ReGroup WNC springs into action for Beacon Village residents
Local nonprofit organization Partners With Contractor to mitigate drainage issue in Swannanoa neighborhood
Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
September 14, 2025
A crew from Chonzie, Inc. removes silt and mud from a drainage system on Edwards Avenue in Beacon Village. The project, which included repairs to a nearby drainage pipe, was funded by local nonprofit organization ReGroup WNC. Courtesy photo
Jon Neumann has spent plenty of time in Beacon Village since Tropical Storm Helene. One of several friends, who in an effort to assist victims of the natural disaster with crucial repairs and remodeling projects, established ReGroup WNC, his work through the nonprofit organization has taken him to the small Swannanoa neighborhood many times.
The historic hamlet, constructed in the 1920s to house employees of Beacon Manufacturing Co., faced the brunt of the storm’s fury, as more than two dozen homes were severely damaged or destroyed. Over the past year, as volunteer-led ReGroup WNC partnered with local businesses and fellow nonprofits to get current residents back into their homes, Neumann has learned a lot about the challenges they face.
When he read about a lingering drainage issue in an opinion piece published, Sept. 8, by Asheville Watchdog, Neumann was stirred by the community’s ongoing plight. The column by veteran Western N.C. journalist John Boyle highlighted a lingering drainage concern.
“He was right, the people there really can’t catch a break,” Neumann said of residents along Edwards Avenue. “I just felt like we have to figure this thing out.”
Standing water, originating from a spring located on the property of former residents displaced by Helene, was no longer responding to previous mitigation efforts after the storm. Neighbors along a section of the short dead-end road were forced to contend with muddy water, reportedly as high as 12 inches, following moderate to heavy rainfall.
While the residents of the home have been coordinating with the federal Hazard Mitigation Program and Buncombe County to address the spring, Neumann was confident ReGroup WNC could assist with the drainage.
“I’ve known about the spring issue for a while, because a woman we were going to help didn’t know if she would rebuild, due to her concerns with it,” Neumann said. “Then you had this drainage issue that nobody could figure out, and I’ve been going there since the storm, so I’ve seen these drain boxes full of silt. But, until I read that story a couple of times, I had never fully connected the two things in my head.”
The nonprofit organization had assisted several residents on the road with funding to rebuild and repair electrical and plumbing infrastructure damaged or destroyed by flooding from the Swannanoa River.
Chonzie, Inc. repairs a drainage system in Beacon Village, following an effort by ReGroup WNC to address the issue of standing water in the Swannanoa neighborhood. Courtesy photo
“I talked to a resident, who we had worked with, and told him I have a guy who has large trucks and equipment to muck out drainage pipes,” Neumann said of Chonzie McMahan who owns and operates Chonzie, Inc. “He does this exact work for the DOT all the time, so I knew he knew what he was doing.”
Less than 24 hours after reading about the issue, Neumann met McMahan on Edwards Avenue.
“We met that morning, and I was just hoping to get his eyes on it, but by the time I left he was calling his guys to get a truck out there,” Neumann said. “Basically, they sucked all of that silt and dirt out of the main drain lines.”
One of the primary issues impacting the drainage involved a pipe running through private property.
“That section connected the drainage pipes from Edwards Avenue to U.S. 70, where the water needed to go, and it’s on private property. The DOT wasn’t allowed to touch it, which isn’t their fault, it’s just not something they’re able to do,” he said. “So, Chonzie got permission and ran a camera down the pipe to see where it was broken, dug it up and replaced it.”
The contractor’s work cleaning the drains and completing the repairs, funded by ReGroup WNC, will allow the water to flow out of the neighborhood, according to Neumann.
“We weren’t able to fix the spring, which is a much more complex issue,” he said. “The owners are working with agencies to try to address that, so that’s something that has to play itself out. But, right now the water flowing out to the street, and with functioning drain pipes it will just drain out of the neighborhood like it’s supposed to.”
ReGroup WNC has partnered with Black Mountain-based custom home renovation company Balsam Built and nonprofit Fuller Center Disaster ReBuilders to assist in the rebuilding of eight homes on Edwards Avenue, according to Neumann.
“We’ve formed really strong partnerships with both of those organizations this past year,” he said. “We’ve provided $20,000 for each of these homes that have allowed us to pay for work on electrical and plumbing work that can’t really be done by the volunteers who are helping.”
The nonprofit is currently working to assist area residents whose homes were lost in Helene.
“Right now, things are still pretty complicated for a lot of people,” Neumann said. “We’re in the process of identifying families and figuring out how to work through all of the rebuilding restrictions in these areas. It’s all a big puzzle right now, be we’re still working to help figure out how to connect people with the right resources.”