February 2016
The Work Session meeting for the Village of Forest Hills was held at the Jackson County Recreation Center at 6:00pm on February 02, 2016.
The following members of the Council were present:
Mayor Kolleen Begley
Councilmember Ron Mau
Councilmember Carl Hooper
Councilmember Clark Corwin
Councilmember Debbie Rowland
The following Non-Council members were present:
Jason Farmer, Sylva Herald
Mike Byers, WCU Administration & Finance
Rich Price, Director of Economic Development
David and Kay Shapiro, Village homeowners
Stephanie Gibson, Clerk
- Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 6:05pm by Mayor Begley.
- Discussion about Village direction: Mayor Begley introduced guests Mike Byers from WCU Administration & Finance and Rich Price, Director of Economic Development who were invited to the work session to discuss ideas for potential Village growth.
Councilmember Corwin asked for ideas, direction, and recommendations for the Village.
Mike Byers said that WCU faculty and staff do have difficulty finding desired housing; he noted that they often commute from other counties. Also, faculty and staff are often used to having high speed internet connectivity.
Rich Price said he has researched this somewhat and spoke with Cory Causby in WCU Human Resources and he noted that about 35% of faculty and staff live outside the county. There has been some research done to identify how employees can be recruited and retained. He noted that affordable nice housing is a need in Jackson County and they need to determine how it can be more appealing.
Mike asked how the Village would impact housing opportunities. Councilmember Corwin said that single family housing is not as appealing and they were looking at potential mixed use such as town homes and at having a hub for broadband. He noted that there was the possibility of a green park area and potential office space.
Rich Price said he feels that Entrepreneurial enterprises at WCU need to have something in Jackson County. He said that the Village was choice area years ago but that group is aging and the opportunities once available with the golf course, pool, and restaurant are no longer available. Rich asked what could be done to change the idea of Forest Hills to make it more appealing and vibrant. He asked if the millennial campus is an incentive to partner with the community. Mike said that the idea of the millennial campus is to having one source funding from the others, he noted that a medically oriented medical park is what they want the developer to look at next.
Council asked about potential restaurant options for families in Cullowhee, Rich said he hears this complaint throughout counties. Mike said that WCU has a good offering of food choices for students; he is concerned about Cullowhee being able to support more restaurants.
Mayor Begley asked about the new mixed use building at WCU, Mike said it is still expected to open in August and it will offer additional student housing and some retail space.
Councilmember Corwin asked about collaborating with WCU/SCC to discuss business ideas, Mike suggested doing a marketing and economy study. Rich said he would be happy to be a resource for a study without guiding one way or another.
The Council meeting for the Village of Forest Hills was held at the Jackson County Recreation Center at 6:30pm on February 02, 2016.
The following members of the Council were present:
Mayor Kolleen Begley
Councilmember Ron Mau
Councilmember Carl Hooper
Councilmember Clark Corwin
Councilmember Debbie Rowland
The following Non-Council members were present:
Jason Farmer, Sylva Herald
Stephanie Gibson, Clerk
David and Kay Shapiro, Village homeowners
- Call to order: The meeting was called to order at 6:47 pm by Mayor Kolleen Begley.
- Announcements: a) 2016 monthly meeting schedule is populated to the calendar on the website.
- Approval of Agenda: Councilmember Mau made a motion to approve the agenda; Councilmember Corwin seconded the motion, unanimously approved.
- Approval of Meeting Minutes from the January 05, 2016 Council Meeting: a) Open Session - Councilmember Hooper made a motion to approve the open session minutes; Councilmember Rowland seconded the motion, unanimously approved. b) Closed Session – Councilmember Rowland made a motion to approve the closed session minutes; Councilmember Hooper seconded the motion, unanimously approved.
- Acceptance of Financial Report & Checklist for the month of January, 2016: Councilmember Hooper made a motion to accept the Financial Report; Councilmember Rowland seconded the motion; unanimously accepted.
- LeAnne Pate: 2016 5K run in Forest Hills – LeAnne shared that the 2nd annual 5K run in Forest Hills will be held on April 16th , she said she has updated the packets and will email a copy to the council. She noted that per requests, they will be running in the opposite direction, starting from the University Inn and going west. She said they will have a banner; stations set up, and will have patrol on duty. She asked the council if they would like trash pickup. Councilmember Hooper mentioned portable toilets.
LeAnne noted that the Village will receive ½ price silver and bronze sponsorships, Mayor Begley said that she would update this information on the website. LeAnne said they will have a Facebook site when it is approved. LeAnne noted that they will have advertisements and flyers on running sites. She said that the funds raised from this event will be used to improve the school’s nature trail.
