A recent meeting with the NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources [NCDENR] has cast some doubt on the prospects for using a reservoir in Robbins as the cornerstone of a plan to bring more water to Southern Moore County.
Moore County Public Utilities Director Randy Gould presented a summary of the NCDENR session during the Tuesday, August 21 meeting of the Board of Commissioners. Gould projects that the County will need an addition 3.4 million gallons per day by 2042 to meet the growing demand for water.
As originally conceived, the Robbins Plan was to use water from Bear Creek to meet the County's ten year demand, and then to pipe water from an intake on Deep River to the Robbins reservoir in order to meet the thirty-year demand.
However this may no longer be as feasible. In the County’s meeting with NCDENR, they were told that only 50,000 gallons per day of water can be withdrawn from Bear Creek without major environmental studies.
An old permit that allowed the Town of Robbins to pump 1.5 million gallons per day has been decommissioned, explained Gould, and it is not likely to be re-granted.
As a result, the Robbins option would mean going to Deep River now, not in ten or fifteen years, and that project is expected to cost $30 million or more. In addition, the County will have to hire a consultant to shepherd an application through the complicated approval process of having the relevant area on Deep River reclassified for a drinking water intake -- a process that could take two or three years.
Commissioner Picerno, who attended the meetings with NCDENR said, “I have always tried to put Robbins at the top of our water solutions, because it is in Moore County. The information we got makes it much more difficult to justify number-wise.”
“I'm not saying it’s impossible,” said Picerno, “but it certainly puts it more in context for me as far as numbers and how you would pay for that expansion versus some of the other options we have on the table.”
[Read about the NCDENR meeting and other County water options in an earlier Times story.]
Watershed Transfers
Also during their August 21 meeting, the Commissioners approved resolutions that transfer responsibility for 200,000 acres of watershed from the County to municipalities.
Planning Director Debra Ensminger explained that there are currently seven public water supply watershed districts located in the County. Since the 1993 study that drew those boundary lines and assigned responsibility for watershed protection, municipal boundaries -- and the boundaries of their extraterritorial jurisdictions [ETJs] have changed.
Planning Staff worked with NCDENR to draft resolutions for each watershed, recommending the transfer of the watershed areas that are now located within the ETJs of municipalities.
All eleven municipalities have adopted the resolution supporting the transfer of the watershed from Moore County.
In other Planning Department business, the Board approved the appointment of planning staff members as review officers, as requested by Ensminger. The additional officers will approve all surveys and plats to be recorded with Moore County, at no additional expense to the County.
The Board tabled a public hearing on the Working Lands Protection Plan at Ensminger's request.
Other Business
Other Business conducted during the Board’s Tuesday, August 21 meeting included:
• The Board approved, in a three-to-one vote with Lea dissenting, a project budget ordinance for the Runway 05 extension at the Moore County Airport, as requested by Airport Director Steven Borden. The County will give a local match of $329,000, which will be taken from the general fund balance. Funds will be reimbursed to the County’s general fund through a portion of the Convention and Visitor’ Bureau’s lodging tax.
• County Manager Cary McSwain reported that a full engineering report has been completed on the old gym in West End, which is an election polling place, and County Property Manager Rich Smith will make recommendations on how to move forward with repairs to the building. McSwain will also prepare a list of possible uses for the 7,000 square foot building.
• Tea Party member Jeremy Montgomery spoke on the recent move by the Pinehurst Village Council to prohibit the carrying of concealed weapons in Pinehurst’s public parks and greenway trails. “We are not in favor of restricting that right,” said Montgomery. The Pinehurst Council passed the ordinance and then repealed it a month later.
• The Board approved the report on the 2012 session of the Board of Equalization and Review as presented by Jim McNiff.
• The Board approved the merger of Sandhills Center for Mental Health with Guilford Center Behavioral Health and Disability Services. With the merger, Sandhills Center will serve a nine-county area. This will be the ninth county to merge with the Sandhills Center.
• The Board approved a revised assistance policy for the single family home rehabilitation grant program as requested by Tim Emmert. The program will assist three homes and does not require a local match.
• The Board approved a sewage treatment and disposal service contract between the County and the Town of Aberdeen, as requested by Assistant County Manager Ken Larking.
Appointments
The Board appointed new Cooperative Extension Director Stephen Greer in place of Linda Gore on the Land Use Plan Steering Committee. Gore was serving as an interim appointee prior to the appointment of a new Extension Director.
