October 2025
The following members of the Council were present:
Councilmember Daniel Shields
Councilmember Nilofer Couture
Councilmember Larry Ingersoll
The following members of the Council were absent:
Councilmember Robert Kehrberg
Mayor Marcia Almond
The following non-Council members were Present:
Stephanie Gibson, Clerk
Jamie Ashe, Village Patrol
Jim Hartley, Planning Board member
Ron and Rochelle Mau, Residents
Ron Yount, Resident
- Call to order: At 7:00 pm, Mayor Pro Tem Shields called the meeting to order.
2. Announcements:
Reminder – Please silence cell phones for the meeting.
3. Approval of Agenda: Councilmember Ingersoll made a motion to approve the agenda, Councilmember Couture seconded the motion, unanimously approved.
4. Approval of Meeting Minutes for September 02, 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 September 02, 2025. Councilmember Couture seconded the motion, unanimously approved.
5. Acceptance of Financial Report & Checklist for the month of September 2025: (All financial reports are posted on the Forest Hills website once approved.) Councilmember Ingersoll made a motion to approve the financial reports. Councilmember Couture seconded the motion, unanimously approved.
6. Guest Speaker: Jamie Ashe, with the Jackson County Sheriff's Office, attended the meeting to discuss Village Patrol. He said that Sheriff Farmer was not available to attend the meeting. Officer Ashe said that he had been patrolling the Village in the mornings before he went to work and the evenings when returning home. He said that he did have a new officer patrolling, Jarrett Shuler, and that Ty Foxx may be returning to do some patrol in the Village. Councilman Shields spoke to Jamie about having a memorandum of understanding or a contract with the Sheriff’s office for patrolling the Village. Jamie said that he would speak to Sheriff Farmer about a contract or MOA. Jamie said that there have been patrols in the Village and will be more in the next month. He said if anyone has any issues in the Village to please contact him anytime. Jamie will be over the patrolling officers in the Village.
The Council and the residents in attendance were emphatic that there needs to be more done to stop speeders in the village, especially on North Country Club.
7. Public Comment: None
8. Reports:
Mayor’s Report & RPO/TAC: Marcia Almond – Mayor Almond had to have a medical procedure and was absent. She provided a mayor’s report for the meeting with the following information:
Mayor Almond sent a letter to Holly Jones, WNC field representative for Gov Stein, on behalf of JCPL Allies to raise awareness of the county's application to the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (DCNR) for approval to be an independent library. The purpose is to put the issue on the governor's radar.
Attended disaster recovery grant series: Renew NC infrastructure meeting on September 16th at SCC.
Our sealed engineering report from Withers Ravenel has been sent to the offices of Senators Tillis, Budd, and Corbin, Representatives Edwards and Clampitt, and the SWC. We have heard from Rep Clampitt, indicating he will start looking for funds. Becca Scott and Sean Smallwood have started their search and are excited to be working on this project. I hope that we can procure enough funds to complete Phase One, which is just under $11 million. Of course, the project will not proceed until we have the funds to pay for it. This project was the dream child of former mayor Jim Wallace. I would love to see it come to fruition.
September 17-18Mayor Almond attended the NC Mayor Association’s fall meeting in Asheville, presided by President Donald Andrews, mayor of Broadway, NC. Updates from all municipalities present. Updates from League leaders regarding upcoming legislation. Senator Kevin Corbin and Representative Lindsey Prather spoke of budget challenges and took questions. Asheville Mayor Mannheimer and other Asheville officials described the challenges they faced during the aftermath of Helene. Our keynote speaker was Lt Governor Rachel Hunt. But the greatest gift of this meeting is the camaraderie of fellow mayors, sitting in rocking chairs on the porch on a pleasant mountain evening, sharing anecdotes from which we can all laugh and learn.
Environmental Inc. has tested the water in Cox Creek. Larry can give details. I received the invoice today and forwarded it to Stephanie. The report should be forthcoming.
On Sept 22 SWC/TAC presentation by Reginald Speight, Assistant Secretary of Commerce, addressed grants available through his department. Mr. Speight visits the SWC regularly.
Roads: Councilman Ingersoll shared that Aaron Jones should be repairing both Meigs Way and Cave Springs Road this month. He will ask him at that time to drive the loop to see what repairs are needed on SCC and NCC for the future.
Councilman Ingersoll said that he received an email from Garrett Higdon with Jackson County DOT saying that once they complete the repairs on SCC Drive, they will have their “striping” department look into redoing the entrance when patching is complete. Patching was completed on 10/6.
Carolina Water finished the repairs to the upper portion of NCC Dr. on 10/6.
Councilman Ingersoll noted that the Cave Springs Road sign has been installed. Also, the “School Bus Turn Around” signs are up on SCC Dr.
Councilmember Couture said that the mirror near her home on NCC needs to be adjusted and/or repaired. Councilman Ingersoll said that he would check on having the repair done.
Councilman Ingersoll received an email from Amanda Murphy at the NC Dept. of Environmental Quality saying that they may have a source to remove the downed Buckeye tree lying across the stream at the intersection of NCC and SCC. Council discussed and suggested that Larry call Brown Haven Homes to see if they have a resource to move the tree.
Ron Yount and Alex from Environmental, Inc., toured the golf course Wetland areas with Councilman Ingersoll and took samples to determine the water quality. Councilman Ingersoll said that Ron was out guiding us from 9-12 and that they could not have identified all the areas without his expertise. He recommended that we pay Ron $150 for his services. Councilman Shields made a motion that we pay Ron Yount $150 for his services. Councilmember Couture seconded the motion, unanimously approved.
Councilman Ingersoll said that Robby Hess would like to purchase holiday decorations to enhance the Village entrance. Consensus was to allow Robby to purchase holiday decorations for the entrance up to $150.
Village Safety: Councilmember Couture said that Officer Shuler patrolled the Village for 6 hours in September. She said that there were twenty-five 911 calls; she noted that 72% of the calls were from Prospect and Summit. There were 18 calls from Prospect and Summit, and 3 calls from the motel. The calls were for domestic violence, disturbances, and a repossession.
Councilmember Couture said that there are several cars that come through the Village with no mufflers and asked if that could be addressed by the noise ordinance. Council said that they would have to follow up and review the ordinance.
TWSA: None
- Planning Board: Jim Hartley said that they had a meeting in September and discussed that they would wait for updates to coordinate with Brown Haven Homes development plans. He noted that Raina mentioned the possibility of driveway and/or street lighting in the Village. Council discussed that some residents did not want street lighting near their homes.
- New Business:
- Circles of Jackson County: Councilmember Couture said that Circles invited the Village Council to participate in a Community Action Poverty Simulation to be held in the WCU Grand Room on November 15th from 9-1.
10. Unfinished Business:
- Update on Grants: TBC
11. Additional Comments:
12. Adjournment: At 8:25 pm, Councilmember Ingersoll made a motion to adjourn the meeting.