November 2015

COUNCIL & WORK SESSION MINUTES
VILLAGE OF FOREST HILLS
NOVEMBER 10, 2015

 

The Council meeting for the Village of Forest Hills was held at the Jackson County Recreation Center at 6:00pm on November 10, 2015.

 

The following members of the Council were present:

Mayor Kolleen Begley

Councilmember Ron Mau

Councilmember Carl Hooper

Councilmember Clark Corwin

 

The following Non-Council members were present:

Tanner Hall, Sylva Herald

Stephanie Gibson, Clerk

David Moore, Attorney

Todd Dillard, Jackson County Emergency Management Director

 

Council Work Session

 

  1.  Call to order:  The work session was called to order at 6:00 pm by Mayor Kolleen Begley.

 

  • Interest from property owner in ETJ on Hwy. 107 & NCC to create mixed-use area
  • Interest from property owner in valley for zoning changes per his map idea
  • Update Future Land Use Map (based on prior discussions and the final charrette report, we need to depict which areas to update on the future land use map so Rose at the SW Commission can update it.  Then we will need to involve the Planning board in discussions before adopting it.

 

Mayor Begley stated that the last Land Use Map was updated in 2007; she noted that the Council needed to hold a public hearing to adopt the Map since there is no documented hearing since 2005; she suggested holding a hearing in January to be determined at the December Council meeting.  She stated that the guiding Land Use Plan adopted is the final charrette report and asked what changes are needed on the map for it to coincide with the future vision.

 

Council discussed that James Hooper’s property is zoned R1 in the ETJ, he would prefer to see any future mixed-use development at the front of the Village on his property and along Hwy.107.  Mayor Begley asked the Council what they want to change it to, professional office district or mixed-use?  Councilmember Hooper suggested changing to mixed-use, Councilmember Corwin agreed saying that if it is called Professional district, it would limit resources.

Council discussed other areas in the Village and the possibility of changing them to multi-family, R1, or R3.  Mayor Begley said for now we will leave the areas as is and will re-visit when updating the map.

 

Council agreed to hire Kristy Carter to assist the Planning Board with Planned Community Standards and ordinance updates per Gerald Green’s recommendations.

 

Councilmember Mau made a motion to adjourn; Councilmember Hooper seconded the motion, unanimously approved.

 

Council Meeting

 

  1. Call to order: The Council meeting was called to order at 6:30pm by Mayor Kolleen Begley.
  2. Jackson County Emergency Management:  Todd Dillard, Jackson County Emergency Management Director spoke to the council and gave an overview of the Emergency Management and municipality responsibilities in emergency preparedness.  He stated that if a state of emergency is deemed on Jackson County, they can declare an area a state of emergency and said that the mayor of municipalities can declare a state of emergency for their municipalities.  He noted that if a state of emergency is declared in the county, a declaration is required to be signed by each municipality in the county. 

Mr. Dillard shared that a threshold has to be met in order to get a federally declared emergency; he noted that the last one was during the snow storm of 2010.  Emergency Mgmt. receives assistance and funding from FEMA, the National Guard, and resources such as food, shelter, and aide. 

Mr. Dillard said that Emergency Mgmt. has a new facility in Dillsboro. He noted that they have representatives from the Health Department, Fire, DOT, Duke Power, etc. on their team.  Mayor Begley asked if municipalities are required to notify residents, Mr. Dillard responded that they use code red, an alert system that can send texts, calls, emails, etc.  He noted that this contact information could be added on the Village website.  

  1. Announcements: 

a)       Board members are invited to Webster’s re-dedication to a WWII monument at 1:30 pm on Wednesday, Nov. 11th Veteran’s Day (contact Mayor Breedlove for more information :  Mayor@TownofWebster.org)

b)      On October 13th there was a small board training session held at the Southwestern Commission with Kristy Carter (attended:  Mayor Begley, Councilmember Hooper, and Planning board members Steve Brown, Nilofer Couture, and Lee Budahl, handouts from the meeting were emailed to all).

c)       The next Council meeting will be December 1st – new members will be sworn in during the second half of the meeting. 

