ROANE COUNTY, Tenn (WVLT) -- The Tennessee Valley Authority continues to clean up the from the now two-week-old ash slide, but Roane County officials say they want those efforts also to wipe away the smudges the ash smeared on the area's image.

Officials and concerned residents discussed their concerns at a number of meetings Tuesday night. Roane County Executive Mike Farmer says the area's dealing with two issues: the reality of what happened and the perception of what happened when millions of cubic yards of ash spilled from TVA'S Kingston Fossil Plant just before Christmas.

The meetings were packed full of discussion about the water quality and property values around the spill. .

The Kingston City Council heard nearly two hours worth of worries from homeowners at a special called meeting. TVA officials were also there to answer any questions.

The utility referred anyone with property damage concerns to the outreach center in Kingston. It's still handling any property issues on a case by case basis.

Kingston and Roane County officials worry how the spilled ash will spill over onto the environment and the economy. Farmer met with the Long Range Recovery Committee Tuesday afternoon. The committee includes county and city officials, along with concerned residents.

Farmer says cleaning up the county's image could become a public relations nightmare. Residents and officials say the want to make sure the clean-up plan's not just what's best for TVA, but also what's best for the surrounding communities.

"The concern is the public image of Kingston,” said Kingston Resident Bryan
Long. “We've been getting emails and calls as far away as Brazil wanting to know if we're OK and then what this will mean for our property values.”

"There are ten thousand retirees a day that are predicted to retire over the next 20 years,” said Kingston City Councilman Brant Williams. “We need to get our fair share. If I'm retiring to Tennessee would I cross Kingston and Roane County off my list? We don't know, but we need to start planning now because in five or 10 years, it's too late."

Kingston City Council discussed multiple actions regarding the spill and council members finally decided to pay for the city's own water testing after the TVA had been footing the bill. The reason they decided to was to get it done as independently as possible.

TVA President and CEO Tom Kilgore also met with concerned residents at Harriman United Methodist Church. Earlier on Tuesday the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy announced five residents owning land near the spill will travel to Washington DC to testify in front of a senate oversight committee hearing. They are expected to discuss all their concerns about the spill, including their worries about potential health hazards.

The five residents are Teresa Riggs, Melinda Hillman, Bridget Daughtery, Ron Smith and Terry Gupton.