From doctors to concerned parents, from teachers to school board members; scores of Moore County citizens turned out Tuesday night to support the Moore County Schools' [MCS] request for $3.1 million in additional local funding for the upcoming year. The May 17 Board of Commissioners meeting attracted a crowd of more than two hundred for a public hearing on the County Manager's proposed Fiscal Year 2011-2012 budget, which includes neither a tax increase nor more local money for the schools.

County Manager Cary McSwain told the Board that he has done what was asked of him and his staff: to complete a “balanced and responsible budget.”

Board of Eduction Chair Laura Lang told the Commissioners that schools will be operating next year with fewer administrators, teachers, teacher's assistants, and programs -- with class sizes set to increase. Exactly how much state funding for MCS will be cut, is still unknown, as the Senate continues to debate a House budget that included significant cuts in school funding -- as well as pushing some expenses once covered by the state down to the local level. The House budget would cost MCS an estimated $12 million next year.

The uncertainty about what the Senate might do prompted Lang to ask if MCS can come back to the Commissioners, once the numbers are in and use a portion of the County's fund balance to help close the gap in the school’s budget in order to not raise taxes.

Former School Board members Sue Black, of West End, said “This is the hardest year ever.” She asked the Commissioners to just leave the door open for additional local funding, since “we don’t know what the state is going to do yet.”

Rollie Sampson said all the budget cuts have “weakened our ability to provide an education to our future . . . There is nothing left to cut in our schools.”

Moore County's Emergency Services Advisory Committee [ESAC] is recommending an increase in fire taxes next year; ESAC member Otis Ritter was on hand at a Special Meeting of the Board of Commissioners on Tuesday, May 17 to explain why.

Part of the explanation was something familiar to any driver: fuel costs. Diesel fuel at nearly five dollars a gallon is making fire operations "very, very expensive," Ritter told the Commissioners

The requested three percent increase would not include all departments. For instance, the fire tax in West End would decrease, but there would be an increase for Seven Lakes.

Consolidating squads so they run more efficiently is one way to avoid increasing the fire tax rates, Ritter said. Without consolidation, the only way to pay for increased costs is by either increasing fire taxes or the Advanced Life Support tax, he explained.

“Public Safety is going to come from taxpayers, regardless,” said Ritter.

Making short work of a packed agenda of discussion items, the Seven Lakes Landowners Association [SLLA] Board of Directors met for an hour long evening Work Session on Monday, May 9.

The meeting time change was prompted by a call for more openness and public participation in the planning and decision-making process — in particular as the Board begins to tackle the financial impact of last year’s Reserve Study recommendations.

However, the newly seated majority of four directors had to first clear an early hurdle brought about when two veteran Board members resigned shortly after the Organizational Meeting.

At the April 27 Open Meeting, former Director Bruce Keyser, Jr. who was unsuccessful in his bid to retain his seat in the last election, was appointed by a vote of acclamation to fill one of those vacancies. [A full report on the April 27 Open Meeting is available at sevenlakestimes.com.]

During the May 9 Work Session, the Board gave a unanimous nod of support to Anderson Lowe, who was nominated to claim the other seat. A formal vote on Lowe’s appointment will be called at the May Open Meeting.

Nearly half of Seven Lakes West is receiving weekly “e-blasts” Secretary Jane Sessler reported during the Tuesday, May 10 Work Session of the Seven Lakes West Landowners Association [SLWLA] Board of Directors.

The number of households receiving the emails has nearly doubled — to 450 — since March, Sessler told The Times, adding that a bug that has some households receiving multiple copies of the email updates is still being worked out.

She noted that the SLWLA website itself continues to grow as more community organizations utilize it to get the word out about their activities.

One major “disappointment” with the website, Sessler said, is that more people are not communicating directly with Board members on matters of concern. “We are trying to make it easy to communicate,” said Sessler, who encouraged individuals to reach out to the Board by email or phone.

To keep members informed the website is also being utilized to add minutes of the Board’s work sessions within 24 hours of a meeting.

Area Reps are trying to help with the communication process by compiling a list of individuals without access to a computer, so the Board can better communicate with them.

A meeting of the Area Reps is scheduled for May 9 with a website “tour” on the agenda.

Also on the communications front, the Area Reps will be hosting a wine and cheese party on Monday, June 13 for newcomers to the community and are assembling an emergency contact list.

Making short work of a lengthy agenda, the Foxfire Village Council tackled a variety of topics at a sparsely attended meeting on Tuesday, May 10.

Echoing comments that were also raised in two recent citizens’ participation budget workshops, Craig Ramey expressed concern that the overall appearance of the Village was on the decline.

“I know we don’t have a Zoning Administrator and that enforcement has been lax,” said Ramey. “And with Woodland Circle and the [Foxfire Golf] Club’s bankruptcy, I realize appearance is low on the list of priorities. But, some areas haven’t been mowed in years. Several lots have trees down. It’s not a major concern, but just something you get sick of looking at all the time.”

He also reported that a debris pile behind the golf maintenance yard is growing and the entire area is a mess, including two buildings he said should be condemned.

Ramey volunteered to chair a community standards-type committee of five members, as was originally developed by the late Carl Munro, which could address the problem.

“It wasn’t just one person, but a group of people looking at items and agreeing whether something needed to be done,” said Ramey.

Picking up on his suggestion later in the meeting, Long Range Planning Chair Mick McCue recommended that, rather than form another committee, the work could be tasked as part of the responsibilities of the existing Appearance Committee.