  1. Approval of Agenda: Councilmember Hooper made a motion to approve the agenda; Councilmember Corwin seconded the motion; unanimously approved. 
  1. Approval of Meeting Minutes from October 06, 2015: Councilmember Hooper made a motion to approve the minutes; Councilmember Mau seconded the motion; unanimously approved. 
  1. Acceptance of Financial Report for October 2015: Councilmember Corwin made a motion to accept the Financial Report; Councilmember Hooper seconded the motion; unanimously accepted. 
  1. Public Comment: None 
  1. Reports: 
  • Mayor’s Report:  Mayor Begley said that the paving approved at the last meeting is complete and the sign is up.  The missing stop sign is also up; it was a Jackson County responsibility.  She noted that Green’s Excavating did gravel scraping and ditch pulling, it was not needed on paved roads, Mr. Green recommended every 2 yrs. for the paved roads.   Mayor Begley distributed no parking flyers. 

Mayor Begley asked that Attorney Moore send another letter to 318 NCC Drive, he sent the letter and no fee was received, but the property has been cleaned up some.  She stated that Ken Dickert asked that Attorney Moore send another follow-up letter to property owners of the University Inn with increasing fine amount and asked about stipulating a time frame.

Attorney Moore advised the Council to look at the future outcome; he suggested offering to have a meeting with the property owners or pursuing legal action.  Councilmember Corwin recommended offering to meet with the Inn owners and if they do not respond, informing them that the Village has no option but to seek legal action.  Attorney Moore suggested sending another letter with a time frame for the owners to contact the village and if they do not respond, pursue legal action.  Mayor Begley noted that Ken Dickert (Ordinance Administrator) would be the Village contact. 

  • Planning Board Report: Councilmember Corwin said that he received good feedback from members and they asked when they would be able to begin work with Kristy.  He said that the board passed the Rules of Procedure and they asked about Janie’s status on the Planning Board, noting that she has not been sworn in as an alternate.  Mayor Begley said that new members can be sworn in at the next meeting.  Councilmember Corwin nominated Caleb Bailey as a Planning Board member, Councilmember Mau, seconded the nomination, unanimously approved. 

Councilmember Corwin said that Kristy Carter needs to attend a Planning Board meeting to review recommendations from Gerald Green and assist with the future Land Use Map.  He asked if there were any upcoming requests he needed to take to the Planning Board.  Mayor Begley asked if he would contact Kristy and see if she could attend the December planning board meeting. 

  • Safety: Councilmember Hooper stated that there was one warning citation issued and an equipment violation. 
  • Roads and RPO: Councilmember Perlmutter was not present.  January is the next scheduled RPO meeting. 
  • Jackson County CTP: Council member Mau emailed the link to the preliminary survey results to Council. 
  1. Unfinished Business: 
  • Paving schedule for Spring/Summer 2016:  Mayor Begley noted that the budget may need to be revised if before June 30th.
  • Kristy Carter:  hire for any defined items from work session?  Council agreed that Kristy Carter should be hired to assist with Planned Community Standards and Zoning Ordinance review.
  • Need to document new ordinance changes with Jackson County:  Mayor Begley (“Zoning Ordinances relate to land use.  Noise ordinance, traffic ordinance, etc. to be separated before documenting).  Mayor Begley said that the Zoning Ordinance is all one document and that the ordinances need to be split, she asked Attorney Moore when they need to be registered, he recommended going ahead and publishing them with the Register of Deeds and updating as needed.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               10.  New Business: 
  • Update website:  When new members are sworn in, Stephanie will update the website with member’s names and terms.  Stephanie will contact Ann Melton to see if she can attend the December Council meeting to swear in new members.
  • Work session in December, or start again in January?  Council recommended not having a December work session and continuing in January.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                11.  Additional Public Comment:  None                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     12.  Adjourn: At 7:45pm Councilmember Hooper made a motion to adjourn; Councilmember Mau seconded the motion, unanimously approved.