(Updated to reflect comment on website from Bob Crye)
Bob Crye has finished 10 years on the board of commissioners of Hallsdale Powell Utility District. He was replaced Thursday by Kelly Barger, only the second woman to serve on the HPUD board in its 66-year history.
Barger is a business owner and mother of two daughters: Mayson, 13, and Ella Jane, 10. She is married to Rob Barger, president/CEO of First Century Bank. The family lives in Halls.
“I’ve lived in Halls my entire life,” Kelly Barger said in an interview Monday. “Hallsdale Powell is an important business that everybody takes for granted – safe, clean water.” She did not arrive with an agenda except to learn as much as she can about the utility industry.
She has deep ties with the community. Her mother is Vicki Koontz (married to Gary) and her dad is Larry Weaver. Kelly honored her stepmom, the late Janice Weaver, and her mother-in-law, Eleanor Yoakum of Harrogate, with the name of her younger daughter.
The appointment was made by Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs from a list of three names submitted by the HPUD board. Other nominees were Denise Hill, wife of former commission chair Jim Hill, and attorney Rachel Sanders Hurley.
Bob Crye
The three-member HPUD board meets monthly at the office on Cunningham Road. Other commissioners are Kevin Julian and Todd Cook. Sandy Liford was the first woman appointed to the HPUD board. She resigned as a principal with Knox County Schools to become vice president at HPUD. Crye replaced her on the board.
In an interview last week, Crye said he did not seek reappointment in part because he believes in term limits. He said he’s leaving HPUD better than he found it. He said commissioners are paid $350 per month.
Crye, an engineer, retired after a 25-year career with TVA. He says his time is filled helping wife Janis with projects of the Halls Crossroads Women’s League.
Sandra Clark is editor/CEO of Knox TN Today.