Fontana Dam – One county township is once again operating with a complete board.
The Town of Fontana Dam Council is back at full strength, following the swearing-in of Jason Duke at its May 19 regular meeting.
Duke also serves as the town’s utilities director and water facilities plant operator, previously working in a similar capacity for Andrews. He began his role as water operator for Fontana Dam in January, and was introduced at the Jan. 20 board meeting. It was announced that he would be joining the board in the April 21 council meeting.
Duke was sworn in by town administrator Zelerie Rogers.
“I’m extremely excited about it, and I hope I can bring a different perspective from being outside and being involved in different municipalities,” Duke said.
He also lauded his colleagues on the board, saying that residents of the town were in good hands.
Old plant coming down
Much of the meeting centered on continued utility work in the town.
Duke also said that the Tennessee Valley Authority was moving close to demolition on the town’s old, decommissioned water plant. He said that several bags of anthracite – which were previously stored in the old plant – would be moved prior to demolition.
“I walked them through the water plant and talked to them, and I gave them a quote of all the water that’s still left in that plant,” Duke said. “I quoted $150 per 1,000 gallons of liquid and $300 for every 1,000 gallons of sludge.”
He said he believed the plant still contained 75,000 gallons of water and 3,000 gallons of sludge.
“They told me they’re planning on tearing it down at the end of July,” Duke said
He said TVA crews would soon be removing the liquid and sludge from the plant. Duke said that he was working on making the current plant and its operating systems more efficient.
However, he said with the pools at the resort being filled, the plant had gone from approximately 14 hours of downtime back to 11 hours of downtime.
“The guys are going to be getting some overtime just to keep up with it,” Duke said.
However, he said the town’s overall water situation was improving.
“We’re maintaining,” Duke said. “We’re better than we have been. We’re on the right track. Right now, this is doable.”