The Westside Board of Directors cast their final vote Tuesday night, October 26, to permanently close Longleaf Drive over Lake Auman Dam. But their vote may not put an end to the matter, just yet.
    During the same meeting, the Dam Road Group, organized by Westsider Mike Gorenflo, presented Secretary Karen Milligan with signatures representing 246 lots, petitioning for a special meeting of the membership to vote on the road closure. The Board's Legal Director, Ed Silberhorn, said the Board cannot be forced by a popular vote to change its position.
    Adding more fuel to the public debate on the issue, the Board released a strongly-worded rebuttal, prepared by Dam Engineer Dr. Dan Marks, attacking an informal critique of the Lake Auman Dam remediation prepared by James Weldon, a dam safety engineer employed by the Denver,CO, Water Department. Weldon's analysis, prepared as a favor to Westsider Jim Johnson, has not been released by either Johnson or the Board, but allegedly contains "inflammatory" statements about the quality of the dam remediation and the overall safety of the dam.
    
Decision unanimous
    All nine members of the Westside Board were present at Tuesday's meeting, and all nine voted in favor of President Ron Shepard's motion to "permanently close" Longleaf Drive over Lake Auman Dam, after first hearing input from a dozen landowners. Much of that input drew applause from the more than one hundred landowners in attendance, who seemed evenly divided amongst partisans on both sides of the debate.
    The Board also heard from Joan Frost the results of a survey on the issue that asked the membership whether they supported the Board's intention to close the road or opposed it "regardless of the potential risk, liability, or cost to myself or the community."
    After weeding out the unsigned or improperly marked forms, Frost said, 869 usable survey forms were collected. Of those, 716 supported the Board's position and 129 opposed it.
    Silberhorn pointed out that this meant eighty-five percent supported the decision to close the road; Gorenflo countered that many landowners who opposed the Board's position refused to return the form in protest of what he called the "biased" wording.

    Loose dogs have been a source of frequent complaints in Seven Lakes. In particular, a pair of friendly, but annoying Labrador retrievers that enjoy splashing around Sequoia Point come to mind; however, vicious dog complaints are rare.
    On Wednesday, October 27, the Seven Lakes Landowners Association [SLLA] Board of Directors heard an explicit report of a vicious dog from a resident of Sunset Way in Seven Lakes North. Last week, while out walking, Edith Swigart said, her dog was attacked and mauled in the street by two pit bull terriers.
    “It was horrifying. I have nightmares about it,” she said. “The owner came down and got the dogs and said that he always keeps his dogs under control. I told him, not tonight you didn’t!”
    Swigart’s dog underwent emergency surgery and is home recovering. Besides nightmares, she also has a $900 vet bill to contend with.
    “We may be safe behind the gates, but we’re not on our streets,” she charged.
    Since the incident occurred during weekend hours, the attack was initially reported to the Moore County Sheriff’s Office. Swigart said she was informed by the officer that they do not enforce community rules.
    Security Director Chuck Mims agreed that it is the standard policy of the Sheriff's office not to enforce the rules of private communities, but he added that the Sheriff’s department does enforce state law — on either side of the gates.
    SLLA has rules restricting vicious dogs; so does Moore County.
    According to the county's Animal Control Ordinance 4.4, it is unlawful to keep a vicious, fierce or dangerous domestic animal in Moore County unless the animal is confined in a secure building or enclosure, or is restrained by means of a leash or other like device and firmly under control at all times. A dog is determined to be vicious at the discretion of the Health Director or his designee.
    However, how to deal with a known vicious dog is where county law and community rules diverge.
    Vicious dogs are prohibited in Seven Lakes; but, in Moore County, a dog determined to be vicious can be kept if secured in a six foot high enclosure with an enclosed top and concrete bottom and a secure, lockable gate. Warning signs must be posted on all four sides of the property. In addition, Animal Control must be notified immediately if the vicious animal gets loose or attacks another person or animal.
    Swigart said that Animal Control did file a report and informed her they have another attack by the same dogs already on record.
    The owner of the dog attacked in the earlier incident, who is a resident on Sunset Way and the father of a newborn infant, also spoke during the meeting.
    “I paid good money to live here and I have to deal with these two dogs. If an owner can’t control the dog, then it needs to go,” he exclaimed. “We shouldn’t wait until a kid gets hurt to do something.”
    SLLA President Randy Zielsdorf said he empathized with their concerns, but encouraged residents with critical issues, especially those involving legal ramifications, to bring those discussions before the Board during Work Sessions rather than an Open Meeting.
    “We hear you; but this is just not the forum to resolve this type of issue,” Zieldsdorf said.
    After some discussion, Director Melinda Scott suggested that Community Manager Alina Cochran should meet with Animal Control to discuss appropriate action.

