Drought

Our annual rainfall for the past few years has not been sufficient to replenish our groundwater supply, and keep it to the level where we can use water freely for all of our uses.  We are fortunate that we have our own drinking water source - the Dog River Reservoir - but the groundwater supply and inflow into the Reservoir are less than the amount of water we take out.  So, conservation is necessary.

Over a year ago, the WSA took serious steps towards ensuring that we have enough water for our personal needs by restricting outdoor watering.  Those restrictions are still in effect, although they have been relieved somewhat by the State.  Even-odd watering is now allowed, but only with a hose.  Please comply so that we will continue to have the water we need.

The WSA is also in the process of raising the Dog River dam an additional ten feet in height, construction that will double the Reservoir's capacity, but this construction is extensive and difficult so it will take a couple of years before we see the results of their good planning.  In the meantime, conservation efforts will help us stretch our water resources.

Quality Development

When I ran for Chairman in 2003, you told me that development in our County was out of control, and I listened.  Over the past 3½ years, we have instituted new ordinances that require larger houses, larger lot sizes, and time limits for construction.  These new regulations and the slowdown in the economy have allowed us to work more closely with the builders and developers to let them know we want quality development in our County, and no more starter homes, split-foyer vinyl sided houses, and multi-family dwellings.  New development in our County is more responsive.

Unfortunately, there are still active permits issued before I became Chairman that allow small homes on small lots.  We will continue to see what we can do to ensure that the permits for this construction will be to our new standards, not to the old ones.

We have instituted livable centers initiatives in different areas of the County that will require that development and re-development will be of quality construction, have signage regulations, more green space, and have more of a neighborhood feel.  Some of it is mixed-use - a combination of low-traffic retail with residential - to allow our citizens to have needed services close to home, saving energy and time.

Transportation

Within the past few months, we have begun the first comprehensive transportation plan in the County's history, a plan that ignores City-County borders and looks at current and future traffic and transportation needs.  We have a lot of transportation needs in our County, but knee-jerk construction is not the way to solve these problems.  It is much better to have an overall plan, one that sees the connections between traffic on Lee Road and traffic on Chapel Hill Road , for example.

This groundbreaking plan will also help us get Federal and State dollars to construct the improvements that are recommended, allowing our local funds to stretch farther.  It is the responsible way to handle our traffic and transportation needs.

Efficient Government

I am constantly amazed and gratified by the initiative and innovativeness of County employees as they propose and implement ways to make government more efficient.  The County web site offers on-line payments, vendor registration, community information and registration, e-mail contacts, and more.  We have computerized many department operations and functions so that the same number of employees are providing more services to our citizens.  I created an Internal Auditor position to help our operations become more efficient and functional, and they have.  We look at every alternative we can to hold down costs, and therefore, more wisely spend your tax dollars.  Instead of contracting out services, we do our best to provide them ourselves, saving the overhead and profit that previously were paid to private companies.  We seek grant dollars from Federal, State and private sources.

The world changes fast, technology changes fast, and government must keep up.  We are.

Political Advertisement Paid For & Approved by Committee to Re-Elect Tom Worthan for Commission Chairman

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