Village of Forest Hills Work Session

March 03, 2026

7:00 PM

Budget, Website Redesign, and Records Management

Meeting Notes

Budget and Tax Roll Planning

●       Develop a draft budget; schedule a discussion meeting for the week of March 16 or March 23.

●       County tax rolls have been updated to reflect the valley property purchase, affecting dollar amounts.

Stephanie received updated tax rolls from Tabitha and will forward them. 

●       Target: Present the budget at the May meeting; hold a public hearing and finalize by the first meeting in June.

Website Redesign Project

●       The new website design prototype has been completed. Feedback is due by March 6 to avoid billable hours.

●       Landing page photo is a permanent admin-locked element.

It was suggested to also use a photo from the village’s Facebook page (likely the village entrance), it was agreed it would be the most recognizable landmark.

●       Additional website decisions:

o   Add a “Things to do” section with links to local attractions and other content.

o   Include alert notifications.

o   Confirm ability to add links to social media and the Jackson County government website.

●       Content migration concern:

o   All content will be moved; the village must clean and keep it updated post-launch.

o   Mayor Mau has begun removing old content and dead links.

Sourcing an Intern for Website Content Management

●       Consider hiring an intern (e.g., from WCU or SCC) to manage and update website content.

●       Summer intern availability may be limited due to remote students; Communication or Marketing majors are suitable.

●       The board agrees an intern should receive a stipend.

●       Explore candidates via faculty contacts.

●       Define scope of work and fair stipend amount.

Records Management and Storage

●       Emphasized proper records management. Attorney Coward emphasized having official zoning maps and Village documents available.

●       Secure, publicly accessible storage needed for key records (ordinance book, map book).

●       Stephanie noted that she will have any official records she has moved to the Assembly Hall.

●       Identify a fireproof file cabinet as a necessary purchase, though costly, it will need to be a budget item.

●       Current meeting location selected as the most appropriate central storage site (accessible with a lockable room).

Public Records Requests

●       Recurring FOIA requests from “Nantahala News” questioned.

●       Attorney Coward advised FOIA is federal and does not apply to the town; suggested ignoring these requests as they cite incorrect North Carolina statutes.

 

Village of Forest Hills Council Meeting

Tuesday, March 03, 2026 – 7:00 pm

Forest Hills Assembly Hall, Cullowhee, NC

 

The following members of the Council were present:

Mayor Ron Mau

Councilmember Daniel Shields

Councilmember Nilofer Couture 

The following members of the Council were absent:

Councilmember Larry Ingersoll

Councilmember Amy Bollinger 

The following non-Council members were Present:

Jay Coward, Village Attorney

Stephanie Gibson, Clerk

Clark Corwin, Planning Board Chair

Charlie Bell, Planning Board Member

April Bell, Resident

 

1.   Call to order: At 7:30 pm, Mayor Mau called the meeting to order. 

2.  Announcements:  Reminder – Please silence cell phones for the meeting. 

3.   Approval of Agenda: Councilmember Shields made a motion to approve the agenda, Councilmember Couture seconded the motion, unanimously approved.  

4.   Approval of Meeting Minutes for February 03, 2026, Regular Council Meeting: (All meeting minutes are posted on the Forest Hills website once approved.) Councilmember Shields made a motion to approve the meeting minutes for February 03, 2026. Councilmember Couture seconded the motion, unanimously approved.

5.   Acceptance of Financial Report & Checklist for the month of February 2026: (All financial reports are posted on the Forest Hills website once approved.)

·        February Financials:

o   North Carolina class account: $213,471.33

o   United check account: $85,709.34

o   Total assets: $299,180.67

o   February revenues: $7,317.70 (from ad valorem sales tax and interest)

o   February expenditures: $10,233.38 (utilities, salaries, patrol, election fees, training, and office equipment).

Councilmember Couture made a motion to approve the financial reports. Councilmember Shields seconded the motion, unanimously approved.

6.    Administrative Reports

·        Mayor’s Report

o   Mayor Mau noted that Affordable Housing was the main topic of the community meeting he attended.

o   The Sheriff’s office has placed a speed truck on North Country Club Drive, hopefully it will help with traffic speeding through the area.

o   The RPO/TAC meeting was cancelled

o   The joint meeting with Commissioners and Municipalities will be held on March 10^th.

o   A budget meeting will need to be scheduled in March to review the budget.  If there are items that Councilmembers would like to see on the budget or know of maintenance expenses for the upcoming fiscal year, please send those items to Stephanie.  Larry, Stephanie, and Ron will schedule a time to meet in late March.

·        Roads Report: Councilmember Ingersoll was out of town

·        Safety:  Councilmember Couture noted that officers patrolled the Village a total of 6 hours. She noted that she had not received the 911 report.

7.   Planning Board Discussion for zoning application submitted:  Mayor Mau asked that the board go into closed session to discuss the Zoning application submitted.

Councilmember Couture made a motion to go into closed session at 7:57 pm Councilmember Shields seconded the motion, unanimously approved.  The Planning Board Chair was asked to sit in on the discussion.

At 8:16 p.m., Councilmember Shields made a motion to go out of closed session and back into regular session. Councilmember Couture seconded the motion, unanimously approved.  No action was taken during the closed session. 

8.   Planning Board Report:  Planning Board Chair, Clark Corwin, said that the Planning Board had discussed hiring a consultant to assist with Village updates.  The consensus of the board was for the Planning Board to proceed with the RFQ process. 

9.   Public Comment:  None

10.  Adjournment:  At 8:20 pm, Councilmember Shields made a motion to adjourn.