Sunday, October 24
•    St. Mary Magdalene Episcopal Church – 9:30 am, 1145 Seven Lakes Drive. Seven Lakes. Holy Eucharist All are Welcome.
•    Seven Lakes Tennis Center Open House – Wine & Cheese Tennis Social , at 3 pm. This is a get together to socialize and play tennis. Open to members and nonmembers and free. RSVP requested call 673-1096 or email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  
•    Owl Prowl – 4 pm,  Flying mousetraps and sky tigers are apt descriptions for these birds of prey. Using mounted birds, the ranger will look at the adaptations and life histories of several owls. Learn to identify these birds by sight and sound. After the talk the group will take a hike to try and call up an owl. Weymouth Woods, Sandhills Nature Preserve, 1024 Fort Bragg Rd. Southern Pines, (910) 692-2167 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
•    The Rooster’s Wife – Sundays at Six music series. This week’s featured artist is Anne and Pete Sibley. Admission Charge. Poplar Knight Spot, 114 Knight Street, Aberdeen, doors at 6 pm. 910-944-7502.
•    Awana – at Seven Lakes Baptist Church, Seven Lakes, Family Life Center Available to 3 years old by Oct. 15th through 5th grade. Questions: 673-4656.

Monday, October 25
•    Ladies Bible Study – 6:30 to 8 pm, Seven Lakes Baptist Church, Seven Lakes. The class ends on November 15. Studies include Beth Moore - The Patriarchs, Encountering the God of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob. $16  for the workbook or purchase directly from Lifeway. Questions: 673-4656.
•    Sandhills Natural History Society – 7 pm at Weymouth Woods Auditorium, 1024 Ft. Bragg Rd., Southern Pines.  North American Bats and White Nose Syndrome - Lisa Gatens, Curator of Mammals at the North Carolina State Museum of Natural Sciences will discuss White Nose Syndrome (WNS) — the poorly understood disease that is devastating eastern North America’s bat populations. Visitors are always welcome. Call 910-692-2167 for more information or visit online at www.sandhillsnature.org .

Tuesday,October 26
•    Healing Service – 11 am, St. Mary Magdalene Episcopal Church, 1145 Seven Lakes Drive, Seven Lakes. Intercessory prayers for the sick & trouble, those in harms way, traveling, bereaved or deceased. Rev. Carol Burgess, Deacon. All are Welcome.
•    Seven Lakes West Landowners Association – 7 pm, work session. West Side Park Community Center. Open to all landowners.

Wednesday, October 27
•    Seven Lakes Landowners Association – 7:30 pm, monthly meeting. Seven Lakes North Clubhouse. Open to all landowners.

Thursday, October 28
•    Bread of Life Ministry – West End United Methodist Church, every Thursday, 11:00 am until 1:00 pm. This ministry is for single seniors (widows and widowers). It is a time of fellowship and devotion and a wonderful meal is provided at a charge of $5 per person. West End United Methodist Church, 4015 NC Hwy. 73. Questions: call the church office at 673-1371.
•    Wine Tasting – at Sandhills Winery 5:30 to 8:30 pm. $10 for six wines and food from Goldie's. Located at 1057 Seven Lakes Drive. (910) 673-.
•    Save Our Sandhills: The Best Kept Secret in the Sandhills – 7 pm, Save Our Sandhills will host Candace Williams, Executive Director of the Sandhills Area Land Trust (SALT) to discuss “The Best Kept Secrets in the Sandhills:  The Work of the Sandhills Area Land Trust – Past, Present, and Future.” Meeting will be held at Southern Pines Civic Club, the corner of Ashe Street and Pennsylvania Avenue. Refreshments served. All are welcome.

