December 2025

 

Village of Forest Hills Council Meeting

Tuesday, December 02, 2025 – 7:00 pm

Forest Hills Assembly Hall, Cullowhee, NC

 

The following members of the Council were present:

Mayor Marcia Almond

Councilmember Robert Kehrberg

Councilmember Daniel Shields

Councilmember Nilofer Couture

Councilmember Larry Ingersoll

The following non-Council members were Present:

 

Stephanie Gibson, Clerk

Jim Hartley, Planning Board member

Ron and Rochelle Mau, Residents

Amy Bollinger, Resident

Skip Almond, Resident

Sheila Gahagan, Auditor

 

  1. Call to order: At 7:00 pm, Mayor Almond called the meeting to order. 

  2. Announcements:

Reminder – Please silence cell phones for the meeting. 

  1. Approval of Agenda: Councilmember Shields made a motion to approve the agenda, Councilmember Couture seconded the motion, unanimously approved. 
  1. Approval of Meeting Minutes for November 04, 2025, Regular Council Meeting: (All meeting minutes are posted on the Forest Hills website once approved.) Councilmember Ingersoll made a motion to approve the meeting minutes for November 04, 2025. Councilmember Kehrberg seconded the motion, unanimously approved.
  1. Acceptance of Financial Report & Checklist for the month of November 2025: (All financial reports are posted on the Forest Hills website once approved.) Councilmember Shields made a motion to approve the financial reports. Councilmember Couture seconded the motion, unanimously approved.
  2. Audit Presentation:  Sheila Gahagan – Auditor Sheila Gahagan provided bound copies of the audit to the Mayor and Council Members and summarized the Audit for the board and answered questions.
  3. Public Comment: None
  4. Reports: 

Mayor’s Report & RPO/TAC: Marcia Almond – Mayor Almond provided a mayor’s report for the meeting with the following information:

She attended the SWC/TAC meeting on November 24th, she noted that Chris Cooper was a guest speaker.  There was discussion of the new construction on I-40.

Mayor Almond noted that the Council had agreed to retain Jay Coward as the Village Attorney and that he had been sent confirmation.

B & Al’s is set to cater the Village Social on December 14th and Catamount Jaxe has confirmed that the space is available for us from 4:00 – 7:00 pm.  We will ask that guests bring a dessert.

Roads:  Councilman Ingersoll shared that Aaron Jones completed repairs on both Meigs Way and Cave Springs Road.

Councilman Ingersoll said DOT will look into “striping” the entrance when other projects are completed.

Village Safety: Councilmember Couture said that Officer Shuler patrolled the Village for 16 hours in November. She said that there were twenty 911 calls; she noted that 4 of the calls were from Summit.  There were 4 calls from SCC Dr., and 5 calls from the motel and two from Cox Farm Rd.  The calls were for primarily for disturbance and health/welfare checks.

TWSA: None

        Planning Board: Jim Hartley said that they had a meeting in October and discussed waiting for updates to coordinate with Brown Haven Homes development plans.

 

  9.  New Business:

 

Swearing in of new Mayor Mau and Councilmembers Shields and Bollinger:  Stephanie swore in new Mayor and Councilmembers.

 

Organizational Meeting:  Mayor Mau held an Organizational meeting to discuss items to address moving forward.

a.    Elect Mayor pro tempore – Councilmember Ingersoll was nominated.  Councilmember Shields made a motion that Councilmember Ingersoll be the new Mayor pro tempore, Councilmember Couture seconded the motion, unanimously approved.

b.    Regular Meetings:  Day and Time (conflicts):  Council discussed and agreed that the first Tuesday of each month at 7:00 pm worked best.

c.    Work Sessions:  Mayor Mau suggested that work sessions be held on the date of the regular monthly meetings as needed prior to the start time of 7:00 pm.  Council agreed. 

 

Education Requirements for VFH Elected Officials:  Mayor Mau reminded Councilmembers that Elected Officials are required to take the Essentials of Municipal Government Training.  He noted that both he and Amy are signed up for the session being held in January.

 

Welcome Letter for Website:  Mayor Mau provided a draft copy of the letter he prepared for the Village.  Council agreed that sending a welcome letter was a good idea.

 

Planning Board Members:  Mayor Mau noted that two Planning Board members are needed since Amy is now on the Council and Raina has resigned.  Councilmember Bollinger said that she had spoken with April Hicks and she may be willing to join the board.  Councilmember Ingersoll said that he had invited a couple of residents to see if they might be interested in being on the Planning Board.  Council will discuss nominations at the January meeting.

 

VFH Social Media Presence:  Mayor Mau asked about the Village Facebook and whether or not members had to be accepted.  Council noted that the Village Facebook is open for residents and/or Council to post notices, updates, or provide general information.

 

Board Goals:  TBD

 

 10.  Unfinished Business:    

 

           Website Update: Mayor Mau recommended looking at the Village Website and looking for ways to improve and update the site and review information for accuracy. 

 
           Attorney Prospects for the Village: Mayor Mau said that the Village has not retained an Attorney.  He said that Jay Coward told him that he typically responds to an RFQ when be considered for a position.  Mayor Mau said that RFQ’s would need to be sent and reviewed before selecting an Attorney for the Village.  He will submit RFQ’s to Attorney Coward and any other Attorney’s considered and bring back responses to the Council for review.


Donations:  Council discussed donations to local agencies and would like to donate funds to assist but are not sure what the policy would be for a Government Agency to make those donations and it be done correctly from an audit standpoint.  Mayor Mau said that he would check with Darlene in Jackson County finance to see if she may know.

 

      Update on Grants:  Council discussed grant availability and will follow up with Southwestern Commission for potential availability.

 

      December Social Update:  Council discussed the upcoming Village Social and noted that previous signs will be used to post notice in the Village.  Stephanie has posted on the Village website and will send out postcards when they arrive.

 

      RPO/TAC Representation:  Mayor Mau said that he would serve as the Village representative for this board.

 
           Additional Comments:  Councilmember Ingersoll said that the Council needs to revisit the Dog Ordinance at the January meeting.  Council had previously discussed adopting an ordinance similar to the policy the Town of Webster has.

 
Adjournment:  Councilmember Shields made a motion to adjourn at 8:50 PM.