Retiring Public Works Director David Lutz Remembered for Loyal Service, Federal Charges
Lutz, who has worked at the city of Brevard since 1986, was acquitted last year on charges of mishandling hazardous waste. Supporters say he was a dedicated and accomplished leader.
BREVARD — Longtime Brevard Public Works Director David Lutz — who received high praise for his 36 years of service to the city but whose career was shadowed by a 2020 federal indictment on charges of improperly handling lead-tainted soil — submitted his letter of retirement this week.
At his trial Last November, Lutz, 66, was acquitted on all three charges he had faced in U.S. District Court in Asheville while racking up a $156,800 legal bill footed by the city.
“His blood runs Brevard Blue. He endeared himself to so many residents for being a straight-shooting, honest, fair man,” said longtime Council member Mac Morrow, who testified for the defense at Lutz’s trial and was a firm backer of the Council’s controversial decision to pay his legal fees.
This action was vindicated by Lutz’s acquittal, he said last year, as was the respect Lutz was shown by the judge in the case, Morrow added on Thursday.
“I was asked to speak on David’s behalf (at the trial) and I felt that was an honor.”
Mayor Maureen Copelof, another vocal supporter of Lutz and the city’s payment of his fees, said Lutz “has done an amazing job for the city,” citing, as one example, his work during last December’s foot-deep snowfall.
“You should have seen him last year during the blizzard. He was out there all night . . . He has provided the leadership that has allowed a small staff at the Public Works Department to do a big job.”
Morrow has previously listed several significant upgrades to the city’s utility system during Lutz’s tenure, including major pipe replacements and the 2016 addition of a large holding tank designed to prevent effluent from flowing into the French Broad River.
Council member Aaron Baker acknowledged the importance of those jobs but compared them to new parts added to a bicycle with a cracked frame. Much work remains, he said. “The fact is, the main plant is woefully outdated and it’s going to need a major upgrade.”
Though the hiring of department heads is the responsibility of the city manager, not the Council, Baker said he hoped to attract an outside candidate to replace Lutz.
“This is certainly an opportunity to gain some perspective from someone who has worked elsewhere,” he said.
New City Manager Wilson Hooper said he plans to seek applicants from outside the city but will “of course” accept applications from internal candidates.
“Two reasons,” he said Thursday, “one, so you can pick from the largest possible field of qualified candidates and, two, if you do pick an internal candidate, you know they deserve it; you know they can compete with the best from all over.”
The project to build the tank on the French Broad led to Lutz’s indictment. The grounds of the treatment plant on Wilson Road had previously been used as a law-enforcement firing range.
A city consultant testified at the trial that he had warned Lutz in a 2014 email that if the soil contained enough accumulated lead to be classified as hazardous waste — and needed to be moved to make room for the tank — the city would be required to truck it to a landfill especially built to accept such contaminants.
Tests did find such high levels of lead, according to court records, but Lutz directed the soil to be stored temporarily at the Public Works operations center on Cashiers Valley Road and then to be disposed of at the Transylvania County Landfill — which was not permitted to accept such waste.
Lutz, who testified on his own behalf, told the court he was not was not aware that the lead-tainted soil posed a serious threat to the public and said he had not been adequately informed of its dangers by the consultant.
Reached at work Thursday, he said he was too busy preparing for the transition to a new director to comment on his career in detail. His retirement letter is not public, according to North Carolina law, said city Human Resources Director Kelley Craig, though she did confirm that she had received it.
The charges Lutz faced focused on the hauling of hazardous waste without the legally required paperwork, and its storage at the operating center. County officials previously said that regular testing at the landfill has not revealed elevated levels of lead.
Council member Geraldine Dinkins said she thought it would have been appropriate for Lutz, who earns about $100,000 per year, to retire after he was indicted.
“I won’t say this is the perfect time for a change, because I think the perfect time was about two years ago,” she said.
Though she praised Lutz’s loyal service, she also said she favored the hiring of an outside candidate as his replacement.
“I can say that I believe Brevard is at the threshold of the kind of growth that calls for someone with more urban experience,” she said.