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TWSA head resigns
By Lynn Hotaling
County water and sewer officials Tuesday night (Oct. 19) accepted the resignation of their director.
Hugh Montgomery, who has led the Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer Authority since March 2003, told board members that while his tenure with the agency has been challenging and fulfilling, he needs to be with his family in the Chapel Hill area.
"I'm between a rock and a hard place," Montgomery said Tuesday morning, adding that his wife, a member of the nursing faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill wants to continue her career there.
"I can't be away from my family," he said.
Montgomery will stay on with TWSA through January.
The departing director had high praise for the TWSA staff.
"I work with a tremendous number of highly qualified individuals," he said.
One concern Montgomery expressed was what he sees as a movement on the part of some local elected officials to weaken or dissolve TWSA.
"My biggest concern is that the concept of a water and sewer authority appears to be under threat," Montgomery said, adding that the authority removes politics from the delivery of water and sewer services.
"Our business plan, according to the authority's bylaws, has to be sound," he said. "We can't serve as a 'field of dreams' for developers. The owners of TWSA are its customers, and they are the ones who pay for improvements to the system."
"Our board accepted Mr. Montgomery's resignation with regret," said Mickey Luker, TWSA board chairman.
TWSA was formed in 1992 by the towns of Sylva, Webster and Dillsboro and Jackson County. Members of its board are appointed by those government agencies. Western Carolina University also has a representative on the TWSA board.
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