Stabilization of the landslide below Ghost Town in Maggie Valley will begin in two weeks, finally bringing comfort to downslope residents who have lived below the looming threat of another slide for half a year.

The slide last February scoured nearly a mile-long path down the mountainside with a wall of debris 30-feet high and 90-feet wide in places. Only three homes were damaged, but several others suffered destruction to their yards.

The slide initially forced an evacuation of a couple of dozen homes for fear more of the mountainside might collapse. To date, all but one homeowner, whose home suffered the most damage, has returned.

The $1.37 million job will take five months and was awarded this week to Phillips and Jordan, a construction company that specializes in major earth moving. The same company did the rockslide cleanup and stabilization on Interstate 40 last winter.

In addition to recontouring and shoring up the mountainside, the job includes road repairs and returning a dislocated creek to its original course down the mountain.

Al Hill, a seasonal resident with a second home below the slide, said he is pleased stabilization work will be done before the worst of winter. The freeze-thaw cycle can exacerbate erosion and act as a trigger for more landslides.

Engineers and slide specialists who have inspected the site cautioned that the slope remains unstable and another slide is still not out of the question. In fact, a slide could be triggered in the process of stabilizing the slope if the contractor isn’t careful.

As a result, a geotechnical engineer will work on-site each day with the Phillips and Jordan crew.

“It is extraordinarily sensitive,” said Randy Hintz, project manager with McGill Associates, an engineering and planning firm in Asheville overseeing the contract.

The geotech engineer will dictate the final outcome, but not necessarily the approach.

“There is a fine line in telling the contractor how to do his job,” Hintz said. “We tell them how the slope needs to be, and they figure out how to make that happen.”

If things start to look dicey, it might be necessary to send an alert to homeowners to leave the area, Hintz said. The engineer will not always be able to predict how the unstable slope will respond to a particular strategy when the contractors begin moving dirt.

Landslide experts and engineers believe the slide was triggered by a collapsed retaining wall on Ghost Town’s property. Ghost Town had struggled to shore up the unstable and nearly vertical slope on and off over the years.

When the mountaintop was leveled off to make way for the amusement park in the 1960s, loose dirt was pushed over the side of the mountain without being properly compacted. It must now be peeled back to reveal the original contour and compacted as it is put back. Portions of the slope, especially at the top, will be permanently recontoured at a gentler grade that mirrors the original mountainside, Hintz said.

Ghost Town CEO Steve Shiver originally objected to the stabilization plan and demanded an alternative design, but he did not get the engineering specifications done in time to go out to bid. Shiver said he is simply pleased work is getting underway.

“I am extremely happy,” Shiver said after the contract was awarded.

The total project, including engineering, will cost $1.47 million. Federal and state taxpayers will foot most of the bill. Maggie Valley taxpayers will contribute $25,000, and Ghost Town has pledged to contribute $25,000 as well.

Ghost Town has been in bankruptcy the past 18 months. Time is running out for the amusement park, which is being threatened with both foreclosure and liquidation. But Shiver remains hopeful a loan will come through allowing the park’s principal owner to regain title.

Meanwhile, Ray and Cookie Dye are tired of looking at a mud-filled pond that was buried when the slide moved across their yard. They want the pond dug out and their landscaping repaired, but it’s not clear who is accountable.

“We can’t prove it is [Ghost Town’s] fault,” Cookie Dye said.

Town Manager Tim Barth said town crews would try to dig out their pond for them.

From buttered trout fillets to a trout race, all things trout will be celebrated during the 21st annual Great Smoky Mountain Trout Festival from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, May 1, at the Maggie Valley Festival Grounds.

The festival grounds will be filled with vendors selling arts, crafts and other wares, as well as festival food booths. Performing on stage will be the Hominy Valley Boys and the Caribbean Cowboys band.

Other happenings at the festival include:

• An environmental education tent featuring the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Haywood Waterways Association, N.C. Wildlife Commission and numerous other environmental agencies and nonprofits.

• Talks by Rob Gudger, a biologist who raises wolves, and by Jim Casada, an expert fly-fisherman and renowned outdoor writer.

