Charles (Chuck) Leach currently serves on the SLLA Board. He has had responsibility for the Facilities and Grounds Committee and told landowners gathered at the Wednesday, February 5 Candidates' Night that he hopes to continue in that position.

“I would like to stay where I am," he replied, when asked which job on the Board appealed to him. "I have had three years in electrical schooling; and, at one time, I was thinking of going into the electrical business."

"A newer amenity that should not be forgotten is the debris site,” Leach added. “It is the second most loved amenity.”

Leach and his wife Jane have been married for forty-six years. They built their home in Seven Lakes in 1998 and became year-round residents in 2005.

“For that reason alone, I need to get back on this Board," Leach laughed. "My wife says we need some separation.”

A 300-foot cellphone tower at Harris Crossroads and a commercial-scale solar farm on NC Highway 211 near Candor were both approved during the Thursday, February 6 regular meeting of the Moore County Planning Board.

Harvesting the sun

The five megawatt commercial solar facility will occupy 41.3 acres of a 46.7 acre tract on the south side of NC Highway 211 east of its intersection with Spicewood Road. The land, which lies in front of the Perdue feed mill, is currently used by Sandhills Turf for turf grass production.

Speaking for the property owners — all members of the extended Harris family, Attorney Bill Harris said the lease payments provided from the solar farm would provide family members with more income than is generated from harvesting turf grass. He added that his sister lives on a tract adjacent to the field.

This is the second Harris project to come before the Planning Board, which approved a similar project in November that will be located on Harris-owned land nearby on Samarkand Road.

Both facilities are rated at five megawatts, each producing enough electricity to serve 300 homes over the course of a year. The electricity generated will be sold to Duke Energy.

Harris said his family's land has attracted solar companies because of its proximity to high capacity power lines, which he attributed to the power needs of the nearby feed mills.

The project involves two companies that have been particularly active in solar energy development in the state: Strata Solar and Argand Energy Builders, each responsible for different aspects of the project.

Four candidates will stand for election to three open seats on the Seven Lakes Landowners Association [SLLA] Board at the Annual Meeting on Sunday, March 23.

Nominating Committee Chairman Bob Racine introduced the candidates, which include Paul Chavez, Mary Farley, Sandy Sackmann, and incumbent Director Chuck Leach, during the Friday, January 31 SLLA Open Meeting.

“I would like to thank you and your committee," President Steve Ritter told Racine. It is always tough to find people willing to sit up here and be the focal point.”

A Meet the Candidates Night will be on Wednesday, February 5 at 7:00 pm in the North Clubhouse. Candidates will share information about their background and their interest in serving on the Board. Written questions will be taken from members, and the evening will include an opportunity for the membership to speak one-on-one with the candidates. Seven Lakes Times Editor Greg Hankins will moderate the session.

Are smaller dues increases, more frequently, more desirable?

The Board voted unanimously, during the January 31 Work Session, to ask the membership to approve a $25 dues increase at the Annual Meeting.

Treasurer Conrad Meyer made a motion to recommend the dues increase and to adopt the Fiscal Year 2015 operating budget as presented.

“I guess, to kick this thing off, I would like to make a motion to adopt the draft of the operating budget that is in the package,” Meyer said. “It includes a recommendation to ask the community for a $25 dues increase for all lots."

"When we went through the process of asking for a $100 dues increase this last year, we got a lot of feedback — 'Boy, that $100 dues increase is painful' — and I don’t dispute that at all. What we heard was: 'Wouldn’t it be easier to ask for increases in smaller bite size chunks, instead of bigger requests less frequently?' We are asking the community if they agree with that logic or would they rather have less frequent, larger increases. That’s what this is all about."

If the increase is approved at the Annual Meeting, SLLA homeowners dues would increase to $1,025.

Packets for the annual meeting will be mailed out in February.

The Board of Directors will take one more crack at finalizing the rewritten Seven Lakes Landowners Association [SLLA] Bylaws before taking a final vote to approve the document. Final approval was expected at the Friday, January 31 SLLA Open Meeting, but a single section that expands the Board's decision making powers drew objections from Director Bob Racine.

At issue is Article V, Section 8, which would give the Board the power to make decisions outside of a public meeting — something the Board of Directors are not allowed to do under the current bylaws.

Article V, Section 8 of the new bylaws reads:

Actions taken Without a Meeting. Any action permitted to be taken at a meeting of the Board may be taken without a meeting if the action is taken by all Board members entitled to vote on the action. The action shall be taken by written consent describing the action taken, signed before or after such action by all members. A consent under this section has the effect of a meeting vote and may be described as such in any document.

[CORRECTION – When this story was originally posted and in the February 7 print edition of The Times,  we reported that two of the Foxtail Lane lots with unfinished foundations were involved in a bankruptcy. That was incorrect, an error introduced during editing. The text of the article has been stricken from the text below. The Times regrets the error.] 

Time is up for Foxtail Lane developer Ron Jackson.

Last April, Foxfire Village notified Jackson by certified letter that he had six months to deal with three unfinished foundations on Foxtail Lane that he abandoned ten years ago. The October deadline has long since passed, with no apparent effort by Jackson to clean up the unsightly and hazardous construction site.

During the Foxfire Village Council's Thursday, January 30 Work Session, members agreed to levy fines on Jackson for the violation of the Zoning Ordinance, which could amount to as much as $500 per day.

Jackson, in July, offered to give the properties to the Village. But the Council declined that offer, because the properties have been used to secure a debt and two are involved in a bankruptcy.

During the January 30 Work Session, Councilwoman Leslie Frusco noted that one of the lots with an unfinished foundation has been sold.

“The person or entities took over the one foundation in the very back, which is the deepest one,” Frusco said. “[Village Attorney] Michael Brough is in contact with the new owners of this property to try and resolve this issue.”