BY ELENA MARSH | Staff Writer
The Seven Lakes community is continuing to see major projects take place just outside its borders, but one project that might come soon is the creation of a sanitary district to handle stormwater and sewer within its business district.
Currently, the Seven Lakes business district lacks sewer and sufficient stormwater systems. Heavy rains cause minor flooding, making roads difficult to traverse. According to some business owners in the area, stormwater can sometimes hang around for days, flooding streets and threatening infrastructure.
To remedy the problem, commissioners recently floated the possibility of creating a sewer sanitary district, in which the county can charge for sewer service, and at the same time fix the roads and put in stormwater and sewer lines.
Last week’s commissioners work session saw State Sen. Tom McInnis, whose district includes Moore County, discuss with county leaders how the General Assembly could pass legislation that would allow the county to put in the stormwater infrastructure and fix the roads. The county cannot use taxpayer funds to repair the roads.
In residential areas, the county is allowed to take over the roads and repair them to state specifications. After that work is done, the Department of Transportation can take ownership of the roads, and residents can then be charged over a period of time on a prorated first share basis.
“I thought that we had that for the commercial, but we don’t,” said McInnis. “It is going to take some legislation, which we’re prepared to run.”
With the N.C. 211 widening project estimated to be completed in October 2027, according to updates from Public Works Director Brian Patnode, commissioners see this as the perfect time to overhaul the outdated and somewhat lackluster infrastructure of the Seven Lakes business district.
North Carolina sanitary districts are authorized by the General Assembly to provide wastewater services within defined areas. There are a little fewer than 50 sanitary districts in the state.
The project’s estimated cost has been broken down into two phases both for sewer and for roads. Phase one for the sewer project encompasses most of the area south of Grant Street and is estimated to cost $4.1 million. The second phase would cover the rest of the district just beyond Macdougall Drive and cost $4.7 million, bringing the total project to about $8.8 million.
Some of the project can be funded with the $15 million grant incorporated into last year’s state budget to bring public sewer to Seven Lakes along N.C. 211. None of phase two is currently in the budget.
The road project would go along with the utilities and be broken into $1.5 million and $2.7 million, respectively. The cost was estimated and does not include design or plans. The grant funding would not go toward this part of the project.
“ The tricky part is that we don’t want to redo all the roads in the district if we have to come back later and do the sewer,” said Patnode. “We want to time it right.”
The county now will be responsible for getting a timeline in place for the business district’s needs in time for when the General Assembly goes back into session in April.
“ We just need to get our ducks in a row, get our preparation done, all our preliminary work done before we end our research and our ideas and our thoughts, and be ready to go,” said McInnis. “This is a short session. Short means short and we should be in there for 60, 90 days and be out of there. Timing is of the essence.”
Contact Elena Marsh at (910) 693-2484 or elena@thepilot.com.
