December 2016

VILLAGE OF FOREST HILLS
COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
DECEMBER 06, 2016
 

 

 

The Council meeting for the Village of Forest Hills was held at the Jackson County Recreation Center at 6:00pm on December 06, 2016.

 

The following members of the Council were present:

Mayor Kolleen Begley

Councilmember Carl Hooper

Councilmember Clark Corwin

Councilmember Debbie Rowland

 

The following Non-Council members were present:

Stephanie Gibson, Clerk

Bronwyn Burleson, Accountant & Auditor

David and Kay Shapiro, Village homeowners

 

  1. Call to order:  The meeting was called to order at 6:00 pm by Mayor Kolleen Begley. 
  1.  Announcements:   a) 2017 monthly Council meeting schedule – Council discussed the monthly meeting Schedule for the upcoming year and the availability of the room at the Jackson County Recreation Center.  Mayor Begley will verify availability. 
  1. Approval of Agenda:  Councilmember Rowland made a motion to approve the agenda; Councilmember Hooper seconded the motion, unanimously approved. 
  1. Approval of Meeting Minutes from the October 04, 2016 Council Meeting:  Councilmember Corwin made a motion to approve the meeting minutes; Councilmember Hooper seconded the motion, unanimously approved. 
  1. Acceptance of Financial Report & Checklist for the month of October and November, 2016:  Councilmember Hooper made a motion to accept the Financial Report for the months of October and November; Councilmember Corwin seconded the motion, unanimously approved.  
  1. Public Comment:  None 
  1. Fiscal Year 2015-2016 Audit Report:  Bronwyn Burleson – Bronwyn discussed the audit report and provided bound copies of the report to each councilmember.  Mayor Begley asked about depreciation of the Village streets, Bronwyn said they are still doing that and noted that they will want to capitalize the paving project next fiscal year. 
  1.  Reports
  • Mayor’s Report:  Kolleen Begley - Mayor Begley said there was no new information to report; there was no Mayor’s meeting last month.  Mayor Begley noted that she spoke with Tim Greene and he will continue to remove snow as needed from Village roads, she said that Councilmember Mau had called him in the past when needed but that she or Councilmember Rowland will now communicate with him as needed.  B.H. Graning will continue ice removal. Mayor Begley noted that the ditch cleaning had been done for the fall and it was recommended that gravel was needed on S.C.C. loop.  Council approval will be needed to pay the gravel fee.
  • Planning Board:  Clark Corwin - Councilmember Corwin said that the Planning Board members have discussed the ordinance changes and that Kristy Carter will finalize them in January and create a Code of Ordinances. Councilmember Corwin noted that Nilofer’s seat on the Planning Board expires in December and he would like the Council to reappoint her.  Councilmember Rowland made a motion to reappoint Nilofer Couture to the Planning Board, Councilmember Corwin seconded, unanimously approved.

Councilmember Corwin said that he received a memo response from Attorney Fox regarding the Council’s inquires on the Noise ordinance enforcement.  He noted that the Jackson County attorney has spoken with Officer Hooper and the District Attorney and concluded that the County could enforce the Village ordinance.  Attorney Fox recommended adopting the Jackson County Noise Ordinance noting that this county ordinance has been challenged and upheld.  Councilmember Corwin suggested that the Village ordinance be legally consistent with the ordinance of Jackson County and issue fines of up to $50 for violations, he will relay this information to Kristy.  In response to a Cave Springs Road safety concern brought forth by David and Kay Shapiro, Councilmember Corwin noted that he had a discussion with Attorney Fox about statutes relating to curbs, street maintenance, and repairs.  Attorney Fox said that statutes state that streets must be maintained and repaired as needed to remain safe but that a city is not responsible for weather or drivers.  He noted that an engineer could determine if any defects are present.  Councilmember Corwin recommended calling in a Civil Engineer to confirm whether or not the road is reasonably safe for travel. Councilmember Corwin made a motion for the Village to contract with a Civil Engineer for services to review the intersection at Caves Springs Road and South Country Club Drive for a cost not to exceed $1,000., Councilmember Hooper seconded the motion, unanimously approved.  Council agreed that Councilmember Corwin will contact J.M. Teague Engineering for consultation.

