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RUTHERFORDTON, N.C. — Residents of Rutherford County continued their push for federal cleanup at the April 7 county commissioners’ meeting, urging local officials to secure approval for the Private Property Debris Removal (PPDR) program nearly seven months after Hurricane Helene swept through the region last September.
Several neighboring counties and even towns within the same county have already received support through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to remove storm debris from private land, but Rutherford County has not.
"I don't know why Rutherford County does not have PPDR because every other county in Western North Carolina has it," I said during public comment. I made it clear to commissioners that I was there not only as a journalist, but as a taxpayer and county resident who lives near the Broad River. I applied through the town of Lake Lure, but was denied because I have a Rutherfordton address and zip code. The application lists all of the county’s towns, but only Lake Lure and Chimney Rock residents are authorized to be approved for PPDR at this time, according to the USACE and FEMA officials.
Tyler Schultz, who helps manage PPDR intake, said he has had to turn away residents in Rutherford County while nearby Lake Lure and Chimney Rock homeowners get assistance. “It’s hard to tell people, ‘Hey, you can’t get help because of this invisible line,’” Schultz told commissioners. “You might be two miles off the line — and that’s it.”
The County’s Finance Director, Paula Roach, explained that PPDR is not part of the county’s existing disaster recovery ordinance, but said a request for inclusion has been submitted to the state and the Army Corps. “There is a request currently standing with North Carolina Emergency Management for PPDR, and we’re supposed to hear back in the next few days,” Roach said. “We’re hopeful.”
County Manager Steve Garrison added that the original reason Rutherford was excluded was due to how contracts were awarded early in the recovery process, with his recommendation and approval. “The challenge for the county has been that we weren’t initially tied to the Army Corps of Engineers when they first started work in Chimney Rock and Lake Lure,” Garrison said. “We started with SDR (Southern Disaster Recovery, a state-approved emergency management contractor), and while they’ve done a phenomenal job, transitioning to Army Corps required a new mission statement and assessment.”
Garrison said USACE is cautious in evaluating whether to bring PPDR into Rutherford. “They can only do debris removal in the immediate vicinity of a home — not woods behind the house or separate lots,” he noted. “That’s created challenges too.” He is inaccurate; it allows for more than that according to PPDR guidelines.
Where is nearly $50M of local taxpayer money going?
County officials have already appropriated over $47 million in public funds for disaster recovery, Chairman Bryan King said at the meeting. Roach said that amount will initially be financed through the county’s fund balance. “This money will be reimbursed from FEMA, but at the current time, we will have to utilize fund balance to leverage these funds,” she told commissioners.
(Read the agenda and documents here.)
Officials also accepted a $1.8 million interest-free loan from the state, intended to help with cash flow while FEMA reimbursements are pending. “The payments are staged over several years, and there’s a possibility the loan may be forgiven by the legislature,” Roach said.
Still, none of these funds cover private property. Residents like me remain in limbo, surrounded by fallen trees, landslides, and storm wreckage with no aid in sight. “I live near the Broad River,” I told commissioners during public comment. “I was denied when I applied because my address isn’t Lake Lure (it’s the Green Hill area of the county.)”
For now, county leaders say they're doing everything in their power to bring PPDR to Rutherford. “We’re trying,” Garrison told the board. “We keep pressing — we just want to know what the status is. As of right now, we’re still being told it’s under consideration.”
I have sent multiple emails seeking public records about waterway debris removal in addition to PPDR. It’s a simple question: Is it available? When can Rutherford County residents expect it? It has been met with months of silence.
Late last week, Rutherford County officials announced a special-called meeting for Tuesday, April 22 at 5:30 p.m. at the county annex building. The agenda posted to their Facebook page includes “Memorandum of agreement (MOA) Between County of Rutherford North Carolina and the State of North Carolina Emergency Management Agency Regarding Tropical Storm Helene Private Property Debris Removal.” There is no official agenda listed on the county’s website as of Monday evening. I plan to be there to live stream it to my Facebook page and write a story to follow for Cops & Congress.
Originally, I had planned to be at the Chimney Rock town council meeting at the same time, but that is no longer possible. There is also the Rutherford County Schools forum happening at the same time. The county does not record its special meetings, the town of Chimney Rock does not record its meetings, and there has been no indication that the school forum will be recorded.
Opinion & Analysis: Cops & Congress Commentary
Stein’s North Carolina, Boliek’s Oversight: Will Anyone Investigate Rutherford County’s Debris Denial?
Now that Josh Stein is Governor of North Carolina, the question is no longer if the state will step in — it’s when. The people of Rutherford County deserve to know why they were left behind in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, and whether the delay in approving Private Property Debris Removal (PPDR) was simply bureaucratic confusion — or something more intentional.
There’s a growing body of concern that Rutherford County’s own leadership may have willfully obstructed access to this crucial federal program. And it’s time for someone with authority — like State Auditor Dave Boliek — to take a closer look.
For months, I, along with other residents, have asked: Why was every neighboring county granted access to PPDR, while we weren’t? Why were emails to the county about program eligibility ignored? And why is the record so thin — or missing entirely — when it comes to how decisions were made at the county level?
At the heart of the issue is County Manager Steve Garrison. He publicly admitted during the meeting that the county had a mission statement ready to bring in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. But, he said, “we ended up taking it out” due to inquiries from subcontractors.
Let that sink in: a key component of a federal aid application was removed — on purpose — because the county didn’t want to deal with outside vendors. The result? Thousands of residents along the Broad River, including my neighborhood and rural Rutherford County, were denied help that their neighbors were eligible to receive months ago. Literally every other county in western NC has PPDR programs, and more recently, two towns within the same county that were tired of waiting for the county government.
That’s not a clerical error. That’s a policy decision with life-and-death implications.
Governor Stein, a Democrat, has pledged to lead with fairness, equity, and smart governance. Auditor Boliek, a Republican, meanwhile, has made it clear he’s not afraid to dig into questionable spending or shady decision-making, regardless of politics. This issue should be in their sights.
Because this isn’t just about debris — it’s about democracy. It’s about whether a single unelected official can block a lifesaving federal program without public debate or consequence. It’s about public trust in local government — and how quickly that trust erodes when transparency disappears.
Rutherford County residents didn’t ask for special treatment. They asked for the same help their neighbors got. They filed paperwork, submitted videos, wrote emails, made phone calls, and showed up to public meetings. In return, they got silence. I got silence, and I have the receipts and data to back it up. Video doesn’t lie.
It’s time for a real investigation. If county officials like Steve Garrison acted in bad faith — or withheld services to protect contractors or avoid political discomfort — that must be exposed. And if the state continues to delay, Governor Stein and Auditor Boliek need to answer for that, too.
We’ve cleaned up what we can. Now it’s the government’s turn.
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