November 2008 LAKE LURE NEWS & VIEWS Page 8
MAYOR’S COMMENTS
by Jim Proctor
Happy Thanksgiving! - We are all indeed very lucky to live not only in one of the most spectacular areas in the world but in the greatest nation in the world. We are a wonderful community of friendly people. We certainly have much to be thankful for.
The League of Municipalities Annual Meeting - This year the North Carolina League of Municipalities celebrated its one hundredth year of operation. Their annual meeting was held in Charlotte. Once again I was able to participate in seminars, visit a wide variety of vendors and most importantly meet leaders from all over the state. I was lucky enough to meet with both Lt. Governor Beverly Purdue and Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory.
TOWN MANAGER’S REPORT
by Steven Wheeler
Believe it or not the holiday season is right around the corner and I would like to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.
Construction of the redesign of the sewer plant continues. The construction is expected to be completed before you read this article. Initial
testing on the plant components is scheduled to
begin the week of October 27th, and up and operational by November 1. Construction includes installation of a new in-line step screen and compaction unit, installation of a skimmer line in the basin, modification and expansion of the existing chlorine contact chamber for improved operation and contact time, a new sludge removal system is being installed in the sedimentation basin utilizing a suction-lift concept, and a new effluent outfall line including the installation of an oxidization chamber to improve the dissolved oxygen in the effluent discharge. These improvements will positively impact our plant operations and goes above and beyond SOC requirements.
Also, please do not rake or blow your leaves into the lake. This causes major problems in our dam operations as they get sucked in the intake into the generator and causes significant problems with our hydro-operations.
Again a reminder that you can sign-up for the mass e-mail program by going to the town website at www.townoflakelure.com and entering your e-mail on the left side under Join Our E-Mail List. You must complete the application that follows. The Town will only use the e-mail information for our mass e-mail program and will
not sell or distribute any of your information to anyone. We currently have over 225 people signed up for our mass e-mail program.
Finally, we ask that you continue to be on the look out for any illegal discharges into our sewer system. Not only is it illegal, but is also harmful to our system. If you see any septic truck emptying their load into town manholes, please call 9-1-1 immediately to call the Lake Lure Police Department.
TOWN COUNCIL ACTIVITIES
by Town Clerk Mary Flack, MMC, CTC
REGULAR MEETING: The regular town council meeting was held on Tuesday, October 14, 2008,
7:00 p.m., in the meeting room of the Lake Lure Municipal Center.
Under the “consent agenda,” Town Council approved and adopted:
* minutes of the September 9, 2008 (regular meeting) and September 16, 2008 (special joint meeting);
* Resolution No. 08-10-14 Declaration of Official Intent to reimburse a loan for renovations at the wastewater treatment plant;
* a budget amendment as submitted by the finance director for wastewater improvements by Hobson Construction;
* a contract agreement with the Bill’s Creek Volunteer Fire Department as submitted by the Lake Lure Fire Coordinator regarding fire protection and rescue service;
* a contract agreement with the Chimney Rock Volunteer Fire Department as submitted by the Lake Lure Fire Coordinator regarding fire protection and rescue service;
* a contract agreement with the Fairfield Mountains Volunteer Fire Department as submitted by the Lake Lure Fire Coordinator regarding fire protection and rescue service;
* ratifying approval of a request from Jerry Cochran for the annual “Run to the Rock” Ford F-100 truck show being held on October 10-11, 2008; waiving the town rental fees for use of the meadows and suspending the town’s peddling ordinance during this event; proceeds received for this event will be donated to the town’s youth center after school program; and
* a budget amendment as submitted by the finance director for storm and rain damage along Boy’s Camp Road.
