[This story, as originally written, may have implied that proposed amendments to the Pine Forest Board order were recommended by County Attorney Misty Leland. While those amendments were written and presented by Leland, she made no recommendation for or against the amendments. The paragraphs below have been changed to better reflect this point.]
The Board Order finalizing the Pine Forest PUD rezoning was approved by the Moore County Board of Commissioners in a three to one vote during their Tuesday, September 6 regular meeting.
With that decision, developer MHK, Inc. clears a major hurdle that stood in the way of developing the property. But still on the to-do list are agreements that will bring county water to the 1,600-acre golf community and allow the developer to build the county's first private wastewater treatment plant.
With Commissioner Larry Caddell recused from the Pine Forest proceedings, the remaining four Commissioners worked through new some suggested amendments to the Board Order, which were presented by County Attorney Misty Leland.
Commissioner Tim Lea supported Leland's the suggested additions to the order, but, in the end, the Board voted -- with Lea in opposition -- to discard the amendments and keep the Board Order in its original form.
Leland's The amendments would have required Pine Forest developer MHK and the county to finalize the pending water, sewer, and wastewater treatment agreements within one year of the approval of the Board Order. If the agreements were not made within that time frame, the property would revert back to its original zoning.
“I disagree with the time limits reverting after a year,” Commissioner Craig Kennedy said, arguing that the Board Order should be about the rezoning -- not a time limit.
Chairman Nick Picerno said that the water, sewer, and wastewater treatment plant agreements have not been worked out, noting, “we don’t know what the agreement is going to be.”
“I think we are trying to jump ahead,” Commissioner Jimmy Melton said, adding that the only thing the Board Order should be approving is the rezoning -- not the water and sewer agreements.
Protecting Nick's Creek
During the Board’s August 16 meeting, Save Our Sandhills Secretary Ruth Stolting had asked the Commissioners to look into what she called a “loophole” in the Pine Forest rezoning application. According to Stolting, developer MHK, Inc. could use a 147-acre MHK-owned tract, which lies adjacent to Pine Forest but was not part of the rezoning, to withdraw water from Nick’s Creek.
The Planning Department addressed Stolting’s concerns at Tuesday’s meeting, reporting that Professor Rich Ducker, of the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill School of Government, had advised that the county could not legally enforce water withdrawal restrictions on property that was not included in the rezoning application.
Although MHK Principal Rusty Mackey volunteered to accept, as a condition of the rezoning, a prohibition on Nick's Creek water withdrawals from any MHK property -- rezoned or not -- that promise cannot be legally enforced by the County. To impose the same water withdrawal conditions for the additional 147 acres would require that the rezoning application process -- which has dragged on for nearly two years -- start all over again.
The Board Order, as approved, does include Mackey's promise that water will not be withdrawn from Nick's Creek or its tributaries on the property. UNC's Ducker told county planners that, if MHK begins developing the property with that condition in place -- thereby deriving benefit from the Order -- a court could rule against any future objection the developer might raise to the restrictions.
Board members explained their support for the Pine Forest rezoning as an attempt to protect the property.
“I don’t know what else we can do to protect it legally, than what we have already done,” said Picerno.
During the public comment segment of the meeting, SOS's Stolting asked that Little River also be protected in the Board Order, along with Nick’s Creek.
“Little River was drained dry by MHK in 2009,” Stolting said, arguing that MHK “could also bring water from Little River to Pine Forest for its needs.” Stolting was referring to the point made by some Pine Forest critics that MHK withdrew huge amounts of water from Little River while establishing the grass on the tees, greens, and fairways of the Dormie Club, a nearby MHK development.
However, the Board Order was approved with no mention of Little River.
Though the Board decided not to impose a time limit on the process, the next step for the developer of Pine Forest is to negotiate the necessary water, sewer, and wastewater treatment plant agreements with the County, before moving forward with the development.
