By Joy Warren
The Town of White Lake Board of Commissioners met Tuesday evening via Zoom meeting and joined with Elizabethtown in recommending no door-to-door Trick or Treating for the White Lake residents. According to CDC guidelines, in-person trick or treating can be high-risk for spreading viruses.
Commissioner’s received updates for Lake Management from Dr. Diane Lauritsen and Lake Stewardship Officer Steve Bunn. The pH of the lake water is presently around 6.8 with little variation. The whole lake vegetation survey will be conducted by NCSU later this month. The lake level is at 64.5 ft. Water clarity is a little green, but it appears to be stable. In Dr Lauritsen’s report she also stated that “If the primary concerns of the community are public health and safety and lake aesthetics, then it would seem that there would also be consensus for taking meaningful actions to significantly reduce what goes into the lake. We look forward to engaging with this issue next month as a part of the comprehensive plan review process.” A waterbird study was conducted to evaluate the size of the population of birds using the lake during the winter months.
According to Steve Bunn, “around early December large flocks of seagulls start arriving at the lake. These gulls overwinter on the lake (average 3790 per day). As spring breaks the gulls leave the lake for other feeding or breeding grounds. During the same time frame a much smaller population of coots (average 228 per day) and cormorants (average 228 per day) also arrive at the lake. There is a small resident population of waterfowl, ducks and geese that come to the lake during their winter migration.” More information can be found on the website https://whitelakewatch.com/ .
In administrative matters, Commissioners approved Utility releases ($2,685.89), Tax releases ($3,704.09), and Tax refunds ($51.20); and adopted a resolution recognizing Wednesday, November 11th as Veterans Day in honor of the veterans, both living and deceased, to show the Town’s appreciation for their sacrifice.
The Town is undertaking two significant projects related to Planning and Development. First the Town will be updating the existing Comprehensive Plan. Additionally, the Town will also update the existing Zoning Ordinance to include changes in the State statutes since 2014 and the vision for the future of White Lake’s growth and development reflected in the updated Comprehensive Plan. Completion of these projects must be by July 1, 2021. To help the Town complete the work, the Town retained the Lumber River Council of Governments.
The meeting tonight was adjourned to an in-person meeting on Thursday, October 15th at 5:30 p.m. to consider Closed Session matters.
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