Seven Lakes Times

A deal on the Lakeway Drive rail crossing -- a matter of intense private negotiations for the past couple of months -- was finally made public in a special meeting of the Seven Lakes West Landowners Association [SLWLA] on Thursday night, February 2.

But the deal, it turns out, is not quite done.

SLWLA President Mick Herdrich explained that the Association is involved in ongoing negotiations with the Aberdeen Carolina and Western Railway Company [ACWR], as well as other property owners who depend on the crossing at the front entrance of Seven Lakes West, in an attempt to convert the crossing from a private, leased entrance into a permanent public crossing. Herdrich said a deal must be finalized by February 15. [The Board's presentation is available on the SLWLA Website.]

He outlined three options:

• Do nothing and leave the crossing the way it is.

• Enter into a private crossing license agreement.

• Make a one time payment to ACWR and make the crossing a public crossing maintained by the railway company and the NC Department of Transportation [NCDOT].

Herdrich made clear that the Board is working toward making the third option -- the only permanent solution -- a reality. But that permanent solution would require a one time payment of $169,000 to ACWR.

That payment would result in a permanent easement allowing Lakeway Drive to be designated a "public crossing in NCDOT's system, and allow the state to proceed with a long-planned safety upgrade, installing lights, gate arms, and an interconnect with the traffic signal at the intersection. It would also eliminate any SLWLA responsibility for future maintenance or insurance fees for the crossing.

The February 3 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 32-page issue include:

- A change in the West Side's policy of waving vehicles with SLLA stickers through the gates became a matter of public debate before the SLWLA Board had an opportunity to review the policy. Members of the SLLA Board were none too happy with the way the changes were positioned in a Westside document that President Mick Herdrich said should never have been released.

- As The Times went to press, the Westside Board had scheduled a public meeting on Thursday evening, February 2, to take public input on and possibly approve an agreement with the Aberdeen Carolina and Western Railway that will allow the Lakeway Drive railway crossing to become a public crossing. Some payment from the SLWLA -- and possibly other stakeholders -- to the railroad were expected to be a part of the deal.

- The number one goal coming out of this year's Board of Commissioners planning retreat was the same as the top goal from last year's retreat: settle on a source of additional water for Moore County Public Utilities.

- Westsiders who attended the Association's late January meeting had a chance to meet the three Board candidates firsthand; we have interviews with the candidates for those who missed the meeting.

- The Foxfire Village Council held its own annual retreat recently, and dealing with the $2 million debt resulting from the Woodland Circle Extension project emerged as their number one priority. They also discussed the Village's brand new Long Range Plan.

- Laura's looking for some real sign of Winter and had to travel all the way to West Virginia to find fake snow; Don fields a question on the trouble some churches have with female preachers; two members of Foxfire's Planning and Zoning Committee are none too pleased with the prospect of a Council override of their recommendations; and our readers weigh in on several topics.

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.

For years, residents of Seven Lakes West have enjoyed what might be called "most-favored nation" status at the gates of Seven Lakes North and South, being waived though by the gate guards simply because their windshield bore the Seven Lakes West Landowners Association [SLWLA] sticker.

And residents of Seven Lakes North and South have enjoyed that same easy access to Seven Lakes West, waived through by the guard on the basis of their Seven Lakes Landowners Association [SLLA] sticker.

All of that may be about to change.

Conversation at the Wednesday, January 25 SLLA Open Meeting revealed that Seven Lakes West is planning a change to its access policies that will eliminate automatic entry to the community for vehicles bearing SLLA stickers. And it appears that the SLLA Board may respond in kind.

SLWLA President Mick Herdrich told The Times that, while an ad hoc access control committee has in fact proposed changes, the proposed policy has not been formally presented to the Westside Board, let alone approved.

And it appears that the release of a unfortunately-worded draft document on SLWLA letterhead may have fueled suspicions that the new policy is aimed directly at North and South-siders -- something that Herdrich is quick to deny.

The Seven Lakes West Landowners Association [SLWLA] is inches away from completing an agreement with the Aberdeen Carolina and Western Railway Company that will protect the community's front entrance, making the Lakeway Drive rail crossing a permanent, public crossing with gate arms and signals.

Members of the SLWLA Board, the railroad, and other affected businesses and landowners have been negotiating behind the scenes for weeks to complete the agreement.

Absent a deal, it is possible that the crossing could be permanently closed.

The Board, late Thursday, announced a special meeting to be held on Thursday, February 2 at 7:00 pm to present details of the crossing agreement to the membership, take public comment, and vote on the agreement. A final meeting of the various parties to the agreement is scheduled for earlier in the day on February 2, SLWLA Legal Director Jack Stevens told The Times.

