Debbie Beasley
Robbinsville – The county seat has been proactive over the last several years, making much-needed upgrades to outdated portions of its water and sewer system.
One customer has watched from afar and addressed Robbinsville’s board of aldermen at the town’s July 2 meeting, to find out why one community has been left out of the renovation process.
Janet Ward and her husband, Joey, reside off Long Creek Road, which lies outside the municipality’s limits – but is closer to the town’s only active water plant. Just across Long Creek is Milltown, where the Wards have several rental properties.
Janet displayed visible frustration with the lack of upgrades to the water lines in the area, bringing a bucket to show how discolored the water is and even questioned the town’s recent purchase of new, electronic water meters that she referred to as “a China toy.”
“There is no pressure up there at all,” Janet added.
Janet contended that when hydrants were drained in the area, a lack of “safety valves” leads to water already in surrounding homes being removed and heavy sediment being pulled back in.
The end result is costly repairs, such as damaged water heaters and washing machines.“I’m aggravated because we’re still at the end of the system, where there’s old lines,” Janet said. “I don’t know what amount (of money) y’all have got, but I heard it’s a pretty big, massive amount of money.
“I think it’s time for a new system up at Milltown and a brand-new line connected onto the new line.”
Janet also said she took a quart of water from her bathtub and had it tested by an non-cited source, which revealed extremely-high levels of iron (Janet said the levels were 100 times higher than expected, but provided no documentation at the meeting for verification).
“That’s from your old system,” Janet said. “I want clean water to drink and I deserve it. So does everybody else.
“You’ve got money and you’re putting it into other stuff. Fix the system first.”
Alderwoman Debbie Beasley agreed with Janet’s assessment, noting that her complaint about water quality was simply the latest in a long line of frustrated customers who had visited town hall to express their concerns.
“We know it. We’re working,” Beasley said. “The whole town’s water system needs replaced.”
Beasley said she had been in touch with the office of U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-Hendersonville), concerning funding to continue the overhaul of aging water lines. Beasley added that Robbinsville has applied for a $3.1 million grant.
Mayor Shaun Adams said that recent projects have included upgrades to Old Sweetwater Road, plus both Atoah, Circle and Laura streets. Adams noted grants for the projects came thanks to assistance by House Rep. Karl Gillespie (R-Franklin), as well as the Appalachian Regional Commission.
“This has been going on, literally, for 20 years,” said Janet. “I know there’s been enough money through the system that this could’ve been fixed. Big chunks between now and then.”
Other news
* Adams gave an update on the town’s updated well system. The two test wells has already saved 4,316 hours in water and wastewater treatment, which Adams said – based off “standard labor rates” – saves the town over $100,000 a year.
“That’s something I wanted to do from back in 2017, but I faced an extreme amount of opposition on it,” Adams said. “You can see how effective and efficient that was. We could’ve been saving all this money for years.”
* The town received the results of its 2022-23 audit at the June 4 meeting. TD Hill with Lexington-based RH CPAs, PLLC presented the audit, which was the firm’s second local dealing after providing Graham County’s at a continued meeting the evening prior.
Robbinsville’s internal review was clean and warranted few recommendations, with the majority of the adjustments centering around town hall staff. During the 2022-23 fiscal year, the town underwent several changes in front-office personnel.
The audit was sent to the Local Government Commission in June.