RAMSEUR – Hampton Spivey is coming back to the mayor’s post in Ramseur and it’s not likely to be a quiet return.
The former mayor is mostly concerned with the available drinking water for town residents and making sure the town is fiscally responsible.
“Water is the whole reason I ran,” Spivey said. “Just about every issue I’m involved with involves drinking water. If you don’t have clean drinking water, you don’t have anything.”
Spivey, 79, won November’s election, ousting incumbent Vicki Caudle. The vote count was 97 to 66.
Spivey was mayor from 1995-2010, filling terms that were both two and four years. The current set-up means he has been elected for four years. He’ll be swore in Dec. 19.
“I think the town is in pretty rough shape,” Spivey said. “I don’t think they’ve had an audit in two or three years. … We don’t know how much money we have. I’ll find out.”
Other than public safety, which Spivey said should always be a top concern, the water topic is at the forefront for Spivey.
“Everybody knew that the water was my deal,” he said.
The Greensboro-Randolph megasite, which will house Toyota’s massive battery manufacturing operation, is altering the quality and quantity of water that will be available to Ramseur residents, Spivey said.
He said that topic has been overlooked, particularly with the location of the megasite. He said attention needs to be placed on what’s happening with the Sandy Creek watershed.
“Somebody is going to have to be held accountable,” Spivey said.
Further, Spivey said he’s disturbed by what he has perceived as changes in Ramseur’s long-term water arrangement with Franklinville.
With the impact of the megasite and the potential population increase, Spivey said there soon will be a need for another reservoir to serve parts of eastern Randolph County along with parts of Chatham County and Moore County.
Spivey has been retired for 18 years after a career of about 40 years with Piedmont Natural Gas.
Tresa Cheek Hatchett and J.C. Parrish won re-election to the town council last month and Jay Hubbard is also joining the board.
Spivey said he expects to get rolling right away on topics that he’s concerned about. That will begin with the Dec. 19 board meeting.
“It’s going to be really interesting,” he said.
