Fontana Dam – After a slight delay, the town has finally adopted its 2020-21 fiscal year budget.
Town Administrator Zelerie Rogers presented a breakdown of the expected $239,169.19 of revenue planned over the course of the remaining 10 months, with $120,000 of the cash flow coming from user fees to be paid to the town by Fontana Village Resort & Marina. A total of $90,784 is predicted to come in from water and wastewater usage.
Fontana Dam had to operate under an interim budget for the first two months of the fiscal year, a move necessitated by the wait for Fontana Village Resort to resume operation after shutting down due to COVID-19 protocols in March. The village reopened Aug. 17.
“I like the fact that it’s $12,000 a month, instead of $17,000 or $5,000. That makes things so much easier to budget,” Rogers added, alluding to the previous lessee’s of the resort making irregular payments, which was contingent on month-to-month revenue.
Rogers also noted that discussions with the Tennessee Valley Authority – which has a temporary lessee, Baker Construction Services LLC, operating the resort at this time – have indicated that TVA will stress the importance of keeping up payments to the town to any potentially permanent lessee’s that enter negotiations to take over the operation.
Also at the meeting, it was reported that the town’s water plant was inspected last month. The report reiterated the need to address multiple leaks along lines on N.C. 28 – as well as at the resort itself – and the importance of hiring another water operator at the short-staffed facility. Fontana Dam has struggled to find a certified operator willing to fill the void, as only two operators are working at the plant.