• Casting demonstrations and fly-tying demonstrations by the Waynesville Fly Shop.

• Casting contest for ages 16 and up.

• Project Healing Waters, dedicated to the physical and emotional rehabilitation of disabled servicemen and veterans through fly-fishing, will have a booth.

• Kids activities and games, like making your own kite.

• Bean bag toss contest for teams of two at 10 a.m.

www.gsmtroutfestival.org or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Free fishing clinics for kids

Two free youth fishing clinics will be held in conjunction with at the Great Smoky Mountain Trout Festival in Maggie Valley May 1.

The CATCH clinics Ñ Caring For Aquatics Through Conservation Habits Ñ are designed to teach young people how, when, and where to fish as well as aquatic ecology, water safety, fishing ethics and respect for the outdoors. Kids will wade in the stream to collect and identify aquatic bugs and test water quality, plus try their hand at fishing..

Program is for ages 6 to 15. Equipment is provided. Kids who have never fished or explored a stream are particularly encouraged to participate. The clinics are sponsored by the HCC Natural Resources Department, the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, Haywood Waterways Association and the town of Maggie.

The morning clinic will be from 9 a.m. until noon and requires registration. An afternoon clinic will be from 1 to 4 p.m. and will be first-come first-served.

To register, call 828.926.0866, ext. 117.

Ghost Town in the Sky is staring down the barrel of foreclosure.

BB&T has filed for foreclosure against the amusement park, which owes BB&T $9.5 million dating back to 2007. Of that amount, $6.5 million was to purchase of the 288-acre mountaintop property in Maggie Valley and the rest was for improvements.

A foreclosure hearing is scheduled for Sept. 20, which will set the wheels in motion for Ghost Town to be auctioned off to the highest bidder on the courthouse steps. If Ghost Town is unable to stall it, and if BB&T really goes through with it, Ghost Town could be auctioned off before the end of October. Once the ball is rolling, however, BB&T can set a later date or delay it at will.

Ghost Town has been running from BB&T for almost two years. It filed for bankruptcy in early 2009 primarily to shelter itself from BB&T’s demands to pay up. Bankruptcy was the only way to keep BB&T at bay, according to court testimony early in the bankruptcy process.

Ghost Town also owes $2.5 million to more than 200 small businesses left hanging after providing services or products to Ghost Town, from local electricians and plumbing supply stores to advertising firms and souvenir vendors. These are last in line, however, and it is unlikely the property would bring in enough for them to see any of the money they are owed.

Companies cannot hide from their debts in bankruptcy court forever and must eventually emerge from bankruptcy with a plan to pay off what they owe or face liquidation. After 18 months in bankruptcy, Ghost Town has not produced a viable reorganization plan, according to the bankruptcy administrator.

BB&T got permission from the bankruptcy judge in May to begin foreclosure proceedings. But BB&T was dissuaded from pulling the trigger by the promise of a payoff by one of the park’s primary owners, Al Harper, who also owns the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad.

Harper staved off the foreclosure for four months with an offer to buy the park out of bankruptcy for $7 million. It was less than what BB&T was owed, but the bank was willing to take it.

Harper said upfront the deal was contingent on financing, and so far that hasn’t come through. The looming foreclosure now brings additional pressure to bear on Harper to produce the money to consummate the deal or lose the amusement park.

BB&T has other outlets to recoup the full cost of what it loaned Ghost Town. Several early investors put up personal guarantees to back the BB&T loan. The loan was also partially backed by a federal rural development loan, placing taxpayers on the hook for a potion of it. BB&T could go after either if a sale of the amusement park on the courthouse steps or to Harper directly failed to bring in the full amount it’s owed.

More than 100 artists and crafters from all over the Southeast, including Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia and Alabama will gather for the Labor Day Craft Show in Maggie Valley.

Artists will demonstrate and sell their original handicrafts works from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 4, and Sunday, Sept. 5, at the Maggie Valley Fairgrounds. Admission to the event is free.

