Seven Lakes Times

A dozen or more unlocked cars were entered unlawfully on Saturday night, May 12 in Seven Lakes North.

Six residents have filed reports with the Moore County Sheriff's Office about the break-ins, which involved a total of eight vehicles. Anecdotal reports from residents suggest that the actual number of break-ins could be higher, but some victims have not reported the incident to the Sheriff's Department. It appears that a lll the incidents occurred late at night.

Captain Richard Talbert of the Sheriff's Office told The Times that it is very important for residents who believe their vehicle has been entered unlawfully to contact the Sheriff's Office, even if nothing was taken.

"The more information we have, the more likely we can establish a pattern," Talbert said.

Talbert also urged residents to lock their vehicles; all of the vehicles entered in Seven Lakes North were unlocked, despite the fact that some contained valuable electronics, or even cash. Talbert pointed out that entering an unlocked vehicle without permission of the owner is still a crime. But vehicle owners should protect themselves by locking their vehicles.

Seven Lakes Security Director Steve Ritter is also encouraging residents to remove valuable items from parked vehicles -- particularly electronic devices like cellphones, GPS receivers, and iPods.

Some members of the Moore County Board of Commissioners are still not happy with the $1.3 million increase in spending in the $131 million budget County Manager Cary McSwain has proposed for Fiscal Year 2012-2013.

During a Thursday, May 17 Work Session, the three Commissioners in attendance looked for ways to close the gap. Commissioners Jimmy Melton and Craig Kennedy did not attend the session.

One money-saving option may be to avoid filling some of the twenty-seven vacant positions in the County's workforce of more than 600 employees.

“I’m not looking to fire people. I’m not looking to lay people off,” said Commissioner Nick Picerno. “I am looking at positions that are vacant . . . There are only 'X' amount of dollars.”

Defending his proposed budget, McSwain told the Board, “I would like the Board to have some appreciation about how lean this County is.”

“If I just go and start cutting things, it would be like a blind surgeon," he said, "and that’s no way to wield a scalpel. You look at parts you can cut while having a responsible budget, and that’s what we are trying to do.”

This year’s budget reflects the addition of ten full time employees and providing existing employees with a 1.5 percent Cost of Living Allowance [COLA] -- an increase that has already drawn criticism from Commissioner Tim Lea in this budget cycle.

Citizens urged the Board of Commissioners to fully fund the $26 million Moore County Schools [MCS] local funding request during a Public Hearing on Tuesday, May 15 meeting -- and the Commissioners appeared ready to do just that.

The hearing was aimed at gathering public input on County Manager Cary McSwain's $131 million FY2012-2013 County Budget, but public input was focused on the schools.

Military families, which make up a large portion of MCS students, were represented by two parents: Army Major Frank Rodriguez and Laura Kermsey.

“Although we could have chose anywhere to live, we chose Moore County,” said Rodriguez, who explained that education is the foundation for any democracy.

“As elected officials, it is your responsibility to show the community that educating the children of Moore County is a top priority,” said Kermsey, who asked that the Board fully fund MCS for the upcoming school year.

School Board Chairwoman Kathy Farren thanked the Commissioners for the “wonderful working relationship” between the two Boards.

Barcodes are the most efficient method of identifying members of the Seven Lakes Landowners Association [SLLA] and moving them through the community's gates; but not everyone seems to be getting that message.

The newly-formed SLLA Security Committee is recommending that the Association move toward making barcodes mandatory; Security Director Steve Ritter shared that recommendation with the Board of Directors during their Monday, May 14 Work Session.

“Approximately one-third of our membership are without barcodes -- and that is a fairly substantial number,” Ritter explained. “I don’t understand why people are willing to sit behind two or three cars in the guest lane, when they can look to their right and see cars buzzing by in the barcode lane.”

Moving toward mandatory barcodes topped the list of recommendations from the Security Committee, which includes four retired law enforcement officers -- Ritter, former SLLA Director Chuck Mims, Mike Vasillo, and Don Harkey -- along with Southsider Brenda Massimo.

“We as a committee have looked at how these policies would fit in with our rules," Ritter said, "and whether we are doing what is right for our community and protecting all of our residents at the same time.”

