Forest Hills Planning Board 1-21-03

APPROVED COPY

Village of Forest Hills

Planning Board Minutes

January 21, 2003

Present: Herman Lieberman, Ruth Shuler, David Shapiro, Gene Tweedy.

Gene called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.  Last night’s meeting was postponed until this evening because of the MLK holiday.

Village beautification:  PB discussed the need for lighting, signage, and landscaping for Forest Hills.  Permission would need to be obtained from the owners whose property would be directly affected.  Estimates will be collected by Gene and Herman for improvements.

Another topic recommended for attention by the Council is parking and cleanliness around rental properties within the community.  The PB recommended that a letter be drafted and sent to the property owners expressing requests and indicating sanctions for failure to comply.  Ruth will draft the letter/statement.  By-laws will be explored to verify procedures for enforcement.

The septic system is another topic to be addressed by the PB.  Undertaking such a study will require time, money, and expertise.  A preliminary study has been completed for consideration.

Connecting the North and South sides was discussed, specifically the relative benefit of increased accessibility in light of the high cost of increased traffic, litter, noise, safety risk, etc.  This needs to be discussed further before action is taken so as to prevent correcting one potential problem by creating several others.

The purpose of the PB with respect to serving the Council was discussed.  The PB members confirmed their willingness to serve the community, yet remain uncertain as to what the desired function should be.  The major function of the PB should be to increase representation within the community.  Ideas to increase such representation were discussed.

The PB requests from the Council clarification as to the terms of office for each PB member.  The PB suggests a quarterly, well-publicized meeting of the community residents to seek community input regarding issues being addressed by the Council.

Gene dismissed the meeting at 8:25 p.m.

Submitted by,

David Shapiro

 

David A. Shapiro, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

Professor, Speech-Language Pathologist

Western Carolina University

Department of Human Services

Killian 204

Cullowhee, NC  28723  USA

shapiro@email.wcu.edu

828-227-3291 (work phone)

828-227-7388 (work fax)