This annual event will feature piped music throughout the day. Tasty festival foods will be prepared by local groups, while The Java Hut will make its appearance selling specialty coffee-drinks hot & iced, smoothies and other crowd-pleasers.

Fireworks will be displayed at the fairgrounds on Sunday, Sept. 6, starting at dark thirty. This part of the weekend event is sponsored by the Town of Maggie Valley.

The committee is still accepting applications from crafters and vendors from all states in the Southeast.

www.maggievalleycraftshows.com.

The clock is ticking for stabilization work on a landslide in Maggie Valley to get underway or a federal grant to pay for the work will be lost.

A $1.3 million grant to recontour the precarious mountainside near Ghost Town in the Sky amusement park was secured months ago from the Emergency Watershed Protection Program. But developing engineering plans, securing environmental permits and navigating the various state and federal agencies overseeing pieces of the work has taken months. The Emergency Watershed program has now granted a third — and final — extension for the stabilization work and set a deadline of Oct. 16.

“We need to be under construction by then,” said Town Manager Tim Barth. “They indicated this would be the last extension.”

The town is ready to go out to bid on the stabilization work, but Ghost Town does not like the design and instead has suggested an alternate plan. Engineering for the alternate plan is not yet finished, however.

Barth said the town cannot wait beyond Aug. 22 to go out to bid, or it will jeopardize getting construction underway by mid-October and in turn jeopardize the grant.

Without the grant, there is no source of money Barth knows of to stabilize the mountain. The town can’t afford the work, and the county has said it won’t put up money to fix a landslide on private property for fear of setting a bad precedent. Ghost Town, meanwhile, has been in bankruptcy for a year and a half and its ability to pay for the work is unclear.

The engineering firm, Bunnell-Lammons, has been waiting on some basic schematics from Ghost Town for several weeks in order to draw up a detailed engineering design for the alternate design. It will take two months for the project to be bid out, have a contractor selected, and for work to get underway.

“That’s why we are saying Ghost Town needs to really get it to them quickly,” Barth said.

Ghost Town CEO Steve Shiver said that there is “no problem” meeting the deadline to go out to bid. Ghost Town is delivering schematics on the alternate plan to the engineering firm this week. Shiver blames the town for plowing ahead with a plan that was “unacceptable” to Ghost Town.

“They composed the plan without any input from any property owners,” Shiver said. “If Mr. Barth would have engaged Ghost Town in the repair planning, we would already be under construction. I am frustrated that we are even put in this position by the city.”

The emergency federal grant requires support of the property owner. But Shiver said he would not agree to the first plan that was developed.

“Absolutely not,” Shiver said. Shiver said he told town officials so at the beginning of the process.

“He wasted two months worth of time. Why I have no idea why,” Shiver said. “The [engineering firm] was directed to come up with the plan absent any input from us.”

If the issue of dueling plans isn’t solved, it is unclear whether the town can compel Ghost Town to agree to the stabilization work. A state statute does allow towns to intervene if there is a threat to public safety.

“A city shall have authority to summarily remove, abate, or remedy everything in the city limits, or within one mile thereof, that is dangerous or prejudicial to the public health or public safety,” according to G.S. 160A-193.

The slide qualifies as a threat to public safety for the dozens of people living below the mountainside who would be in the path of another slide, according to N.C. Geologist Rick Wooten, who has assessed the destabilized mountainside.

“In my professional judgment, unstable slopes remain in the vicinity of the slope failure, and these unstable slopes present an imminent threat to public safety,” Wooten wrote in a letter to the Town of Maggie Valley following the slide.

Kim Hibbard, general counsel for the N.C. League of Municipalities, said the statute is most commonly used to force property owners to clean up junk cars, keep their lawns mowed or seal off old swimming pools.

But, “It is a fairly broadly written statute,” said Hibbard. Typically, the town would get a court order giving it permission to take charge of the public safety threat.

If the statute was used, the work could be billed to the property owner, in this case, Ghost Town. Although Ghost Town is in bankruptcy, the work carried out under the statute would have priority status, carrying the same weight as back property taxes, and would be the first thing to get paid off if the amusement park is either sold or liquidated.

