The Foxfire Village Council unanimously approved a three cent tax increase following a public hearing and adoption of the Fiscal Year 2012-2013 Budget before a supportive crowd on Tuesday, June 12.

Based on the new rate of 35 cents per $100 valuation, the nearly $1 million dollar budget includes funding to purchase a new police vehicle, demolish the unplayable tennis courts, upgrade the community website, increase road maintenance work, and meet the Village's debt service obligations.

Finance Director Leslie Frusco said the Council did not reach the decision to raise taxes easily or lightly.

“It was 2004 when we had our last tax increase," Frusco said, "when the rate went to 32 cents. It has not changed since that time. Foxfire has the second lowest municipal tax rate in Moore County and will continue to do so even with this increase.”

“I believe this Council is very cognizant of the impact; but it is clear to us, from long range planning and the survey report, that even though we must focus on debt service, we can’t do that to the detriment of the existing village. We can’t forego mowing or all road service. It is not in our best interest to shut down the pool or let it go. These things need to be maintained.”

The three cent increase will result in $90 in additional property taxes per year for a $300,000 home; or $45 additional per year for a $150,000 condo.

“If it’s good for the community, why isn’t it good for the Board?” asked Director Dan Blue, presenting a request that the Architectural Review Committee [ARC] sign off on construction projects initiated by the Seven Lakes West Landowners Association [SLWLA], as well as those undertaken by landowners.

ARC members want to be included in the decision process -- or to at least have the opportunity to review -- Association projects like the landscaping around the lower Lakeway Mall pond and the reconfiguration of the front and back entrances.

“I think we should be involved in that," Blue told his fellow Directors during the Board's Tuesday, June 12 Work Session, "and would ask that at least those plans be shown to us.”

“The bottom line of the process is that the Board is ignoring the ARC as a resource,” said Blue. “That troubles me.”

“The Board is ignoring the ARC, which is supposedly a tool to the community. What is the Community’s feeling about ARC, if the Board has no respect for its own committee?”

Secretary Jane Sessler said Association projects are always brought before the Board, and, as the ARC Director, Blue represents that committee in the Board's deliberations.

“ARC’s voice has always been there,” said Sessler.

“If ARC has value to the community and to the Board,” said Blue, “Then we would certainly like to be appreciated by the leadership of the community.”

Lake and Dam Director Bruce Keyser suggested an ARC member be appointed to the various committees that handle such projects as a liaison.

However, Blue said this may pose two problems: one being time commitment, the second being a conflict of interest for the ARC member who is also serving on a planning committee.

Legal Director Jack Stevens suggested that members of other committees might make the same request.

“In some of these situations revealing that information and that process out of necessity has to be efficient,” said Stevens.

Stevens will take Blue's concern to the Legal Affairs Committee, and ARC will bring back to the Board more information regarding their request.

Deciding whether to require members to purchase barcodes, as well as how to handle the several classes of frequent visitors to Seven Lakes North and South, continues to be a challenging issue for the Seven Lakes Landowners Association Board of Directors.

With Gerry Stickl and Ken Dennis of The Budd Group -- the SLLA's new security contractor -- in attendance, the Board worked through a draft rewrite of Section 2 of the Association's Rules and Regulations during the Monday, June 11 work session.

Security Director Steve Ritter walked the Board through the draft, prepared by Ritter and his Security Committee, based on input they received during the May Board work session. The debate touched on a number of key issues, including mandatory barcodes.

Barcodes & Stickers

Ritter's proposal continues the SLLA practice of utilizing both barcodes and windshield stickers, and does not require that all residents purchase a barcode, as is the current practice in Seven Lakes West.

Ritter explained that a windshield sticker is particularly valuable when the barcode reader occasionally "goes down," whether due to a lightning strike or some other reason. In addition, he said, with so many communities using barcodes, "the fact that you have a barcode doesn't prove that you are an SLLA member." Windshield stickers permit roving security patrol to determine whether a vehicle parked on Association property in fact belongs to a member.

