by Leah Justice

leah.justice@tryondailybulletin.com

Tryon resident Eunice Whitmire, who is 70, says the town is going to make her homeless after letting her suffer for more than 14 years with town sewage running through her yard and into her home by making impossible proposals as compensation.

Tryon Town Council has offered Whitmire two proposals for her home after moving her and paying for a rental since September 2013. The town has said they will stop paying for the rental on Feb. 28 and has offered Whitmire either $80,000 to purchase her home at 900 East Howard Street or $25,000 for her to stay in her home.

Council held a special meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 28, where after a discussion with approximately 22 residents in attendance, council went into closed session to discuss offers to Whitmire. Tryon recently offered Whitmire the $80,000 for her home or $25,000 to stay in her home and Whitmire countered with $50,000 to stay in her home so she could do needed repairs she said was caused by the wastewater. Tryon went into closed session on Wednesday and came back with the same $80,000 or $25,000 offer, according to Whitmire.

“Basically they said they want to make my mother whole again, but they go into closed session to make the same offer,” said Whitmire’s daughter, Sonya Glover. “That’s not making her whole at all.”

Tryon recently finished a construction project along East Howard Street to replace the sewer line that runs in front of Whitmire’s home at 900 East Howard Street. The town obtained a grant from the state for a total of $800,000 with the town paying almost $170,000 as the match.

The original agreement between the town and Whitmire was when the construction was complete the town would test Whitmire’s home and move her back in. Now the town says Whitmire doesn’t’ want to return to the house.

Whitmire says the town’s offer is not enough nor is the town giving her enough time to either purchase a new home or to fix her East Howard Street home in order to make it livable again. Whitmire said a house can’t be bought in this area for $80,0000 and council knows that. Council said the $80,000 is a fair offer after an appraisal of the property. Whitmire says the town’s appraisal was for close to $70,000 but another First Citizens Bank appraisal was for $130,000.

“They don’t want to put any work into anything,” said Glover. “They want to pay her and make it go away.”

The house is filled with mold and mildew, according to Whitmire, including her clothes and carpet and although the town says the yard has been tested and determined to no longer have fecal matter, Whitmire says she knows what’s been in the yard and wants new soil before she could live there again.

“They say it’s not contaminated but I know what’s been through that yard,” Whitmire said.

During Wednesday’s meeting, several residents spoke of their disbelief that the town allowed the issue to go on for so many years. Town council explained all the steps the town has made in the past couple of years to make the situation as right as it can for Whitmire.

Commissioner George Baker said he was elected to the board three years ago and when Whitmire came to council about her problems he was shocked. He said the town immediately put into action and started the process of finding out why her house was under threat. The town’s sewer line was not large enough to handle the flow so when it rained heavily, sewage would back up into Whitmire’s yard and for many years into her toilets and bathtubs. The town was fined by the state for the issues.

Baker said the town installed back flows and double back flows and manhole covers and discovered those things weren’t working. Then the town decided to replace the sewer line.

Baker said the town, at its expense, cleaned Whitmire’s furniture, moved her into a rental and paid $1,000 a month for what will be approximately 18 months and paid for utilities at Whitmire’s East Howard Street home. Baker said his point is Tryon has helped Whitmire to the tune of $20,000 plus all the money that went into the sewer line.

“Do we want to resolve this,” Baker asked. “Desperately. But we have to come to an agreement with Ms. Whitmire. We have no agenda except to make one of our own whole again.”

Whitmire has told council before she was unable to let her grandchildren come to the house because of the sewage in the yard. She described the smell as unbearable and said she wishes town council members could realize what she went through all those years.

“Would you want your mother to go through this all these years,” Whitmire asked council.

Commissioner Bill Ingham said “no,” but the town is trying to make it right.

Glover said her mother is still paying a mortgage on her East Howard Street home plus town and county taxes but hasn’t lived there in 16 months. Glover also said the town is putting her mother in an impossible situation because there’s not enough time to either fix the issues in the home or purchase a new home by the end of February deadline.

Whitmire said she doesn’t want either of the town’s offers.

“I see it as though I didn’t put the mess underneath the house,” Whitmire said. “I didn’t put the sewer in the yard. It was their fault, but it seems like I’m the one that’s not getting a fair deal.”

Whitmire is consulting with an attorney and has also been in contact with the National Action Network (NAN).