News

County shifts $9.3 million from sewer to sports fields

By Bill Moss, Published: July 16, 2024

A sewer system’s loss became athletes’ gain as Henderson County commissioners voted Wednesday to spend $9.4 million on sports fields and other recreation facilities.

Although board members disagreed on where the improvements might take place — Berkeley Mills, Jackson, Etowah and East Flat Rock parks were all mentioned — at their next meeting they will see a menu of sports and rec projects and be asked to choose which ones to fund.

"The issue now unfortunately is time," Commissioner Bill Lapsley said. "We've got a short window. To me it comes down to what can we get designed, developed, permitted and a contact awarded in the next six months. To me it's recreation and parks.”

Lapsley favored a new sportsplex at Berkeley Park; commissioners David Hill and Michael Edney want the improvements to take place at Jackson Park.

“I think Jackson Park should be our main focus,” Hill said. “That’s our main park.”

“Plus Jackson Park’s got 100 acres that’s not being used,” Edney added. “Jackson Park is flatter, with unused space, restrooms, parking and a playground.”

Board members said they needed a commitment from the School Board, the owner of the Berkeley Park land, on what improvements should happen.

“I think there’s too much up in the air about Berkeley Park,” Commissioner Daniel Andreotta said. “You’ve got to factor in how much do you allow for parking. There’s no way you can put four big soccer fields and softball and tennis and have enough parking.”

Commissioners will need to settle their differences over location quickly. County staffers will present the menu of options to them on Aug. 5; in the meantime, County Manager John Mitchell will start the process of identifying a designer for the sports fields.

The board’s action came after more than a dozen speakers urged commissioners during public comment time to invest in soccer, lacrosse and softball fields for youth sports and the county’s growing population.

The county gained $9.4 million in American Rescue Plan money for recreation when it was determined that it could not obligate the money for the Edneyville sewer system by the ARP’s Dec. 31 deadline.

“The design time is minimal,” Chair Rebecca McCall said. “This is something that we could count on as meeting the required (ARP) areas and I think we've heard from the public that we really are behind in providing sufficient space not just for soccer but a lot of different outside activities. All along I had wanted to use these funds to benefit the most people that we can."

EARLIER COVERAGE:

The news last week that the county can’t spend federal rescue plan money on an Edneyville sewer plant by the Dec. 31 deadline has set in motion big changes on two fronts.

Commissioners this week are expected to choose an option for a major downsizing of the Clear Creek sewer plant project — if they don’t scrap the job altogether. And they may vote to shift $9.3 million in American Rescue Plan money to a new sportsplex.

The changes have been dramatic and fast-moving.

The revelation that the county would be unable to award a contract to construct the Clear Creek plant and install miles of sewer lines by the deadline came during a special called meeting Thursday. Consulting engineer Will Buie, on hand to explain the sewer plant options, delivered the news: The total budget the county had to fund the project had dropped by $9 million.

“The reason we can’t use it is we’ve run out of time,” Lapsley said. “It’s a big project and it’ll take the engineers probably a year to get it designed and permitted.”

The county’s pitch for a work-around didn’t fly.

“We thought that perhaps by awarding a construction-manager-at-risk contract that would meet the definition of awarding a contract,” Lapsley said. “We checked that out and the federal government said no.”

‘Two consequential decisions’

That deadline of midnight Dec. 31 to obligate ARP money has placed new urgency on a Plan B. There are signs that a sportsplex at Berkeley Mills Park may be the alternative.

“The story that follows is what is to be done with that $9 million,” County Manager John Mitchell said Friday. “There are two consequential decisions to be made on Wednesday: Clear Creek and the allocation of the remainder of that $9 million.” (Counting $2 million commissioners previously appropriated for a sportsplex, the county has $11.3 million available.)

The School Board acquired 16 acres at Berkeley Park when it dealt Edwards Park to the city of Hendersonville in a property swap. Asked whether Berkeley would be on commissioners’ docket Wednesday, Mitchell acknowledged that it likely would.

“The Board of Commissioners has been speaking with the School Board about Berkeley sports fields for two years,” he said. “I don’t think any options for sports fields locations are off the table.”

Asked whether it would be possible to acquire land and award a contract for a sports complex in the next five months, Lapsley, a retired civil engineer, said: “That’s a fair question. Very difficult.”

He pointed out that the county also owns Jackson Park, too, which could be an option for ballfields. Whatever the vision — youth soccer fields, pickleball courts, tennis courts, softball diamonds — awarding a construction contract by the Dec. 31 ARP deadline should be doable, Lapsley said.

“Because designing and permitting (sports fields) is not rocket science,” he said. “From an engineering standpoint, that can be designed and a contract awarded. … I anticipate that the board is going to take action on the sewer project — and whatever option we go with, that will officially delete the $9.3 million from the sewer plant — and later in the agenda we’ll talk about where to spend that.”

School Board Chair Jay Egolf welcomed the idea of turning parkland into athletic facilities both for the public and the school system.

“The county has an interest in the development of Berkeley and we have an interest in joining a partnership with the county,” he said Friday afternoon. “We also wanted some improvements for our children, the students of Henderson County, and I think that would be a great thing for both the people of Henderson County and the students in the Henderson County public school system. It would be a benefit for both.”

The School Board would like to see six tennis courts for prep athletes and a softball field for women’s teams, Egolf said. That would leave enough acreage for three full-size soccer fields — four “if you rearrange the road,” he said. “And this could all be done with ARPA money.”