Why did Biltmore remove the beautiful old trees at its main gate? Lead flushing necessary at apartment buildings? City water has a ‘swampy’ smell to it? • Asheville Watchdog
Today’s round of questions, my smart-aleck replies and the real answers:
Question: Why did the Biltmore Estate remove all of those beautiful trees at the entrance gate?
My answer: It’s all part of Biltmore Village’s new holiday marketing program, “It’s beginning to look a lot like a hurricane hit us.” It’s probably not the best marketing program in the world…
Real answer: Chalk this up to yet another notch in Tropical Storm Helene’s belt of destruction.
As most folks are aware, floodwaters rose to historic levels in Biltmore Village, including at the estate’s iconic entrance gate. The watermark on the gatehouse building remains visible, about two-thirds up the first floor of the two-story structure.
The trees lining the road leading to the gate were indeed iconic, as they’d been with us for more than a century.
“The tulip poplars that once lined the entrance to Biltmore, many of which were over 100 years old and original to the estate, suffered significant damage when the flooding caused by Tropical Storm Helene washed away the soil around their roots,” Biltmore Estate spokesperson Marissa Jamison said via email. “In addition to root damage, several trees experienced trunk damage, and a few were left leaning after the storm. As a result, the difficult decision was made to remove the trees.”
The Biltmore Estate plans to plant new entrance gate trees in the spring. For the meantime it has trees in large decorative pots. // Watchdog photo by John Boyle
The rows of poplars were planted during estate builder George Vanderbilt’s time, and they once stretched all the way to the depot in Biltmore Village, Jamison noted. Bill Quade, director of horticulture at the estate, shared that before Helene, 17 tulip poplars lined Biltmore’s entrance, 13 of which were original to the estate.
The Biltmore Estate’s gate house sustained flood damage from Tropical Storm Helene on Sept. 27. The high water mark is still visible about two-thirds of the way up on the building’s first floor. // Watchdog photo by John Boyle
“In the spring, we plan to replant these majestic trees as part of a broader effort to rebuild Biltmore’s entrance that we are working on following the losses we’ve all endured,” Jamison said.
The Gate House Gift Shop near the entrance also sustained heavy damage, and Jamison said the future of that building “is still being assessed.”
The 250-room home and 8,000-acre estate, which Vanderbilt originally opened in 1895, had to shut down after Helene downed trees and caused flooding Sept. 27. It reopened Nov. 2 and is hosting many of its popular seasonal programs, including Candlelight Christmas Evenings.
Question: With the concern about lead in the city water, can you ask about apartment buildings and flushing? How are they flushed? I live in the Kenilworth Inn building and it was built around 1910. How does flushing work in an old apartment building? Any other tips to avoid lead in the water? Apartments, to my knowledge, have never been mentioned at the daily briefings, but I easily could have missed it.
My answer: I remember the good old days when “flushing” was just something you had to remind your kids to do after they did their business. I miss those days.
Real answer: As we’ve previously reported, the city announced Nov. 14 that it had found detectable levels of lead in seven schools. The Water Resources Department has stressed that this occurred when the schools were closed and the water sat in pipes, which can lead to lead leaching into the system.
Also, the city suspended its anti-corrosion treatment program for 19 days because of high turbidity in the North Fork Reservoir. In older pipes where lead solder was used, corrosion from chlorine and other chemicals can cause the lead to leach into the system.
The anti-corrosion program was reinstated Oct. 30, but it can take more than a month to become effective again.
The city announced Nov. 18 that the water it was producing was potable again. Until that point, the city had recommended bottled water for any consumption, although it did say if no other sources were available, customers could consume water boiled for at least one minute.
The city has stressed that no lead is in its distribution pipes, but lead can be found in pipes of buildings and homes built in or before 1988, when lead was banned. It also has emphasized that if you flush pipes for 30 seconds to two minutes before using, that removes the lead.
I asked specifically about apartment buildings at the Thursday daily Helene briefing, and Brenna Cook, the compliance manager for Asheville Water Resources Department, said they should not be of any more concern than older homes.