Town Council also:
* held a public hearing and adopted Ordinance No. 08-10-14 amending the Town of Lake Lure Zoning Regulations, Title IX, Chapter 92, Section 92.085 (C) pertaining to variances;
* held a public hearing and adopted Ordinance No. 08-10-14A amending the zoning map of the Town of Lake Lure as requested by John Carroll in Petition No. RZ-08-01 to rezone a parcel located at 2381 Memorial Highway Lake Lure, North Carolina and further identified by tax parcel identification number 231267 from R-1A Residential to R-4 Residential/Office;
* authorized the mayor to write a memorandum on behalf of town council to the zoning and planning board pertaining to an alternate proposal for creating a policy and proposed ordinance amendments with regards to the single family dwelling-vacation rental stakeholders committee study and recommendations which included:
I. Define SFD-VR, as recommended by the stakeholder committee;
II. Develop standards and regulations that all SFD-VR’s would have to adhere to;
III. Define districts which SFD-VR’s will be permitted and under what conditions they will be permitted;
IV. Include R-1 and R-2 districts as districts where SFD-VR’s will be allowed for a period of 7 years;
V. Verify with Community Development Attorney Mike Egan, Town Attorney J. Christopher Callahan, the North Carolina League of Municipality legal council, the North Carolina Institute of Government, and other legal entities as deemed necessary by the town attorney that the proposed regulation changes to allow SFD-VR in R-1 and R-2 districts for a period of 7 years is legal, and has no reasonable risk of being seriously challenged in the North Carolina court of law;
VI. Define what constitutes acceptable conditions or adherence to standards for SFD-VR’s to be considered for becoming permanently permitted in R-1 and R-2 districts. This includes defining threshold levels and/or conditions which must not be exceeded during the trial period, as well as defining procedures for town administration to track conditions for the trial period of 4 years from when the town council adopts the SFD-VR changes proposed by the zoning and planning board;
Town Council determined the above mentioned was necessary after careful consideration of the recommendations from the stakeholder committee in conjunction with the current economic situation. The council believes that this change still allows the original recommendations from the stakeholder committee to remain intact, but at the same time address the current economic environment.
* directed the zoning and planning board to develop a town policy and regulation necessary to require property owners to create a utility easement for the town; the utility easement would be from the town manhole adjacent to the property being subdivided to the point on the property closest to a public roadway; this proposed requirement would come into play anytime a property owner requests the town to approve subdivision of an existing plat; the town would then only approve future plat subdivisions with properties adjacent to the town manholes that have the above stated utility easements; the purpose of this is to improve future access to the town’s sewer manholes, especially those manholes that surround the parameter of the lake;
* heard a report from President Jeffrey T. Brown and Chief Engineer Harlow Brown of Brown Consultants pertaining to the status of the Rutherfordton Interconnect “Green Line” project and existing modification to the wastewater treatment plant;
* adopted Resolution No. 08-10-14B supporting the Rutherfordton Interconnect “Green Line” project jointly with the Town of Rutherforton;
* heard a request from Martyn Watts on behalf of the Hickory Nut Gorge Chamber of Commerce regarding a proposal to allow the chamber to take over the rentals of the town’s meadows area surrounding the visitor center; town council directed the town manager to work together with the chamber drafting an agreement to be brought back for final approval;
* appointed Sam Karr and Blaine Cox to serve on the local fireman’s relief fund board;
* adopted Resolution No. 08-10-14A approving a Lake Lure identity theft prevention policy; and
* held discussion with Division Construction Engineer Ricky Tipton and Right-of-way Agent Darrin Riddle with the North Carolina Department of Transportation regarding the Lake Lure bridge replacement project for the NCDOT Bridge No. 7; Council members approved an agreement for entry with the NCDOT for the construction of State Highway Project Number 33600.2.1;
In other activities:
* heard a report from the town manager; and
* heard reports from council liaisons on the activities of various boards and committees.
SPECIAL MEETING: Town Council held a special joint meeting with the zoning/planning board and the single family dwelling-vacation rental stakeholders committee on September 16, 2008, 1:00 p.m., at the Lake Lure Municipal Center.
Town Council:
* held a discussion on the overview of the single family dwelling-vacation rental stakeholders committee activities, appointments and tasking by town council, tasking accomplishments, separation of policy development and implementation, menu of policy options, decision tree, single family dwelling-vacation rental stakeholders committee recommendation, and implementation considerations;
* directed the zoning and planning board to create a policy and proposed changes in regard to the single family dwelling-vacation rental stakeholders committee recommendations; the zoning and planning board were asked to define the single family dwelling-vacation rental and come up with standards that all single family dwelling- vacation rental would have to adhere to; the zoning and planning board were asked to create a zoning ordinance change that would make the single family dwelling-vacation rental a prohibited use in the R-A and R-2 districts with an amortization period that would allow existing single family dwelling-vacation rental to operate only for a set number of years; and
* directed Community Development Attorney Mike Egan to research legal issues pertaining to an amortization period and report his findings to the zoning and planning board.
