How to increase the supply of water to the county's utility customers in Seven Lakes was at the top of the agenda for the Thursday, October 13 meeting of the Greater Seven Lakes Community Council [GSLCC] and the Moore County Board of Commissioners. Other items addressed during the meeting included redistricting, zoning, and the county budget.
There are at least seven options available to bring additional water to the Seven Lakes area, Public Works Director Randy Gould told Council members and Commissioners. Seven Lakers “have a tremendous amount of opportunities” when it comes to water, Gould said. However, the pros and cons of each option -- and its impact on water rates -- must be nailed down before a decision is made.
Commissioner Larry Caddell, a former Mayor of Carthage who has long experience with water issues, said, “We are not in a bind for water right now . . . we want to make sure we choose the right source.”
“We [Commissioners] have an obligation to the taxpayers of Moore County," he added, "but we also have an obligation to the [water] rate payers.”
Current supply adequate
The current supply of water in Seven Lakes is adequate to meet current demand, Gould explained. The question is how to meet the community's -- and the county's -- needs in the future. By 2030, the County will need an additional two million gallons per day [GPD] of water to support the projected “maximum day” water needs of residents.
“If you can meet the maximum day demand, you can meet any other day," Gould said.
In Seven Lakes, the current maximum demand for water is 880,000 GPD -- on an average day, that demand drops to 430,000 GPD. The County projects that, in the year 2030, the maximum daily water need in Seven Lakes will be 1.2 million GPD -- a nearly 40 percent increase.
Systemwide, the county can currently supply seven million GPD of water available to its customers. The Public Works department is projecting systemwide maximum day water need to increase by two million GPD by 2030, bringing the total to nine million GPD. That means Moore County will have to find at least two million more gallons per day to meet the 2030 water demand.
Plenty of options
The seven options for increasing the water supply in the county system -- and in the Seven Lakes Area in particular -- include:
• Montgomery County: This neighboring county could supply up to 500,000 GPD.
• Harnett County: Moore County could buy into a water treatment plant expansion, adding two million gallons per day to the two million gallons per day already purchased from Harnett County.
• Asheboro: Another water plant expansion that could supply up to two million gallons per day.
• Westpoint-Stevens: Purchase of this former industrial water plant could serve all water suppliers in Moore County.
• New Wells in Pinehurst: The least costly option, this could generate 158,000 GPD per well.
• Robbins: Building a new water plant near an unused reservoir in Robbins could generate 1.5 million GPD.
• Sanford has also expressed an interest in selling water to Moore County.
Westsider Dennis Raub asked why the wells in Seven Lakes can’t meet the community's demand for water. Gould said that the Seven Lakes area once had seventeen wells but is now down to three, largely due to the poor quality of the aquifer in the area.
According to Gould, the aquifer in Seven Lakes can’t supply adequate amounts of water -- plus, radium has been found in area wells. When considering drilling for water in any part of Moore County -- including Seven Lakes -- the ground water “has to meet drinking water standards,” said Gould.
In addition to identifying the best source for additional water, another question is how best to create a structure to pay for the system expansion that will deliver that water to Seven Lakes and other Moore County users. In addition to simply expanding the current county utility system, Gould presented three other options that would tie Seven Lakes to other water users:
• Northwest Moore Water District [NWMWD]: Commissioners have said they will let Seven Lakers vote on whether or not they want to be part of this district, which would include the Town of Robbins and surrounding communities.
• Pine Forest: This new development between West End and Pinehurst has agreed to finance $3 million of the cost of bringing additional water to serve the development.
• Heart of North Carolina Mega Park: This industrial park that straddles the Montgomery-Moore County border near Biscoe could create many jobs and will need an adequate water supply. The County sees that as a future initiative to bring water into the area which could benefit Seven Lakes as well.
At this point the Commissioners are awaiting a recommendation from the County's Public Works Department on which option is the best fit for Seven Lakes. Public Works and the GIS Department are working together to develop a recommendation -- expected as early as February.
Redistricting
Results from the 2010 Census indicate that Moore County has 88,000 residents, and some districts are more “top heavy” than others, Chairman Nick Picerno said. The Commissioners are considering a wide range of options for rebalancing them. The districts are "residency districts," meaning each member of the Board of Commissioners must reside in their district, even though all voters in the county vote for each of the Commissioners.
County GIS Director Chris Koltyk presented the GSLCC with six possible maps, and there are potentially plenty more where those came from.
“We are drawing lines and adding numbers,” said Koltyk, adding,” there are endless possibilities.”
Ideally each of the five districts should have 17,600 residents. However, District II -- which includes Seven Lakes -- is significantly larger than that and needs to lose some residents to District III, which has too few residents, to even out the numbers.
Aside from evening out the populations, another possible objective in redrawing the lines is to make sure all sitting Commissioners and School Board members continue to reside in their current districts.
Of the six maps Koltyk presented, the only one that meets both of those objectives is “Option Six.” It allows all current Commissioners and School Board members to remain in their current districts, but, in order to balance the population numbers, it splits Seven Lakes between District II and III.
That could result in two County Commissioners being drawn from the Seven Lakes area, one residing in District II and the other in District III. But it could also dilute the ability of Seven Lakers to combine their votes to elect a particular candidate to the Board.
“At this point in the process the Commissioners have not taken official action,” Picerno said. The goal is to have a decision made sometime in November.
The deadline to complete redistricting is the middle of February, so that candidates who might consider running for office in November 2012 know the district in which they reside.
The redistricting is voluntary and is not required by law or under any mandate. Moore County has not been redistricted since 1995.
Reflecting the fact that each of the Commissioners is elected by all County voters, Commissioner Tim Lea said, “Our responsibility is the entire County.”
Zoning
An update of the County's Land Use Plan -- developed in the late 1990s, is getting underway, with the next step being to select the members of a Land Use Plan Steering Committee.
For those interested in more information on the process, the Moore County Planning Department will hold a meeting on Wednesday, November 2 from 1 to 3 pm at the West End Senior Building, near the old West End Gym.
Budget
The Fiscal Year 2011-2012 Moore County budget was approved in June. The Commissioners will begin planning for the FY 2012-2013 budget in their November 17 Work Session, which will be held at the Senior Enrichment Center on NC Highway 15-501, starting at 8 am.
The Commissioners decided last year to postpone revaluation of real property in the county until 2015.
Commissioner Craig Kennedy did not attend Thursday’s meeting, nor did Seven Lakes West Landowners Association President Mick Herdrich, who was represented by Treasurer Don Freiert.
