March 2014

                                                                       COUNCIL MINUTES

                                                                 VILLAGE OF FOREST HILLS

                                                                         March 04, 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 March 04, 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

 

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

  2. Approval of Agenda: A motion to approve the agenda was made by Councilman Hooper, seconded by Councilman Corwin, and unanimously approved.

    3. 1)  Approval of meeting minutes for February 04, 2014:  Councilman Mau mentioned that he believed that the property owned by Chris Green is listed under Mach 2 Investments, LLC as of April 2013. Also, he noted that there are two routes into the Village, the entrance and Oak Forest. Councilman Hooper made a motion to approve the minutes; Councilman Perlmutter seconded the motion, unanimously approved. (Approved meeting minutes are posted on the Village website.)

       2) Approval of Council and Planning Board Work Session minutes for February 17, 2014:   Councilman Hooper made a motion to accept the minutes, Councilman Perlmutter seconded the motion, unanimously approved.

    4.  Acceptance of Financial reports for the month of February 2014: Stephanie Gibson provided copies of the Financial Report for February. Revenues for the month included $3761.36 in Ad Valorem Taxes, $1,554.33 from Sales Tax, and $11.67 from Interest earned. Expenditures for the month included $1,020.00 for Police Protection, $729.10 for administrative fee/reimbursements, $735.00 in Attorney fees, $39.60 for Ads, $1,065.00 for Streets, Powell, and $324.00 in Entrance Operating fees. As of February 28, 2014 there is $137,051.66 in the General Fund bank account and $17,278.06 in the Powell Bill bank account.

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

     5.  Reports: 

  • Planning Board: Councilman Corwin would like to establish rules of order with the Planning Board. He mentioned using Ron Hancock, he is familiar with the Board and the only fee would be fuel and maps.

  • Safety: Councilman Hooper received reports from the Sheriff’s office; he says that it looks like the patrol runs stationary radar. There were no citations or contacts but there was a car parked in the road that was removed. Mayor Begley asked if Councilman Hooper discussed changing up the hours and times that officers patrol, he said that he did not but can discuss it with them next month.

  • Roads: Councilman Perlmutter said that he delivered questionnaires in the community and has received a few back. He said that he thinks he will work with Rick and Janie, follow-up, and try to deliver more questionnaires.
  • Zoning: Councilman Mau said that he feels Zoning has been covered for now.
  • Mayor’s Report: Mayor Begley said that she, Councilman Hooper, and Councilman Corwin, attended the joint meeting with Sylva, Dillsboro, Webster, VFH, and TWSA last night. She noted that Rich Price outlined the efforts on Economic Development and Bobby McMahan did a presentation on the 2016 Tax re-evaluation, he said that Commercial taxes will increase and Residential tax may go down which could decrease the Tax revenue by $8,000 - $10,000.

Jack Debnam said that the Economy picked up significantly in 2013.

Gerald Green spoke about the Transportation Plan.

Mayor Begley said that the next meeting will be held on September 02, 2014 and that all of the Board members and the Clerk are invited to attend. The meetings are held at the Senior Center. Mayor Begley said it would be good if everyone could attend the meeting in September.

Mayor Begley said that she thought it might be good to have the Economic Development Director come speak at a Council meeting. Councilman Corwin suggested that he also speak to the Planning Board. Councilman Hooper suggested having a joint meeting. