Correcting an longstanding oversight, the Moore County Board of Commissioners has approved a revised contract with the Seven Lakes Volunteer Fire Department [SLVFD] recognizing that the department has been providing medium duty rescue services in its district since the 1980s.
    Fire Marshal Ken Skipper explained during the Tuesday, September 7 meeting of the Moore COunty Board of Commissioners that a 2009 review of contracts with fire departments and rescue squads across the county had revealed that the county had no contract with any entity to provide rescue service within the Seven Lakes Fire District, even though the Seven Lakes VFD had been providing that service since the mid-1980s.
    The county last year established new countywide standards for the provision of those services, Skipper said, and SLVFD had to acquire additional equipment and implement additional training in order to meet those standards, which it completed over the past year. During that interim, the county had contracted with West End Fire and Rescue [WEFR] to formally cover rescue duties in the Seven Lakes Fire District.
    Now that SLVFD meets all county requirements, Skipper said, the rescue contract can be moved from West End to the Seven Lakes department. He noted in his report to the Board that the new contract would cost the county $1,500 per year in equipment maintenance costs, but added that, in the long run, the county would save money.
    Currently, when there is an auto accident in the Seven Lakes Fire District, the 9-1-1 center dispatches Seven Lakes EMS, Moore County EMS, SLVFD, and WEFR. Under the new contract, West End Fire and Rescue would only be called if needed as backup for an accident that involves a confirmed entrapment.
    "They meet the standards," Skipper said of SLVFD, adding that they had worked hard over the past year to meet the county's new rescue requirements. "All they need is a new contract."
    The Board of Commissioners approved the new contract unanimously.

    There was a good turnout for the first meeting between the Greater Seven Lakes Community Council [GSLCC] and the Moore County Board of Commissioners, and plenty of questions.
    The Seven Lakes debate about incorporation simmered constantly just below the surface, but never really broke through. What did break through, somewhat surprisingly, in a forum devoted to Seven Lakes issues, was the Commissioners' internal debate about how to fund a new jail and public safety complex in downtown Carthage.
    The GSLCC hosted the Commissioners in the West Side Park Community Center before a crowd of about 100 -- a sizable turnout for a summer afternoon meeting that the Council never really advertised as being open to the public. Along with all five Commissioners, county staff on hand included the county manager, assistant manager, attorney, public utilities director, assistant planning director, and clerk, along with Sheriff Lane Carter.
    The meeting's agenda was set by a list of questions the council posed to the county, grouped into five areas: water, planning and zoning, security, incorporation, and the bond issue to fund the new public safety complex and detention center planned for downtown Carthage. We've broken the conversation about the last of those items out into a separate story, which you can read here .
    County staff used PowerPoint slides to support their presentations; you can download a copy of those slides here .
    
Incorporation
    Though it has been the hottest topic in Seven Lakes this Summer, incorporation was the issue the Board of Commissioners dealt with most quickly.
    County Attorney Misty Leland had prepared an incorporation primer with detailed information on the  process and the relevant state statutes that was available for meeting attendees to take away from the meeting [Download a copy here ].
    "Incorporation is a question that Seven Lakes needs to answer for itself," Chairman Tim Lea said. Lea was the only member of the Board to address the issue.
    "We will be glad to work with you on any direction you want to go in."
    A member of the audience asked whether, if Seven Lakes incorporated and had its own police force, it would also need its own judge and jail.
    "They all come to Carthage," Sheriff Carer replied, explaining that, in North Carolina, the state provides the judges and the county provides the jails.

    No one seems to know why the Moore County Board of Commissioners wound up debating the wisdom of a jail bond referendum in front of a Seven Lakes crowd on hand to witness the first meeting between the Commissioners and the Greater Seven Lakes Community Council [GSLCC].
    But the debate provided the major fireworks in the Thursday, August 26 meeting, as Chairman Tim Lea questioned not only the method of funding the project but also suggested the county may be about to pay a substantially higher cost per jail bed than was recently paid for similar projects in other counties.
    
