Fontana Dam – In a span of two minutes, the revolving door of Fontana Dam council members reappeared.
Rachael Wachacha was sworn in as the council’s newest member during the latter part of the Sept. 21 town meeting, before Luis Geraldo vacated his seat when the next agenda item was reached.
The two occurrences are non-related, however. Wachacha appeared at August’s meeting and expressed interest in filling the seat left vacant when Brandon Jones resigned over the summer. Shortly after she became an official member, Town Administrator Zelerie Rogers turned the floor over to Geraldo, who just joined the council in May to fill Jon Hodgson’s seat.
Geraldo and his expectant wife are moving to Bristol, Tenn., where their home has just completed construction. The five-person council has been plagued by constant turnover.
“We’ve been here before,” Rogers said. “I’ve had people ask me, ‘Why all the turnover?’
“Really though, things change. People move on. That’s the way it happens in a resort town.”
Wastewater inspection
Following a recent state inspection of the town’s wastewater plant, two items need to be addressed.
According to the assessment – conducted by the N.C. Department of Water Resources’ Asheville-based regional staff –
* Aerial-line inspections – and annual collection data from the entire system – have not been documented.
* A spill-respond action plan needs to be created.
Later in the update, Rogers noted that the four chemical tanks at the water plant are in the process of being switched over from a bottom-feeding system to a top-feeder. Tanks were quoted last year at $550 and the council approved any current purchase of the tanks, up to $4,000.