President Bob Darr said he would like to move away from windshield stickers so that any resident driving a vehicle without a barcode would be inconvenienced by having to present their membership card at the gate, "so that we can encourage folks to get barcodes."

Darr added that he was not convinced of the importance of identifying vehicles once they have entered the gates. "The only place that we have any control is at the gate," he said. "If someone is in here, whether or not they have barcode or sticker, there is not a darned thing that is going to happen."

Ritter said the Committee believes barcodes should be mandatory for all residents, but stopped short of requiring them in its revision of Section 2, because "what are you going to do with the person who refuses to purchase a barcode?"

"We can't force people to get the barcode," Darr said, "but I think the only way you can make it happen is to make it really inconvenient." 

The debate over how best to manage the Seven Lakes Landowners Association's [SLLA] stables was rejoined during the Board of Directors' Monday, June 11 work session. In the end, a proposed policy and fee structure was sent back to committee for more work, and a number of Directors seemed to favor a "pay-as-you-go" strategy, not just for the stables, but for all amenities.

Stables: Who to charge and how much?

The SLLA Directors abandoned plans to cut costs by cutting the size of the stable herd during their Wednesday, May 23 open meeting, but that left hanging the question of how much to charge for rides and classes, and how those charges should apply to residents, guests, and Westsiders.

Director Bob Racine brought to the meeting a two-page stables policy proposal, the fruit of a marathon meeting of the Recreation Committee on Wednesday, June 6.

But it was clear the Board itself has yet to reach consensus on how to handle this amenity, as the proposal drew fire from all sides, eventually sending Racine back to the drawing board.

The Stables Proposal

As presented, the proposal preserved free rides for residents, while noting that residents who have already ridden twice in a week should have a lower priority than those who haven't yet used the stables.

Racine recommended a new guest card system specifically for the stables, charging $15 for a guest card that could be used for up to 20 rides over the course of a year, and limiting each guest to one card. After 20 rides, guests would be charges $20 to ride a horse or $5 to ride a pony.

Westsiders would be allowed to purchase an unlimited individual pass for $300 per year, or to pay $20 to ride a horse or $10 to ride a pony. Guests of Westsiders would pay $30 per trail ride.

Lessons would be $25 for SLLA members and guests and $30 for Westside members and guests. 

After years of saving, and studying, and planning, the Seven Lakes Landowners Association [SLLA] Board of Directors is ready to approve a plan for paving the roadways in Seven Lakes North and South.

President Bob Darr laid out the plan, which stretches over the next sixteen years, during the Board's Monday, June 11 work session, using a neatly hand-lettered flip chart and color-coded maps. [Download a copy here.]

Driving the plan is a comprehensive study of the roadways conducted late in 2011 by the engineering firm S&ME, which assigned a "serviceability rating" to every segment of the street network. Asphalt with little usable life left was assigned a rating of 2.0. Segments in better shape, but with still less than five years of life left, were assigned a rating of 2.5. Other segments were rated 3.0, 3.5, or 4.0, with that last score reserved for roads paved relatively recently, with an expected life of 15 to 20 years.

In addition, S&ME identified forty-eight areas with extensive tree root damage -- e.g., along Dogwood Lane -- and twenty-nine other areas suffering severe fatigue. Both types of damage will require extensive subsurface work and/or patching prior to any repaving.

Phase 1 of the plan that Darr presented would patch those severely damaged areas and resurface all the roads rated 2.0 and 2.5 -- a total of 4.25 miles -- at an estimated cost of $567,500. That total includes $3,000 to place speed lifts, also known as speed "humps," in six locations.

Four years later, half of the roads rated 3.0 would be resurfaced (approximately 6 miles), with the other half paved four years after that. Twelve years out, the 3.5 rated roads would be addressed, with the roads currently rated 4.0 addressed in sixteen years.

"And, at that point, we are back to Phase 1 again," Darr said.