Shiver said there are flaws in the original plan proffered by the town. For a start, it was unclear if there was enough grant money to cover the cost of the stabilization.

“There were too many variables in that plan. It had an open-ended checkbook,” Shiver said.

In addition, the original plan would claim a small flat area tucked into the side of the mountain that Shiver says is critical to the amusement park’s future plans. As the only level spot on an otherwise extremely steep slope, it’s one of the few places Ghost Town could add attractions in the future.

No one is more intimate with the highs and lows of amusement park Ghost Town in the Sky than the people of Maggie Valley.

In its heyday, the mountaintop theme park routinely drew 400,000 visitors a year to the small town. Families on vacation could be counted on to pack into Maggie’s motels and restaurants each summer.

Throughout the years, the park’s Western theme and rides grew outdated. The amusement park fell into disrepair and ultimately succumbed to bankruptcy.

The recession struck the town hard, as did natural disaster. A massive rockslide on Interstate 40 routed traffic away from Maggie all winter long. On top of that, a major mudslide that originated from Ghost Town took out a road to the park earlier this year.

The slide, which remains destabilized, has dampened any hopes of the amusement park reopening this summer.

Business owners in the valley have felt the painful economic impact of Ghost Town’s closure. Vacancy signs linger over the town’s commercial corridor, while vacant buildings for sale have become an all too common sight.

“That park needs to be open,” said Phillip Wight, owner of the Clarketon Motel. “Weekly business has dropped off tremendously.”

“There’s still people coming into the valley just to go to Ghost Town,” said Teresa Smith, manager at Maggie Valley Inn. “Once they know it’s closed, they leave.”

Mayor Roger McElroy estimates that most motels are experiencing a steep 30 to 40 percent drop in business since Ghost Town shut down operations.

Spirited efforts

Maggie’s town government hasn’t taken the major economic blow sitting down.

It purchased land to create its own festival grounds, a rare move for municipalities anywhere. A full-time festival director now works round the clock talking to promoters who might hold events there.

Maggie’s leaders have also charged a newly-formed economic development commission to study ways to bring prosperity to the valley.

Meanwhile, the planning board is crafting a set of controversial design standards to spruce up the town’s outmoded appearance that harkens back to the ‘60s. Another option being explored is a 1 percent restaurant tax to be used on tourism promotion and projects within town limits.

Town leaders as well are setting their hopes on a $6 million sports complex planned for Jonathan Creek one day. Tournaments there hold the promise of bringing thousands of new visitors each year.

Not forgetting Ghost Town, however, the town has taken the lead in obtaining funding to clean up the mudslide below the amusement park.

Not every resident supports every direction the town has taken. Many have their own ideas on how best to proceed — with or without Ghost Town.

“The biggest summer tourism market that is underfunded is motorcycles,” said Wight. “It’s not about the [motorcycle] rallies, it’s about keeping traffic flow.”

The already popular Wheels Thru Time museum, which houses rare vintage motorcycles, recently earned its own brown highway sign, which will likely draw more curious visitors to town.

Lynda Bennett, member of the Maggie Valley’s economic development commission, would like to see tax incentives for remodeling old businesses rather than have the town set design guidelines.

“People don’t want to go in and plow under businesses, even though they’re dated,” said Bennett, who is also a Realtor. “Their building has value.”

Bennett very much likes the idea of small businesses opening up “micro-offices” in some of Maggie’s many vacant motel rooms. A computer repair business could start up next to an insurance salesman, for example.

Bennett sees a dire need for fresh ideas.

“We’re trying to change the shape of our box a little bit,” said Bennett. “If we don’t get outside of where we’ve been thinking, then Maggie could continue on the same path it’s been going on.”

Wight, too, understands the gravity of the situation.

“Without a Ghost Town, we’re somewhat doomed,” said Wight. “Ghost Town made this town.”

Counting on nature

In Mayor McElroy’s view, Maggie Valley needs to focus on the basics.

