January 2014

COUNCIL MINUTES

                                                                 VILLAGE OF FOREST HILLS

                                                                          January 07, 2014

 

 

The regular meeting of the Village of Forest Hills was held in the meeting room at the Jackson County Recreation Center at 6:00pm on January 07, 2014.

 

The following members of the Council were present:

Mayor Kolleen Begley

Councilmember Clark Corwin

Councilmember Carl Hooper

Councilmember Ron Mau

Councilmember Dan Perlmutter

 

The following Non-Council members were present:

David Moore, Village Attorney

Stephanie Gibson, Finance Officer/Clerk

Quinton Ellison, the Sylva Herald

Ric Cardona, Village Planning Board member

Curt Collins, Community member from Cullowhee

Gerald Green, Director of the Jackson County Planning Department

Niall Michelson, Village property owner

 

  1. Call to order 6:00pm by Mayor Kolleen Begley.  

     

  2. Vote on Agenda.  A motion to approve the agenda was made by Councilman Mau, seconded by Councilman Hooper, and unanimously approved.

     

  3. Approval of meeting minutes for December 03, 2013 Council meeting a motion to approve the minutes was made by Councilman Hooper, seconded by Councilman Corwin, unanimously approved. (Approved meeting minutes are posted on the Village website.)

     

  4. Financial reports for the month of December 2013  Stephanie Gibson provided copies of the Financial Report for December.  Revenues for the month included $10,584.07 in Ad Valorem Taxes, $2,998.82 from Sales Tax, $10.99 Interest earned, and $5651.76 from Powell revenue.  Expenditures for the month included $480 for Police Protection, $700 for administrative fee/workshops, $26.40 for notices, $1478.39 for the entrance, and $1133.65 for Board of Elections.  As of December 31, 2013 there is $115,093.72 in the General Fund bank account and $18,630.07 in the Powell Bill bank account. 

A motion to accept the financial report was made by Councilman Hooper, seconded by Councilman Corwin and unanimously approved. 

     5.  Public Comment:  None

    6.  Presentation:  Curt Collins (Formerly Avant Gardens, presenting idea for potential use of valley):  Curt discussed his past work experience with farming.  He said that he had spoken with Chris Green about his property and his future plans; he said Mr. Green no longer wants to sell the entire property; he is willing to sell 10 acres to use as more of an events venue than farm.  The event venue would accommodate a large number of people; there would be room forlodging, camping, cabins, etc.  Events could have sound; the property could accommodate organizational meetings, community events, graduation gatherings, fairs, weddings, camps, etc.  Curt noted that he sees himself as more of a manager.  He mentioned his discussion with Chris Green about the price and said that Mr. Green wanted to come in as a partner for the price he has offered the property to him.  He mentioned that Chris would like to see a small version of an amphitheater which Curt does not necessarily agree with.  Curt said that he would look at the prospect with a consistent growth focus, not growth as quickly as possible. 
Councilman Perlmutter asked Curt about issues he experienced with sound volume at Avant Gardens, Curt said you would have to look at the kind of sound system that you allowed in order to prevent disturbances.  Gerald Green said that the details could be determined. 
Curt commented that the area he felt would be best for farming was an area that Chris did not want to sell.  He said that he and Chris had discussed having Trout and Cat Fish in the pond on the property and he would like to have a Goat dairy.  Councilman Corwin said that he was unsure of the financial sustainability with no current traffic impact.  Curt said that he would be willing to help the Village with farming contacts.
Ric Cardona said that he lived near a farm and events venue in Virginia and that it was a nightmare and asked Curt if there was a record of the complaints they received when he ran Avant Gardens.  He asked about the possibility of farming without the events venue and Curt said that he feels it would be impossible financially at the price Chris is asking for the property. 
    7.  Vision Statement prepared by Planning Board:  Councilman Corwin said that he feels Todd Collins spent a lot of time preparing the statements.  Councilman Perlmutter said he was thinking why someone would come here and what they would want, he feels people would want a safe, peaceful environment, with absence of conflict.  Councilman Corwin asked what the council wanted to do with the proposal, adopt it as it is or revise it.  Mayor Begley asked if the Council wanted time to review.  Councilman Perlmutter asked if it will be reviewed by the community.  Councilman Corwin said that he feels the Council is elected and needs to take initiative.  Councilman Hooper said he is fine with adopting the Mission/Vision now.  Councilman Mau said that it would not be a bad idea to get community feedback.  Councilman Hooper suggested putting it on the website.  Stephanie will post the statements on the website and Quinton said that she would post in the Sylva Herald that the statements will be on the Village website for review.  Ric said that it could be discussed at the joint meeting in February. 

