An additional ten thousand square feet of slurry required to complete repairs at Lake Auman Dam increased the total cost of the project by $68,175, Director Mick Herdrich reported during the Tuesday, July 14 Work Session of the Seven Lakes West Landowners Association [SLWLA] Board of Directors. That total included a negotiated reduction of $6,600 in equipment costs.
    “The slurry wall was a lot longer and deeper than anticipated,” Herdich said.
    The Board of Directors unanimously approved the additional expense using monies drawn from the Association's Contingency Fund.
    The slurry wall is a 1,300 foot barrier that will prevent water from passing through the upper portion of the dam. Stretching across the middle of the earthen structure, the average wall depth is twenty-two feet, but it drops down as low as forty feet in one section.
    Anticipated repairs to the dam were budgeted at approximately $421,000; the dam reserve stood at $419,000 at the beginning of the budget year, Treasurer Kathy Kirst told The Times. Total expenditures for dam repairs — including the extra slurry and a weighted dam filter installed while equipment was on-site — will total just over $500,000.
    During Tuesday's Work Session Kirst said the Dam Reserves had been depleted, “as it should be -- that’s what they are there for.” However, with the Contingency Fund also depleted by at least 70% to cover the additional expenses, Kirst said the number one budget priority in the new year would be replenishing it.
    She said the next anticipated major dam-related expense would be replacing valves -- about twenty-five years from now -- and that the budget included money set aside in reserve to cover that cost.
    A related agenda item on weighted dam filters was tabled for discussion in Executive Session.

Mandatory Septic Management Program
    Legal Affairs Director Ed Silberhorn* presented the first reading of a proposed rule in Section 5.3 that will require all septic systems that drain into the Lake Auman watershed to have periodic inspections and pumping, if needed, by a Board-approved vendor. Written verification with the work will have to be filed with the Association.
    This rule essentially makes mandatory what has been a voluntary program designed to protect the lake.
    The owners of newly-constructed homes would be required to inspect septic systems three years after occupation, while existing homes must provide verification of an inspection within three years of September 2009. Those not filing in a timely manner would be subject to fines and prosecution by the Judicial Panel.
    Property owners of lots not identified as being in the Lake Auman watershed are also encouraged to participate in the program.
    Silberhorn* thanked the working committee chaired by Bob Fewkes, with George Jenner, Jay Mikula, and Bud Sales as members, for a job well done.

     *[This article originally incorrectly reported that Director Ed Tuton had presented the Mandatory Septic Management Plan. The Times regrets the error.]

    A system designed to monitor the health of Northside dams by measuring water levels inside the structure will have a higher than expected price tag. Fulcher reported that seventeen new piezometers will cost $29,000 -- nearly double the $15,000 estimate, reported Community Manager Dalton Fulcher during the Seven Lakes Landowners Association [SLLA] Work Session on Monday, July 13.

    But even with that unanticipated expense, total Lakes & Dams expenditures would still be expected to come in under budget.
    When Director Gary Caulk asked why the bid for the work had come in so much higher that expected, Fulcher said the original estimate had simply been a “guesstimate” derived from information provided by the engineering firm S&ME.
    The work involves drilling one-or-two-inch diameter tubes — like a well — into the core of the dam at various spots, using casing where appropriate and capping off the tubes to keep them clean. This allows an electrical device to be lowered into each tube that will signal when it contacts water.
    Fulcher said piezometers have already been installed in Echo Dam. The seventeen new ones will be installed in the dams at Sequoia, Longleaf, Timber, Big Juniper, and Little Juniper. Fulcher told the Times they are not necessary at Ramapo and Dogwood.
    Following Monday's Work Session, the Board conducted a Special Open Meeting and unanimously approved the $29,000 piezometer contract, as well as $12,000 for grass seeding on several of the dams.

Gypsy Pooches Cause Headaches

    You've probably seen them -- at least most Northsiders have: two large and very friendly dogs who’ve adopted Seven Lakes North and particularly Sequoia Point as their own. Unfortunately, they aren’t invited guests and make a mess whenever they come.
    “Over half of the loose dog complaints we receive are these same two dogs,” Fulcher reported. “They come in from outside Seven Lakes. We pick them up and call Animal Control. That’s all we can do.”
    Fulcher noted that local law enforcement had not been of much help.
    “I’ve been threatened by the Sheriff to be put in jail for holding them. He said that we don’t have the right [just] because they’re inside Seven Lakes,” Fulcher said. “My guess is the owner isn’t paying fines. They’ve been to Carthage who knows how many times.”
    In a telephone interview with The Times, Al Carter of Moore County Animal Control said the officer who patrolled this section of the county was familiar with the dogs. Carter noted that the policy for impoundment of a stray animal had been revised  in December 2008 to a graduated penalty system with an additional $25 fine per incident.
    “Previously the fee was $25, and it was just cheaper to pay it than fix the problem,” Carter said. “We have reached the third incident, which is now at $75 for each of these dogs; and I think we’ve got their attention. I believe they have put in an electric fence.”

