By LAURA GABEL and JOHN C. ROSE
RALEIGH, N.C. (WIZS) – Local leaders are pushing back strongly in opposition to a particular portion of N.C. Senate Bill 214 which, if passed, would allow Franklin County to take property – “without consent or approval” – from Vance, Warren and Halifax counties.
Reaction has been swift from Wednesday’s action in Raleigh, and both local governing bodies have scheduled special called meetings to address the issue.
The Vance County Board of Commissioners will meet in a special called meeting on Friday, Apr. 24 at 4 p.m. to consider adopting a resolution in opposition to the bill, and the Henderson City Council will meet in a special called meeting on Monday at 1 p.m. bringing forth a resolution renouncing SB 214 section 5. Henderson Mayor Melissa Elliott told WIZS Thursday afternoon that N.C. Dist. 32 Rep. Bryan Cohn is scheduled to attend.
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“I’m grateful for his fighting for us in Raleigh,” Elliott said.
In a reading of the bill in the N.C. House Wednesday, Cohn was critical of the current bill draft, calling it “egregious.” Cohn represents Granville County and a portion of Vance.
The House didn’t vote on Wednesday; the bill is on the calendar for a conference report on Tuesday, Apr. 28.
Part V of the bill is what has drawn criticism from local elected officials. It states:
“Authorizes Franklin County to acquire, including by condemnation, real property or an interest in real property located in Halifax, Vance, or Warren County, without the consent or approval of the other county’s Board of Commissioners.”
Those 35 words have rankled municipal and county officials and elected leaders, whose descriptions of the bill’s language and intent of Franklin County’s efforts range from “disrespectful” and “hasty,” to “unacceptable” and “hopefully unconstitutional.”
Cohn told WIZS News Thursday that he and other representatives who spoke on the House floor Wednesday “kicked up enough dust and created enough doubt with our colleagues across the aisle that they felt the need to reschedule the vote.”
The bill did pass its first reading in the Senate but requires another reading for final passage, he explained.
Cohn said, “This isn’t buying land. It would directly allow Franklin County to take or condemn property at their sole discretion without any consent from county or city officials.” Cohn, who did not seek re-election for a second term representing District 32, called Section 5 “grossly unconstitutional.”
“This is about taking the water plant from Henderson,” he said.
Henderson City Council Member Kenia Gómez-Jimenez told WIZS Thursday that decisions about infrastructure and natural resources should never be made without the communities they directly impact.
Gómez-Jimenez said, “While I support regional growth and shared prosperity, SB 214 represents a troubling and highly politicized approach that attempts to sidestep local voices and override the interests of Henderson, Vance County, and our neighboring communities.
“This is not just disappointing, it’s unacceptable. Water is one of our most critical assets, and efforts to advance legislation in this manner undermine both public trust and the long-term stability of the systems that have sustained our local economy for years.”
Rodney Pierce, who represents Halifax and Warren counties – two of the three counties specifically named in Section V of Senate Bill 214 – also spoke in opposition to the bill. He asked why other counties that border Franklin were not named in Section V.
Rep. Matthew Winslow, who represents Franklin County and part of Vance County, said the wording in the section is “narrowly tailored so that it’s only giving access for water resources to Franklin County.”
In a media statement issued Thursday, Cohn said Section V of the bill is “a direct hit to local control. It removes the ability of counties like Halifax, Vance, and Warren to have a say over their own land and infrastructure.”
During his comments on the House floor Wednesday, Pierce said the language in the bill was vague, and that local officials in his district had not been consulted or informed about it.
“They didn’t know anything about this,” he said. “It’s inconsiderate, disrespectful of the state level leadership and county” to try to get Section V passed without notifying the affected counties.
“I understand that this is about water resources, but the language in the bill is very vague, very vague,” Pierce said. “I’m a history teacher by trade,” he said, “and this straight up sounds like manifest destiny.”
Henderson City Manager Paylor Spruill told WIZS it appears that the portion of the bill under scrutiny was written in haste and was overly broad, which would allow for “condemnation of any real property or an interest therein. This could include our KLRW facility, its transmissions or the County Courthouse.”
Spruill said he expected the provision in the bill “is intended to allow Franklin County to accommodate a raw water transmission line from Kerr Lake to a future treatment facility in Franklin County, located perhaps between Epsom and Ingleside off US 401.”
Mayor Elliott told WIZS Thursday that the city will be closely monitoring the legislation, working with its state delegation, legal counsel and regional partners to ensure Henderson’s voice is heard and rights are protected.
In her statement, Elliott said, “Let me be clear: this is not simply about land acquisition—this is about local control, property rights, and the protection of critical infrastructure that serves our community every single day.
“If the language described is accurate, allowing another county to take or condemn property at its sole discretion without the consent of Henderson or Vance County leadership represents a significant overreach. It challenges the very foundation of how municipalities and counties are intended to operate—through collaboration, respect for jurisdictional boundaries, and adherence to established legal processes.
“Our water system is not just infrastructure. It is: A public asset built by and for our residents; A lifeline for economic development; A critical component of public health and safety.
“Any effort that threatens local authority over such an essential resource must be carefully scrutinized.”
Henderson City Council member Garry Daeke’s comments to WIZS News about Section V of the bill were succinct: “egregious, outrageous…and hopefully unconstitutional.”
Vance County Commissioner Tommy Hester said he was doing everything in his power to get the matter resolved.
“I don’t have the answers yet,” Hester said. “I wish it would have never happened, and I wish I could solve it in two minutes, but I can’t. One of the most valuable assets we have is water,” Hester continued, not just for Henderson and Vance County but for the other owners in the Kerr Lake Regional Water System, the City of Oxford and Warren County.
“Government is about compromise,” Hester said, adding that he felt like the communication between the regional water partners and Franklin County, which buys water from KLRWS, had been pushed beyond what it should be.
In his comments to House colleagues on Wednesday, Cohn said the representatives would be overstepping bounds as a body by voting for the bill.
“Take the reasoning out of it for a moment, take the water infrastructure issues out of it for a moment,” he said. “This will not stay contained to Vance County, Warren County as well as Halifax (County). “This will land in your backyard,” he cautioned. “We are setting a dangerous precedent by allowing one county to assert control over another.”
Cohn continued by saying that Section V doesn’t specify water infrastructure in its wording.
“I know why they’re doing this,” he said. “I understand why they’re doing this. I am absolutely for growth, but this is not the way to do it…If you want to be able to develop infrastructure that affects multiple counties and allows for growth and prosperity across the region, then you work together in partnership to make those agreements, you don’t go take it by force. And that is what this is leading to,” Cohn said, calling the move an attempt to take over water infrastructure that is owned by “majority minority communities and has been for many, many decades.”
Gómez-Jimenez said, “There is absolutely a better way forward. Real leadership means choosing collaboration over coercion, and partnership over pressure. I urge our state representatives to do what is right and vote no on SB 214.”
She also called on Franklin County to “work with us, not around us, to find solutions that meet regional needs without jeopardizing the communities that have long stewarded these resources.”