From Staff Reports

 ASHEVILLE, N.C. — The city recently named Walter Ear as director of Capital Management, the department responsible for planning, budgeting, designing and managing projects and    maintaining existing public facilities.

Ear officially started March 30, but has served as the interim director since former department head Jade Dundas was promoted to assistant city manager in March 2025.

Born in Asheville, Ear began with the city in 2014, and served as the department's public facilities division manager since 2023. He has a background in engineering and 10 years of experience as a U.S. Navy Officer, according to the city’s March 31 news release.

“I’ve been honored to work alongside people who care so much about this community, and am proud of the work we’ve done over the past decade. I look forward to continuing to serve on this team, and to do our part to improve the built environment and make Asheville a safer, stronger, and more connected place for everyone who visits or calls it home,” Ear said in the release.

His annual base salary is $139,297, according to a city database.

Meanwhile, the city recently named a new director for the Water Resources Department, with Bill Hart taking over the position in March. He, too, has been serving in the interim since the departure of David Melton in August. 

Hart has worked in water resources for 16 years, with a background in natural resource management. His annual base salary is $147,821.

Asheville’s water system, which serves Buncombe County and the northern portion of Henderson County, has 160,000 customers, and interconnections with several towns and municipalities throughout its coverage area. 

Three water treatment plants feed the system: Mills River, William DeBruhl and North Fork. The latter two are near Swannanoa and Black Mountain, in eastern Buncombe.

The department maintains more than 1,700 miles of water lines in the distribution system — enough miles of infrastructure enough to go from Asheville to Miami, Fla., and back.

The March 31 release said that Hart was “instrumental” in the department’s response and recovery from Tropical Storm Helene, which caused catastrophic damage to the water system, wreaking havoc on critical infrastructure and churning up its reservoirs. It left the system without potable water for seven weeks.

Hart said in the release, “Asheville is a special community, and I am fully committed to ensuring our residents and businesses enjoy continued access to safe, reliable, and sustainable water.”