“So in apartment buildings, people are pretty much using water all the time, but it probably would be good for those property managers to do a system-wide flush,” Cook said. “A lot of those apartment buildings are master metered, so they would want to flush their lines themselves and then direct their tenants to flush their water as well.”
Water usage varies among tenants, Cook said, and the city doesn’t have any way of tracking that individually.
“If the tenant cannot get their building property manager to flush, we do still suggest flushing their water for 10 to 15 minutes at first, but then follow that with 30 seconds to two minutes each time they use the water for consumption, if it hasn’t been used for more than four hours,” Cook said.
Question: (I’m combining two reader questions here) 1. Are there other possible contaminants in the North Fork Reservoir that are not being tested for? 2. OMG, the water is putrid. I chanced a shower and a shave, and washed my hair. I’ve carried a sickening smell all day. Is this our new reality? I lived in Tampa for 25 years, and they got their water from the god-awful Green Swamp. The city water smells like Tampa water.
My answer: I imagine this made you a popular figure at the hot yoga studio.
Real answer: As far as contaminants in the North Fork Reservoir, the city has noted previously that because the reservoir is outside of Black Mountain and in a 20,000-acre watershed that is almost completely undeveloped, the water coming into it from the flooding did not contain chemicals or other materials associated with industry, businesses or other development.
On Thursday, Cook said they continue to test the raw water at North Fork, with results posted on the city’s Water Resources page.
“All the detections came back as normal,” Cook said. “You have to remember, North Fork is a protected watershed, so there’s less likelihood of stuff like that happening during a rain event. I’m not saying we didn’t have a lot of turbidity washing in, but there’s less worry of something like that occurring In the North Fork watershed.”
Assistant City Manager Ben Woody said at the briefing that if you do have discolored water, your first step should be to call the Water Resources customer service line at 828-251-1122.
“But the other thing to remember is, we still operate a significant and substantial water system, just like we have in the past,” Woody said. “We still have breaks that we have to repair.”
The city has had several breaks since repressurizing the system in mid-October.
“We do go repair those, but oftentimes, under normal business, if there’s a water main break there may be for a certain area a boil water advisory,” Woody said. “There may be some discoloration of water.”
Neither Cook nor Woody commented on any “swamp smell” coming from the water. I’ll note that I’ve not heard that complaint from other readers, at least not yet.
Woody stressed that the water going into taps has a very low turbidity — .1 Nephelometric Turbidity Units (NTUs) — which is where it was pre-Helene. The raw water at North Fork still has a turbidity of between 14 and 15, but the city is able to filter it and treat it before distribution.
“I just want to reiterate that the water that we are putting into our distribution system is coming through both of our water treatment plants (North Fork and Mills River), and it is of a quality that it typically is and meets all EPA and North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality standards,” Woody said.
Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. John Boyle has been covering Asheville and surrounding communities since the 20th century. You can reach him at (828) 337-0941, or via email at jboyle@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/.
by Sarah Michels, Carolina Public Press April 5, 2025
More than 61,000 voters challenged by NC Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin have 15 business days to prove their eligibility, or have their ballots removed from the count in Griffin’s 2024 bid to unseat Justice Allison Riggs, according to a Friday ruling from a three-judge panel of the NC Court of Appeals.
After all votes were tallied in November, the contest came down to 734 votes, with incumbent Riggs, a Democrat, in the lead. Soon thereafter, Griffin, a Republican Court of Appeals judge, asked for recounts and filed election protests.
The recounts maintained Rigg’s lead, while the State Board of Elections dismissed the protests.
Since then, Griffin’s legal challenges and countering lawsuits from Riggs have made their way through state and federal courts on their path to a delayed resolution while Riggs retains her seat.
Friday, the most significant decision in the case came down from two Republican justices on the North Carolina Court of Appeals. In a 2-1 decision from the panel, the court declared that Griffin’s protests were valid.
Incomplete voter registrations
The panel majority ruled that the largest portion of challenged voters, those who have “incomplete voter registrations” without a driver’s license or Social Security number included in their elections records, are ineligible to vote because they were not registered to vote correctly.