Friday, October 29
•    Trunk or Treat at WEPC! – 5:30 to 7:30 p.m, West End Presbyterian Church will be hosting a “Trunk or Treat” for the entire community. The event will be held in the parking lot of the Crawford Activity Center and in the center itself. Children of all ages are invited to come “trunk or treating” through the parking lot and then come inside the Crawford Activity Center to play games, do a craft, and win prizes. Church deacons also will be selling chili and hot dog dinners, with proceedsgoing to an upcoming middle school urban mission trip. For more information call the church office at 673-4341. West End Presbyterian Church is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA), located on Knox Lane, one block west of Highway 211, West End.
•    Celebrate Halloween at Casual Friday at SLCC – 5-9 pm. Buffet 5-6:30 pm. Food, games & socializing
•    Musical Gala and Benefit for Weymouth Center for Arts and Humanities – 7 pm. A concert by Frederick Moyer and Nancy Green, both grandchildren of North Carolina playwright Paul Green, will be the program. Moyer is an internationally famous pianist and Ms. Green plays the cello. The evening  will recognize Norris Hodgkins Jr., of Southern Pines, a former President of Weymouth and supporter of historic landmarks and the arts. Tickets $50. Held at the Weymouth Center, 555 E. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. For more information (910) 692-6261.

Saturday, October 30
•    Jackson Springs Community Club Annual Chicken and Dumpling Supper  –  5 - 8 pm, The Jackson Springs club house is located on Mill Road, Jackson Springs. Auctioneer, Joe Parsons will provide his outstanding services. All monies raised will help provide scholarships for deserving students in the Jackson Springs Area. Enjoy a delicious meal and support a good cause. Adults $7, children 12 and under $3. Take out orders will be available. For more  info Call O'Neal Bennett at 974-9406.

Sunday, October 31
•    St. Mary Magdalene Episcopal Church – 9:30 am, 1145 Seven Lakes Drive. Seven Lakes. Holy Eucharist All are Welcome.
•    Weymouth Center of Arts and Humanities – 2 pm, a multicultural event of Native American, Highland Scot, and African-American, song, dance, visual arts, narrative and foods for all the family to enjoy. The event will be both outdoors and indoors, for all to enjoy at a nominal or no admission fee. Weymouth is at 555 E. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. For details, call (910) 692-6261 or www.weymouthcenter.org.
•    The Spooky Side of the Sandhills – 3 pm, What better way to spend the Halloween afternoon than to learn about all the spooky creatures  associate with this day. The ranger will talk about spiders, bats, owls, and more, and maybe even find out they’re not as scary as they seem. Everyone will  spend time inside and outside for this program, so come prepared for a short walk. Weymouth Woods, Sandhills Nature Preserve, 1024 Fort Bragg Rd. Southern Pines, (910) 692-2167 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
•    Awana – at Seven Lakes Baptist Church, Seven Lakes, Family Life Center Available to 3 years old by Oct. 15th through 5th grade. Questions: 673-4656.

    These are the facts. Seven Lakes West's dam engineer not only recommended that the road over Lake Auman Dam be closed permanently, he took the unusual step of asking the state Dam Safety Engineer to order it closed. The state declined to do so, though it has jurisdiction and authority to order road closure, instead leaving any decision about reopening the road to the community.
    If the community chooses to rebuild the roadway across the top of Lake Auman Dam, the level of interest the state takes in that project will depend on how deeply the roadbed and associated drainage structures intrude into the embankment. If the road is reopened to vehicular traffic, and the state, on inspection, finds significant signs of traffic-related stress in the embankment, the state's Dam Safety engineer would likely order the road closed.
    
Where those facts came from
    The West Side's ongoing discussion about whether the portion of Longleaf Drive that crosses Lake Auman Dam should be reopened or permanently closed has generated substantial debate about exactly what Dam Engineer Dr. Dan Marks recommended, as well as whether the State of North Carolina's Dam Safety Engineer has taken a position on the reopening of the roadway.
    The Times interviewed the state's Dam Safety Engineer, Steven McEvoy, by telephone on Tuesday, October 5 and Monday, October 11 to try to clarify those issues. We also reviewed copies of the official communications from Marks to the state and the Seven Lakes West Landowners Association [SLWLA] that touch on this aspect of the debate.
    
