleared by hand on conservation easement properties.

Commission Chairman Kevin Ensley said that considering all the damage done by the 2021 flooding, it seemed like the requirements missed the mark.

"We're being so careful, but when that deluge happened, it wiped out everything," Ensley said.

"It seems negligible," chipped in Cathey. "You're not going to remove that (debris) by hand unless you have 100 people, and you still will have to have equipment to load it."

"Maybe we could have a work day and invite them to help," Vice Chairman Brandon Rogers suggested.

In an email response, Will Summer, the executive director of the N.C. Land and Water Fund, (formerly the Clean Water Management Trust Fund,) said when many projects were funded, there were restrictions on disturbance of natural features that generally prohibit cutting of trees in the easement.

"That said, I know that Haywood County has experienced some extraordinary flooding associated with Tropical Storm Fred, which may have resulted in unnatural buildup of debris that may pose a hazard," Summer said. "We will work with the county and their vendors to find a solution that ensures that our conservation values are protected and any critical hazards are able to be dealt with appropriately."

Unique terrain

Ensley pointed out the stream cleanup needed along the Pigeon River wasn't typical of the flat land areas found in the east. Some places are off the side of a mountain or have extreme drop-offs with no banks.

Commissioner Jennifer Best said the county — and the taxpayers — would have been far better off if more debris could have been cleared during the several-week emergency cleanup period.

The debris has shifted twice in the two and a half years since the flood hit, she said, referring to large storm events in May 2022 and again in January 2024.

"Now we have to weigh the value of human safety against bats and mussels," she said.

Ensley said he remembered the day after the flood.

"It did my heart good. It seemed like every piece of equipment in Haywood County found its way up there. It was remarkable to see," he said. "They weren't waiting on the government to fix it. They were doing it themselves. There's no telling how much that helped."

Commissioner Terry Ramey agreed that volunteers with heavy equipment were working up and down the streams in the aftermath of the flood helping friends and neighbors.

Cathey agreed with the comments, but said receiving $8 million in government funding meant complying with the rules.

Long suggested looking into having a rapid response team ready to launch immediately after an event by having contractors on a go list

"If we have a team ready to go when they allow us to get in there (the streams), imagine how many millions of dollars we could save," he said.

Timeline

Cathey said the Phase I debris removal projects, ones he termed as the "low-hanging fruit," were winding down and that 19,400 cubic yards of debris had been collected.

He said issues regarding trout buffer moratoriums have been resolved, and there would be a meeting with the N.C. Land and Water Trust the following day regarding the hand-removal of debris for the conservation easement areas, several of which are county owned. Hopefully, there will be some flexibility on the hand-clearing requirement, he indicated.

Plans are to call for bids in April for the clearing and snagging projects, and bid the stream stabilization package in June, though several complicated sites such as below the Sunburst Trout farm and behind East Fork Baptist Church may take longer and run into early 2025 to complete.