Carter County Highway Superintendent Shannon Burchett shows the library of notebooks that contain all of the projects to repair the damage caused by Hurricane Helene to the county’s roads. The county has received $40 million from a general obligation capital outlay note to fund the big project.
Carter County Highway Superintendent Shannon Burchett shows the library of notebooks that contain all of the projects to repair the damage caused by Hurricane Helene to the county’s roads. The county has received $40 million from a general obligation capital outlay note to fund the big project.
ELIZABETHTON — Bright and early on Wednesday morning, Carter County got a boost on its recovery efforts from the Hurricane Helene disaster. The county received $40 million in proceeds from a general obligation capital outlay note and another $20 million from a state grant to be used on repairing county roads and bridges and Hampton High School.
Carter County Finance Director Carolyn Watson has been working on the Bond issue with Elizabeth Zuelke of Raymond James Public Finance for a few months. Truist Bank was the winning bidder on the $40 million bond issue. Watson said she was told the money would be deposited in the county’s account on Wednesday morning. “I checked at 8:30 a.m. and saw that it had just been deposited,†Watson said.
Watson said that although she still has several documents on the bonds that she must sign, the county has now closed on the bonds. The interest rate is 4.317%
The $20 million is a grant coming from the state to help with the reopening of Hampton. The school was flooded by the Doe River during the Hurricane Helene disaster on Sept. 27, 2024. Since then, Hampton has been holding classes in the former Keenburg Elementary School until the high school can be repaired and renovated. Watson said the $20 million grant was also deposited in the county’s account on Wednesday.
The report that the proceeds from the bonds are now in the county’s account was good news for Carter County Highway Superintendent Shannon Burchett. He said there will soon be some major repairs going on in the mountainous sections of the county.
Burchett said there were two contracts awarded on Wednesday morning for bank stabilization projects. He said it is important that the bank are stabilized prior to reconstructing a road in the mountains.
There are two separate types of bank stabilization funding programs. One is funded by the National Resources Conservation Service, using funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The second bank stabilization program will be funded by the county, using proceeds from the $40 million bond issue.
Burchett said there are also two areas of the county where Highway Department will have major projects going on in July. One area is in the Shell Creek area, with Summers-Taylor Construction serving as the principal contractor. The roads include Cove Creek, Burbank, Jess Jarrett, Heaton Creek and Sugar Hollow.
Burchett said the second group is centered on Poga and Baker Construction is working these projects, which include Brummitt Street, Blevins Road, Hogum Hollow, Crabtree Road, Hampton Creek, Morgan Branch, Edgewater, and Dennis Cove.
Burchett said Hinkle Environmental Services will be working with six sites.
But all of this is just the beginning. In all, the $40 million project is expected to pay for the permanent repair of 63 county roads with a total of 55 miles of damage. That also includes the replacement of three major county bridges.
Because people are still living on the these damaged roads, Burchett intends to move as rapidly as possible on the work. He agreed that this may be the busiest time in the history of the Carter County Highway Department.
