January 2018

 Village of Forest Hills

Council Meeting Minutes

January 2, 2018
 
6:00 P.M. @Jackson County Rec Center, Cullowhee NC

 

The Council meeting for the Village of Forest Hills was held at the Jackson County Rec Center, Cullowhee, NC at 6:00pm on January 2, 2018. 

The following members of the Council were present:

Mayor Kolleen Begley

Councilmember Carl Hooper

Councilmember Clark Corwin

Councilmember Niall Michelsen

 

The following member of the Council were absent:

Councilmember Sharon Stovall

 

The following Non-Council members were present:

Stephanie Gibson, Clerk

Sgt. Rollie James, Jackson County Sheriff’s Office

Sgt. Johnny Hollifield, D.A.R.E./Crime Prevention

 

Work Session

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

  • Sgt. Johnny Hollifield, D.A.R.E./Crime Prevention: Discussion about Neighborhood Watch program and Forest Hills safety strategy. Sgt. Hollifield provided a slide show presentation and discussion on safety and neighborhood watch. He discussed various resources available to residents, including nextdoor.com that identifies neighborhoods that participate in the neighborhood watch and allow others to join, it is address specific, CRAZE, a new program to address responses to an active shooter scenario, and basic levels of awareness that everyone needs to practice.

     

  • Sgt. Rollie James Village Patrol: Sgt. James discussed patrol within the Village.  When asked if the Village was doing everything they could be doing for preventative safety measures, he replied that he felt the Village was a safe neighborhood but would recommend to anyone to consider an alarm system and motion detection devices.  As for speeding, he said that he is not sure if patrol can stop people speeding on public vehicular access roads, if the signs in the Village need to be the same as the Highway signs, or if the Village speed limit ordinance would need to be the same ordinance as the county so this would need to be verified with the D.A. 

 

Council Meeting

  1. Call to order: Mayor Begley called the meeting to order at 7:20 pm. 

  2. Announcements:

    1. Reminder – please silence cell phones for meeting

    2. 2018 Council meeting schedule: awaiting confirmation from the Jackson County Rec. Ctr.

    3. Ethics requirement reminder – (Order online course for entire board in March).

    4. Public Hearing: Monday, Jan. 29th at 7:00pm Planning Board meeting RE: proposed development.

    5. Public Hearing: Tuesday, Feb. 6th at 6:00pm Council meeting RE: proposed development. 

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

  4. Proposed Development Update: Mayor Begley gave an update that a formal application for rezoning has been submitted by the developer to the Jackson County Planning Department on December 22nd, and a Staff Report will be provided by the Jackson County Planning Dept. regarding the rezoning and development proposal. Mayor Begley and Councilmember Corwin have a conference call set up with Mike Poston to go over the remaining steps for proper protocol for the process. 

  5. Approval of Meeting Minutes: December 5, 2017 Regular Council Meeting, –

    Councilmember Michelsen made a motion to accept the December Council Meeting Minutes; Councilmember Corwin seconded the motion, unanimously accepted. 

  6. Acceptance of Financial Report & Checklist for December, 2017: Councilmember Michelsen made a motion to accept the Financial Report for December; Councilmember Corwin seconded the motion, unanimously accepted. Stephanie noted that she completed the Hubsco report due in December.

Councilmember Corwin made a motion to reclass $1500 from contingency, $1000 going to Professional Services and $500 to Planning Board support, Councilmember Hooper seconded the motion, unanimously approved.

   7.  Public Comment – None

   8.  Reports:

        Mayor’s Report:  Mayor Begley noted the Public Hearing date to advertise for the rezoning application. Councilmember Corwin made a motion to approve the public hearing date of February 6, 2018 at 6:00pm at the Jackson County Rec Center meeting room in Cullowhee regarding a rezoning application from Ashley Hill of the Cloverleaf Group for PIN#7559-10-6627 off North Country Club Drive and PIN# 7559-10-0788 off Valhalla Road in Forest Hills to rezone from R-1 Residential District to VMU-CZ Village Mixed Use District – Conditional Zoning, Councilmember Michelsen seconded the motion, unanimously approved.

      Safety & RPO: Councilmember Hooper said that the only report made by an officer was a motorist appearing lost asking for directions. He said that the next RPO meeting will be the end of January.

      Planning Board:  Councilmember Corwin said that Jack Brown agreed to chair the Planning Board meetings. He said that he will confirm attendance with members for the upcoming public hearing set for the Planning Board.

      Neighborhood Watch: Councilmember Stovall was absent from the meeting.

      Roads:  Councilmember Michelsen said that the roads were cleared quickly during the snow and bad weather.  He noted that Tim Green plowed the roads and B.H. Graning salted them.

   9. Unfinished Business:

  • Paving Project: Carl Hooper – pavement project payment approval (Copies of quote, contract, and invoice from Parker Paving are in agenda package). Mayor Begley said the board needs to approve payment for the paving project invoice per the contract. Mayor Begley questioned the need for additional stone since BH Graning had finished approved drainage work prior to paving which included stone, and why there wasn’t any board discussions about patching South Country Club Drive rather than resurfacing continuously to where state maintenance takes over which is what was requested for quotes. Councilmember Hooper said that the contract was unclear. Mayor Begley noted that the contract drafted referenced the written quote that was submitted by the contractor and approved by Council. Councilmember Corwin suggested that going forward there be further clarity in writing creating a clear concept identifying what is to be done. He said we need to have a contract drawn up and approved by the Council.

Councilmember Corwin made a motion to pay Parker Paving Invoice #8370 for $41,448.84; Councilmember Michelsen seconded the motion, unanimously approved.  Mayor Begley asked about the water breaks and how to correct the issue the breaks may cause with other contractor services or equipment.  Councilmember Michelsen said they may have had reason to add the breaks but it wasn’t the Village’s idea.  Mayor Begley said she will contact Parker Paving about why the speed/water breaks were added. She noted that these water breaks were not discussed at meetings or requested in quotes.

  • 2018 Goals: (community involvement, community service, roadside cleanup, branding, services to residents) – moved to February agenda.

  10.  New Business: Mayor Begley provided examples of signage ideas for the Village that might help with speeding:  Council will discuss further in February.

  11.  Adjourn: At 8:50 pm, Councilmember Corwin made a motion to adjourn; Councilmember Michelsen seconded the motion, unanimously approved.