|
Wilkie to replace Luker as county TWSA board appointee
By Carey King
Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer Authority board members reelected Mickey Luker their chairman last Tuesday (Jan. 18) at nearly the same hour county commissioners appointed another to take his place.
While Luker has served on the TWSA board for five years and as its chairman for three and a half, county leaders instead chose Frank Wilkie to join Randall Turpin as their two TWSA appointments.
Until the county suspended its participation in the Economic Development Commission Jan. 12, Wilkie had served as a county representative to the EDC.
Commissioners' Chairman Stacy Buchanan said commissioners chose Wilkie because he worked with Nantahala Power & Light Co. for many years and has utility experience. Luker had already served two terms, Buchanan said.
However, TWSA board members were "taken aback" by the change, said TWSA director Hugh Montgomery.
"It was assumed by all of us that given Mr. Luker's competent, dedicated service, he would be reappointed," Montgomery said.
In addition to electing Luker chairman, TWSA board members voted Lynda Sossamon to the post of vice chairman, a position previously held by Chuck Wooten.
Sossamon serves on the board as a representative of the town of Sylva; Wooten, as a non-voting member representing Western Carolina University.
Wooten asked not to be reappointed vice chairman and recommended Sossamon for the role.
"I really believe that it's advantageous to have someone in that position who can vote," Wooten said.
Other TWSA board members include Sylva appointees Sybil Reed and Bobby Beck, Webster designee Brad Moses and Dillsboro delegate Jim Cochran.
Montgomery will end nearly two years of employment as executive director at the end of this week, as he resigned in October to be closer to his family in Chapel Hill.
A search committee chaired by Wooten has selected four candidates for the position and plans to hold interviews the second week in February. Montgomery has told the board he will work part-time until a new director is hired and gets settled in.
A new chairman is expected to be elected during TWSA's February meeting, which will be led by Sossamon, Montgomery said.
• Fairview School: Board members waived impact fees and allocated a water supply of 9,000 gallons per day to Fairview Elementary School, but said it's the last time a public entity will be exempt from the impact charge.
Since its creation by Sylva, Dillsboro, Webster and the county in 1992, TWSA has waived impact fees for projects such as the county jail and the Harris Regional Hospital expansion. However, Montgomery said, TWSA can no longer absorb those costs because it receives no funding from local government.
"They pay their water bill like everyone else, but that's it," Montgomery said. "TWSA does not get money from the county or towns."
Though it's been "unstated policy" to waive the fees in years past, Montgomery has researched the matter and said there is no legal mandate for the practice to continue. From this point, no exemptions will be made, he said.
Both Fairview and Smoky Mountain High School use TWSA sewer service. Fairview is currently on a well, while the high school gets TWSA water via a 2-inch line connected to a 12-inch transmission main on N.C. 107.
Jackson County's School Board has submitted plans to run a new water line from N.C. 107 up the south side of Fairview Road, following Big Orange Way onto the school campus. In addition to providing a new supply line to the high school near the new science building, the project would run a water main to the back of Fairview.
The school board will dedicate the line to TWSA to own and operate, Montgomery said.
TWSA and county workers may work together to install the line, Montgomery said, but he has yet to receive confirmation from the county of that arrangement.
• Cullowhee apartments: Board members approved water and sewer service for a new 108-bedroom apartment complex to be built in Cullowhee.
The property is located near the intersection of Ledbetter and University Heights roads and owned by Judi Andrews.
The 13,800 gallons per day allocated will also be used for Andrews' home and six existing duplexes.
Andrews has already paid impact fees and acreage charges for sewer service to the duplexes, but will be required to extend TWSA water and sewer lines to her property, Montgomery said.
• Banking contract: First Charter Bank will continue to handle TWSA financial matters, as board members re-awarded a contract to the bank for the next three years.
Board member Moses, also the vice president of Carolina First Bank, reviewed contract proposals submitted by his bank, First Charter, BB&T, Central Carolina Bank, First Citizens and Wachovia.
First Charter offered the lowest interest rate and no monthly fees, Moses said.
• New plant operator: TWSA will soon advertise for an additional operator for its wastewater treatment plants, Montgomery said.
The plants are now understaffed, with the first lacking supervision 79 hours a week, the second 156 hours per week, and the third never staffed on weekends.
"When (plant operators) Ben (Henson) or Stan (Bryson) leave on Friday, they have no assurance that when they arrive back at the plant on Monday morning what shape the treatment process will be in," Montgomery said.
• Trailer park billing: Montgomery is reviewing TWSA's agreements with trailer park owners county-wide following a presentation by Webster Estates owner Vicki Todd.
Todd petitioned the board in December to be billed separately for each trailer rather than the park as a whole. Each trailer in the park has a separate water meter, Todd said, and separate readings would allow her to bill tenants for the exact amount of water each uses.
Todd paid the board a second visit this month, offering to turn the Webster Estates water system and right-of-way over to TWSA if the authority agrees to do individual readings.
TWSA reads the meters individually for other trailer parks and apartment complexes, and that policy should apply to her property as well, Todd said.
|