“I think we need to get back to some of the things that put Maggie Valley on the map to start with, which is the beauty of the mountains,” said McElroy.

Bennett can rattle off the benefits of visiting and living in Maggie Valley: close proximity to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Blue Ridge Parkway, the cool mountain temperature and incredible views. Maggie Valley also caters to those with a more adventurous state of mind, Bennett said.

“We have a little more challenging winters; we don’t have a grocery store,” said Bennett. “It’s not like we’re convenience oriented. We have other things to offer.”

Whether it’s mountain biking, ziplining, kayaking or skiing, emphasizing nature is key to revitalizing Maggie’s tourist economy in Bennett’s opinion.

Another key might be the festival grounds, which cost the town almost $500,000. A 1 percent lodging tax devoted to Maggie Valley helped bring electric lighting and other improvements to the festival grounds.

“We’re looking at everything and any way to use that facility to the fullest,” said McElroy. “Because we have a large investment in it.”

The town hired a festival director to help promote the venue after much prodding from some business owners.

Audrey Hagar, who recently went full-time as festival director, has created a promotional DVD to sell the venue to potential clients. She’s exhausted many of her connections from previous jobs to find appropriate events for the venue, which can fit up to 40,000 people.

“I’ve planted a lot of seeds, and now I’m watering,” said Hagar.

One new event Hagar recently helped bring is a vintage Volkswagen show. The town will soon vote on whethe attendees can camp overnight at the festival grounds.

Hagar is also looking at bringing back the popular Maggie Valley Moonlight Race, which once garnered ESPN coverage.

“We’re in uncharted waters,” said Hagar, pointing out few other festival grounds are run by a single municipality.

Town Manager Tim Barth said while it’s a difficult time for everybody in Maggie Valley, he urged them not to give up.

“It’s important to continue to try and find what’ll work,” said Barth.

For decades Maggie Valley and Dillsboro were two of the mountain’s most iconic tourist towns. Sadly, both relied heavily — too heavily — on a single cash-cow. When Ghost Town shut down in Maggie and the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad pulled out of Dillsboro, both lost tens of thousands of visitors once delivered to their doorsteps. Both towns are now struggling to find new identities.

• No longer resigned to handouts from Ghost Town, Maggie searches for its own identity

• With the train gone, Dillsboro searches for new ways to attract tourists

N.C. senators voted 47-1 to ban the video gambling machines that have evolved to circumvent a statewide ban. Court battles waged by the gaming industry had previously stalled new legislation to outlaw video sweepstakes.

The ban proposed in the House would go into effect Dec. 1. Towns like Maggie Valley, Franklin, Canton and Hendersonville would no longer be able to charge the $2,500 or more annual licensing fees on the newly illegal businesses.

Rapp, D-Mars Hill — who has been a major opponent of video gambling all along — looks forward to finally voting against sweepstakes in the House.

“It’s spreading like a contagion, and it’s got to be stopped,” said Rapp. “This puts an exclamation point on the fact that it’s an illegal activity.”

Sen. Joe Sam Queen, D-Waynesville, wholeheartedly supported a total ban on sweepstakes machines when it came to a vote in the Senate.

“These parlors are nothing more than unregulated casinos operating outside the law,” said Queen. “I listened to all sides, but stand firmly with the sheriffs and police chiefs across the state who asked us to tighten the law because of the increase in crime and high social costs that come with these illicit operations.”

Rapp cited a desperate woman in Marshall who robbed a Wachovia Bank after running up debt at two video sweepstakes places.

Rapp also pointed out that the machines are predominantly found in poor neighborhoods. According to a survey conducted in Florida, the majority of people who play earn less than $30,000 a year or are retirees.

But the gaming industry — which previously denied that internet sweepstakes were at all related to video gambling — argues now that regulation is the key. It would protect customers and create accountability for businesses.

“[Taxation] would provide more than $500 million a year in revenue according to recent figures released by the N.C. Lottery,” said William Thevaos, president of the Entertainment Group of North Carolina. “Lawmakers know there’s a pot of money there if they would just regulate it and tax it.”