What Dr. Marks said
    Marks went well beyond recommending the permanent closure of the road over Lake Auman Dam, actually asking McEvoy's office to make permanent closure a condition of the state's final approval of the 2009 repair work done on the dam. Marks' request is contained in the final paragraph of his December 1, 2009 Construction Certification Report, an official document aimed at obtaining a Certification for Approval to Impound from the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources [NCDENR], the agency responsible for dam safety.
    That paragraph reads as follows:
    Marks Enterprises recommends that the Certification of Approval to Impound for Lake Auman Dam to be issued by the North Carolina Dam Safety Engineer in the Department of Environment and Natural Resources following review of this Construction Certification Report for the recently completed dam remediation construction be granted only with the following stipulation:
    •    That section of Longleaf Drive in the Community of Seven Lakes West that transverses the crest of Lake Auman dam shall remain closed to vehicular traffic of all kinds, except for un-licensed vehicles capable of transporting a maximum of two people. Furthermore, no future consideration shall be given to the opening of this section of roadway (resuming the use of this section of roadway for vehicular traffic) regardless of any plans to design and/or construct any type of high-strength roadway pavement design section. [Emphases in original.]
    For an engineer to ask for such a restriction is unusual and speaks to the depth of Marks' concern about the impact of traffic rolling over the dam.
    SLWLA Director Mick Herdrich, who chairs the Association's dam committee, told The Times that neither he, the Board, nor the Dam Committee knew in advance that Marks planned to ask for this restriction on the state's approval of the repairs. State Dam Engineer McEvoy confirmed that it was out of the ordinary.
    "We don't see that a lot," State Dam Engineer McEvoy said of Marks' recommendation. "That's an unusual request."
    "We responded to that request in the final approval," he added.

    The Seven Lakes West Landowners Association [SLWLA] Board of Directors is seeking Member Input into its pending decision on permanent closure of Longleaf Drive over Lake Auman dam -- a decision on which the Board is expected to vote during its Tuesday, October 26 Work Session.

    Director Mick Herdrich told The Times the Board of Directors had considered sending out its request for input during an Executive Session that concluded their September 28 Work Session. Eight Board members present at a special meeting on Tuesday, October 5 unanimously approved the mailing to the membership, he explained.
    Meanwhile, a group of landowners is seeking to call a special meeting of the membership to vote on whether the road should be reopened. [See story here.]
    The Board's mailing, which includes a tear-off form for member input and a postage-paid return envelope, asks Westside landowners to choose one of two options:
     I support the Board's recommendation to close the Dam given the recommendation of its Dam Engineer and the suggestion of the State that we follow that recommendation, or
    I do not support the Board's recommendation and want the road over the dam reopened, regardless of the potential risk, liability, or cost to myself or the community.
    The three page letter [download a copy here] includes background on the history of the dam remediation, presents the rationale for the Dam Committee's recommendation that the road be closed permanently, and includes answers to some frequently asked questions.
    The Board writes that Dam Engineer Dr. Dan Marks "recommended to the state that the road remain closed to vehicular traffic "regardless of any plans to design and/or construct any type of high strength roadway pavement."
    The letter says that a second engineering opinion is not being sought because a legal opinion from the Association's attorney indicates that disregarding Marks' advice -- and the recommendation of the Dam Committee -- could, if the road were reopened and the dam subsequently failed "put the Association in the unenviable position of having to prove in Court that any future problems with the dam were not caused, in whole or in part, by the decision to allow resumption of traffic over the area of the dam where the latent defects in the core were discovered."
    The Board's letter suggests that the impact of the Longleaf Drive road closure on Westside property values is difficult to determine but suggests that an analysis by a "Westside resident" indicates "that home sale prices have been consistent throughout the community, selling for approximately 70% of assessed value during this downturn." The unnamed resident has been identified in previous Board comments as former Infrastructure Director Ray MacKay.
    The Board suggests that the closure of the roadway atop the dam has added at most five and one half minutes to the travel time of Pinehurst-bound westsiders and estimates the cost of repairing the roadway, which was rendered unusable during last year's remediation to be $1.2 million, which could result in a $700 per lot special assessment or "significantly higher annual dues for the foreseeable future."
    Members are being asked to mark their preference on the input form and return it to the SLWLA office no later than Friday, October 22.
    The input form asks that respondents provide their name and lot number. The letter indicates that results will be tabulated by CAS, Inc. and that the responses of individuals will remain confidential, with only the final tally being forwarded to the Board. The letter does not indicate whether that tally will be made public, but Legal Director Ed Silberhorn tol The Times he expected the Board would make the results public.