MONDAY, JULY 13

•    Seven Lakes Landowners Association Work Session – 8:30 am, Conference Room.

•    National Active & Retired Federal Employees (NARFE) Sandhills Chapter 1895 – monthly meeting, 10:30 am, Community Congregational Church, 141 N. Bennett St., Southern Pines.  Buck Kirk, Hospital Coordinator, will speak on the topic: Shriner’s Hospital assisting disabled children. Chapter 1895 welcomes all Federal (including US Postal Service) active employees, retirees, spouses and surviving spouses to monthly meetings. Information about NARFE available by contacting: Vilma Geisert (910) 215-5898 or George Sandoval (910) 246-9881.

TUESDAY, JULY 14

•    Seven Lakes West Landowners Association Work Session – 9 am, West Side Park Community Center.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 15

•    Professional Rescuer CPR/AED Review – 6:30 - 8:30 pm, American Red Cross Review/Recertification Course, (For Healthcare Providers & Lifeguards). Certification fee $25, 115 E. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines, 910-692-8571.

The July 10 edition of The Seven Lakes Times is now available for download in pdf format.

Highlights of this 32-page issue include:

- Hot, dry weather -- and maybe a little bit of coincidence -- has put water front and center in this edition of The Times. Seven Lakes set a new record for water usage on July 4, consuming more than 885,000 gallons.

- Officials from Moore County and the Town of Robbins convened the first meeting of a panel whose aim is to figure out whether the two local governments can work together to bring water from Robbins to Seven Lakes. The question, it turns out, is complicated.

- The Seven Lakes Civic Group hosted a presentation from county officials aimed at finding out how quickly the county might implement plans to bring more water the Seven Lakes. The answer, it turns out, is maybe not this year.

- The Army Corps of Engineers plans to fine Seven Lakes Country Club for permit violations during the construction of its new practice range.

- Foxfire Village has a new budget with no tax increase for the coming year.

- The President of the McLendon Hills POA has a taste for trail dust, there's a new chiropractor in town, and Seven Lakes Baptist Church has started a new ministry that can help folks weather the tough economy.

- Laura had an All-American Fourth of July, Mason is wondering, and The Times suggests the SLLA Board make sure to create space for public input before making a decision on replacing the community manager.

 Download the 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.

    Is the mothballed water treatment plant in Robbins the best option for bringing more water to Seven Lakes?
    Moore County and the Town of Robbins began formally working through the answer to that question on Tuesday, July 7 with the inaugural meeting of a joint committee that included Robbins Mayor Theron Bell, Town Commissioner Mark Garner, County Commissioners Larry Caddell and Jimmy Mel-ton, and managers and staff members from both local governments. Dave Kinney and Dewitt Petterson of the Seven Lakes Civic Group were also in attendance.
    They quickly discovered there is no easy answer to the question of whether the Robbins plant offers the best option for bringing more water to Seven Lakes.
    Robbins is not sure how much control it wants to give up in exchange for county assistance in paying for the $3 million upgrade the plant needs. Plus, Robbins is being courted by at least three other suitors at the same time it's talking with the county: the Village of Pinehurst, Montgomery County, and Aqua NC, a for-profit operator of water systems. And the town has applied for federal economic stimulus funds that, if granted, might enable it to up-grade the plant on its own, without a partner.
    The county, on the other hand, suspects it might be better off building a new, more modern plant in Robbins, and is confident that it can buy water from several sources at less than the cost of upgrading the Robbins plant and piping water from there to Seven Lakes. Plus, the county doesn't immediately need the roughly one million gallons of water the Robbins plant could pump into the county system.
    On the other hand, both Robbins and Moore County officials expressed a strong interest in working together to study the options for the Robbins plant, and the meeting concluded with both sides pledging to bring concrete proposals to a second meeting, to be held some time in August.
    
Pricey Water?
    The county's interest in bringing more water to the area around Seven Lakes stems from several factors: it's the fastest-growing part of the county, it's currently completely dependent on a single water line from Pinehurst, and, in the peak of the summer dry season, Seven Lakes is already using nearly 90 percent of the water the existing system can provide.
    But is a pipeline from Robbins the right option? Moore County Public Works Director Dennis Brobst had done “a little ciphering” before the meeting and brought his calculator to the table. The Robbins plant will cost $3 million to upgrade, he explained, taking that number from a McGill Associates study commissioned by the Town of Robbins. The pipe and pumps needed to move that water to Seven Lakes will cost $3.7 million. Financing those projects over twenty years and adding in the cost of operating the plant, Brobst estimated that bringing water from Robbins to Seven Lakes would cost $3.96 per thousand gallons.
    "We are purchasing water from Harnett County, Southern Pines, and Aberdeen," Brobst said. "We're paying $2.00 to $2.35."