Morgan: 'Big debts crammed down our throats'
    Lea, along with Commissioner Cindy Morgan, has voted twice in recent weeks to put the $50 million debt before the voters in a referendum. In each case, a majority that included Larry Caddell, Jimmy Melton, and Nick Picerno have turned away that idea in favor of funding the project through the issuance of limited obligation bonds. These bonds are secured -- like a mortgage -- by the property itself, and do not require voter approval.
    "I'm the person who put the motion on the table," Commissioner Morgan said. "I did it because I had people talking to me asking why we would do this without asking the people to vote on it, because, ultimately, you do pay for it. . . . It makes really me sad to think that we sit here in Moore County and have the same kinds of behaviors happening at the Moore County level that we see in Washington DC, where we see these big debts being crammed down our throats and we don't have an opportunity to have our say."
    Lea said he had no question about the need for a new jail: "When you net all the conversation out, there is no question that we need a new detention center. The question is whether we are going to let the people vote on it."
    He recounted a recent conversation with former Board of Commissioners Chairman Michael Holden, who told Lea that the largest amount the Board had ever borrowed without voter approval was $9.9 million, for a new middle school.
    "At some point, you've got to give back control of this country to the people," Lea said.
    Noting growing deficits at both the federal and state levels -- and projected state cutbacks in next year's funding for schools -- Lea said: "We can go ahead and fund this project without increasing your  taxes, but if this Board decides or if you decide that we are going to build a new school -- a new high school, a new middle school, or anything else -- based on the numbers that are on the table, we potentially are going to have to raise your taxes."
    "We've got more red ink coming at us next year than this county has ever, in its history, dealt with."

     "Does this mean the two of you [Lea and Morgan] would vote against this if we had a referendum in November?" Seven Lakes business owner Darrell Marks asked. "That you would not support a new jail?"
    "No, I would vote for it," Lea replied.
    "The issue is that the people who are going to pay for this should have a voice in this," he added.

    The Northside Pool will be open later in the evening and for an extended period this season, Community Manager Alina Cochran announced at the Wednesday, August 25 Open Meeting of the Seven Lakes Landowners Association [SLLA] Board of Directors.
    With school back in session, scheduled hours were adjusted and the pool is now open from 3:00 pm to 8:00 pm, Monday through Friday, and from Noon to 8:00 pm on weekends. The pool will remain open through Sunday, September 19, in part due to the delayed opening at the beginning of the season, while legally-required grates were installed over two drains.
    The SLLA swim season will conclude with ‘A Dog Day of Summer’ on Saturday, September 25 from Noon to 5:00 pm at the Northside Pool. A new special event introduced this year by Cochran, the pool will be open for all family dogs -- dogs only, please. Owners will be responsible for picking up any doggy messes.
    In related news, Cochran reported the pool was vandalized last week with deck furniture thrown in, causing some minor physical damage. The incident was reported to the Moore County Sheriff’s Office and patrols have been stepped up in the area.
    “This is not the first time this has happened, and it costs people money,” said Director Bud Shaver. “Don’t tell me the kids don’t know who did it. Parents should be looking to their kids, because this is costing all of us!”
    During her management report, Cochran announced that, in addition to Roving Security patrols, the Association is employing an off-duty Sheriff’s officer to enforce all applicable North Carolina laws, including speeding and driving under the influence.
    
Seven Lakes Country Club Agreement update
    Two key documents relating to the July 2007 agreement between SLLA and the Seven Lakes Country Club, regarding future development of the old driving range, were delivered to the Club in August, announced President Randy Zielsdorf. Specifically, those documents included approved mark-ups by the Association’s attorney of covenants written by the Club and an easement that prohibits access to the property from Seven Lakes Drive. The 10’ easement maintains a consistent green space from the Southside gates to the townhouse area on Devonshire Avenue.
    “The Association and Seven Lakes Country Club are now cooperatively working with their attorneys to finalize these documents as soon as possible,” Zielsdorf read from a prepared statement.
    Responding to former SLLA Director Donna Stephan, who thanked the Board for pursuing the agreement, Zielsdorf said he hoped to have good news by the end of the month and also said he was pleased that the Club had entered negotiations to lease their Tennis Facility.
    “I hope this venture is successful, because this would be a big asset to the area and also the Club,” Zielsdorf said.