Preparations, cleanup and repairs from Tropical Storm Helene are costing local governments in Buncombe County tens of millions of dollars with many more months to go in the recovery effort.

The City of Asheville has spent or dedicated more than $21.7 million so far, the majority on contracts with companies to repair the mangled water distribution system, according to documents obtained by Asheville Watchdog.

The expenditures range from food for emergency workers to drones to survey damage to emergency road repairs to access the badly damaged water treatment plants.

The city expects full reimbursement for the costs from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Buncombe County, which covers a much larger geographic area, did not provide a breakdown of its storm-related costs. Neither the county nor Asheville has posted its expenditures online, despite pledges from both governments for transparency in public spending.

More than $20.5 million went toward contracts, according to the documents. Asheville also spent $1.2 million between Sept. 25 and Nov. 7 on an assortment of needs, from fast food for workers to side-by-side ATVs for crews to access the water system.

While the price tag is large and growing, the money isn’t coming out of local taxpayers’ pockets, according to the city.

“Per the presidential declaration, all Helene-related expenses in FEMA categories A & B are 100% reimbursable for the first 180 days after the disaster; so yes, we anticipate all of these expenses to be reimbursed by FEMA,” said city spokesperson Kim Miller, who worked with the city’s Cost Recovery Support Group to answer The Watchdog’s questions.

As of Nov. 13, there is no public facing dashboard showing how much Asheville is spending on storm recovery. Asked whether such information would be provided to the public, Miller said city leaders are discussing how to proceed.

“I don’t yet have specifics as to information distribution, but I can say conversations are underway, in alignment with our policy of transparency, to determine the best format with which to share this information with the community,” Miller said.

City Councilmember Kim Roney, who has consistently advocated for spending transparency over the years, said the city was working with an emergency management consulting firm, Hagerty Consulting Inc., to create a public dashboard. The city has entered into a $1 million agreement, part of the $20.5 million it has spent on contracts, with Hagerty Consulting for a broad range of recovery advice services.  

“I continue to support transparency and public engagement, including civic tools like public-facing budget/project dashboards,” Roney said. “I understand staff and the Hagerty (Consulting) firm are in process on such tools.”  

Councilmember Sage Turner said the spending list is far from complete, even 44 days after it started. 

“City spending is as expected, a mix of supplies, repairs, meals, and contracts,” Turner said. “This list will continue to grow in the years ahead and hopefully FEMA will help cover most of these costs. I don’t know where we’d be right now if not for FEMA and state assistance. I’m especially anxious for the rental & mortgage assistance and businesses stabilization funds to be listed on here as paid out; residents desperately need our help to stay housed and in business.”

The Watchdog also asked Buncombe County for specifics on its Helene recovery spending.

The county did not provide a list of expenditures because it is not fulfilling public records requests until Nov. 18 due to “staff issues and other needs.”

“Finance is tracking all spending,” county spokesperson Kassi Day said. “Staff is still in discussions about what the report-out structure will look like – dashboard, report, folder, etc.” 

Purchases at major retailers, restaurants

The city of Asheville made more than 450 expenditures since Sept. 25, according to the spending documents.

Many of these were purchases at major retailers and online stores — including Walmart, Discount Shoes, Home Depot, Lowes, Staples, Northern Tool, Target, Walgreens and Ferguson Plumbing, and totaled nearly $100,000. 

Others were made at restaurants and grocery stores — Chick-fil-A, Bojangles, Papa’s & Beer, Ingles and Publix for instance — and totaled roughly $8,000. 

“These expenses are all emergency protective measures including but not limited to tarps, hand trucks, safety vests and cones, storage totes, and other parts/materials/supplies needed,” Miller said. 

As to the food expenditures, she explained, “All expenses were the direct benefit of emergency responders from the City and other supporting organizations.”

According to a Watchdog analysis of the data, Asheville spent the most money, $288,000, with Confer & Associates LLC  for  “food service for emergency responders from the city and other supporting organizations.”

It also spent $162,325 with Ferguson Enterprises Inc., which sells plumbing supplies and HVAC parts.  

Among other large expenditures were buys totaling $53,607 at Indidar Enterprises for side-by-side ATVs “for the water department to access system,” according to Miller, and $51,215 at Airworx LLC for a drone system.

City has entered into 85 contracts

Asheville has entered into 85 separate contracts related to Helene, ranging from $10 million to $100. 

The largest contracts were related to road, pipe and emergency reservoir repairs along with disaster management and consulting services:

• Tennoca Construction Co. –  emergency road repair to access water system – $10 million
• T. P. Howard’s Plumbing Co. Inc. – emergency pipe repair and replacement for water department – $2 million
• T&K Utilities Inc. – emergency pipe repair and replacement  for water department – $2 million
• Cotton Logistics Inc. – potable water and shower trailers – $1.4 million
• Hagerty Consulting Inc. – disaster recovery management services – $1 million
• Phillips & Jordan Inc. – emergency repairs to North Fork and Bee Tree reservoirs – $1 million

Some companies entered into more than one contract with the city, according to the documents.

Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. Andrew R. Jones is a Watchdog investigative reporter. Email arjones@avlwatchdog.org. The Watchdog’s local reporting during this crisis is made possible by donations from the community. To show your support for this vital public service go to avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/.

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