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JUNE 3, 2022 - To help support the growing number of homeless students in Buncombe County Schools and Asheville City Schools, the county has begun operating a one-stop shop family resource center on the campus of Enka Middle School. The center is stocked solely on donations and offers food, clothing, home goods and other resources. (Photo credit: WLOS staff)

BUNCOMBE COUNTY, N.C. (WLOS) — Local school leaders say they’re seeing an increasing number of homeless youth, and they’re working to find ways to support this segment of the homeless population.

Buncombe County Schools Family Resource Center is operating on the campus of Enka Middle School.

“We are kind of that one-stop shop for resources for our most vulnerable students and families,” said Shannon Boyd, Youth In Transition liaison with Buncombe County Schools.

She said the goal of the family resource center is to make sure students are prepared to learn when they come to school.

'One-stop shop' family resource center supports growing number of homeless students

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“A coat, a hoodie, something to eat for breakfast that morning, or something to eat for supper that night -- if we can just fill that need. We want them to be successful in school,” she Boyd.

According to Buncombe County Schools, 551 students are identified as homeless, with 110 students who are unaccompanied homeless youth. According to Asheville City Schools, 216 students are identified as homeless, with 30 unaccompanied homeless youth.

“That’s just youth that are maybe not living with a parent or guardian, that we want to offer as much support as we possibly can,” Boyd said.

For that reason, Buncombe County Schools is prioritizing the family resource center, which is stocked solely from donations. It’s open to Buncombe County students and families, giving them access to clothing, food, home goods and other resources.

“We offer case management, that would mean helping a family apply for housing, or if they just need to look for housing we can help with looking for a rental,” Boyd said.

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The school system is also considering expanding the resource center to include laundry and shower facilities, as well as space for mentoring and tutoring. Buncombe County Schools applied for American Rescue Plan funding for the possible expansion.

If you’re interested in supporting or getting assistance from the family resource center can call 828-779-4549.

ENKA, N.C. (WLOS) — A couple old car and plane enthusiasts are trying to save the jet in front of Enka Middle School.

Carl Raphael's daughter goes to Enka Middle School. He began to look into how the jet could be restored a few years ago, and found that it was originally maintained by the USAF, but that is no longer done. Heath Towson, a fellow machine-phile at Gould-Killian CPA Group, joined along for the ride.

They discovered quite a bit of history behind the jet and how it got to Enka, which you can read all about at savethejet.com, including how the plane almost didn't get there.

"It came from Shaw Air Force Base down in South Carolina by Skycrane helicopter," Towson said. "So, they brought this plane dangling from big cable over mountains and only had a time span of 11 minutes to land the plane, take the cables off and get the crew back before they ran out of fuel in the helicopter."

The RF-84F Thunderflash was made in 1953 for U.S. Air Force photo reconnaissance missions. It flew for years in the French Air Force, then the Arkansas Air National Guard.

An Enka ROTC instructor wrote the Air Force for years, asking to get a real plane that cadets could use to learn more about the inner workings on the jet. Enka High School (which is now Enka Middle, in front of which the plane sits) was able to get the plane in 1972.

The last maintenance was done by Shaw AFB in 1997. The school's principal and its current ROTC cadets are trying to help raise money for the plane, which needs a good bit of work.

"A lot of money will go towards materials for restoring the plane: paint, sandpaper, metalwork, anything to refinish the exterior and preserve it. There's gonna be some specialized labor to restore the graphics on the plane, like stencils and hand-lettering. It never would have been vinyl decals, so that's not really an option. We want it to be historically accurate. One of the plane's windows is missing, so we can either fabricate a new one or find a replacement, which will be hard because they're rare and many have been destroyed. "

The plane is actually owned by the USAF, and the Air Force can reclaim it if it's not kept up.

"We also want to have some money to have recurring maintenance on the plane so it stays nice for years to come," Towson said.

Towson and Raphael say it'll take about $25,000 to restore it, and they're only 10 percent of the way there.

"All the donations are tax deductible. They all go through the Buncombe County Schools Foundation, which is a 501.c(3) nonprofit. So, it's a great time to get your end of the year contributions in," said Towson, laughing since he knows all too well about those donations as a staff accountant.

To help the effort, click here to donate.

BUNCOMBE COUNTY, N.C. (WLOS) — A parent is upset about an incident that happened on a mountain school bus.

On Wednesday, an Enka High School bus got stuck after veering off the side of the road.