  • Safety & RPO Board:  Carl Hooper - Councilmember Hooper said that Kim Hooper was going to speak with the Sheriff about patrolman providing the Council with a report/log of calls received from the Village.  He said that there was a report of noise disturbance at the Summit apartments but that is in the ETJ area. 

RPO – Councilmember Hooper said he did not attend the last meeting.

  • Jackson County CTP:  Mayor Begley noted Councilmember Mau will continue to update the Council on CTP meetings.  Mayor Begley passed out handouts from Rose at Southwestern Commission on Socio-Economic Data Forecasting, she would like for the Council to make a motion to review and approve the projections and note this in the minutes.  Councilmember Rowland made a motion to approve the growth projections as given by Southwestern Commission Planning; Councilmember Corwin seconded the motion, unanimously approved.
  • Roads:  Debbie Rowland – Councilmember Rowland stated the potholes on Virginia lane have been filled and the brush had been cleared from the right-of-ways on the roads.  Councilmember Rowland also noted that there were a few street name signs missing that need to be replaced.  Councilmember Corwin suggested that the signs be installed with bolts that cannot be removed; Councilmember Rowland said that she would check with the installers about bolting the signs more securely. 
  1. Unfinished Business: 
  • Village Entrance & Rebranding:  Mayor Begley

Update on new logo: – Mayor Begley and Councilmember Rowland met with student and staff of SCC to thank them for creating the new Village logo and presented Chloe Collins with a $100 stipend.   

  • Village Entrance:  Mayor Begley noted that B.H. Graning has finished the first phase of the work on the Village entrance and asked for Council’s feedback on the next phase.  Council members discussed the layout and felt that there were too many plants and not enough scaling back.  Councilmember Corwin is going to ask for a recommendation regarding native plants, and Council requested to move this discussion to January’s meeting.
  • Tag Line ideas:  (i.e.; “Community first” or “Welcome Home”, etc.) – Council requested to move this discussion to January’s meeting.
  • New Sign – next steps- Council requested to move this discussion to January’s meeting.   

  10. New Business: 

  • Open Council Seat: Council will review potential replacements for Councilmember Mau’s vacated seat.  Mayor Begley asked the board to get the word out about needing to fill the seat and bring any nominations to January’s meeting.  Mayor Begley will also post the open position on the Village website.  
  • Contacting Realtor for Hooper Property:  Councilmember Rowland asked about contacting Jay Spiro (Realtor) about the parking that is still continuing on the private property he has listed for sale, Council agreed he should be contacted, Councilmember Rowland will follow-up.

  11. Additional Public Comment:  David and Kay Shapiro shared their continued concern about safety related to the intersection of Cave Springs Road & South Country Club Drive near their property.  Mr. Shapiro noted that he spoke in February at the Council meeting and again at the meeting in October providing potential solutions to the problem.  Mr. Shapiro stated that he feels that there is impending danger and he would like to request that the Village correct the dangers, at their expense, with one of the options he has outlined which include:  Re-routing Cave Springs Road, creating a diverter, installing a very stout gate to allow entry/exit to Cave Springs Road, or installing a guardrail. 

Mr. Shapiro noted that the Council had purchased and installed two caution signs (one for each direction on Cave Springs Road) that read “Slippery When Icy or Snowy” in response to his concern, but that he felt that signs are not a deterrent since he’s witnessed that cars don’t always stop at the Stop Sign descending Cave Springs Road. Mr. Shapiro said that one of Ben Graning’s suggestions was to re-route the road. 

Mr. Shapiro said that he would like to speak as neighbors. Mayor Begley noted that since the Council meetings are governmental meetings, they cannot engage openly in dialogue.

  12. Adjourn:  At 8:15pm Councilmember Corwin made a motion to adjourn; Councilmember Hooper seconded the motion, unanimously approved.