Pinehurst isn't the only municipality asking the county for answers to questions about utilities.

Vass town leaders have asked County Manager Cary McSwain and public utility officials to attend a May 11 meeting to present the county's public works capital improvement plan to their board and community leaders. The plan was recently presented at a meeting of the Moore County Board of Commissioners.

But Vass has a number of other questions, especially about the condition of the 21-year old wastewater treatment plant. The town gave its utilities to the now defunct Moore Water and Sewer Authority (MoWASA) more than 16 years ago, and the county, which later abolished the authority, now owns and operates the Vass water and sewer systems.

In a letter to McSwain, Vass Mayor Eddie Callahan says his town is concerned that it will lose the $1 million Rural Center grant because the county has not agreed to pay the $227,000 needed for engineering, design and land acquisition to begin work on the lift station. Callahan says that if this could be done, the town would be eligible for federal stimulus money.

The May 11 Vass Town Board meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. at Town Hall.

AMENDMENTS -- After a couple of public hearings Monday, the Moore County Board of Commissioners approved text amendments to the zoning ordinance and to the flood damage prevention ordinance.

Planning Director Joey Raczkowski reviewed the proposed amendments before the hearings were opened. No one spoke during either hearing, and the board's approval was unanimous. The Planning Board had previously voted approval of both measures.

The zoning ordinance changes will ease deadlines for applications for conditional-use permits, zoning map amendments, and planned unit developments. They also add verification of infrastructure from Public Works on planned unit developments and conditional-use districts and update the findings of fact for the granting of a variance by the Board of Adjustment.

The flood damage prevention ordinance was amended to require two photographs of front and rear views for an elevation certificate and to add requirements for new development located in a non-encroachment area or floodway.

These amendments were proposed in order to bring the county ordinance into compliance with N.C. Floodplain Management and to retain consistency among participating jurisdictions, including the Federal Environmental Management Agency, and for consistency with the county Land Use Plan.

Contact Florence Gilkeson at 947-4962 or by e-mail at florence@thepilot.com.