The blame lies squarely on the State Boards of Elections, which did not update voter registration form to make that information required in accordance with the federal Help America Vote Act, the panel majority opinion states.
Once the issue was identified in 2023, the State Board issued a new registration form, but didn’t go back and contact registrants who didn’t list a driver’s license or Social Security number, or check a box saying they had neither to be assigned a unique identification number.
Now, the appellate court panel says those voters are ineligible. The majority emphasized that the court has the right to remove ballots cast by these voters from the count, but is choosing not to do so immediately.
Instead, they are returning the case to the Wake County Superior Court, and instructing them to tell the State Board to contact impacted voters to provide them an opportunity to fill in the missing information. If voters do so within 15 business days of notification, their votes will count. If not, they will be removed from the count for the Supreme Court race, but not other races.
Overseas and military photo ID
The court panel ruled similarly on Griffin’s second protest, which challenged overseas and military voters who did not provide photo identification with their absentee ballots.
During legal proceedings, the State Board has argued that under the state’s Uniform Military and Overseas Voters Act, overseas and military voters are exempt from the voter ID requirement. UMOVA is contained in a separate statute from the one including photo ID requirements, and the Board argued that was intentional.
The appellate court panel disagreed. It ruled that the two statutes were intended to be read together, and that all voters are subject to the photo ID requirement.
Again, implicated voters have 15 business days to provide photo identification or an exception form, or be removed from the count.
In his dissent, Judge Toby Hampson, the loan Democrat on the panel, said providing time to fix these issues does not make up for the fact that impacted voters followed the rules available to them at the time.
“The proposition that a significant portion of these 61,682 voters will receive notice and timely take curative measures is a fiction that does not disguise the act of mass disenfranchisement the majority’s decision represents,” Hampson wrote.
Panel nixes ‘Never Residents’
North Carolina law includes an exception to the state constitution’s residency requirement for a small subset of voters labeled “Never Residents:” overseas U.S. citizens who were born outside the country and whose parents or legal guardians’ last residence was North Carolina.
Friday, the appellate court ruled that statute ran afoul of the state Constitution, and voided the votes of Never Residents.
Panel dissent and equal protection issues
Hampson’s dissent had a few arguments that may be seen again in future litigation.
First, he questioned the timing of Griffin’s protests. The statutes and Board interpretations that are being challenged have been in existence for several election cycles.
The majority declared that eligibility is determined as of Election Day, Hampson noted.
“Despite professing this basic tenet, the majority changes the rules of the 2024 election — and only for one race — months after election day,” he wrote. “It does so even though there is no actual showing or forecast that any challenged voter was not registered or otherwise unqualified to vote.”
Second, Hampson objected to which votes are being challenged. All protests include only early and absentee voters, since that was the information Griffin had available at the time he filed them.
Additionally, the overseas and military photo ID protest only includes Guilford County ballots.
“Each of these voters is at risk of being disenfranchised while similarly-situated voters are not, simply because of the county in which they reside, when they cast their ballot, or their physical location,” Hampson wrote.
What’s next after appeals panel?
The appellate decision may be key in determining the ultimate outcome of the race.
Riggs has already declared her intention to appeal the decision to the North Carolina Supreme Court, calling it a “deeply misinformed decision that threatens to disenfranchise more than 65,000 lawful voters and sets a dangerous precedent, allowing disappointed politicians to thwart the will of the people.”
However, if the North Carolina Supreme Court comes to a very possible 3-3 tie, the appellate court’s decision would be the one that stands. Either way, if the state high court fails to take the case or acts to leave the panel’s ruling in place, Riggs’ legal team has indicated it will likely return the case to the federal courts on equal protection grounds.
The State Board also issued a statement saying that they would comply with the order, if it goes into effect.
“Regardless of the ultimate outcome of this ongoing legal dispute, any voter who is concerned that their voter registration information is incomplete or is not up to date should submit an updated voter registration form,” the statement read.
Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin was less neutral.
