Fontana Dam – A new solution for raising donations toward a nonprofit was the topic of much discussion at the Feb. 16 town council meeting.
The Fontana Foundation – established in 2007 – helps pay for such items around Graham County’s smallest municipality as the annual Fontana Lakeshore Clean-Up, maintenance on the historical Gunther Cabin and assisting residents with dire needs.
Fontana Village Resort & Marina recently agreed to start helping contribute to the 501(c)3 by allowing visitors to “round up” a purchase total to the nearest dollar – similar to what consumers can do when making a purchase at McDonald’s toward the Ronald McDonald Foundation, for example.
In the past, the town has held fundraisers – such as cookouts and employee contributions – to generate donations.
But with the new system in place, the accounting department at the village has ran into some issues with processing the donations through Quickbooks.
“It always ends up being very, very complicated,” said council member Lacie McBee, Fontana Village Resort comptroller. “With the coding and everything, it becomes a nightmare.”
Council member Brandon Jones – who also manages the Fontana Lake Marina – countered that the problem did not lie in Quickbooks, but with the village’s Point of Sale system. He noted that the absence of an on-site IT manager – a position that has been vacant for a couple of months – has hurt the ability to quickly address the issue.
“It can’t be too complicated,” Jones said. “If everybody rounds up to the nearest dollar … even if we came up with $100,000 a year from this, that’s a lot of money that could be used for lake clean-up.
“We could broaden our horizons with that kind of money.”
“This is the best-case scenario in getting money into this foundation,” Town Administrator Zelerie Rogers added. “We don’t really have any other way to get money into it. If we don’t do something with the cabin, it’s going to fall apart.”
Other news, notes
* Rogers said the town is still searching for a new garbage truck and is also looking to build a storage shed for some of the town’s vehicles and equipment, such as the scraping blade and salt used in the event of icy roads. Jones added that the construction of a “Kwanzaa Hut” – better known as a Quonset hut, which is a pre-built steel structure shaped like a semi-cylinder – could save the town a lot of money. Rogers indicated that she would look into pricing for the hut.
* During a discussion about the recent increase in cost for road paint, Jones said the marina is excavating a spot to open up 20 new parking spots for customers.
* Rogers noted that since the repair of a water pipe along N.C. 28, flow to the town’s wastewater plant has “tripled.”
* The council also noted the need for repairing – or even replacing – street lights around the town. Rogers said she planned to buy bulbs as a less-expensive option before pursuing the replacement of the fixtures.