THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 29, 1996 TAG: 9602290339
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HATTERAS ISLAND LENGTH: Medium: 89 lines
One day after Cape Hatteras Water Association officials presented plans to turn their co-operative utility over to Dare County, a member of the water association's Board of Directors resigned.
Citing ``deliberate misrepresentations made by a senior water board member and legal counsel'' and ``displeasure with the county's financial picture,'' board member Lou Browning of Frisco abdicated his seat on the nine-member body Tuesday.
``I think that some board members are more concerned with getting out of the water business than making the right decisions at the right time,'' Browning wrote in a one-page letter of resignation that he sent to the water association. ``All board members seem to be looking to the future. But many have tunnel vision and don't see peripheral issues that need to be addressed when making decisions of this magnitude.
``To drop into a meeting for several hours once a month and change major policies in order to kiss a county commissioner's ass is foolish, dangerous and possibly self-serving.''
Monday night, about 150 members of the Cape Hatteras Water Association turned out for a meeting in Buxton about the future of water production for the southern villages of Hatteras Island. Water association board members answered questions about plans to turn their $6.5 million utility over to Dare County - and, possibly, build a reverse-osmosis water plant to serve Avon, Buxton, Frisco and Hatteras residents. The 3,000 water association members have until Friday to cast ballots on the issue.
Many residents at Monday's meeting seemed to favor letting county officials take over their water production entirely. Others worried about the effect that might have on water rates - which are projected to double. And some expressed concern about the long-term impact providing central water to all buildable parcels of land might have on the isolated Outer Banks island.
``The board feels they shouldn't hamper growth by not producing enough water to handle complete build out. But at some point, you have to look at the financial obligation to your present members,'' Browning said Wednesday. ``I don't have a problem with how the county is handling this. I don't think there's anything improper going on. I just think the board members are putting all their eggs into one basket.
``And they're jumping into this in too much of a hurry. Why don't we obtain the proper permits to build a reverse-osmosis plant and then sit on them for two or three years until the demand for more water is there?'' Browning asked. ``We all need to open our eyes to alternative means of producing water in case this doesn't pan out - or in case we don't get a good deal.''
Explaining the allegations in his letter, Browning said board members deliberately misled the public Monday night by saying that all co-operative members have paid for expansions on their water plant. ``We sold water impact units specifically to raise enough money to enlarge our filtration system,'' he said. ``Later, we sold more impacts to expand our wellfield - which never happened because of legal hurdles. But the current users of the system weren't being called upon to pay for system expansions.
``And the 15 percent rate increase that they quoted per year if we didn't build an R-O plant was not based on fact. No formal study has been done to give a quantitative cost of what it would cost our users to simply repair the current system.''
Browning also said board members ``did a lot of jumping around the rules'' to accommodate county commissioners' requests. Water association officials told everyone who bought an impact unit - a future right to join the central water system - that they would have to hook onto the system by October. To make sure county officials would obligate those outstanding impact units, held by about 750 lot owners, water association board members asked those people to pay a tap fee and begin making minimum monthly water payments in the fall.
``But the county got so much flack from it that they came to us and said they'd fulfill our obligations if we didn't make those people pay,'' Browning said. ``It was in the contract that they had to hook up by October. But we went back on that at the commissioners' request.''
Cape Hatteras Water Association Board President Larry ``Bubba'' Schauer said Browning's resignation ``kind of caught me by surprise. I knew Lou would've wished some of the things had gone in a different direction,'' Schauer said. ``But I'm sorry he didn't try to work things out with us instead of just resigning.''
``Lou is more of a conservationist and may not have entirely approved of the growth pattern on Hatteras Island,'' said Schauer. ``But I don't think the water association is the proper forum to control growth.''
Browning had served on the water board for one year. Schauer said board members already have asked another Frisco resident to replace Browning and serve the remaining two years of his term. Declining to name the person he requested to serve - saying only that it was someone who had previously been on the water board - Schauer said the appointee will have to be re-elected by the entire water association membership in 1998. by CNB