     8.  Ethics Training class requirement:  Mayor Begley noted that all Council members are required to complete an Ethic Training class within one year of being sworn in, she provided Council members with a handout on how to obtain their Ethics training.  Mayor Begley said that the course she, Councilman Corwin, and Councilman Perlmutter are going to tomorrow will meet the requirements for their training.

      9. Email addresses for all Village personnel:  Mayor Begley suggested that all Village personnel have a Village email address to use when conducting village business or correspondence and said that she had checked on the cost of having emails set up for all personnel and that we could get the domain set up through Go Daddy and up to 20 email accounts for approx.. $167/yr.  Councilman Corwin made a motion that the Village use Village emails for all Village personnel, Councilman Perlmutter seconded the motion.  Councilman Mau asked about the user friendliness of the site.  Mayor Begley said that the site was user friendly and she would send instructions on how to set up emails.  Councilman Mau asked Attorney Moore if old emails need to be forwarded to the new email and he responded that they did not.  Councilman Hooper made a motion to have Kolleen purchase email accounts and be reimbursed; Councilman Corwin seconded the motion, unanimously approved.  Mayor Begley said that she would like an email disclosure on all emails regarding public record laws.

     10.  Regular Council Meeting dates for 2014:  (The Rec Center is not available on July 1, August 5, or November 4):  Mayor Begley said that she checked with Nick Breedlove to see if Webster’s town hall might be available and he said that he would check with the board and see if we could use their space.  Councilman Corwin asked Attorney Moore if there is a problem with the Village Council meeting at another public office and he said that it is not a problem as long as the alternate meeting location is announced at least two weeks prior to the meeting.

    11.  Define snow removal plan and point of contact:  Councilman Mau agreed to be the point of contact, he would call Tim Greene if snow removal is needed and B.H. Granning if salt is needed. 

    12.  Unfinished Business:  

    13.  Nominate and appoint 2 members to the Zoning Board of Adjustments:  Mayor Begley noted that the Council and two additional members, one near the ETJ area, is needed to serve on the board.  Ric Cardona  said that he would be willing to serve on the board, and Steve Brown volunteered to serve.  Mayor Begley nominated each and the council unanimously approved the two additional members. 

         Nominate and appoint a Co-Clerk:  Mayor Begley said that Terry Michelsen had agreed to serve as Co-Clerk, the council unanimously voted for her to fill the position. 

         Nominate and appoint Budget Committee members:  Mayor Begley said that she would like to recommend that she, Councilman Hooper, and Stephanie be on the Budget Committee, the Council unanimously agreed for the members to serve. 

         Planning Board:  number of members and length of terms:  Mayor Begley said that the Planning Board needs to have seven members.  Councilman Hooper said that the member’s terms need to be staggered, three members began in 2012 and four began in 2013.  Councilman Mau suggested that the seven members each serve three year terms.  Councilman Hooper made a motion that Planning Board member     each serve a three year term, Councilman Perlmutter seconded the motion, unanimously approved. 

   14.  Define and clarify which roads are Village roads:  (move to February agenda)

   15.  Construction Management students “inventory of roads” update:  (move to February agenda)

   16.  New Business:   

  1. Village Sign:  Mayor Begley said that the Village sign at the entrance had fallen down and needed to be put back up.  Councilman Corwin suggested that someone move the sign today and call Ben Granning to come and put the sign back up and make necessary repairs.  Mayor Begley said that she would ask her husband to pick the sign up and take it to her house until Ben could put the sign back up.  Councilman Corwin made a motion to contact Ben to put the sign back up and authorize a fee of not more than $200, Councilman Mau seconded the motion and Council members agreed except Councilman Hooper and Perlmutter.

  2. Routine Maintenance Schedule:  Mayor Begley asked if this is up to the Council or the Planning Board.  Councilman Mau suggested discussing the matter at the joint meeting in February.  Councilman Corwin made a motion that we use the previous maintenance schedule; Councilman Corwin seconded the motion, unanimously approved.

  3. Reports to start at next meeting:  Mayor Begley suggested that Councilman Hooper give a safety report, that Councilman Corwin be a Liaison for the Planning Board, that Councilman Perlmutter report on the roads, and that Councilman Mau be the liaison to the Council for any zoning-related topics reported by Ken Dickert, the Zoning Administrator, Council members agreed. 

  4. Public Hearing for Variance request:  Mayor Begley said that we need to set up a public hearing to hear a variance request and asked if it could be done before the next meeting and the council agreed that it could as long as it was announced in the paper.  It was decided that the Public hearing for the Zoning Board of Adjustments to hear a variance request appeal would be 5:00 on Feb. 4th at the Jackson County Recreation Center.

       17.  Adjournment:  At 8:00pm Councilman Hooper made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Councilman Corwin unanimously approved.