August 2023

 

Village of Forest Hills Council Meeting
Tuesday, August 01, 2023 – 7:00 pm
Forest Hills Assembly Hall, Cullowhee NC

 

The following members of the Council were present:

Mayor Jim Wallace

Councilmember Ron Yount

Councilmember Marcia Almond

Councilmember Nilofer Couture

Councilmember Daniel Shields

The following non-Council members were Present:

Stephanie Gibson, Clerk

Tim Eckard, Planning Board

Larry Ingersoll, Planning Board

Jack Brown, Resident

 

  1. Call to order: at 7:00pm Mayor Wallace called the meeting to order. 

     2.  Announcements:

Reminder – Please silence cell phones for meeting. 

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

     4.  Approval of Meeting Minutes for August 01, 2023, Regular Council Meeting:(All meeting minutes are posted on the Forest Hills website once approved.) Councilmember Almond made a motion to approve the meeting minutes for August 01, 2023, Councilmember Couture seconded the motion, unanimously approved. 

     5.  Acceptance of Financial Report & Checklist for the month of August 2023: (All financial reports are posted on the Forest Hills website once approved.) Councilmember Yount made a motion to accept the financial report, Councilmember Couture seconded the motion, unanimously approved.

     6.  Public Comment:  None

     7.  Reports: 

Mayor’s Report: Jim Wallace – Mayor Wallace said he spoke to B.H. Graning about doing the village roadside clearing on all roads since the DOT has not mowed in a year, he said that they would mow those roads for a fee of $1885. twice yearly.  B.H. Graning also said that additional clearing needed to be done on the left side of the entrance to prepare for landscape improvements and lawn expansion, the fee will be $2115.  Mayor Wallace also spoke with them about maintenance of the landscaping on the left side of the entrance when that is finished, and Ben told him it would probably be $75. - $100 additional monthly.  Councilmember Almond made a motion to have B.H. Graning do the road clearing and maintenance, Councilmember Yount seconded the motion, unanimously approved.

Mayor Wallace also mentioned that there were several areas where trees may need to be removed in the village.

Roads: Ron Yount – Councilmember Yount said that he called the DOT again today about mowing the state-maintained roads and they told him they should get to it next week.  He noted that there were a couple of areas where pavement was still broken and that he called Chris with CWS, and he said that they would be patched soon. 

RPO/TAC: Marcia Almond – Councilmember Almond said the Southwestern Commission 2023 Annual Dinner on July 24th at Betty’s Creek was great.

Planning Board: Planning Board Chair Tim Eckard discussed the report that he previously emailed to the Mayor and Council members regarding STRs.  He summarized the recommendations; they recommend that there be no STRs in R-1 and R-2 and that they be regulated in R-3 and R-4.  He discussed there being a 90-day grace period for the owners of STRs to comply with the new regulations and that there be a fee of $500/day for noncompliance.  Tim said that the board recommended adding a chapter to the current ordinances, chapter 14, that would outline the STR regulations.  Mayor Wallace said that he would like to bring copies of the recommended ordinance changes to the September meeting for a final review and then a public hearing would need to be held for review and final approval.

Village Safety: Nilofer Couture – Councilmember Couture said she had not received a patrol report but noted there were 38 - 911 calls, she noted that 68% of the calls were from the hotel area, prospect, and Pincushion Lane.  She noted that officers held a traffic check/stop on 7/14 and reported several citations.

  1. New Business: 

Jackson County Historical Association:  Mayor Wallace said that the Historical Association needs a representative from the village, he noted that Carl Iobst was the last person from the village who served as a representative and his term ended 8-1.  Councilmember Almond said that she would be willing to be the representative for the village. 

Precinct Meeting:  Councilmember Couture noted that a precinct meeting will be held on 9-26 from 7-8pm. 

Larry Ingersoll said that he did file for Council.  If elected, the village would need another person to be on the Planning Board since Larry is also the Ordinance Administrator. 

  1. Unfinished Business: 
  • Pavement Sealing: Mayor Wallace will check on getting a quote to pave non-state-maintained village roads and will report back.

 

  • Short Term Rentals:  Mayor Wallace said that Tim Eckard has spoken to Attorney Anthony Fox about the Planning Board’s recommendations for short term rentals and final recommendations will be reviewed at the next meeting.

 

  • Planning Board members needed – a village resident from the ETJ area is needed for the Planning Board.  All new members will need to be sworn in and Stephanie will add them to the website and provide them with a village email.

 

  • Update on Prospect Commercial Space:  Mayor Wallace said there was nothing new to report, construction seems to be moving along.

 

  • Update on Grants:  Mayor Wallace and Councilmembers agreed that they would like Patricia to be researching grants that might be applicable to the Village.

 

Councilmember Couture said that the DOT has grant funding for engineering studies and that Patricia could check on that for the village.

 

    10.  Adjourn: At 8:15pm, Councilmember Shields made a motion to adjourn, Councilmember Yount seconded the motion, unanimously approved.