The Limestone County Water & Sewer Authority on Wednesday interviewed seven applicants for the position of chief executive officer.

The job posting and subsequent interviews became necessary after the authority’s board of directors fired General Manager Byron Cook on Oct. 27. Instead of hiring another general manager, the authority instead decided to advertise for a CEO to reflect how Standard’s & Poor’s views the utility’s chief executive.

S&P is the entity that has issued several bonds for utility projects and issues the utility’s credit rating.

Tammy Smith was named interim general manager by the authority’s board. Board chairman Jim Moffatt previously told The News Courier he hoped a new CEO would be in place by January.

Three of those who applied for the position are current LCWSA employees, while four are not.

The News Courier was present for the first four interviews, which were conducted in a special called meeting of the LCWSA board. When The News Courier asked for the resumes of each of the applicants, board member Johnny Hatchett said the resumes were confidential.

Moffatt later relented and said LCWSA attorney Mark Maclin would provide copies to the press with sensitive information redacted. A representative from Maclin’s office said those would be provided today.

Questions for candidates

Moffatt previously told The News Courier Cook was fired because the board felt a change in direction was needed. In addition to firing Cook, the board voted Oct. 27 to fire three other managers in what Moffatt described as a cost-savings measure to trim $300,000 in salaries.

Cook’s firing and that of Assistant Manager Greg Holland later resulted in a civil lawsuit against Maclin, Moffatt, Hatchett and board members John Farrar, Ty Smith and Mike Hardaway. LCWSA attorney Mike Cole and Limestone County Commission Chairman Mark Yarbrough are also named in the seven-count lawsuit.

The majority of questions asked to the first four candidates pertained to long-range planning, financial background, improved efficiency, employee morale, employee evaluations, the relationship between the board and CEO and the role of CEO at the utility. Candidates were also asked their opinions on whether the utility should continue to rely on outside engineering and accounting firms or if those duties should be handled in-house.

Applicants were told the CEO would be the top executive over a staff of 50 full-time equivalent employees and a customer base of 22,000. They were also told the utility is currently $85 million in debt, though board member Ty Smith told at least one applicant the debt is “moving quickly to $100 million to $110 million.”

Moffatt told each of the first four candidates there was no timeline on when the CEO would be hired, though the board would “move quickly” should one of the seven applicants be selected.