While it is clear that the agreement will include payments from the Association and, possibly, other affected parties to the Aberdeen Carolina and Western Railway [ACWR], the size of the payments and the identity of the other parties to the agreement have not been released, pending completion of the negotiations.

With fifty members in attendance at the Tuesday, January 25 Seven Lakes West Landowners Association [SLWLA] meeting, Secretary Jane Sessler introduced the three candidates that are running for seats on the Board of Directors:Jim Pierman, Bruce Keyser Sr., and Dan Blue.

Sessler said said she was “very happy and very gratified to have three very well-qualified candidates to run for the Board for next year.” The candidates introduced themselves during the meeting.

Pierman, who has lived on the Westside for four years, said “It’s hard to express how neat this community is. It is really a super, super place to be.” He added, “I think about where I could have retired, and I think I hit the right spot.”

Having worked with the Lake Auman Sports Club and volunteering at FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital, Pierman said “I really feel great that I am going to have an opportunity to go ahead and work here in the community -- right in Seven Lakes West.”

Keyser, who has lived in the Seven Lakes area for thirty-one years, said he agreed to run after being approached by the Nominating Committee. “I understand it has been difficult to get members of this community to say ‘yes’ to participation and being a Board member," he said.

Keyser said the SLWLA Board has done “a wonderful job” and that, as a result, “we are a wonderful community.” Addressing his approach to Board service, Keyser said he plans to listen to the members of the community and then make his decision on issues as they arise.

Blue was also asked to serve by the Nominating Committee. Blue has owned a Westside lot since 1988, but does not own a home in Seven Lakes West. Blue told members: “I am the lot owner; I don't live here, so I guess I am the token.”

Blue and his wife live thirty minutes away but visit Seven Lakes on the weekends. “I look forward to being of service to you,” he said.

The Nominating Committee “cast a very wide net” in its search for candidates, Sessler said, adding that committee members spoke with fifty potential candidates.

“I want you to know we spent a lot of time," she said, "and we are absolutely thrilled that these three men have stepped forward. Each one of them brings a unique perspective to our Board for next year.”

SLWLA members will have an opportunity to vote for the three new candidates at the annual meeting in March. Current Board members John Hoffmann, Adam Wimberly, and John Goodman will be leaving the Board after serving three-year terms.

Moore County is looking for public input this week on two key initiatives: a rewrite of the Zoning and Subdivision ordinances called the "Unified Development Ordinance" [UDO], and a Working Land Protection Plan that aims to help preserve the County's farms and timberlands.

The Planning Board has been reviewing the UDO for months, and will hold public work sessions on Monday and Tuesday, January 23 & 24 at 6:00 pm, in the Commissioners meeting room of the Historic Courthouse in Carthage. The Board hopes to receive input from interested members of the public in these meetings.

The draft UDO can be viewed on the County's website.

Working Lands Plan

Gathering additional public input on the The Working Land Protection Plan is the goal of three meetings co-sponsored by the Planning Department and the Soil and Water Conservation Board. Moore County's Board of Commissioners asked for additional public input on the plan before approving it.

The purpose of the plan is to provide an assessment of the farm and forest industries in Moore County, identify their challenges and opportunities, and develop a set of strategies and actions that will protect the county's working lands and promote the agricultural economy. This plan was developed after intensive research was conducted involving statistical analysis, published reports, and surveys and interviews with local producers, business operators, residents, and agricultural support personnel.

Having a Working Lands Protection plan in place can help the county qualify for increased funding to implement preservation strategies.

The draft plan is available on the county's website. 

Three meetings have been scheduled this week:

Aberdeen Elementary School Auditorium, Monday, January 23, 9:00am-11:00am

Vass-Lakeview Elementary School Media Center/Library, Tuesday, January 24, 3:30pm-5:30pm

Robbins Elementary School Auditorium, Thursday, January 26, 6:00pm-8:00pm.

There's a “new owner at Pine Forest,” Planning Director Debra Ensminger reported to the Board of Commissioners during their Annual Budget Retreat on Thursday, January 19.

Who that new owner is has yet to be revealed, but Ensminger expects to meet with them on February 20, she told the Board. It was also not clear whether the "new owner" had acquired the entire development, or only portions of it.

Ensminger said she had been notified of the ownership change via and email from Hobbs-Upchurch and Associates, the Southern Pines engineering firm retained by MHK, Inc. to draw plans for Pine Forest.

She told The Times that working with a new Pine Forest developer would be like “starting at square one.”

“We thought that the developer who was developing this was going to go forward,” said Commissioner Tim Lea, who voted against the rezoning of Pine Forest back in July.