REGULAR MEETING OF THE LAKE LURE MARINE COMMISSION: The Lake Lure Marine Commission held their meeting on Tuesday, October 14, 2008, at 3:00 p.m., in the council meeting room of the Lake Lure Municipal Center.
The Marine Commission:
* approved minutes of July 8, 2008 (regular meeting);
* held a public hearing and adopted Resolution No. 08-10-14 amending the Lake Use Regulations, Section 1.02, pertaining to fish size and creel limits;
* held a hearing for Daniel B. Petkas appealing Civil Citation No. 000259; the Lake Lure Marine Commission voted unanimously to uphold the citation as written;
* held a hearing for Ellery W. Vick appealing Civil Citation No. 000261; the Lake Lure Marine Commission voted unanimously to uphold the citation as written; and
* approved a request from Doug Long on behalf of the Lake Lure Dragon Boat Organization regarding boat racing operations contingent upon certain stipulations recommended by the Lake Advisory Board.
COMMUNITY POLICING NEWS
by Chief Eric Hester
Public Safety and Awareness
Our nation’s crime rate on Fraud has continued to rise in the United States; some recent studies have shown that older citizens continue to be a target of Fraud in the United States and also in North Carolina. Below are some resources to help protect you against these types of crimes.
Identity Theft
Guard your personal information. Identity thieves will pretend to be you and use your personal information to apply for loans, credit cards, or leases. The thief takes your good credit record and leaves bad credit in your name. According to the Federal Trade Commission, identity theft is the fastest-growing, white-collar crime in the United States. More than 700,000 people are estimated to become victims each year. The number of older victims grew more than 200% between 2000 and 2001. Consumers lose money and hundreds of hours clearing up their credit reports.
Criminals will go to great lengths to get your information. They may sound very convincing and try to confuse you by suggesting they’re from a legitimate organization that you recognize. Consumers have told AARP about callers who said they are “from the bank” and “need to confirm your bank account number,” or offer “credit card protection” and “need to know all your credit card numbers.”
The approach also comes by e-mail. You might get an official-looking message from a business, claiming that their system crashed or that your account is expiring. They’ll ask you to “re-enter” or “validate” your personal information. This is a scam called “phishing.” Here are some ways to protect yourself:
a) Don’t give your credit card or bank account numbers over the phone unless you placed the call to a business you trust.
b) Before giving out any personal information, be sure you know who’s requesting information. Hang up and call your bank or credit card company yourself to check on a caller.
c) Carefully dispose of all papers that include your personal information. Shred charge receipts and credit card offers.
d) Give out your Social Security number only when truly required.
e) Reduce the number of credit cards you carry.
f) Check your credit report for errors at least once a year.
g) See who is watching you when you enter your PIN into bank machines.
The Federal Trade Commission has identity theft information at www.ftc.gov/idtheft, including where to report and how to get help if your identity is stolen.
Telemarketers
Before you talk to telemarketers, remember that Congress estimates that U.S. consumers lose more than $40 billion annually to telemarketing fraud. Many legitimate companies and agencies do business by telephone, but as many as one in ten callers may be fraudulent. Consumers need a plan for how to end unwanted telemarketing calls quickly. Some say, “I don’t do business over the phone,” others say “Send me your material in writing.” If you didn’t make the call, don’t give out any personal information.
There is a nation’s Do Not Call registry that restricts telemarketing. You can add your phone number to that list by calling 1-888-382-1222, or by going to www. donotcall.gov. Once your number is on the registry for 31 days, most telemarketers should stop calling you.
Charities
Before you give to a charity, be an informed donor. We all want to give to worthwhile charities, but some fundraisers are not what they seem. They may keep more of your donation than they turn over to the charity or they may not represent a charity at all. Often, after natural disasters, instant “charities” spring up, but their sole purpose is to make money for the fundraiser, not the victims. Before you donate: