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Commissioners unanimously vote to regulate U.S. Whitewater Center

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Mecklenburg County will now regulate the U.S. Whitewater Center after a unanimous vote by county commissioners Tuesday night.

U.S. National Whitewater Center CEO Jeff Wise made his first appearance in front of commissioners, where many of them criticized him for a lack of communication during the controversy.

"You should have been the first one here talking with us, communicating with us," Commissioner Vilma Leake, whose district the Whitewater Center sits in, said. "It's nine of us. Not two, not three but nine of us that you need to communicate with."

Many health protocols would be put in place to ensure that brain-eating amoeba is not able to grow at the Whitewater Center again.

SPECIAL SECTION: Amoeba investigation

The new rules would require the water at the facility to be disinfected with chlorine, in addition to ozone or ultraviolet light.

Wise said the center plans to use all three.

Also, the water must be inspected twice a day -- once before the public enters the water, and then 4-6 hours after they exit the water.

Records must be kept for a year and if rules are broken, it could mean a $500 fine -- or it can be brought to superior court.

The center must also apply for permits annually to operate.

The new rules will take effect Jan. 1.

The Whitewater Center is in favor of the regulations.

"I think they are going to be a great thing," Wise said. "We expect to exceed what those regulations provide."

The health department will conduct four inspections a year, and if the center isn't up to standard it can be fined or even shut down.

"I think it is much safer," Dr. Marcus Plescia, Mecklenburg County Health Director, said. "I think they have taken a much harder look at their water treatment systems and these are much needed improvements."

Concerns over the brain-eating amoeba began after 18-year-old Lauren Seitz died after she contracted the amoeba while visiting the center from Ohio in June.

Not long after her death, the center shut down the whitewater activities, cleaned the facility and then reopened it in August.

Wise and the Whitewater Center have been criticized for a lack of communication since the death.

This was Wise's first appearance in front of the commissioners and his first on-camera interview with reporters.

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