Rapp has hardly been won over by the argument.

“If an activity’s wrong, you don’t do it,” said Rapp, adding that most people would not advocate making other illegal activities permissible simply to generate revenue.

Rapp said out of frustration, he has sometimes considered resorting to what his attorneys term the “nuclear option” — banning sweepstakes of all kinds.

“Every time we try to do this surgically, and sit there with our lawyers, it’s a challenge,” said Rapp. “[But] cooler heads prevailed.”

Once repair work is complete, a precarious Maggie Valley mountainside destabilized by a major mudslide will be returned to its natural state.

The hard part will be getting to that point.

Last Wednesday, anxious residents downslope of the slide along with town leaders gathered to hear the plan of attack. Three engineers from McGill Associates and Bunnell-Lammons presented their preliminary reports, which recommend methods for both stabilizing the slope and restoring a displaced stream to its original path.

The top of the mountain was leveled more than 40 years ago to make way for Ghost Town in the Sky amusement park. Unwanted dirt was pushed over the side of the mountain in the process.

Engineers want to remove that fill soil and re-grade the slope to its natural state, peeling back the layers until they reach the contour of the original mountainside.

For now, it is unclear how exactly contractors will go about their work without setting off another slide, however. Town Manager Tim Barth said he is not sure who would be liable if another slide were to occur.

Without repair, however, a slide of the same or even greater magnitude than the last one could occur, according to Bunnell-Lammon, which is in charge of the slope stabilization part.

The state geologist earlier said up to 16,000 tons of loose material threatens the mountainside. Homes below have been left endangered ever since February’s slide, which left a 3,000 feet wake of destruction down the mountainside.

In engineering terms, a “factor of safety” of 1.0 or less indicates an “impending or active slope failure.” The upper portion of the slope now has a factor of safety of 0.6. Bunnell-Lammons recommends a minimum a factor of safety of 1.3, but preferably 1.5.

While the “how” of the plan is still being formulated, one thing is clear, use of major equipment will be minimal.

“Some of those jobs, it’s shovels and wheelbarrows,” said J.P. Johns, an engineer with McGill.

“This is not going to be a scenario where we get large pieces of equipment up there working around,” said Randy Hintz, project manager with McGill. “This is more likely going to be a situation where we have bobcats (small graders) and mini-excavators up there working.”

Red tape

The primary source of funding for the approximately $1.4 million project will come from a federal grant, while N.C. Department of Transportation will fund much of the rest. Meanwhile, Ghost Town and the Town of Maggie Valley say they will contribute $25,000 each.

All work will be supervised by qualified field specialists, who will be on site to approve even the most minor changes to the official plan. Contractors must be certified by the DOT and demonstrate a minimum of three similar jobs completed successfully.

Barth says he is hopeful it will take no longer than two to three months for the work to be completed once it begins.

McGill is waiting to receive necessary permits before it can hire a contractor to start work. The firm anticipates that a permit from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources could take up to 30 days.

Even after that, the DOT will require engineers to put the job out to bid for a minimum of 21 days.

That announcement left the crowd stunned at Wednesday’s meeting.

“That’s ridiculous,” someone whispered.

“Is there no way to expedite the 51 days you were talking about?” asked Mayor Roger McElroy. “That seems to me like an unreasonable time.”

Hintz responded that since North Carolina has not declared a state of emergency — like the town of Maggie Valley and Haywood County did in February — his firm has little choice but to follow the normal protocol for publicly-funded jobs.

“In order to get the state funds to participate in this project, it must go through all the same channels,” said Hintz, while reassuring residents that the project has moved forward since February. “We’ve accomplished an awful lot at this point.”

Resident Kurt Biedler asked specifically if debris would be removed from his house, one of the five worst damaged by the slide.

“I mean these are things that are very important to me right now: trees, rocks, guardrails, timber,” said Biedler, who has moved to Arden for now.

Hintz said he would have to check with the funding agency before he could answer. “We have been given a very narrow focus on the types of things we can spend this money on,” said Hintz.