“Now, we found out that Pine Forest has been sold to another developer. Are we going to have another developer the next time we get ready to make a decision on this?”

“Why would a new owner buy?” Commissioner Nick Picerno asked. “We have not approved any water or sewer.”

It took more than two years for Florida-based MHK, Inc. to win approval of Planned Unit Development zoning for the nearly 1700 acre property that stretches north of NC Highway 211 from West Pine Middle School to West End.

Though the rezoning was approved, the Commissioners have not finalized agreements to bring county water to the property -- or related agreements that would bring wastewater from another MHK development -- the Dormie Club on NC Highway 73 -- for processing at a private wastewater treatment plant proposed for Pine Forest.

Residents packed Foxfire's Town Hall for a public hearing on proposed revisions to single family zoning ordinances on Tuesday, January 10. But the Village Council tabled the matter after questions were raised about enforcement and Councilman Mick McCue expressed concern that the convoluted language still needed work.

“The law allows municipalities to govern use of property: that is why we have zoning," explained McCue. "The law that allows a single family to occupy a single family residence has been codified since we developed our ordinances. Our definition of 'family' in the [existing] ordinance is far too restrictive. We must change it to a broader encompassing definition of 'family' to include a modern view of the functional description of family. But, if you allow people who are not families to occupy homes, then we have all these concerns.”

As proposed, the revised ordinance defined "family" as an individual or two or more people related by blood, marriage, adoption, or another legally-recognized care arrangement, living together as a single housekeeping unit, that does not include more than four persons who are not related to the other persons of the household.

McCue said that the proposed definition would allow a large family of six or more to live together, while sharing their home with four additional non-relatives.

He also expressed concern over another ordinance revision that would impose a thirty-day limit on short-term rentals, arguing that it could create a timeshare type of situation with revolving sets of renters. 

The Seven Lakes West Landowners Association [SLWLA] Board of Directors unanimously approved the proposed Fiscal Year 2012-2013 annual budget on a second reading during their Tuesday, January 10 Work Session.

“At this point we have had minimal feedback from folks that are concerned with the budget,” said Treasurer Don Freiert. The Board has used a variety of communication channels to get information about the budget out to membership, including: the Weekly E-blast, the SLWLA Newsletter, postings in the West Side Park Community Center and Mailhouse, and reporting in The Seven Lakes Times.

During Tuesday’s meeting, Freiert said a total of twelve comments about the budget have been posted on the community website, dealing either with dues parity for developed and undeveloped lots or with adding a fourth CAS staff member to the Association office.

Defending the need for an additional CAS staff member, President Mick Herdrich said, “I don’t think most people realize how much stuff has been transferred from the Board to CAS. I see that just continuing.”

“At the Town Hall meeting, we had fairly low attendance," Freiert told the Board, "No position was taken whatsoever for or against the budget at that meeting,”

The budget was initially approved by the Board on December 13. Tuesday's approval on the second reading clears the way for the budget to be forwarded to the membership, which will vote to approve or disapprove it during the Annual Meeting in March. 

For as long as anyone can remember -- and at least as far back as 1980 in the files of the Seven Lakes Landowners Association [SLLA] -- rental properties have been assessed a higher rate of dues than owner-occupied resident homes.

At the suggestion of the Association's legal counsel, the question of whether that arrangement is fair and enforceable was brought to the table during the Board of Directors Work Session on Monday, January 9.

“Seven Lakes is unique," President Bob Darr said. "We can’t find anyone else who charges additional dues to renters."

Simply explained, an SLLA homeowner pays $900 per year in dues. If that home is rented, the Association bills the renter for an additional $410 in dues. Once the renter's dues are paid, the SLLA office then reimburses the property owner for $205 -- half of the renter dues.

The net total of $1,105 dues paid on a rental property is, therefore, more than the rate charged to resident owners. With approximately 90 rental properties in the community, Community Manager Alina Cochran estimated those additional dues will contribute nearly $20,000 to 2012 revenues.

Trying to find a way to eliminate the SLLA's unique "renter's dues" arrangement, while preserving the $20,000 in revenues it produces for the Association, the Board appeared to favor the notion of charging renters an administrative fee in lieu of the additional dues.

A proposed fee of $200, all retained by the SLLA, would preserve the revenue stream. It would, however, eliminate the current $205 rebate paid to owners of rental property, potentially increasing their costs and effective dues rate.

In a related discussion, the Board seemed to agree that membership cards and guest cards should only be issued to one entity -- that is, either the renter or the owner could use the community amenities, but not both. Currently, both landlords and renters are able to use the amenities.

The proposed change in fees will be considered for approval during the January 25 Open Meeting.