October 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 October 07, 2014.
The following members of the Council were present:
Mayor Kolleen Begley
Councilmember Clark Corwin
Councilmember Ron Mau
Councilmember Carl Hooper
The following Non-Council members were present:
Stephanie Gibson, Finance Officer/Clerk
Tanner Hall, The Sylva Herald
Sealy Chipley, Chipley Consulting
Don Kostelec, Kostelec Planning
David Moore, Village Attorney
Bruce & Lillie Plumer, Village Homeowners
1) Call to order: The meeting was called to order at 6:03pm by Mayor Kolleen Begley.
2) Announcements: the next Council meeting will be held on October 28th at 6:00pm at the Rec. Ctr., this will be in place of the November 4th meeting due to elections.
3) Approval of Agenda: Councilman Hooper made a motion to approve the agenda, seconded by Councilman Corwin, and unanimously approved.
4) Charrette/Workshop Planning: Chipley Consulting & Kostelec Planning:
Sealy Chipley & Don Kostelec
Mayor Begley noted that the Charrette will be held on November 03, 2014 at Cullowhee Valley School from 6:00 – 8:30pm.
Sealy Chipley and Don Kostelec provided a handout, a Visual Preference Survey, to the Council to assess their ideas and goals for the community workshop/charrette. Don began by asking how the Council wants to see Forest Hills grow and asked that members review the photos provided and asked that they rate the features provided.
Mayor Begley suggested that a slide of sidewalks be included since that was an area of interest. She liked the photos of walking trails and green space.
Councilman Corwin suggested that an Apartment complex or Morton building be portrayed to generate discussion on types of space and structure to be considered for the Village. He noted that the areas to be included are not solely the “Valley” but also Hwy. 107 behind the Village sign.
Mayor Begley said she planned to invite Gerald Green from the Planning department, Rich Price from Economic Development, Rusty Ellis from Parks and Recreation, and Joe Walker, the Vice Chancellor for Facilities at WCU. Don suggested inviting Sarah Graham as well. She said that she will contact Rich Price, and Joe Walker, and Don said that he would invite Rusty and Gerald Green to speak at the Charrette.
Mayor Begley asked what should be mailed to residents and if there was a survey that could be completed by residents unable to attend. Don suggested that hard copies as well as online options be available to complete the surveys. He noted that they would use Survey Monkey for electronic options.
Councilman Mau expressed concern about online options versus attending the meeting. Mayor Begley suggested sending the invitations and expressing the importance of attending, noting that the meeting is not intended to tell property owners what to do with their property but to get community input and then posting a link online after the workshop for anyone who could not make the meeting to take the survey.
Council suggested having Survey Monkey require a name, email, etc. Councilman Corwin suggested adding whether or not a resident is a property owner, homeowner, whether or not it is their primary residence, if they are the owner, or if they rent or lease, etc.
Sealy said that she would provide a link to include with the invitations to be sent by Stephanie around October 10th.
Don and Sealy noted that if Council members had any pictures they would like to add, they could let them know prior to the meeting.
Mayor Begley asked the Council if they wanted to send the list to renters and homeowners and they agreed to have the list be all inclusive to ETJ. Mayor Begley noted that Elizabeth St. John and Matt Pollman have said they would attend the workshop.
Mayor Begley asked if light food and drink should be provided at the workshop. Councilman Corwin suggested Pizza with water, soda, and tea to drink, council agreed. Councilman Corwin agreed to order the Pizza to be delivered and to pick up the drinks. Council decided that food for approximately 40 people should be ordered.
5) Approval of Meeting Minutes from September 16, 2014 Council meeting: a motion to approve the minutes from the September 16th Council meeting was made by Councilman Mau, seconded by Councilman Hooper, unanimously approved.
6) Acceptance of Financial Report & Checklist for the month of September, 2014 Stephanie provided copies of the Financial Report for September.
Revenues for the month included $9,220.18 in Ad Valorem Taxes, $2,010.67 in Sales Tax, $1,405.75 in Franchise & Utility Tax, $6,223.85 in Powell Bill Revenue, and $13.55 in Interest earned. Expenditures for the month included $350.96 for administrative fees/reimbursement, $480.00 for Police Protection, $975.00 for Audit fees, $69.60 for notices, $92.00 for Attorney fees, $4,275.00 in Streets, Powell fundable, $6,000 for Fire Protection, and $235.61 in Entrance operating fees. As of September 30, 2014 there is $139,965.31 in the General Fund bank account and $18,405.02 in the Powell Bill bank account.
A motion to approve the financial report for August was made by Councilman Hooper, seconded by Councilman Corwin, unanimously approved.
7) Public Comment: None
8) Reports:
Planning Board: Councilman Corwin shared that he had contacted Steve Brown about replacing Janie as the chair but that he did not want to chair the Planning Board, he plans to contact Lee Budahl to see if he is interested. He mentioned that one member continues to no show for meetings and asked if that board seat was open. Mayor Begley asked if there should be rules that if a member missed three consecutive meetings that their seat is considered vacant. Councilman Corwin mentioned Kelly Donaldson and said that he would approach him. Mayor Begley said that she would reach out to the absent member.
Safety: Councilman Hooper said that there were no reports and that he was going to check on getting the Speed trailer for the Village.
Roads: Councilman Perlmutter was absent; roads will be discussed at the next meeting.
Ordinances: Councilman Mau said that Jackson County has not met so far.
Mayor’s Report: Mayor Begley said Ken Dickert has been enforcing ordinances and that residents have been receptive.
She noted that the next Cullowhee Community meeting will be held on October 23rd.
She called D.O.T., she said that Rick Bennett and Councilman Perlmutter brought up the wash out on the shoulder of North Country Club Drive, she said that Mr. Wesley came out to see the washed out area and she showed him the boulders as well.
Mayor Begley said she attended the Southwest Region A meeting, she noted that Councilman Perlmutter is the RPO Representative. She said that Steve Morris from WCU gave a report on employment, Tourism, and discussed what people are looking for in an area to live in.
9) Old Business:
Update on signage for Village roads – speed limit & no parking: Mayor Begley said she spoke with the county and they do not put up signs, she said that the Village can buy signs and put them up but to enforce them, the ordinance must be in place. She noted to change an ordinance, there has to be a public hearing, and she suggested that there could possibly be a hearing prior to the December meeting.
Council suggested having the no parking signs read no parking on pavement except in emergency situations. Mayor Begley asked David Moore if signs can define in an emergency situation, he said yes they can but he recommended stipulating but said that they could not say on state maintained roads because people may not know what areas is state maintained and what areas are not. He said that the signage should be a recommendation from the Planning Board.
Mayor Begley said that she also checked on the missing road signs, the green signs for N.C.C. and S.C.C., she said that the Village will need to purchase those signs, they are approximately $6. + the post. She asked the Council if they wanted her to get signage for roads other than the main entrance, she noted that there is an obligation to have roads marked for 911 addressing. Councilman Mau noted that there should also be a sign on Pin Cushion Lane and Cave Springs Road. He made a motion to have Kolleen acquire the road signs and necessary hardware not to exceed $200. Councilman Corwin seconded the motion, unanimously approved.
PARTF grant: Mayor Begley asked the Council what they wanted to do about the grant, Councilman Mau suggested waiting until after the workshop to get community feedback and then consider moving forward.
10) New Business
11) Adjourn: At 8:10pm Councilman Corwin made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Councilman Hooper, unanimously approved.