Whispering Woods Golf Club and the village of Whispering Pines have reached an agreement on a loan.

The village, which was considering foreclosure action after Whispering Woods defaulted on a loan note, decided to seek an easement from the golf club to create a sediment bay for Cardinal Lake. The project involves building a spillway over which a golf cart path will run. The spillway will prevent sediment from seeping into Cardinal Lake and clouding the water.

Whispering Woods signed the easement, allowing the village to proceed with the work on golf club property, and delivered a check for the first payment on the loan note. Whispering Pines dropped its request for two payments on the loan.

The village loaned Whispering Woods money to make repairs to the dam on Cardinal Lake. The golf course was to make annual payments of $5,600 a year for 15 years but failed to make the first payment in January.

"Nobody in the village wants to foreclose on that golf course," council member Skip Gebhardt said.

Also during the meeting, developer Chip Cothran again sought council approval for the preliminary plat of Laurenwoods Phase 7, a subdivision on Park Court. During the last regular meeting Feb. 25, the council voted to delay action on the plat approval. The preliminary plat first came before council in November.

"The developer is working on the assumption that Laurenwoods Phase 7 is exempt from the open space requirement, which is just a total misreading of our subdivision ordinance," Gebhardt said.

He added that the developer also needed to reach an agreement with the village regarding road maintenance and needed a guarantee on a performance bond.

"We don't have a revised plat in front of us," Gebhardt said. "Therefore we have nothing to comment on or approve."

Cothran argued that performance bonds were given only after final plat approval, so that does not apply in this situation.

"I've got a plan for open space, but there's no point coming back if we're going to have to talk about these bonds," Cothran said.

"Another issue is the roads," Mayor Bob Zschoche said. "The roads in Laurenwoods Phases 1 through 6 are not up to state standards. Why should we approve a phase when the previous phases have not been brought up to standards?"

Gebhardt made a motion to deny approval of the plat, which Councilman Randy Saunders seconded. It was withdrawn after council members Frank Zamaroni and Molly Boggis expressed opposition.

"It's close enough so that we should be able to resolve this," Boggis said. "If the developer is willing to work with us, we should have another meeting."

During the public-comment portion of the meeting, Whispering Pines resident Richard Monroe informed the council that the lead content in his water tested five times higher than the state allows. A specialist from Utilities Inc. told Monroe that the problem was most likely the plumbing fixtures of the house. Monroe called the situation "suspect" and suggested that all homes in the village be tested for lead at no expense to the homeowners.

The council promised to look into the issue.

In other business, the council set three public hearings for the March 25 regular council meeting. One hearing will address proposed amendments to subdivision regulations. The second hearing will be on the proposed use of an installment finance contract for constructing a new maintenance building. A third hearing will address a proposed minority business participation plan.

Contact Laura Eddy by e-mail at laura@thepilot.com.