"If an incident happens, I think the parents should immediately be notified," said Ben Hall, the parent of one of the students on the bus.

Hall said his kids mean everything to him, so you can imagine his desperation when he got a scary phone call from his son.

"He used one of his friend’s phones to call me to let me know the bus had wrecked," Hall said.

So, Hall got in the car and rushed to the scene.

"When I got there, the bus was blocking one and half lanes on a two-lane curve," Hall said.

It wasn't a wreck, but the bus had veered off Luther Road in Candler.

A spokesperson for Buncombe County Schools said the bus “got stuck in the mud on the side of the road, briefly.”

"The bus driver had unloaded the bus from where it was sitting, and it was on an embankment,” Hall said. “Not super steep, but just a slant."

Hall said his concern, was that no one had called 911.

"Some kind of traffic control and the safety of the kids was my concern," Hall said.

So, Hall said he called for help.

“The 911 operator actually said that he was shocked that they hadn't heard about it from the school system," Hall said.

Hall said the school hadn't told parents either.

“I still, to this moment, after 25 hours, have not received a call of anything about the bus incident yesterday," Hall said.

Hall said he just wants better communication.

“I was just really concerned about the kids' safety," Hall said.

The school system spokesperson said the bus was pulled out and continued on its route. She also said it’s a case-by-case basis, but school officials typically send parents a message if the bus is seriously delayed because of something like traffic or a breakdown.

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Today's batch of burning questions, my smart-aleck answers and the real deal:

Question: So, driving out Sand Hill Road, a road sign says "Enka Lake Road." But when you get to the Biltmore Lake subdivision, the signs by the lake say "Biltmore Lake." So is it officially called "Biltmore Lake" or is it still "Enka Lake?"

My answer: Once we settle this, just for fun let's move on to whether Leicester is pronounced "Lee-cest-er" or "Lester." Just because I love local arguments that never end.

Real answer: The final arbiter of such matters is the U.S. Geological Survey, which has an office in Asheville.

"Every map I find going back to 1942 calls it Enka Lake, and that includes state and county maps and U.S. topographical maps," said Bill Hazell, field office chief in Asheville. "There is a geographic names informational database, and any official topographical feature name should be there. If you type in 'Enka Lake for North Carolina, it talks about where it's at, but it also has a window for variant names, and in there the variant is listed as 'Biltmore Lake.'"

The variant comes from the Biltmore Lake development company, though, and it's just that, a variant.

"The official name is Enka Lake," Hazell said.

To make this all even more intriguing, Hazell noted that the stream that feeds the lake is called Bill Moore Creek. Close, Biltmore, but no cigar.

Jack Cecil, CEO of the Biltmore Farms development company, which built Biltmore Lake and Biltmore Square, said the company has no intention of seeking a name change.

"It's officially Enka Lake, and we've never changed the name or petitioned to have it changed," Cecil said. "The name of the development is Biltmore Lake, but the idea was we were taking the best of the Biltmore brand, Biltmore Farms, and combining that with the name of the lake for the best of both. We've never pushed for it to be changed since 2001, when we bought the land."

Biltmore Lake now has about 600 homes, with probably another three to four years of building, Cecil said.

Biltmore Lake acknowledges the history on its website, noting, "The American Enka Corporation, a major Dutch textile firm, moved to Asheville in 1928 and took ownership of the land where Biltmore Lake now resides. An employer to thousands of Western North Carolinians, the plant, northeast of the present day community, manufactured nylon and rayon yarns for WWII-era parachutes. In the early 20th century, historic Enka Village featured architecturally- rich bungalows and a handful of executive homes along the lake's eastern shore, leaving several hundred acres undeveloped."

Those homes remain there today. Biltmore Farms bought the land from BASF Corp., which had acquired American Enka in 1985.

This is the opinion of John Boyle. To submit a question, contact him at 828-232-5847 or [email protected]

SWANNANOA - A $30 million Open Space Bond, passed by voters in November, has secured the future of two greenways in Buncombe County, with more on the way.

But when can county residents expect the new miles of trail to materialize, and which communities will ultimately see greater connectivity and long-awaited payoff?

These were among the questions addressed by county staff at a March 15 public meeting, where 20 residents gathered in the media center of Community High School in Swannanoa, many optimistic about plans to come, others frustrated by a conversation that felt eerily familiar.

How much bond money will be dedicated to greenways?

