Moore County returned to the Summit Tuesday but remained noncommittal about a resolution supporting exploration of the water-sewer authority concept.

Members of the Summit Water Task Force, joined by a county delegation and a number of visitors, held a freewheeling session in the Chamber of Commerce conference room as they discussed how to proceed with the initiative calling for study of the possible formation of a regional water and sewer authority.

Five municipalities have studied the draft resolution and have either adopted it or are considering it favorably, according to a report from Chamber President Patrick Coughlin, who is also the task force facilitator. The municipalities were identified as Southern Pines, Whispering Pines, Carthage, Pinehurst and Robbins.

Tim Lea, chairman of the Moore County Board of Commissioners, said he has no objection to placing the resolution on his board's agenda but expressed no opinion about the subject.

Earlier in the meeting, Lea reported that the commissioners have not formally addressed the resolution and it had not been placed on the agenda.

"It does not ask us to do anything except study the concept," said task force Chairman Frank Zamaroni, of the draft resolution.

Copies of the resolution were distributed to local government representatives at the Aug. 5 forum hosted by the Board of Commissioners for all elected officials in the county.

During the forum, Lea announced that the county would be represented at the next meeting of the Summit Water Task Force, the first time the county has participated in Summit activities in about two years.

The subject of the former Moore Water and Sewer Authority - dubbed MoWASA - the county's previous experience with an authority, was raised at the forum and again at the task force meeting Tuesday.

Coughlin thanked Southern Pines Mayor Mike Haney for mentioning "the 800-pound gorilla" at the forum.

"I'm glad he did that, because we can't sweep it under the rug and ignore it," Coughlin said.

What Went Wrong?

Coughlin said the task force needs to examine what went wrong with MoWASA and try to work out a better structure. He suggested that the study may determine that an authority is not needed and that a set of intra-local agreements might work just as well.

Mention of MoWASA prompted open discussion about why it did not work and what could be done to prevent another failure.

Pinehurst Village Council member Nancy Roy Fiorillo volunteered her time and planning experience to study the background of MoWASA and provide data for further consideration by the task force.

Fiorillo, a retired professional planner, proposed that the task force begin by determining the good points about MoWASA as well as figuring out what went wrong.

"We have to open up that closet," Fiorillo said.

Coughlin noted that a few communities remain uncomfortable with the concept of an authority.

Southern Pines Town Manager Reagan Parsons said the task force should find out why some entities are uncomfortable with the concept.

"I can tell you why it (MoWASA) failed," County Commissioner Nick Picerno said. "It was political."

In addition to Lea and Picerno, the county was represented by Commissioner Jimmy Melton, County Manager Cary McSwain and Public Works Director Dennis Brobst.

Melton conveyed apologies on behalf of Commissioner Larry Caddell, who has been representing the county in recent water negotiations. Melton said Caddell was called out of town on business at the last minute and was unable to attend the meeting.

'Politics Did It In'

Picerno expressed concern that many people are under the erroneous impression that the county has not been complying with recommendations of the McGill Report, a study of water resources commissioned by the county and several municipalities.

Picerno said that the commissioners have asked the county Planning Board to include water and sewer issues in a long-range plan presently being developed. He noted that the county has been negotiating with the town of Robbins and recalled that the McGill Report identifies the Robbins water system as a potential water resource for county development.

"The goal of the Water Task Force is very admirable, but getting all the entities to work together will be difficult," Picerno said.

Picerno said Southern Software, the firm that he founded, worked closely with MoWASA in the early days and he is familiar with the former authority's operations. He has since retired from the computer software firm.

"Structurally, MoWASA worked," Picerno said.

Picerno went on to point out that forming an authority would be tantamount to asking municipalities that own and operate their own water systems to turn control of their facilities over to an authority.

Southern Pines, Aberdeen, Carthage and Robbins are among the municipalities facing that question in formation of an authority of the type proposed in the "exploration" resolution advanced by the task force.

It was Parsons who illustrated the issues that differ between the owner of a utility and the user of utilities owned by another entity.

He pointed out that Southern Pines, which owns its water system, can extend water lines according to the town's planning and zoning policies, while Pinehurst, dependent upon water supplied by the county, was not in a position to require annexation as a factor in providing water to the Pinewild subdivision.

The recent Pinewild annexation controversy might have been avoided had the village been the owner and operator of its own utilities.

The task force closed the meeting by returning to its initial subject, dissemination of the resolution to determine interest by the various aspects of the water-using community.

Fiorillo's offer to help with collecting data was accepted, and Brobst agreed to provide documentation as needed. Brobt's public works department inherited the county's water and sewer operations after MoWASA was dismantled in 2000.

Zamaroni secured agreement that the task force will hold its next meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 21, at the Chamber office in Southern Pines.

Contact Florence Gilkeson at florence@thepilot.com.