Village of Forest Hills Council Meeting
Monday, March 4, 2002
7:00 PM
University Inn
The regular meeting of the Village of Forest Hills Council was called to order by Mayor Jim Davis at 7:02 PM. Present were council persons Jim Wallace, Dick Iobst, Harold Williford, and Joe Rossano. Also present were Jim Weir, Financial Officer; Mary Ann Budahl, Clerk; Jay Coward, Attorney; Rose Hooper, Sylva Herald reporter; three representatives from The Summit apartments; and ten Village residents. Mayor Davis welcomed all present, said a short prayer, and then distributed the agenda.
Mayor Davis reported that he had met with Rick Styles of the Department of Transportation regarding the entrance to Forest Hills and whether another entrance was feasible. The council discussed the need for three outgoing lanes: right turn, left turn, and straight ahead. This plan would need to be justified by sufficient traffic numbers in and out of the Village. Mayor Davis will contact Mr. Styles again to discuss these requests with him.
Our Ambassador at Large, Irene Hooper is presently in New York helping 9-11 victims’ families cut through red tape to receive compensation. However, she, Mayor Davis and Dick Iobst had attended a Jackson County Joint-Government meeting where she brought up a proposal regarding a countywide education program where young children would be made aware of the problem of littering. The statewide anti-litter sweep will be conducted April 18-25, and the Village will conduct their semi-annual litter pickup on Saturday, April 20. More information regarding this will be forthcoming next month.
The minutes of the previous meeting of February 4, 2002 were accepted unanimously (Wallace, Iobst)
Mr. Michael Winstead, a representative of The Summit student apartments and two associates were recognized to discuss permits and building plans for Units 3 and 4. The permit for Unit 3 was obtained in April 1998 and construction will proceed in a few weeks. Unit 4, however, has not received a building permit, and falls under the ETJ umbrella. John Adams, a member of the Planning Board explained that there will be a special meeting of the Board tomorrow night during which Zoning Regulations for the ETJ area will be discussed. They hope to have the new regulations in place by the end of April. It was pointed out to Mr. Winstead that he could apply for voluntary annexation, which could possibly be obtained in a shorter period of time.
Mr. Winstead explained that the students who live in The Summit apartments all have a parent who cosigns the lease and who could be involved in enforcing regulations. There is an on-site manager during the day, and managerial supervision periodically at night. The members of the Council all agreed that Village residents have not complained of noise emanating from The Summit. Mr. Winstead also added that his company is concerned with landscaping, litter-control, planting natural barriers to control light and sound, etc. He stressed that they want to be good neighbors to the residents of Forest Hills.
Attorney Coward clarified that students living in an annexed area would have the right to register and vote. Mr. Winstead plans to send a representative to the Planning Board meeting tomorrow night. (There are 96 students living in Units 1 and 2, and Units 3 and 4 will house another 50 students.)
Clerk Budahl reported that there were 18 responses from the noise survey sent to the email population in the Village, and the majority of folks (12) said they were in favor of hiring a part-time deputy sheriff to control noise and nuisances. Motion to untable the motion regarding this issue from the last meeting (Wallace, Iobst) passed. The motion that was tabled was “to table the motion ‘to hire an off-duty deputy on a trial basis for an indeterminate period at $20.00 per hour’ until financial arrangements can be made.” Discussion followed. The motion to call the question (Wallace, Iobst) passed. Then the motion to vote for the principle motion (Iobst, Wallace) passed. The amended motion to hire an off-duty deputy at $20.00 per hour for the hours of 11 PM to 2 AM on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays for the eight weeks following Spring break (Wallace, Iobst) passed unanimously. The motion to add $1500.00 to the budget to cover this cost (Iobst, Wallace) passed unanimously.
The Financial Report was presented by Jim Weir and was accepted unanimously (Rossano, Iobst.)
Wallace reported there was no progress on the North Country Club Drive right-of-way to be reported at this time. He will continue to follow-up on this.
Williford reported that he was unable to make contact with the person involved with the water and sewer feasibility study. He will continue his pursuit.
The Budget ad hoc committee will convene in a timely manner – time and place to be determined by the Chairman, Harold Williford.
Motion to empower the Mayor to appoint a representative from the Village to the Solid Waste Commission (Iobst, Wallace) passed unanimously. Mayor Davis asked for suggestions of appropriate names.
Motion to allow Clerk Budahl to purchase a tape recorder for approximately $100.00 to be used during meetings (Wallace, Iobst) passed unanimously.
Motion to adjourn (Iobst, Williford) passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 8:42 PM.
Mary Ann Budahl,
Village Clerk
