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Buncombe selects Grovemont as test case for large-slide stabilization; NCEM to front 75% of engineering study cost
Summary
County staff selected the Grovemont slide in Swannanoa as a pilot for a landslide stabilization process and reported FEMA task-force assessments and A&E cost estimates for dozens of large slides across Buncombe County.
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Public works staff provided commissioners an update on the county's landslide response and stabilization strategy, identifying Grovemont (Swannanoa) as a pilot site to test an approach the county and state hope to scale for other large, complex slides. The county has mapped slides using North Carolina Geological Survey data overlaid on county parcels, identified three categories of slides (county/public-property slides, individual-property slides, and larger multi-property slides) and is partnering with FEMA and North Carolina Emergency Management (NCEM) for assessments and funding pathways.
FEMA's landslide task force has conducted initial assessments on 55 large slides and produced architectural-and-engineering (A&E) cost estimates for 39 of them with a total estimated cost in excess of $9 million for those studies so far. The county selected a vendor to perform the Grovemont engineering study and aims to finalize the contract and complete the study in the early fall. NCEM agreed to front 75% of the estimated engineering-study cost for the pilot, with the balance payable upon study completion.
For individual-property slides the county is pursuing the state's Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) pathways; 31 households had applied to HMGP as reported in the briefing. Burnett described the two-phase cycle for slides: an initial engineering study to prescribe stabilization options and estimate costs, followed by a stabilization procurement and construction process that itself requires an engineering package and FEMA approval for funding obligation.
Commissioners asked about timelines; staff said the timeline for completing stabilization work depends on the engineering-study results and subsequent FEMA approvals, and could not give a firm schedule. Commissioners and staff characterized the Grovemont pilot as a chance to develop a replicable process and emphasized the county's efforts to avoid placing the county at cash-flow risk while pursuing state-fronted payments.
No formal action was recorded; staff requested continued support to finalize contracts and proceed with the pilot engineering study.