- Public Comment: David and Kay Shapiro approached the council asking for a guardrail to be installed at the bottom of Caves Spring Rd. or above their house. Mr. Shapiro said they purchased their home in 1990, he noted that they protested Caves Spring Road being built. They have had difficulty with water runoff and a couple of weeks ago during the snowstorm, someone ran off the road and went into their house, and he said this is clear evidence that there is an issue. They bought their home several years before the road was installed. He said he felt it is now a public safety issue.
Mayor Begley suggested starting a small ad hoc committee; she asked Councilmember Rowland and Councilmember Mau with his engineering background if they would serve on the committee.
Shapiro also suggested an ecology walk, having homeowners pick up trash from their home to neighboring homes.
- Reports
- Mayor’s Report: Kolleen Begley - Mayor Begley said that she was not able to attend the last Southwestern Commission meeting but did attend a presentation on “Walkability within Municipalities of Region A” presented by Nathan Clark during the Region A mayor’s meeting hosted by Southwestern Commission. She also noted that there was no new information to share on ordinance violations.
- Planning Board: Clark Corwin - Councilmember Corwin said that Caleb has not responded to him about being sworn in as a Planning Board member but Jayne was sworn in. He noted that State statutes require that the Planning Board have an ETJ member. He noted that the county can appoint someone. Mayor Begley said she has a list of names and addresses of homeowners in the ETJ area, she suggested sending a mailing to see if any responses are received. She said she will send the list to Stephanie for mailing and Councilmember Corwin will draft a letter. Councilmember Corwin mentioned that minutes were not taken at some of the Planning Board meetings and they did not have accurate records of all meetings, he asked that record keeping be paid for and asked if Stephanie would be interested in taking minutes for those meetings, she agreed to take minutes. Councilmember Corwin said that Kristy Carter recommended appointing a chair but he noted that there is not a willing member of the Planning Board at this time. He said that he would be the liaison and contact for now with Kristy. Kristy has scheduled meetings with tasks to occur. Councilmember Corwin said agendas are sent ahead of time and he asked that they be posted on the Village website. He noted that he asked Todd Collins to return to the Planning Board, he said that Todd is hesitant due to time constraints but said that he would be willing to assist without being sworn in as a member. Kristy is scheduling workshops and may have some on a Saturday. Councilmember Corwin said that as for the Future Land Use map, it is going back to the Planning Board because there needs to be a Statement of Consistency and there needs to be a public hearing.
- Safety: Carl Hooper - Councilmember Hooper said that there was one speeding citation issued. RPO – he said that methodology and matrix on how projects are selected was discussed.
- Jackson County CTP: Ron Mau – Councilmember Mau said that they have not met since the last meeting but will meet tomorrow; he said he will not be able to attend but Dr. Belcher from WCU is on the agenda.
- Roads: Debbie Rowland – Councilmember Rowland said she met with the manager of the Summit and they said that the people parking along the road are WCU students, not their residents. She said that she took a photo of a vehicle in front of the stop sign on that road, she asked Joel Setzer with DOT about the vehicle and he said that he cannot do anything about it because it is not on a state maintained road. She noted that this road is in the ETJ so is not enforceable by the Village.
Councilmember Rowland noted that at 864 SCC Dr., there is a piece of road that is washing away, and Joel Setzer said that he would take a look at it.
Mayor Begley said that she ordered a road name sign for the missing sign at Valhalla Rd. and the total for the sign, post, and hardware was $47.50. Councilmember Hooper made a motion to approve the purchase of the road sign from the Department of Corrections and necessary hardware, Councilmember Rowland seconded the motion, unanimously approved. Mayor Begley said the sign would need to be shipped to BH Graning for install which will cost $75. Councilmember Corwin made a motion to approve the $75.00 install charge; Councilmember Hooper seconded the motion, unanimously approved.
- Unfinished Business: Mayor Begley said that the cost will be less for the contract with Kristy Carter, there were a couple items removed, the estimate is $7200 if all of the hours are used. Councilmember Mau made a motion to contract with Kristy Carter; Councilmember Hooper seconded the motion, unanimously approved.
10. New Business:
NC Connect Resolution: Joint Jackson County & Municipalities from county meeting. Vote on Forest Hills adoption. Councilmember Mau made a motion to adopt the resolution; he stated “I move that the Village of Forest Hills adopt the Resolution in support of Connect NC, a $2B bond campaign for Education, Agriculture, Parks, and Water & Sewer.” Councilmember Corwin seconded the motion, unanimously approved.
Whee Farmer’s Market: they would like to hold the farmer’s market in the Village again this year but will have to get permission from the property owner.
.GOV domain name: Mayor Begley asked the council if they would like to have a .gov domain, if so, a request would need to be submitted through a Gov. Domain registration process, the cost is $125/yr. She noted that both the current “.ORG” and new “.GOV” would point to the Village website.
Council asked that this be put on a future agenda for discussion.
11. Additional Public Comment: None
12. Adjourn: At 8:20pm Councilmember Rowland made a motion to adjourn; Councilmember Hooper seconded the motion, unanimously approved.