Mick Herdrich will retain the Presidency of the Seven Lakes West Landowners Association [SLWLA] for another year, re-elected to the post in an organizational meeting of the new Board of Directors on Wednesday, March 21. Both Secretary Jane Sessler and Treasurer Don Freiert were also re-elected to their respective offices.
Legal Director Jack Stevens was elected SLWLA Vice President, a position filled last year by John Hoffmann, who has retired from the Board.
Incumbent Directors will all hold the same committee responsibilities they held prior to this past weekend's Annual Meeting. Rosemary Weber will continue as Events Director; Jim McCarthy, as Safety and Security Director; and Stevens, as Legal Director. Freiert will continue to chair the Long Range Planning Committee and Sessler will continue to head up the Communications Committee.
The responsibilities of the three newly-elected Board members were assigned as follows: Jim Pierman as Infrastructure Director, Bruce Keyser as Lake and Dam Director, and Dan Blue as Architectural Review Director.
A Vision for Seven Lakes West
Among the objectives of the Long Range Planning Committee is the creation of a long term “vision” for Seven Lakes West.
During Wednesday’s meeting, Director Freiert asked the Board to review a Request For Proposal [RFP] that the Committee has drafted in hopes of securing a bid from a company that can help create that vision.
“This is an effort,” said Freiert, “and I think the community will see and appreciate the fact that we are going after this to try and find a true future direction that everybody has had good solid input in.”
Freiert told the Board that now is the time to initiate such a process, especially with the changing demographics of the community. Seven Lakes West is no longer just for retirees, but also for working families, he said.
Given the number of visitors that will be brought to Moore County by the 2014 Twin US Opens -- as well as the potential competition for home buyers represented by the recently-approved Pine Forest development, Freiert said this may be a perfect time to market the community.
One drawback to the proposal may be the projected price tag of $50,000 -- an amount that Freiert said is just an estimate that could be fine-tuned once companies submit their proposals.
“Fifty thousand dollars is a lot of money,” said Events Director Rosemary Weber. “With the economic times that we are in now -- the roads situation and all the other expenditures we have down the road -- do you think the timing is right to do a study like this?”
“I don’t think the timing could be better than now,” said Legal Director Stevens, “Not only do we have the Opens coming in, we have the highway [NC Highway 211] being built out here.”
Having worked with other communities similar to the West Side, Community Manager Joan Frost told the Board: “A study like this not only tells you where you would like to be, but it tells you how to get there and what steps you need to take along the way -- and it will save you a lot of money.”
Reiterating that the Association is now the de facto "developer" of Seven Lakes West, Stevens told the Board a plan is needed.
“It’s certainly a huge step up for us,” said Stevens, “We have been a hodgepodge for years. It has been trial and error -- and to a large extent error -- and we are playing catch up spending a lot of money.”
The Long Range Planning Committee has proposed that the RFPs go out by April 13, with interviews of prospective companies in July. The Board has suggested a Town Hall meeting for community input once the RFPs are returned and more information on the cost of the project can be obtained.
If the Association decides to move forward with the study, commencement of the project would be planned for September 1, with a final adoption of the plan likely in August 2013.