“We are looking at access as how it pertains now as well as we grow. We are thinking forward to attack issues before they become issues,” he said.

Monday, May 14

• Seven Lakes Landowners Association – 9 am, work session. Seven Lakes North Clubhouse Game Room. Open to all landowners.

• National Active & Retired Federal Employees (NARFE) Sandhills Chapter 1895 – 10:30 am, monthly meeting, at Community Congregational Church, 141 N. Bennett St., Southern Pines. Chapter 1895 welcomes all Federal&Postal employees, FedRetirees, spouses/surviving spouses to meetings. Information about NARFE or meetings call: George or Julina LeVander (910) 895-9657; Sheila Lang (910) 448-0704, or Rose (Lin) Heimrick, (910) 295-4090.

• Seven Lakes Artists Group – 1 pm, meets every Monday at Seven Lakes Northside Clubhouse. All Local artists are welcome join the group.

• Weight Watchers Meeting – 5 pm-6 pm, at St. Mary Magdalene Episcopal Church, 1145 Seven Lakes Drive, Seven Lakes. Group leader Rachel Carr.

• Sandhills Photography Club – 7-9 pm, Photographer Edward Smith will discuss Nature Photography. Held at Christ Fellowship Church, Midland & Pee Dee Roads, Southern Pines. Website info: http://ncnaturephoto.com/bio.php Guests are welcome. For information, visit www.sandhillsphotoclub.org

Tuesday, May 15

• Vulnerable Adults and Elder Abuse – 10 am, Moore County Department of Social Services will present a program at the Senior Enrichment Center on abuse, neglect, and exploitation. Protecting vulnerable and elder adults is a community responsibility and it is imperative that communities work together to help reduce and prevent abuse, neglect and exploitation. Call 215-0900 to reserve a seat. Senior Enrichment Center, 8040 NC Highway 15-501, Pinehurst.

• Healing Service – 11 am, St. Mary Magdalene Episcopal Church. 1145 Seven Lakes Dr., Seven Lakes. Intercessory prayers for the sick & trouble, those in harms way, traveling, bereaved or deceased. Carol Burgess, Deacon. All are welcome.

• Moore County League of Women Voters  – Pat Corso, Executive Director of Moore County Partners in Progress, will be the speaker for the League of Women Voters of Moore County luncheon. Partners in Progress is a public/private partnership promoting economic development in Moore County. Meeting held at Table on the Green Restaurant, at Midland Country Club, 2206 Midland Road, Southern Pines. Check-in 11:30 am, meeting 11:45 am. Meeting open to the public as well as League members. Reservation required to attend. Calling Charlotte at 910-944-9611 to reserve. Cost is $12; a check payable to LWVMC.

• Moore County Board of Commissioners – 6:00 pm, at the Historic Courthouse, Carthage. Download agenda or full meeting packet.

It's nearly 1,000 boats on Lake Auman -- not nearly 2,000.

A story in this Friday's edition of The Times on a recent Seven Lakes West Landowners Association [SLWLA] Board Work Session reports that nearly 2,000 boats have been registered for use on Lake Auman this year.

During the Work Session, Lake & Dam Director Bruce Keyser reported the registration of 1,430 power boats and over 500 unpowered craft.

Thursday morning, after Friday's edition of The Times had gone to press, Keyser informed The Times via email that the number of power boats registered was actually 429. Keyser said he "forgot we start with 1000," referring to sticker numbers.

So, the total number of boats, power and non-power, is less than 1,000, rather than the nearly 2,000 that we reported.

The story below has been updated with the correct information. The Times regrets the error.

April 30 was the last day to register boats or trailers without paying a $25 fine, reported Lake and Dam Director Bruce Keyser during the Seven Lakes West Landowners Association [SLWLA] Board Work Session on Tuesday, May 8.

This year more than 500 non-power boats and 429 power boats have been registered. Those who have not registered their boats will be sent a reminder letter.

Lake patrol will begin on May 19, with boating rules being “strictly” enforced, said Keyser. Multiple violations of Lake rules may result in a fine, with the possibility of that boat being banned from use on the Lake.

Keyser reported that a fish and lake assessment study was completed on Friday, May 4 by Foster Lake and Dam Management. The results of that study should be back within the next few weeks.

