The water system that serves Foxfire Village will be absorbed into the countywide system operated by Moore County Public Utilities [MCPU], if the Village Council approves a recommendation made by the Long Range Planning [LRP] Committee. But any such approval is likely to come only after a substantial period of public discussion.

After almost two years of research and study, the Committee presented its recommendation during the Council's Tuesday, February 12 regular meeting.

LRP's water infrastructure sub-committee conducted a needs assessment of the Village’s current water sources and also analyzed the Village's current and future ability to operate and maintain its water department.

Four Options Considered

The committee examined the long-term viability of four options, considering factors including catastrophic events; supply and demand; and operational and maintenance expenses.

The four options were:

• Foxfire Village continuing to own and operate its own water system;

• The Village would continue to own the water system but contract out the day-to-day operations and management of the system;

• Foxfire would sell its water system to a private utility company; or

• Foxfire would interconnect with Moore County water system and purchase its water directly from Moore County.

Councilman Mick McCue presented the the Long Range Planning Committee's recommendation that the Village consider an interconnection with Moore County.

“Moore County was interested in hooking us up to their water system," McCue said. "They would pay for it and construct a water main from Linden Road. The county would absorb the current debt owed and take ownership of our elevated tank and our water delivery system. They are not interested in our wells or well sites.”

If $5 is too much for a swim, maybe $3 is a bargain.

After recently rejecting a proposed $5 per day fee for guest use of the Northside swimming pool, the Seven Lakes Landowners Association [SLLA] Board of Directors agreed during their Monday, February 11 Work Session to put a $3 per day fee to a vote.

In previous years, SLLA members have been able to purchase four guest passes for a $25 annual fee that allowed their guests access to any of the Association's amenities. Over the past year, a number of Board members have expressed concerns about a large number of guests using the stables and the pool.

A $5 per day guest fee was proposed but rejected during the Wednesday, January 30 SLLA Open Meeting. That vote left guest use of the pool in limbo, Treasurer Conrad Meyer explained: “There is no charge for the pool right now. Stables are covered, and the guest pass covers everything but the pool. Come May, there will no pool charge for members or non-members.”

In addition, some other proposed restrictions on guest use of the pool were left hanging. Recreation Director Bob Racine said, “Two things that we didn’t include: A resident sponsor must be present for non-residents to use the pool, and passes can only be purchased by resident.”

As the Board discussed what might be an agreeable price for guest use of the pool, resident George Temple offered a suggestion: “The $20 you approve for trail rides is approximately half of what the association spends for that trail ride. If half is a good number, then might I just recommend you charge $3 for pool use, and that’s half the number.”

“I was one of the ones that voted against the $5 per guest number," Meyer said. "It seemed too high to me. In January we talked about a number between $2 and $3 per visit.”

Racine agreed that residents could purchase guests passes at $3 each -- or a package of ten passes for $25. The board voted three-to-two, with President Bob Darr and Director Chuck Leach in opposition, to take up that proposal at the Wednesday, February 27 Open Meeting.

Lake Echo residents concerned about the persistently low water level in the lake filled the room at the Seven Lakes Landowners Association [SLLA] Board Work Session on Monday morning, February 11, prompting President President Bob Darr to move that discussion up on the agenda.

Echo was lowered three feet last Fall in order to repair a valve, and the lake has yet to return to its former level. It is projected to take ten full days of pumping to move enough water from Lake Sequoia to refill Echo.

SLLA Manager Ray Sohl presented a $10,542 bid for the pumping job, received from one firm on Friday, that he said was the most cost-effective solution to restoring twenty inches of water to Lake Echo. But Board Member Don Fentzlaff said the Lakes and Dams Committee had not had a chance to review that proposal.

“$10,000 is a pretty healthy sum," Fentzlaff said. "A lot is involved: pump and hoses, closing off the dam for the time period that the pump is running -- and it will have to run 24/27.”

Legislation wending its way through the NC General Assembly would give county boards of commissioners the option of taking over ownership of schools from local school boards. Moore County Schools [MCS] Superintendent Dr. Aaron Spence has encouraged the Moore County Board of Education to adopt a resolution opposing the move.

“We would contend that school property, where to put schools, and how to manage schools is a school board issue,” Spence told The Times. “The school board would most likely be opposed to county ownership of school property. Our board would want to work with the Moore County Board of Commissioners on this issue.”

The legislative effort came as something of a surprise to Moore County Commissioners Chairman Nick Picerno, who told The Times that he was not familiar with the proposed legislation and that taking control of MCS real estate is “not something on our plate.”

A Wake County Feud with Statewide Implications

Exactly why counties would want to take over ownership of schools is a complicated question — one that most county commissioners have likely never asked.

But the Wake County Board of Commissioners did ask that question, voting on January 22 to seek legislation that would allow counties the option of owning school property, as well as allowing counties to build facilities for charter schools, and changing the way in which members are elected to the Wake County School Board.

The Wake County Board of Commissioners is under Republican control; the School Board is controlled by Democrats. And regardless of the party in charge, the two Boards have consistently butted heads over policies affecting the state’s largest school district.

One member of the Wake County Board carried the notion of county’s owning schools to a meeting of the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners [NCACC], where the option was quickly added to the Association’s legislative agenda.

For forty-two years, Southern Pines na-tive Carolyn Penland has transported Moore County’s most precious cargo. She began driving her school bus route for Moore County Schools [MCS] in 1970, with a starting pay of $2.70/hour. She supplemented her income working as a substitute teacher and as a mentor for the district’s younger bus drivers.

On the first day of school each year, Penland makes a simple yet effective request to the students on her bus: “Talk and laugh quietly, show respect to each other, and keep your hands and feet to yourself.”

“When I show respect to the children, they in return give me respect,” she told members of the Moore County Board of Education during their Monday, February 11 regular meeting.

Charles McDowell, Executive Supervisor for the MCS Transportation Department, introduced Penland during a presentation that kicked off School Bus Driver’s Appreciation Week.

“We are grateful for the opportunity to come before you and show appreciation for our wonderful school bus drivers,” said McDowell. “The ‘Love the Bus’ campaign was founded in 2007. It’s the only way to recognize the hundreds of thousands drivers across the nation. Our purpose in being here is to bring you up to date on state of transportation as it is today.”