The open space bond is intended to fund three types of projects: land conservation, construction of greenways and development of passive recreation. The bond has a seven-year term limit, with a possible three-year extension.

While the city of Asheville is home to about 10 miles of greenway, county spokesperson Kassi Day said Buncombe does not currently have any greenways located entirely in the county. The Enka Heritage Trail, among the projects slated for completion with the bond funds, would be the first.

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Of the $30 million, there's no designated split — so it's currently undecided how much of the funds will go to greenways. But Principal Park Planner Thomas Gull, who led the public meeting, said about $5 million has been committed to the completion of the Woodfin Greenway and the Enka Heritage Trail.

Money left over will be used to fund other greenway projects in the county, he said, which will be evaluated by staff and ultimately approved by the Recreation Services Advisory Board and County Commissioners.

"That’s really the bulk of what we’re here to talk about tonight, is how do we want those projects that are presented to the county to be evaluated?" Gull said.

Draft criteria includes:

But there's a way to go before future projects are considered and, ultimately, approved. First, said Gull, the county must complete its two ongoing projects, which are estimated to be finished in fiscal year 2025.

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What are the two current projects?

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Residents offer input

While there was excitement in the room about impending projects, some community members, like Chrysse Everhart, who has lived in Swannanoa for 25 years, voiced frustrations.

She said it's a process the community has been through before, one that was ultimately derailed and years of work disregarded. Everhart referenced similar greenway planning efforts in 2006, which she said were stifled by the 2008 recession, and never revived.

For her, Everhart said, it's about "location, location, location."

"I’ve attended a lot of these meetings in other parts of the county, and this one is in the area that I always go to those meetings wanting to address," she said.

In her "wildest dreams," a greenway would stretch from Black Mountain to Azalea Park, creating multimodal connectivity along a key area corridor.

"That was the dream," she said. “There’s still pockets of interest, it’s just been really frustrating to see, over a long period of time now, over a decade, our little priority segment just becoming forgotten."

Everhart was not the only one eager for greater connectivity in Swannanoa. Parks and Recreation Director Allison Dains said that was among the reasons the meeting was held in Swannanoa — for its accessible location, but also because with commitments made to Enka and Woodfin, they were trying to expand their reach and be more "equitable" throughout the county.

Katie Houston, Swannanoa born and raised, was at the meeting with her mom, Maureen Quinn.

For Houston, she said equity and accessibility were her top priorities, as well making Swannanoa more traversable for people without a car.

“It’s always been notoriously inconvenient if you don’t have a car," she said. "From people walking along Swannanoa River Road … to not being able to bike anywhere in this city, it’s just notoriously inconvenient.”

Quinn added a desire to see more places for families and children, and noted environmental concerns, as well.

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Despite some doubts in the room, Quinn said there were plenty of good plans already created, "we just need to get it done."

“Enka is west, Woodfin is north, time for Swannanoa east to Black Mountain, hopefully," she said.

Houston added that she feels "optimistic," though acknowledged she hasn't seen the "rise and fall" of other projects over the decades. Of the county, she said, “it seems like they are being very transparent and authentic, too. Trying to make something good that is going to benefit the public.”

Answering some of the concerns, Dains noted, "there is a lot of momentum. We've got a bond."

"The thing about a bond is it is ensured projects. There will 100% be projects that come out of this. Whereas previously, all of that funding was not necessarily there or designated. We know that as a result of this, we will indeed have new greenways.”

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Weigh in

For residents who want to offer input on the criteria by which the county will eventually evaluate greenway projects that apply for bond funds, visit the community survey and public input page at https://publicinput.com/d4606#5.

The survey is open until March 31.

Next steps

Later in March, staff will revise criteria based on feedback received by the public and stakeholders. In March and April, stakeholders will receive updated criteria for final input before the Recreation Services Advisory Board does a last review.

The greenway criteria will be presented to the County Commission for approval in June.

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Then, the waiting begins. After a two year gap, once the Enka and Woodfin projects are complete, a request for proposals for more bond-funded greenway projects will launch in January 2026.

Dains said the two-year gap is a good thing: giving organizations, towns and townships a chance to get a feasibility study in hand.

“They’ve got two years to get aligned with criteria and ensure that their project is the strongest case possible for funding,” she said.

Sarah Honosky is the city government reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. News Tips? Email [email protected] or message on Twitter at @slhonosky.