Sustainability Hero Award

The City of Hendersonville Environmental Sustainability Board awarded Hendersonville’s Water & Sewer Department with the third annual Sustainability Hero Award on the March 3, 2025 City Council Meeting. 

Environmental Sustainability Board Chair, Virginia Tegel emphasized this year’s winner has shown “a long standing record of prioritizing sustainability in all areas of operation including water conservation, waste reduction, and operational efficiency.” 

Some of this department’s accomplishments include the following:

• Restoring clean drinking water in just over two weeks to 100% of customers;  

• Prioritizing integrative infrastructure improvements that use stormwater and erosion control measures;  

• Creating the Mountains on Tap program to encourage drinking tap water and reducing single-use plastics;  

• Creating the Water Conservation Rebate program to incentivize our community to reduce water consumption in homes;  

• Installing a UV disinfection system that is expected to reduce City-wide electrical consumption by 6% or about 801,000 kWh;  

• Implementing a Water Treatment facility wide recycling program; and  

• Initiating a biosolids thermal dryer facility which is estimated to reduce biosolid landfill waste by over 60%.

The award also highlighted the efforts of specific Water & Sewer staff members Stephen Bell, Bo Stepp, Damian Bingham, and Chase Dowdy.  

Bo Stepp, Damian Bingham, and Chase Dowdy. These Water & Sewer maintenance workers initiated stream restoration practices to repair eroding streambanks to protect sewer infrastructure including recontouring the stream bank and planting native vegetation. This crew could have easily used easier – but more prone to failing – measures but instead took the initiative to create a long-lasting integrated remedy that certainly came in handy when Hurricane Helene hit.  

Stephen Bell, Laboratory Supervisor took the initiative to start a recycling program at the Water Treatment Facility which he currently maintains while educating staff members on the importance of waste reduction. This has led to staff members carrying over these efforts of waste reduction in their own lives which is directly aligned with the mission of the Environmental Sustainability Board.  

Hendersonville’s Environmental Sustainability Board honored Public Works Streets, Traffic, and Environmental Services Superintendent, Brandon Mundy as the City's Sustainability Hero. 

"Sometimes, it’s as simple as looking at what services the city is already providing and finding ways to improve them so they are more efficient and thus more sustainable," said ESB board member Mary Ellen Kustin. "We commend this year’s recipient for doing just that."

Mary Ellen highlighted some of Brandon's accomplishments that led to his selection as honoree:

• Efficiency changes to the city’s brush collection program reducing the amount of fuel and staff resources
• Spearheading a route efficiency study which will analyze the city’s current trash and recycling routes. The effects of this study will help further reduce fuel usage by the city.
• Implemented a tracking program through ArcGIS that tracks contaminated recycling and trash bins in addition to gathering other helpful information. Through the implementation of this system, the City is gaining more data to help inform areas for improvement when it comes to waste reduction and contamination.

Hendersonville’s Environmental Sustainability Board honored Stormwater Division Manager Mike Huffman as the City's first-ever Hendersonville Sustainability Hero.

“This year’s recipient has exemplified all the qualities and characteristics of a Sustainability Hero,” said ESB Board Chair Kelly Pahle. “Tonight, we would like to take a second and celebrate this person’s outstanding achievement in leadership, innovation, and service to the community as it relates to helping preserve our community for future generations.”

Chair Pahle highlighted some of Mike Huffman’s accomplishments that led to his selection as honoree:

• Applied for and received millions of dollars in grant funds to implement water quality improvement projects.
• Organized and led many stream and floodplain restoration projects within the community.
• Advocated for the incorporation of stormwater features in many of the City’s recent development projects including the new police headquarters, parking deck, and the new fire station construction.
• Developed the City’s Stormwater Program to be a leader in the industry.
• Achieved full compliance in the most recent MS4 (municipal separate storm sewer system) audits, becoming one of the few programs in NC to be found fully compliant.
• Implemented a wide variety of sustainability initiatives including the City’s rain barrel program, storm drain marking, and stream clean-ups.
• Initiated the City’s Trash Trout Program which has removed over 10,000 lbs. of trash from local waterways; it was the first of its kind and based on its success, there are now 35 trash trouts across five states.
• Committed to meaningful public education and outreach that has included creating the City’s “stormwater stroll” as a tool to educate the community on stormwater treatment practices, and volunteering with girl scouts and boy scouts leading to a rain garden installation at a local elementary school and water quality murals on rainwater cisterns in Patton Park.

The presentation of the Sustainability Hero Award to Mike Huffman was met with a standing ovation by City Council, staff, and meeting attendees. Mike thanked the Environmental Sustainability Board for the recognition as well as City Engineer Brent Detwiler, the Engineering team, City Council, and City management for the support that made all the sustainability efforts and projects possible.