The May 11 edition of The Seven Lakes Times is now available for download in pdf format.

You can download a high-quality PDF here, or, if you have a slower internet connection, download a smaller PDF here.

Highlights of this 40-page issue include:

- Foxfire is struggling with a budget in which expenses exceed revenues -- and the Village can't afford to repair the community tennis courts, among other things. Is a tax increase the answer?

- A Foxtail Villas homeowner wants the Council to take action to clean up that neighborhood.

- A bit more than one-third of registered voters turned out for Tuesday's primary election, and passed the Marriage Amendment by a convincing margin.

- Seven Lakes pastors held a special service on Sunday, May 6 to pray for Unity in Seven Lakes. You can read Rev Dudley Crawford's sermon in this edition.

- McLendon Hills wants to change fire districts, but the request has prompted the County to commission a study of the entire fire district system.

- The County Manager's budget proposes a bit more spending, but no increase in taxes.

- Seven Lakes West has registered more than 1400 power boats -- and another 500 non-power boats for the boating season on Lake Auman.

- An SLLA proposal to downsize the stables generated plenty of pushback -- particularly when critics figured out the usage numbers on which the proposal was based were pretty shaky.

- West End Presbyterian Church is celebrating its 100th birthday with a year-long series of events.

- Laura's looking for a very large dog on the loose; Don admits that the church itself could use a bit more unity Steven Hudson has some cost cutting ideas for the SLLA; and Times Editor Greg Hankins spoke to Kiwanis about where Seven Lakes has been, where we are, and why it may be hard to get from here to where we'd like to be.

Download the high-quality PDF edition (or, if you have a slower internet connection download a lower-quality pdf edition) and read it all this morning, pick up a copy at locations all over Seven Lakes this afternoon, or check your mailbox tomorrow.

North Carolina's Primary Election is Today, Tuesday, May 8. Polls are open until 7:30 pm.

Though the GOP Presidential nomination appears to have been already decided, voters on all sides of the political spectrum will still find plenty of options on the ballot.

Perhaps the most controversial choice voters will be asked to make involves a proposed amendment to the NC Constitution, Amendment One. It would add to the NC Constitution the following language: "Marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this State. This section does not prohibit a private party from entering into contracts with another private party; nor does this section prohibit courts from adjudicating the rights of private parties pursuant to such contracts."

The amendment, promoted by opponents of same-sex marriage, attempts to write into the Constitution a ban already present in the NC General Statutes, so that the ban could not be overturned by judicial or legislative action. You can find the official explanation of the Amendment here. You can find arguments in favor of Amendment One here; arguments against, here. Moore County's Board of Commissioners recently passed a resolution encouraging voters to weigh in on the measure. You can read the resolution here and read The Times' coverage of folks who spoke for and against that resolution here.

County Manager Cary McSwain is proposing a $131 million budget for Fiscal Year 2012-13, and no increase in the property tax rate.

McSwain presented the budget -- which reflects an increase of nearly two percent over this year's budget -- to the Board of Commissioners during their Tuesday, May 1 meeting.

Most of the requested $2.5 million year-to-year increase will be allocated to personnel costs, McSwain said, including the addition of four new detention officers and seven new paramedics. Funding for the latter will come from the Advanced Life Support [ALS] levy rather than the general property tax levy. However, the budget includes no increase in the two-cent ALS tax rate.

A request by the McLendon Hills Property Owners Association to be moved from their current Eagle Springs Fire District into the Seven Lakes First District has prompted the Commissioners to undertake a complete analysis of the County's Fire Districts -- something that hasn't been done in recent memory.

But that also means it may be a while before McLendon Hills homeowners get the lower insurance rates they were hoping to get by hopping districts.

McLendon Hills made the request during the Board's April 17 meeting; prompting a recommendation from Fire Marshal Ken Skipper that the County hire a consultant to conduct a formal countywide study of the issue.

During their Tuesday, May 1 meeting, the Commissioners unanimously agreed to have Skipper issue a Request For Proposal [RFP] for a comprehensive study of the fire service districts in Moore County. The project is expected to cost anywhere from $20,000 to $90,000.