Water Authority Moving Next To Hire General Manager

Recruiting a Cumberland Plateau Water Authority General Manager has emerged as the next priority in the area’s water utility regionalization process.

Cumberland Plateau Water Authority Board Chair Greg Hanson said he hopes to have the position filled in the next 90 days. He said the process will move more smoothly and quickly with someone who has this process as their sole focus.

“I would certainly hope to have somebody on in the May, June timeframe,” Hanson said. “It would be our hope at that point that we could then commence negotiations with Crab Orchard and talk about folding their operation in with the Water Authority.”

The Authority Board decided to heighten the search when Hanson briefed them on his recent meeting with TDEC officials. The board will meet April 1 to discuss options.

“Pending one or more of the other four utility districts agreeing to join, we would have to, at that point, kind of take care of our own responsibilities,” Hanson said. “I think Clear Creek is long-term and we’re certainly not prepared to take that on, and Meadow Park Lake is really a city issue.”

Hanson said regardless of what solution is chosen in the end, everyone is still on the same page about the bottom line: providing water to the communities they serve.

“I think once we get a general manager on board and have somebody who can focus on it and spend the time with TDEC and others, that we can maybe get some momentum going,” Hanson said.