As part of the stabilization process, a road on Ghost Town’s property that sits on top of the fill dirt will be dismantled. The road is key to getting from one part of the amusement park to another. It will not be rebuilt by contractors working on the project.

According to Bunnell-Lammons, it appears the landslide started at Ghost Town’ retaining wall, where the fill soil placed with the MSE walls met underlying residual soil. Those MSE walls will be removed as part of the repair process.

Bunnell-Lammons stated in its report that it had been specifically directed not to determine the cause of the slide or evaluate the parties responsible for the slide.

“Our scope of work is how to immediately repair it,” said Will Gentry, a Bunnell-Lammons engineer. “We have not gone into why did it fail and how did it fail.”

Creek restoration

Meanwhile, mud, downed trees, and other debris have stopped up culverts where the creek crossed Rich Cove Road three times on its way down the mountain. The landslide also created a wide, long swath now prone to erosion.

To restore the stream, McGill’s plan recommends removing mud, downed trees, and other debris from three culvert crossings along Rich Cove Road. Currently, the blocked up culverts are forcing the stream to divert from its natural path.

Contractors will work upstream to downstream in the upper section, then downstream to upstream in the lower portion in order to work “dry.”

The removed trees would be ground up into wood mulch, which will be spread out on the mountain slope. This will minimize how much material contractors have to deliver up the steep slope.

“We’re going to try to limit the hauling out and the hauling in,” said Johns.

“Speed bumps,” made of mulch will be installed to slow down water as it flows down the slope.

Vegetation will be re-established with native species as much as possible, though a true restoration will be difficult to accomplish with the limited funding that’s available.

The first priority, however, will be to address the unstable slope at the top of the mountain.

“We don’t want to do any work down below until we get the top stabilized,” said J.P. Johns, an engineer with McGill.

More than three months have come and gone since a major mudslide crashed through Maggie Valley’s Rich Cove community, and slide victims are still wondering when a cleanup will finally begin.

Their properties are not much better off since the Feb. 5 landslide occurred, with enormous boulders, splintered trees and muddy debris still cluttering yards. Some residents with ruined drinking wells continue to suffer lack of access to water.

Then, there’s the 12,000 to 16,000 tons of loose material hanging over their heads at the top of the mountain.

For now, these homeowners have little recourse. Their homeowner’s insurance does not cover landslides, and Ghost Town amusement park — where the slide originated — is still mired in bankruptcy and had no liability insurance at the time of slide.

While a federal grant has been devoted to fix the dangerously unstable mountainside, no state or federal funds have been dedicated to repair homes and private property. The grant will do little to help residents whose driveways are busted, drinking wells ruined or homes rendered unlivable.

Many slide victims have flocked to town hall for the twice-monthly updates from Town Manager Tim Barth, but their questions seem to outnumber the answers currently available.

About 16 concerned citizens came to the latest meeting last Wednesday (May 5) when Barth informed them that a plan for stabilizing the mountain and cleaning up debris that threaten the nearby stream may be in place by next week.

Most of the $1.4 million project will be funded by a federal grant, while the Department of Transportation will fund much of the 25 percent local match, as the slide impacted state-maintained Rich Cove Road. The Town of Maggie Valley and Ghost Town have contributed $25,000 each toward that 25 percent match as well.

Resident Ike Isenhour said the residents in Rich Cove just don’t have the funds to chase Ghost Town with lawyers to receive compensation for the damage to their property.

“If you’re poor folk, and you’re living paycheck to paycheck, then you have no recourse,” said Isenhour.

Isenhour’s driveway on Landing Drive was taken out by the landslide, and though volunteers have installed a temporary fix, he’s now in need of a more permanent solution.

A few thousand dollars worth of gravel would be a mere drop in the bucket but would help his family immensely, Isenhour said.

Meanwhile, Isenhour’s neighbors still have no access to water, and have run a hose to a relative’s house nearby, where they often fill up bucketfuls of water to bring back home to flush their toilets. The situation has remained unchanged since the mudslide occurred, though warmer weather means the water running through the hose no longer freezes as it did this winter.

