No general manager for the Cumberland Plateau Water Authority, yet
Jun. 20—The Cumberland County Plateau Water Authority met on Monday, June 17 to discuss hiring a general manager. The board reached a conclusion for how to approach the hiring process but there will be no general manager yet.
The board agreed to allow the subcommittee to take charge of leading the search for the new general manager.
By the July meeting, the subcommittee is responsible for creating an interviewing process, moving through the interview process and potentially choosing top candidates for the full board to consider. The board expects an update by this meeting.
The subcommittee was also tasked with reaching out to the five utility districts in the area, Catoosa Utility District, City of Crossville, Crab Orchard Utility, South Cumberland Utility District and West Cumberland Utility, to seek knowledge about what they should look for in a successful general manager.
"My chair at our last meeting was that it's a good idea in my opinion to get members of the existing utility districts involved in that process," said Vice-Chairman Sean Stephens. "I don't know that I or anybody on the committee maybe has the right experience to ask the right questions for a person that would be in that position where I feel like the members of the existing utility districts and the city would be better experienced and better prepared to help with that process."
The board discussed consulting Tim Begley, the engineer for the city of Crossville, for his expertise in the hiring process.
Part of this interviewing process may include, pending board feedback, the purchase for a program by the American Water Works Association to determine a projected salary the board is willing to offer the general manager. The program will cost the board $149 to purchase. All of the board members agreed this was a reasonable price based on the substantial information they would be receiving.
The subcommittee discussed potentially utilizing the assistance of the Tennessee Association of Utility Districts website to help draw in candidates for this position. The board said that if they proceed with using TAUD to help with the interviewing process, they may receive applications from outside of the Crossville area.
The board has held discussions about the creation of the job description. The board has a template from the TAUD and a separate one they created. The job description could be a compilation of the two.
As of June 17, the board mentioned they had heard from two interested citizens for the position. Due to there being no formal application process yet, the board said there were more interested citizens who were unsure of how to apply for the position but were asking questions.
"What I would hope is between now and our next meeting we have enough exposure about the application process that we have more than two applicants and I think that that is going to be the case," said Stephens.
The CPWA was enacted in 2022 by the state and the board was appointed in 2023. The board consists of seven members: Chairman Greg Hanson, Stephens, Secretary Kevin Chamberlin, Missy Sliger, Greg Tabor, Thom Hassler and Jeff Freitag.
Board member Thom Hassler was absent from this meeting.
The next Cumberland Plateau Water Authority meeting is scheduled for July 15 at 6 p.m. at the Cumberland Medical Center in conference rooms A and B.
Jessica Ceballos may be reached at jceballos@crossville-chronicle.com
