Pinehurst has withdrawn its offer of intent to purchase the WestPoint Stevens water and sewer facilities.

The withdrawal notice, signed by Pinehurst Mayor Virginia Fallon, indicated that Scotland County had failed to followup on the village's request made last year to buy the Wagram facility.

The late Pinehurst Mayor George Lane signed a letter of intent "regarding development of water supply, treatment, and distribution in Southern Moore County and Scotland County."

The letter followed an Aug. 3, 2009 meeting of the Scotland Board at which Pinehurst officials made a formal presentation.

Fallon said that since Scotland County "has not acted upon or approved" the letter of intent, the village declared the letter to be "null and void".

Scotland County Manager Kevin Patterson said he was "not surprised" that the letter of intent was withdrawn.

"Due to the passage of time, I was not surprised at all," Patterson said. "The study conducted by the city of Laurinburg took longer than expected, and now the city and county can look at long term leads for what to do about the property."

Patterson said that Pinehurst is still interested in purchasing the property based on N.C. General Statute 153A-15.

"This is the statute that requires municipalities from one county to get permission to purchase property from another county," Patterson said. "The city of Laurinburg, for example, could buy the property without county commissioner approval."

In the letter of intent, Pinehurst officials had planned to form a regional consortium that included Scotland County as a partner with voting rights.

Laurinburg City Manager Ed Burchins said everyone in the region realizes that some type of joint effort must be reached to ensure that the region maintains an adequate supply of clean drinking water.

"There are so many 'chefs' in the kitchen right now that it makes it difficult to get the process started," Burchins said. "We need to develop a strategic plan, and once a comprehensive approach is developed we can bring all the parties together, form up and make something that works for the region."

Burchins said that there was "nothing personal" involved in not pursuing Pinehurst's offer.

"At the time, no one had enough information to make a solid decision on what to do about the region's water requirements," he said. "It takes a fairly long time to know what these water needs will be. Nothing is over, and there is more work to be done. We have to regroup, rethink, and go at it again."

Pinehurst Manager Andy Wilkinson and Pinehurst Mayor Fallon were unavailable for comment at press time.