Barth responded that the federal Emergency Watershed Protection grant is not designed to do work on private property.

“Things like digging somebody a new well, I don’t believe would be a qualifying expense under this grant,” said Barth.

The solution may lie with private citizens once again. The Greater Maggie Valley Natural Disaster Team, which involves a slew of churches, businesses and private citizens devoted to helping those affected by natural disaster, helped slide victims in February and are exploring ways to continue assistance.

Erma Bond, assistant pastor at the Maggie Valley United Methodist Church and part of the disaster team, regularly attends the semi-monthly meetings at town hall.

Bond and her team have discussed the possibility of helping residents regain a water supply many times without yet coming to an agreement.

“If we helped the ones that had the water problem, then what are we going to do for the others?” said Bond.

It may be best to donate a collective disaster relief fund to the town to prioritize, Bond said.

Stabilization to begin soon

Two engineering firms have been commissioned for $125,000 using money from the federal Emergency Watershed Protection grant.

McGill Associates will coordinate stream restoration and debris removal, while Bunnell-Lammons, a geotechnical engineering firm based in Greenville, S.C., will determine how exactly to stabilize the slope.

Eager contractors have already begun contacting the companies expressing interest in taking on the work, but Barth said they must undergo a thorough vetting process to ensure they are qualified and experienced.

“Someone who has a small backhoe and a dump truck cannot go up and do this work,” said Barth.

State Geologist Rick Wooten said the earth continues to shift beneath Ghost Town in the Sky, a mountaintop amusement park where the slide originated from behind a series of terraced retaining walls.

On May 3, Wooten traveled to the top of the mountain once more to measure a scarp in the pavement. Wooten said his measurements show land there has moved down 4.8 inches vertically, and horizontal displacement has occurred as well — meaning the slope is moving both downward and outward.

Wooten is not alarmed by the slight creep, however.

“It’s nothing dramatic,” said Wooten.

With the rainy season upon us, however, Maggie Valley resident Deborah Reynolds asked Barth if any preventative actions could be taken before work officially begins to stabilize the mountain.

“Is there any type of measure they can go ahead with so that people can at least feel safe?” asked Reynolds.

“Someone needs to make sure they go up there every time it rains,” added Resident Denise Sutton.

Barth said the town might take action if rainfall exceeds five inches, but with the only road to the top of the mountain still largely impassable, it’d be difficult to do much work now.

Town steps in

The town hall meetings Barth conducts run fairly casually, with residents candidly discussing what they’ve read in the paper this week, expressing their ongoing concerns and asking questions informally. Many of the questions revolved around Ghost Town, which may emerge from bankruptcy soon with a new owner, Al Harper. (see story on page 6).

But Barth was unable to shed much light on Ghost Town’s plans.

“I wouldn’t know Mr. Harper if I ran into him,” Barth replied.

Residents were miffed at the lack of communication from Ghost Town.

“Nobody hasn’t come talk to us,” said resident Tammy Rich. “We haven’t seen a soul. We still don’t have any water.”

“He says they’re going to open in July,” said Resident Betty Miner. “What a laugh.”

Resident Jane Simpson asked if the town could prevent Ghost Town from opening until the stabilization is complete.

“I don’t know if they can open or not,” said Barth. “But if their customers come to me and say ‘Is it safe to go up there?’ I’m going to say ‘No.’”

According to Isenhour, there is too much focus is on getting Ghost Town back open for the summer season rather than helping impacted residents. Barth said the town’s main focus is to see the mountain stabilized and safe, not to help Ghost Town reopen.

Though the Rich Cove community lies in both town and county territory, town leaders have spearheaded the cleanup effort, tracking down funding for the cleanup and keeping residents in the loop with the regular meetings.

Miner said she’s grateful to the town for holding the semi-monthly meetings but would like to see an engineer or geologist familiar with the efforts inform residents about their findings.

Barth said he was planning to do so once more specific plans are in place.

“It doesn’t make sense for the engineers to come before they complete their report,” said Barth.