The Seven Lakes, UNC-Chapel Hill, and West End Elementary communities have been quick to rally support for the family of ten-year-old Blaise McNair, who was recently diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor.

A ‘Carolina Blue’ event at West End Elementary raised over $2,000 on his behalf. After walking with his fifth grade graduating class on Thursday, June 7, Blaise was presented with a gift of a miniature black poodle puppy and a poignant video of support provided by UNC Tar Heels players.

Other benefit events have been scheduled, including a benefit sale & yard sale at The Classy Paci Consignment Boutique on Saturday, June 16, starting at 7:00 am. A Bouncy House and other family-friendly activities are planned at the shop, which is located on NC Highway 15-501 beside the Harley Davidson dealership near Carthage. 100% of yard sale item proceeds will benefit the McNair family. In addition, a percentage of all sales at The Classy Paci will be donated and customers will also be registered for a $30 gift certificate -- plus save 20% on their entire purchase that day. Donations for the yard sale or for more information, contact Allison Crissman of The Classy Paci at 295-9100.

A prayer vigil for Blaise McNair has been scheduled for Sunday, June 17 at 9:00 pm, at West End Elementary School on NC Highway 211. In the event of inclement weather, the prayer vigil will be held at Seven Lakes Baptist Church at 1015 Seven Lakes Drive. Participants are asked to make a small monetary donation and to wear ‘Carolina Blue’ clothing in honor of Blaise’s favorite team.

The Moore County Board of Commissioners met three times in closed session to consider an offer from Bojangles' to purchase 1.3 acres of county property in the Carriage Oaks Center in Carthage — on October 18, 2011, February 7, 2012, and May 15, 2012.

Almost everything said in those sixty minutes of debate, under North Carolina's Open Meetings Law, should have been discussed in open, not closed session, according to Attorney Mike Tadych, of Stevens Martin Vaughn & Tadych, PLLC, a Raleigh firm that specializes in Open Meetings and Public Records issues.

That's because, far from simply discussing how best to sell a piece of property, the five Commissioners used those meetings to debate how best to accommodate the future space needs of County government.

At the center of that debate lay two competing options:

• The expansion of the Carriage Oaks Center, favored by Commissioner Tim Lea, or

• The acquisition of thirty-two acres off Pinehurst Avenue in Carthage, near the current Moore County Office Park, to serve as the site for a new Administration Building, a option favored by Commissioner's Chairman Larry Caddell.

The offer from Bojangles landed annoyingly in the middle of this debate. But what was at first an annoyance came, for some Commissioners, to be seen as an opportunity -- as a source of cash that could pay for the Pinehurst Avenue expansion.

The NC General Statutes provide a handful of reasons that local governments may enter closed session deliberations. Discussing the County's strategy for addressing long-term space needs is not among them.

The Clerk to the Board posted audio recordings of the three closed sessions on the County website Thursday afternoon; the account that follows is based on a careful review of those recordings.

More than fifty Moore County citizens attended the Board of Commissioners Tuesday, June 5 meeting to oppose the sale of 1.3 acres of County property near the Veteran’s Memorial in Carthage to the fast food restaurant Bojangles’.

The opponents included more than twenty-five Vietnam veterans, including Moore County Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 966 President Chuck Spelman, who addressed the Board.

“We have been notified by certain individuals of Moore County that the Carthage War Memorial will no longer be a sacred place where we can come to show our respect,” said Spelman, a resident of Seven Lakes West, “because certain individuals want to locate a fast food restaurant in front of the Memorial.”

In May, it came to light that the Commissioners had discussed the potential sale of the property while meeting in Closed Session.

Discussions began on the matter in October 2011, when a broker repenting Bojangles’ initially offered $280,000 for the property. That bid was later raised to $330,000, with the buyer paying closing costs and a broker’s fee of ten percent.

“Certain individuals feel that a monetary gain is worth more than the lives we lost and the Memorial that has been built in their honor,” said Spelman.

However, Commissioner Nick Picerno said no decision has been made to sell the land to Bojangles’.

“I just hope you have not had your emotions riled prematurely,” said Picerno. “We were simply putting it in as part of our discussion of our future vision of what the County may look like . . . As far as I know, this Board has not made any decision to sell that property.”

Whether premature or not, it was clear that emotions have been riled, as explained by US Navy veteran Michael Gast, who told the Commissioners how he felt when he learned that a Bojangles’ might be built next to the Memorial.

“I felt that this was showing a great disgrace toward service men and women who sacrificed their lives for the freedom that you and I enjoy on a daily basis,” Gast said.

Ignoring the advice of their attorney, the Moore County Board of Commissioners had a wide-ranging closed session discussion on Tuesday, February 7 concerning whether, how, and at what price to sell 1.3 acres of county property as the site for a new Bojangles’ restaurant in Carthage.

The discussion appears to constitute a clear violation of NC Open Meeting Law. Closed sessions on the matter held on October 18, 2011 and May 15, 2012 may have also run afoul of the statutes. The range of topics discussed in the February 7 Closed Session also appears to stand in contrast to statements later made to the press by members of the Board concerning the nature of the Bojangles’ Closed Sessions.

A detailed summary of the February 7 session, prepared by Clerk to the Board Laura Williams from an audio tape recording of the Closed Session, reveals that the Commissioners debated not merely the technical aspects of how to sell the property, but also:

• The appropriate price for the 1.3 acres, part of a grassy space that lies between a Hardee’s Restaurant and the Veteran’s Memorial in the former Carriage Oaks Shopping Center;

• Whether to counter an offer put forward by Bojangles’;

• Whether the county should retain the property; and whether to wait until a study of county space needs was complete before making any decision about the property;

• What impact the sale and restaurant location would have on the nearby Veteran’s Memorial, and whether the Veteran’s Memorial would need to be moved to another location.

The Bojangles’ Offer

What can be learned about the substance of the proposed transaction from the released minutes is that a broker representing Bojangles’ approached County Manager Cary McSwain in October of 2011 with an offer to purchase 1.3 acres adjacent to Hardee’s for $280,000, on which the County would pay a ten percent broker’s fee.

The Board appears to have reflected that offer, and later proposed a price of $500,000, with the buyer paying the broker’s fee. The County Manager presented that offer to the broker, and Bojangles’ responded with an offer of $330,000 and agreed to pay closing costs and the broker’s fee. That is where the matter sat on May 1, according to a confidential memo prepared by McSwain and released to The Times under a public records request.

If local Vietnam Veterans have their way, no retail establishment -- including the proposed Bojangles fast food restaurant -- will ever be built adjacent to the Moore County Veteran's Memorial in Carthage.

“To me that’s sacred ground,” said President Chuck Spelman during their Monday, June 4 meeting of Moore County Chapter 966 of the Vietnam Veterans of America.

“As we sit on one of the donated granite benches and pay our respect to those who made the supreme sacrifice -- that you and I may be free -- during a moment of silence, only to hear ‘May I take your order?’ I don’t think so.”

The twenty-two VVA members in attendance at the meeting voted unanimously to oppose the use of the property for any retail establishment.

The Memorial is tucked into a corner of the former Carriage Oaks Shopping Center property, which the County acquired and converted into administrative offices for the Department of Social Services, as well as Planning and related departments. Inscribed with the names of Moore County veterans of all wars, including many who were killed in action, the Memorial fronts onto a large grassy lawn.

Bojangles has approached the County with an offer to purchase 1.3 acres of that lawn as the site for a restaurant, which would sit alongside an existing Hardee's restaurant that is approximately 500 feet from the Memorial.