Pinehurst residents need to demand the real bottom line of this new, irresponsible water purchase before allowing their Village Council to proceed with another bureaucracy that will haunt the taxpayers of Pinehurst for many years to come.

One of the reasons we moved out of Pinehurst was the last village-touted purchase of the county water and sewer system. The purchase price was to be a bonded $9 million or so. Wrong!

The village made a bad political error. It invited citizens to pick up a copy of the contract with the county, which included the future obligations, plans and requirements for the new purchase.

I took a copy and studied it. The total planned purchase and development came to $42 million. The real laugh came when the Village Council said there would be "no new taxes," and water bills would go up only

about $1.

Fortunately, our then-responsible County Commissioner Michael Holden changed his vote and saved the taxpayers of Pinehurst $42 million.

How many millions will the end purchase and development of this irresponsible, unneeded latest purchase really cost the taxpayers of Pinehurst? The $5.5 million is only the beginning.

The Moore County Utility serves our area and Pinehurst with more than adequate sewer and water. During the 10 years we lived in Pinehurst we never had a water problem, and when a sewer problem arose, Moore County Utility was there within hours to correct the situation.

The citizens of Pinehurst must pay attention to all the antics of their free-spending council and three city managers headed by Andy Wilkerson.

Residents must insist their elected and hired civil servants provide a detailed plan and total cost breakdown of how and when the council plans to spend its tax proceeds.

Richard Davis

Pinewild