Improving sewer capacity critical to meet housing needs

Burke is facing a housing shortage, but building more homes requires infrastructure, and one of the county’s pump stations is at 93% capacity.

Since taking on the role of county manager in 2023, Brian Epley has pushed to build momentum in Burke’s almost-stagnant economy. Too few homes and inadequate infrastructure, however, are roadblocks to economic growth.

At the county’s 2026 Budget & Strategic Planning Work Session on March 5, Epley said Burke County is experiencing a housing crisis. Representatives from Willis Engineers also said the Indian Hills pump station was almost at full capacity.

Fast forwarding to Burke County’s March 16 regular meeting, commissioners unanimously approved an agreement that would allow a slower buildout of the 31.6-acre Chestnut Springs development in Icard avoid overwhelming the Indian Hills pump station.

Epley said the situation is a dynamic challenge for the county.

“I think you continue to work on economic development. I think you continue to work on housing in a pipeline way. But … the pinch point is that you’ve got to expeditiously solve this sewer capacity issue,” Epley said. “It’s going to take some help. It’s going to take some partnerships, but we’ve got to see that as our top priority, certainly for the eastern part of the county.”

The sewer capacity issue does not impact the central and western parts of Burke County, but it is a major issue for much of Hildebran, all of Rhodhiss, and parts of Icard and George Hildebran.

“(It) is a critical resource in the eastern part of Burke County for municipal sewer,” Epley said. “It is the pump station that really feeds most of the sewer collection to Hickory for treatment.”

County data shows that Indian Hills transfers about 225,000 gallons of wastewater per day to Hickory.

Addressing the Indian Hills pump station dilemma could cost up to $10 million and would take about three years for design, permitting, and eventual construction, Epley said. It is a high priority, but the project would not be completed quickly enough to match the original development schedule for Chestnut Springs.

Epley told The Paper in May 2025 that the county was seeking Hurricane Helene relief funds to help cover some of the cost.

Chestnut Springs, which will be located at 3637 Miller Bridge Road, could have up to 85 homes ranging from about $250,000 to $300,000 when the housing development is complete.

The timetable for the housing development has been adjusted to four phases spanning from 2026 to 2029, with 12 homes built in the first phase.

The development was proposed by Pisgah Brothers Developments, co-owned by brothers Scott and Travis Mann, after they identified a lack of affordable housing in Burke County.

Affordable housing isn’t the only market where there is a shortage, though. Epley said the shortage was across the board, from U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) housing to market-based lake homes.

Staff realized Burke County was in a housing crisis after a grant-funded, county-wide housing assessment, Epley said at the March 5 work session.

“That simply means that the escalation of private housing costs and the availability of housing inventory are not sufficient to meet current demand,” Epley said. “That has a significant impact on workforce, it has a significant impact on public education and (enrollment), and both those impact economic development at a policy level.”

Epley’s PowerPoint presentation had a slide comparing Burke County housing trends in 2023 to trends in 2024. In 2023, the average listing price of a home was $326,943. By 2024, the number jumped up a whopping 23.3% at $403,223.