The condition of drainpipes uncovered in Seven Lakes West's first culvert repair has persuaded Infrastructure Director John Goodman to accelerate his work schedule and fix four more culverts this Spring.

"It's really a matter of public safety," Goodman told The Times. "It's not worth the risk to wait for one of these to fail, because you don't know how long it would take to get on the contractor's schedule."

The questionable culverts carry water under Longleaf Drive. The first repair was conducted in the first week on the New Year and involved removing three 30-inch galvanized steel pipes from a culvert located on Longleaf between Wagoner and Vanore. Two of the pipes, when removed, turned out to be "on the low side of the scale in terms of their condition," Goodman told The Times.

"We could see that they had rusted out" during an earlier inspection, Goodman said, but silt in the pipes made it hard to determine the level of damage. Two of the pipes lIterally fell apart as they were being removed, he added.

Bringing more water to the greater Seven Lakes area is at the top of the agenda for the Moore County Board of Commissioners this year.

The Board concluded its annual two-day budget retreat, held January 13 and 14 at the Moore County Senior Center, with a goal-setting exercise moderated by Agricultural Extension Director Craven Hudson. The result was a list of ten goals for 2011 and six additional long terms goals. At the top of the list was finding a "Seven Lakes Water Solution."

“The only reason I stayed for four more years," said Commissioner Larry Caddell, referring to his recent re-election to the Board, "is because I promised my friends in Seven Lakes that I would take care of this.”

"We don’t need to wait to find water. We need to find it now,” Caddell said.

And, if the right deal can be negotiated, the Commissioners would like to find that water in the Town of Robbins.

The County plans to reopen negotiations with Robbins within the next forty-five days to determine whether the two local governments can work together to utilize a reservoir and mothballed water treatment plant that Robbins owns but is unable to use. Currently, Robbins buys water from neighboring Montgomery County.

The Robbins plant could pump as much as one million gallons per day of water into the county system that serves Seven Lakes and Pinehurst, through a new water line that would likely run down NC Highway 705 to NC Highway 211 and on to Seven Lakes to tie into the county system. Previous estimates have placed the cost of that water line and its pump stations at approximately $3.6 million -- and rehabbing the Robbins water plant is likely to cost nearly that much again.

The possibility of bringing water in from the Robbins treatment plant has gone back and forth for more than two years without any agreement being reached, but the Commissioners appeared determined to go back to the table with the intention of finally making a deal.

There's no dues increase in the proposed Fiscal Year 2011-2012 budget of the Seven Lakes Landowners Association [SLLA].

That's the good news.

But initial reports from the recently completed Reserve Study suggest that substantial annual increases to reserve funds will be necessary over the next five years -- increases that may be hard to achieve without future dues increases.

"This year, we did not attempt to incorporate, at this late notice, any dues increase," Treasurer Denny Galford told the SLLA Board of Directors during their Monday, January 10 Work Session. "We want to take time to review operating costs and whether we can improve those first. If we can perfect current operations, then we may be able to generate additional monies.”

Detailed information on the Reserve Study and the proposed FY2011-2012 budget were not presented at the meeting, but discussion indicated that anticipated capital expenditures planned for next year include $125,000 from unrestricted reserves for work at the stables, among other projects, and $80,000 in restricted reserves to complete road repairs at Lancashire and Dogwood Lane -- two of the four areas identified as needing significant repair work prior to a community-wide major road repaving project.

The Board is expected to vote on the proposed budget during the January 26 Open Meeting.

In an unexpected announcement during the Monday, January 10, Seven Lakes Landowners Association [SLLA] Work Session, Community Manager Alina Cochran reported that she had received bids from three of six companies contacted for quotes on handling landscape maintenance for the Association -- a task that has up 'til now been handled by the in-house maintenance department.

The Board did not discuss of the proposals, but quickly approved the item for action on the January 26 Open Meeting agenda. But it was clear that the idea of outsourcing landscape maintenance has been on the table during frequent closed sessions held by the Board this year to discuss legal and personnel issues.

If a landscaping contract is awarded, the change would be in keeping with other decisions over the last few years that have moved day-to-day functions of the Association -- such as security and administration -- from in-house staffing to contracted service agreements.

Tuesday morning's Westside Work Session, already scheduled for a two-hour delay, has now been cancelled, Seven Lakes West Landowners Association [SLWLA] President Ron Shepard told The Times. Roads throughout the greater Seven Lakes area are ice-covered and treacherous, and non-critical travel is ill-advised.

Shepard said Thomas Trucking, which handles sand spreading and other snow and ice cleanup for Seven Lakes West, had been unable to roll its trucks, as of 9:30 am Tuesday.

The SLWLA Board is exploring options for an abbreviated meeting later today or later in the week in order to hold a vote on the proposed FY 2011-2012 budget, necessary before annual meeting packets can be finalized and the mailing readied by month's end.

The offices of both the Seven Lakes and Seven Lakes West Landowners Associations were closed Tuesday morning.

Moore County Schools are closed for a second day, with make-up days scheduled for the next two Saturdays. County offices are expected to open at 1:00 pm, though visitors would be wise to call the One Call Center at 910-947-4636 before making a trip.