Board Changes Seven Lakes Road Names
After a Public Hearing, the Board voted to change the names of nearly 70 roads in the county, including 46 roads in the Seven Lakes area, as well as adding one road to the map of Moore County and deleting two others. Most of the changes, requested by GIS Director Chris Koltyk, either correct misspellings or add words like "Lane" or "Drive" to the name of the roads.
For example, the Seven Lakes West Road officially known as "Smathers" in the county system will now be officially known as "Smathers Drive."
East Devonshire Avenue in Seven Lakes South, however, will become Devonshire Avenue East. Similarly, West Shenandoah Road in Seven Lakes North will become Shenadoah Road West.
A list of the changes is available here.
Lea objects to Airport Loans
The Board's decision-making process in regular meetings customarily begins with a "consent agenda," A series of routine matters that are approved altogether, without discussion or debate.
During their Tuesday, September 6 meeting, the Commissioners unanimously approved items one through four on the consent agenda, but not items five and six, which concerned budget amendments that will fund upgrades at the Moore County airport.
Commissioner Lea objected to the amendments, saying he did not agree with the County lending the airport money without collecting some interest on the transaction. Given that the county is loaning “taxpayer money," Lea said, "some type of return should be seen.”
The upgrades in question will cost a total of $462,000, which is being repaid to the County through a percentage of the Convention and Visitor’s Bureau lodging tax. Chief Financial Officer Carrie Neal told the Board that repayment of the loan began in August.
Planning Department
The Board on Tuesday Night approved a request from Planner Tim Emmert for a change order to increase the contract of Sanford Construction by $19,000 for work being done in the River Bend Community under a Community Development Block Grant [CDBG].
The Board approved a request by Emmert to update the Moore County Section 3 Plan, which sets county goals for providing job training, employment, and contract opportunities to low-income families in connection with CDBG-funded work in their neighborhoods.
Two contracts for home rehabilitation under the 2009 Scattered Site Housing CDBG were awarded. A contract for $4,900 and was awarded to Oral’s Construction Company, and another for $40,000 was awarded to D&A Complete Construction Company.
A request by Moore County Planner Tim Garner to remove .20 mile of Samarcand Road from the State Secondary Road maintenance system was approved by the Board. The road is located off Hwy 211 in the western portion of the county near the Moore-Montgomery County line.
Other Business
Other Business conducted at the Moore County Board of Commissioners' Tuesday, September 6 meeting included:
• Moore County Human Resources Director Denise Brooks presented the Board with employee recognitions for the month of September.
• Brooks also presented the Board with the NC Association of County Commissioners [NCACC] Risk Management Award for recording the lowest number of claims per $1 million in payroll. The NCACC offers risk management pools that counties can use to insure themselves against workers compensation, property damage, and liability claims.
• A review of the goals the Commissioners set for Fiscal Year 2011-2012 have been put on hold until the next Board meeting on September 20 at 6 pm.
• Chief Finance Officer Carrie Neal presented the Board with the Sandhills Center Quarterly Report.
• The Board called a public hearing for Tuesday, September 20 at 6 pm for the Rural Operating Assistance Program [ROAP] Application. Moore County Transportation Services Manager Tawanna Williams told the Commissioners that funding from the ROAP application will help in providing safe and reliable public transportation to the citizens of Moore County.
• The Commissioners' work session scheduled for Thursday, September 15 has been moved to Thursday September 22 and will be held at the Moore County Agricultural Center. The topics are expected to include the realignment of county voting districts.
• At the request of County Attorney Leland, the Board called a Tuesday, September 20 public hearing on a new county policy that would establish a percentage goal for participation by minority businesses in county contracts.
Appointments
The Board of Commissioners made the following appointments during their Tuesday, September 6 meeting to include:
• Tiffany Bartholomew to the Juvenile Crime Prevention Council for a two year term.
• Mike Dunn and Kevin Fleece to the Criminal Justice Partnership for a three year term
• Vernon Kelly to the Town of Carthage Planning Board ETJ for a three year term
• Foxfire Mayor George Erickson to the Region J Advisory Council on Aging for a three year term.
