After a one-month delay so the newest members of the Huntersville Town Board could evaluate the candidates, commissioners voted to appoint Jeff Fissel and Dee Jetton as Huntersville's non-government, community representatives.

As part of the revised interlocal agreement between Huntersville, Cornelius, Davidson and VLN, the number of directors was expanded and each town was authorized to appoint additional representatives. Sarah McAulay is Huntersville's town government representative on the board and Vinay Patel, whose company owns Marriott's Courtyard and Residence Inn in Huntersville is the community's hotel industry representative.

Fissel is executive director of Historic Rural Hill. Jetton is executive director of Huntersville Family Fitness & Aquatics Center. Both see direct participation on the VLN board as an asset for their organizations and the community's tourism industry.

"I am interested in representing Huntersville with an organization I am already familiar in dealing with," Fissel wrote in his application, "both as a citizen of the town of Huntersville as well as someone with a business interest in Visit Lake Norman."

"As director of HFFA, a major venue for sports competition in the Lake Norman region, and a resident of Davidson," Jetton wrote, "I hope to help VLN expand its event list and ensure our region captures the maximum amount of tourism dollars available to support our towns and businesses."

VLN is the official convention and visitors bureau for the Lake Norman area of northern Mecklenburg, whose mission is to promote travel and tourism for the benefit of economic growth and development. The 18-member board of directors provides leadership and guidance to Sally Ashworth, VLN's executive director, who leads a five-person staff and a large team of volunteers. The board of directors is comprised of business community leaders from the three north Mecklenburg towns appointed by each town and VLN.