    Foxfire's property tax rate will remain thirty-two cents per hundred dollars of valuation for the coming fiscal year, the Village Council decided in a Thursday, June 25 meeting dedicated principally to budget issues.
    Working through the Fiscal Year 2009-2010 budget "was a very constructive process," Councilman Ed Lauer said after the various budget measures had all been approved by a unanimous vote of the council. "Especially in this time of economic challenges, the council worked very hard to stay within the current tax rate -- which has been our pledge for a number of years."
    The $908,305 General Fund budget (which includes everything but the water department) represents an 18 percent increase over last year, Finance Officer Leslie Frusco told her fellow council members.
    Almost all of that increase -- on both the revenue and the expense side of the ledger -- is tied to the Stonehill Pines development. The developers of the 1500 acre mixed use resort and subdivision have agreed to reimburse the Village the entire cost of a Quality Assurance Team created to monitor Stonehill's compliance with Village zoning and subdivision ordinances. That agreement is reflected in $150,000 in additional revenues and $150,000 in additional costs for the 2009-2010 fiscal year.
    
Economy cuts some Village revenues
    Frusco explained that the economic downturn is likely to decrease a number of Village revenue streams, including an eighteen percent decrease in Powell Bill funds; a five percent decrease in revenue from the sales, communications, and local video taxes, and a half-percent reduction in the utility franchise tax.
    Offsetting these decreases is an increase in the assessed value of real and personal property in the Village, driven in part by the annexation of new areas. Using figures provided by the Moore County Tax Department, Frusco said she anticipated a total valuation of nearly $152 million, up more than $22 million -- or 17 percent -- from FY 2008-2009.
    Projected expenditures are down in most village departments, with the most notable exception being a projected twenty-one percent increase in the cost of the contract with West End Fire and Rescue for fire protection in the village. Because the cost of that contract is tied to property valuations, it will increase as a result of the increased total value of property in the village.

    Seven Lakes Country Club's new practice range will cost an additional $8,550 if a fine levied by the Army Corps of Engineers survives a thirty-day public comment period.
    A Wednesday, June 24 Public Notice released by the Corps' Wilmington District proposes to assess a "Class 1 Administrative Penalty" against the Club for violating the terms of a Nationwide Permit [NWP] issued to allow construction of the new practice range, which lies in the curve of Devonshire Avenue near its intersection with Sandham Court in Seven Lakes South.
    SLCC General Manager Mike Spayd told The Times Thursday morning that the Club had not yet been notified of the proposed fine and said he would be unable to comment on the matter until he had an opportunity to review the document.
    The permit allowed the Club to place fill on 0.14 acres of wetlands that drain into an unnamed creek that is part of the Little River Watershed. According to the Public Notice: "Seven Lakes Country Club, Inc. failed to comply with the terms and conditions of the subject NWP. Specifically, the permittee failed to properly maintain authorized fill, failed to maintain appropriate soil erosion and sediment control measures, failed to provide and maintain water quality management measures, and conducted excavation and discharged fill material fill within waters and wetlands beyond the permitted areas."

    Three new ad hoc committees will help Seven Lakes West think through issues — ranging from appearance to ownership — surrounding the front and back entrances to the community.
    Infrastructure Director John Goodman announced the formation of the committees and briefly outlined their assignments, during the Tuesday, June 26 General Meeting of the Seven Lakes West Landowners Association [SLWLA].
    The West Side's Long Range Planning Committee [LRP] has identified a number of issues that need to be resolved at the front entrance. For example, the Association doesn't own the guardhouse; that belongs to the developer. Because much of the property alongside that structure is commercially-owned, there is limited opportunity for the Association to upgrade its appearance. The existing mailhouse needs to be upgraded or replaced; and some have suggested moving the front gate guardhouse back to that position.
    In addressing any and all of these questions, a key concern is making sure that the appearance of entrance to Seven Lakes West helps enhance the property values of landowners.
    Goodman explained that LRP had recommended hiring an outside consulting firm, LandDesign, to develop a master plan for both the front a back gate areas. After hearing a presentation on the concept, the Board "conceptually approved" the idea and asked Goodman to head up a committee to outline the work and negotiate a contract with the vendor. He said the planning process will likely cost less than $15,000.
    The Board created a second committee to look at property ownership and possible acquisitions near the front and back gate. Noting that there may one day be a need for a guardhouse at the back gate, Goodman said there may be other opportunities in that area, though he did not provide any detail about what those might be.
    Finally, a third committee, consisting of Goodman, Legal Director Ed Silberhorn, and President Ron Shepard are working with the owners of the Parkwood neighborhood near the front gate to think through issues raised by the fact that some of Parkwoods lots would access Lakeway Drive between the current mailhouse and the gate house.
    "We're trying to get a long-range vision of what we want," Goodman said. "When we get a little more in place, we will be able to provide more specifics to the membership."
    "I know some people are for a guard station at the back gate and some think that is ridiculous," he added. "Right now we are just studying it."