White Lake in negotiations to hire town administrator

WHITE LAKE — Meeting for more than an hour in closed session, White Lake commissioners moved toward a hire for the newly-created town administrator position Tuesday night.

The board adjourned its meeting — held through the internet application Zoom — of nearly two hours to next week, on Jan. 21, to meet in person at Town Hall with the purpose of going back into closed session. During Tuesday’s meeting, Mayor Goldston Womble said the town was negotiating a contract, with he and commissioners Dean Hilton and Paul Evans leading those discussions.

Sean Martin, the economic development planner for Whiteville, was identified as the prospective candidate. If the parties come to terms, Martin would be taking his second consecutive newly-created job.

Martin, a native of Whiteville, was hired in August of 2018. He did his undergraduate work at Appalachian State in town, city and county management, with a minor in urban and regional planning. His internship was with Columbus County under Bill Clark.

In the public sector, he’s worked in sales as a branch manager.

The potential hire, whether Martin or another candidate, is significant for the town of about 800 year-round residents that swells to thousands during the summer. Creation of the position was among three unifying points — improved stormwater retention and erosion control were the others — at a three-hour planning session in February 2020.

In its July meeting, commissioners agreed to drop the budgeted salary of $60,602 when posting the advertisement, opting instead for “negotiable” and dependent on education and experience. Commissioners collectively said their hope was to land a person of experience rather than fresh out of college, but also not necessarily someone with limited years left in their career.

The town first advertised the position last summer, drawing 12 resumes through an Aug. 21 deadline. An interview was conducted in September, and commissioners opted to advertise again at the end of the calendar year. Martin was drawn in on the second attempt.

The board as a whole is the search committee. They’re seeking to find a candidate to handle all that comes with a community based on and around the 1,200-acre lake, a multi-layered equation itself and affected by elements above and below ground.

In May 2018, an aluminum sulfate treatment was credited with saving it. Close monitoring of its health and learning more about how water enters and exits has increased since, part of more than $700,000 in research. Commissioners put paid contract work by Dr. Diane Lauritsen into the new budget last summer and in April created the position of lake steward now filled by Steve Bunn.

The town is in the process of addressing aging infrastructure, in part, with a $2 million low interest loan. The ability to meet the payments with confidence was passed on to residents with nominal rate increases.

Commissioners are also learning more about the impact of that infrastructure on the lake as research, led by Lauritsen, expands.

The lake is owned by the state and the town’s relationship has been rocky at best, contentious at worst. The town administrator figures to have a key role going forward.

The lake’s water has long been unique, both for its clarity and among state-owned lakes as an economic driver. It is the hub of which $275 million in Bladen County tax base is attached; or put another way, its well-being impacts residents from East Arcadia to Tar Heel.

For the community, it is its heart and soul. For out-of-towners, it is arguably the county’s top attraction.

White Lake is also gradually adding phases for a multi-use path to encircle the lake around the main roads. Already, it stretches from Waterford on N.C. 53 around Wam Squam to the entrance of Turtle Cove.