The following members of the Council were present:

Mayor Kolleen Begley

Councilmember Clark Corwin

Councilmember Niall Michelsen

 

The following members of the Council were absent:

Jerry Rice

Jonathan Brooks

 

The following Non-Council members were present:

Terry Michelsen, Co-Clerk

Diane Martinez, Volunteer

Randy Fox, Western Carolina Power

Brandon Green, Western Carolina Power

Lee Smith, WCU

 

Work Session

 

1.  Call to order:   at 6:00 pm Mayor Begley called the meeting to order.    

 

Western Carolina Power: Brandon Green & Randy Fox, Western Carolina Power

                                         Lee Smith, Director of Operations & Maintenance for WCU

• Update on utility work being done in Forest Hills (reworking lines / loop)

• Row trimming around power lines 

Randy Fox gave an update on utility work, he said that WCU is re-working the lines in the loop in the Village where they have a right-of-way, he said that several years ago, there was a loop where Oak Forest comes up to that tied the roads together but during the hurricane, the poles got torn down and the loop was lost and they were not able to reset the poles. He said without the full loop, if there is a power outage in certain areas there are many out of power rather than a few in one area. He said they are trimming around power poles as needed. Randy said that they may have to get consent from Ms. Pressley for a right-of-way to her property for reconnecting a portion of the loop.

Councilmember Corwin said since Western Carolina Power has the power poles, they have the foundation, he asked if Frontier uses their poles and Randy said yes, Frontier and Morris Broadband use the poles for internet services.

Mayor Begley asked what WCU needs from the Village and Lee Smith said that the only thing the Village needs to do is approve the route discussed in writing. He noted that WCU can write up the documentation and the Village can sign if aggregable. Randy said that Morris Broadband is starting with broadband services soon, there is a meeting tomorrow. He said that there are 125 miles on the system, but Morris will start with the Pressley Creek and Cullowhee Mountain area.

Mayor Begley asked if Morris includes fiber and Randy said they do, he said that WCU has broadband service up to 100 megs.

Randy said that the Savannah Fire Department has TV, Phone, and Internet (fiber optic) and it works great. 

Lee Smith said that Western Carolina Power roadside trimming is subcontracted to other businesses. Lee said that if a tree falls on a power line, Western Carolina Power will have it removed or if there is a danger of a tree falling on lines, they will remove them, but they do not cut trees that are not threatening a power line.

 

Council Meeting

      

    1. Call to order: at 6:40 pm Mayor Begley called the meeting to order.  

    2.  Announcements:

1. Reminder – Please silence cell phones for meeting

2. Saturday, October 13^th at 9:00am is the scheduled Community Roadside Trash Clean Up – meet behind the Forest Hills entrance sign at the corner of North Country Club & South Country Club Dr. Mayor Begley said that there were volunteers from the Hero program with Harrah’s Casino and there had been good response from the residents.

3. Approval of Agenda – Councilmember Corwin made a motion to approve the agenda, Councilmember Michelsen seconded the motion, unanimously approved.

4. Approval of Meeting Minutes – September 4, 2018 Regular Council Meeting: Councilmember Michelsen made a motion to approve the minutes; Councilmember Corwin seconded the motion, unanimously approved.
5. Acceptance of Financial Report & Checklist for the month of September 2018: Stephanie Gibson provided copies of the Financial Report to Terry Michelsen for the Council’s review. Councilmember Corwin made a motion to accept the financial report; Councilmember Michelsen seconded the motion, unanimously approved.
6. Public Comment / Public Hearing: Ordinance Amendment to Chapter 10, Section 10.1 & 10.2 (see attachment). Mayor Begley opened the public hearing, there was no public, so the hearing was closed.

         Mayor Begley said that the amendment will hold property owner’s as well as tenants responsible for repeated violations. If there are 2 or more violations in a 2-month period, an official notification will be sent requesting the violation be resolved within 14 days and if it is not done in that time, a letter is sent with a fine assessed.

    7.  Vote: Motion to amend Chapter 10 as presented. Councilmember Corwin made a motion to amend Chapter 10 of the code of ordinances to include sections 1-3  as  presented and written, Councilmember Michelsen seconded the motion, unanimously approved.

    8.  Reports: 

• Mayor’s Report: (update to zoning map, meetings during the month, ordinance violations) –

  Mayor Begley said that she uploaded the Zoning Map to the website.

  Mayor Begley noted that at the Mayor’s meeting this week, she gave an update on the development in the Village ETJ. Councilmember Corwin asked about updates on the water line damage situation due to the construction. Mayor Begley said that CWS and Ashley Hill are working on a solution together since the water line was not documented.  Mayor Begley noted that one ordinance violation was reported relating to noise and nuisance of loose dogs and that the Ordinance Administrator has sent a warning letter of the ordinance violations to the property owner. 

• Roads: (Councilmember Rice was absent.) 

• RPO/TAC: Councilmember Michelsen said that Jackson County Planning organization and transportation advisory council (TAC) met. There was a lot of discussion about the effects of the storm. He said that there was a bicycle and pedestrian planning grant approved for sidewalks and bike lanes. Also, the intersection to 107 & 64 is approved for going forward. 

• Planning Board: Councilmember Corwin said that the Planning Board will be reviewing and researching landscaping and looking at bids for landscaping, as well as reviewing larger walls to prevent water problems. Also, they will be working with the School of Government to see what the Village wants and needs and potential public and private partnerships. 

• Village Safety: (Councilmember Brooks was absent).

    9.  Unfinished Business:  

• Signage ordered: Mayor Begley (SCC/NCC road name signage and Caution signage update) Mayor Begley noted that the new signage has been delivered to BH Graning and should be installed shortly.

   10.  New Business:  

• ROW trimming: Mayor Begley asked Councilmember Rice to evaluate if village-maintained roads needed to have right-of-way tree trimming done.

• Councilmember Corwin made a motion to have Western Carolina Power reconnect the loop on Poppy Lane to enhance electric service in Forest Hills, seconded by Councilmember Michelsen, unanimously approved.

• Volunteer Application received: A volunteer application was received from Diane Martinez, she teaches professional and technical communication courses which include proposal and grant writing. She also worked as a technical writer in the Engineering field for over 10 years. Ms. Martinez offered to volunteer with the Planning Board, Committees, and Grant Writing.

  Ms. Martinez accepted the request to plan a “Home & Personal Safety” meeting, Council recommended that a 90-minute meeting be held on a weekday evening for convenience and that the time be limited to 10-15 minutes per speaker, a weekday evening beginning at 5:30 – 6:00pm at the Recreation Center was recommended. Also, postcards would be sent to residents to RSVP. Council suggested that the meeting would promote proactive prevention and building a stronger community and not to cause fear. Council suggested aging in place, mental health and substance abuse, and emergency responders be topics of discussion and potentially having the developer, Ashley Hill, end the discussion with an update on the development and recapping the benefits to the community. Council suggested listing speakers on the invitations to create interest.

   11.  Additional Public Comment: None

   12.  Adjourn: At 8:30pm, Councilmember Michelsen made a motion to adjourn; Councilmember Corwin seconded the motion, unanimously approved.