Working at half-strength and just barely meeting the required quorum of four members, the Seven Lakes Landowners Association [SLLA] Board of Directors conducted a brief Work Session on Monday, September 10.

Treasurer Conrad Meyer presided over the meeting, sitting in for absent President Bob Darr and Vice President Chuck Leach. Meyer announced the resignation of Director Dave Buckingham, who was also not in attendance.

Buckingham was elected in March 2012 and has overseen communications efforts, most notably a new, more user-friendly online presence for the SLLA.

“Last week, we received notice of his resignation, which is effective immediately,” Meyer said. “We appreciate the work he has done and for being the driving force behind the new website.”

Following the meeting, The Times had the opportunity to speak with Buckingham regarding his decision.

He explained that he began his term with good intentions and high hopes, but has been disappointed with the overall lack of support for his efforts — from management and the community.

Despite repeated requests for volunteers to join a Communications Committee, Buckingham said, no one stepped forward. And with both he and his wife dealing with ongoing medical issues, he made the difficult decision to resign.

“I could not do it all myself, especially after the personal issues that took place over the past few months,” he explained.

Buckingham expressed regret over the outcome and said that he would gladly assist a new Director with the transition process for communications.

During the Work Session, Director Bob Racine — who chaired the Nominating Committee — said he was actively seeking interesting candidates. 

Barring any unanticipated snags, Brown Golf Management [BGM] is positioned to purchase Foxfire Resort & Golf in late October.

BGM is an acquisition and management consulting firm based in Bluffton, SC; their representative, Stephen Johnson, met with the Foxfire Village Council during a Work Session held on Thursday, September 6.

“We are well-entrenched in the process; and, unless something catastrophic occurs, we’ll be here,” he said. “We are here to create assets, not problems. We hope to be neighbors and partners.”

Temporary maintenance facility requested

One part of the golf course property that was not included in the purchase price or proposed agreement with BGM is the existing golf course maintenance area, which is owned by a third party and was not involved in the club’s bankruptcy proceedings.

Johnson said BGM assessed that property, as part of their environmental due diligence studies, and determined the firm was not interested in purchasing or leasing that parcel.

“We felt there were things we didn’t want to get into," Johnson explained. "There is too much rehab needed to bring it up to current standards and to make the maintenance area efficient. We don’t think, moving forward, that it would be a good business decision. It is in a bad location, and the facility is not sufficient.”

Instead, BGM intends to build a new state-of-the art maintenance facility within the confines of the current course. But, first, they are seeking Foxfire Council’s permission to erect a temporary facility on a lower level parking area near the clubhouse.

They had to ask twice, but representatives of Seven Lakes West ultimately got what they wanted: a dual-call system for 9-1-1 that will alert both Seven Lakes EMS and West End Fire and Rescue -- as well as Moore County EMS -- to 9-1-1 calls within the community.

Many, if not all, of the Westsiders who attended the Tuesday, September 4 meeting of the Moore County Board of Commissioners to express their concern about emergency response left that meeting believing the Commissioners had approved just such a system. And at least one Commissioner -- Nick Picerno -- left believing the same.

But a close review of the actual motion approved by the Board -- by Clerk to the Board Laura Williams, by Deputy Public Safety Director Scot Brooks, and by The Times -- found that the Commissioners had approved something else: a recommendation by Brooks that, when a Moore County EMS unit is not available to take a call, the nearest volunteer ambulance would be dispatched.

Those different understandings of what transpired during the September 4 Board of Commissioners meeting surfaced during a county Emergency Services Advisory Committee [ESAC] meeting on Thursday, September 6, attended by a handful of Westsiders -- and by Picerno, the Commissioners' representative on the Committee.

After more than an hour of presentation and discussion around the issue, Picerno cut the Gordian's knot, insisting that the Commissioners intended to temporarily implement a dual-call system for Seven Lakes West. Public Safety Director Bryan Phillips said it was within the purview of ESAC to authorize the change, it was unanimously approved, and 9-1-1 Communications Manager Kris Sheffield implemented the new protocol before the meeting broke up. 

For the second time, Moore County's Board of Commissioners failed to authorize the County Attorney to draft working documents aimed at protecting the Veteran's Memorial in Carthage from encroachment be commercial development.

In a 3-to-2 vote during their Tuesday, September 4 meeting, Commissioners Jimmy Melton, Larry Caddell, and Craig Kennedy voted down a motion by Commissioner Tim Lea that would have instructed County Attorney Misty Leland to draft preliminary documents outlining the joint ownership and maintenance responsibility proposed for the Veterans Memorial site in Carthage. Those documents would have formed the basis for meetings of the new ad hoc committee on the preservation of the Memorial, formed by the Board of Commissioners and the original Veterans Memorial Committee.

The Board had split 2-2 on the motion during its Tuesday, August 22 meeting, when Kennedy was absent.

Commissioner Nick Picerno seconded Lea's motion, with the proviso that the draft documents would not be legally binding, noting that they could serve as a working document and starting point for the Committee, which is aimed at protecting the Memorial and the land surrounding it.

Chairman Caddell said the documents would “handcuff” the Committee’s chairman, Commissioner Melton.

Explaining that the matter has been discussed now for five months, Lea said having draft documents available to the Committee would facilitate its work.

“The Board has already agreed in principle that the Memorial site be protected,” said Lea. “I have found, when working on this Board, when we want to delay something we appoint a committee . . . This is not a big decision. This is just whether or not this Board wants to do this or not.”

According to Lea, the critical issue facing the Committee is how much land around the Memorial needs to be included in the joint-ownership arrangement.

The Board has yet to set a date for the first meeting of the Committee. 

Based on concerns about emergency response time voiced by residents of Seven Lakes West, Moore County's Board of Commissioners approved, during their Tuesday, September 5 meeting, a temporary fix to a new Emergency Medical Services dispatch procedure that will ensure an ambulance is sent to all calls in Seven Lakes West -- and across the county.

Moore County Public Safety recently changed its protocols for dispatching County EMS and Volunteer Rescue Squad units based on a strategic planning project, County Emergency Manager Scot Brooks told the Commissioners.

“It is inefficient and very expensive if you are sending multiple units to the same call,” said Brooks, who added that this duplication of service was a common practice in the past. Brooks explained that Public Safety moved to a tiered system that aims to send only the necessary equipment and personnel to a call and not “tie up” extra resources.

Public Safety also redrew the boundary lines of rescue service areas, splitting Seven Lakes West between West End Fire & Rescue and Seven Lakes EMS.

But an untended result of the change was slower response times in Seven Lakes West, according to Seven Lakes West Landowners Association [SLWLA] Secretary Jane Sessler, who addressed the Commissioners on the issue.

“We are now aware of some of the issues that may have precipitated the changes to the system,” said Sessler, “and none of them have improved the efficiency or efficacy of the critical management of our emergency services.”

After changes to the rescue service areas were discussed during the SLWLA's Tuesday, August 28 meeting, Westsiders sent more than eighty emails to the Board of Commissioners expressing concern.