“This partisan decision has no legal basis and is an all-out assault on our democracy and the basic premise that voters decide who wins their elections, not the courts,” he said in a statement. “If upheld, this could allow politicians across the country to overturn the will of the people.”
While Griffin has stayed mum since November, North Carolina Republican Chairman Jason Simmons called the ruling a “victory for the rule of law and election integrity” in a social media post.
“This decision and order finally holds the N.C. State Board of Elections accountable for their actions and confirms every legal vote will be counted in this contest,” he wrote.
SUMMARY: Republican Judge Jefferson Griffin is contesting over 60,000 votes in his race against Democratic Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs, claiming registration and ID deficiencies. A 2-1 NC Court of Appeals ruling, with Republican judges siding with Griffin, allows voters 15 business days to correct issues. Riggs, leading by 734 votes after two recounts, vowed to appeal, warning the ruling threatens over 65,000 lawful votes. Griffin also challenges military and overseas ballots. The GOP praised the decision; Democrats condemned it as partisan. The state Supreme Court, with a 5-2 Republican majority, will likely hear the appeal. Riggs has recused herself.
www.thecentersquare.com – By Alan Wooten | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-04-04 13:39:00
(The Center Square) – Two of three judges on a North Carolina appellate decision say Republican Jefferson Griffin’s appeal has merit and ordered the State Board of Elections to recalculate the nation’s only unresolved election from Nov. 5.
On the 151st day since Election Day, the North Carolina Supreme Court Seat 6 race – an eight-year term seat – has yet to be decided. Friday’s announced decision, from oral arguments two weeks ago, gives 15 business days after notice for missing data in registration records of voters to be filled in, and overseas voters not providing photo identification as required by law to do so.
The voters who never lived in North Carolina are to be dropped from the totals.
Those instructions – Justices John Tyson and Fred Gore supported the ruling, Tobias Hampson dissented – could be appealed. And, it doesn’t give a clear indication if Griffin or Judge Allison Riggs will be the winner.
Riggs, the Democrat and incumbent on the bench after appointment by then-Gov. Roy Cooper, has been poised for a 734-vote triumph as the litigation saga plays out in multiple lawsuits and in both state and federal courtrooms. Griffin, a state appellate judge, has appealed every decision against him.
On Election Night, with 2,658 precincts reporting, Griffin led Riggs by 9,851 votes of 5,540,090 cast. Provisional and absentee ballots that qualified were added to the totals since, swinging the race by 10,585 votes.
The majority opinion read in part, regarding equal terms and fundamental rights in free elections, “This right is violated when ‘votes are not accurately counted (because) (unlawful) () ballots are included in the election results’ The inclusion of even one unlawful ballot in a vote total dilutes the lawful votes and ‘effectively ‘disenfranchises’’ lawful voters.”
The majority opinion is covered in the first 36 pages of the ruling; Hampson’s dissent is in the final 30 pages.
Anderson Clayton, chairwoman of the North Carolina Democratic Party, has called the win “decisive.” Jason Simmons, chairman of the North Carolina GOP, said earlier votes in question are “blatant violations of state law.”
In response to Friday’s announcement, Clayton said the court put party affiliation above the rights of North Carolina voters.” Simmons said, “Today’s decision confirms the facts were on Judge Griffin’s side. This a victory for the rule of law and election integrity.”
The state elections board, majority 3-2 Democrats, and Riggs have been aligned in the litigations.
The Supreme Court bench has historically been nonpartisan and partisan, and since going back to the latter, was 6-1 Democrats in 2019. It is 5-2 Republicans today.
The state Supreme Court calendar has already begun, with Riggs still in place until the election is decided. She has been recused from any proceedings involving the election. Similarly, Griffin has not been involved in any at the appellate level.
Griffin protested about 65,000 ballots on multiple counts, and the state board rejected all of them. Most were by 3-2 party-line votes.
The protests the state board denied included registration records of voters, such as lack of providing either a driver’s license number or the last four digits of a Social Security number. State law for that has been in place two decades, dating to 2004.
Other ballots protested and denied by the state board included voters overseas who have never lived in the United States, and for lack of photo identification provided with military and overseas voters.
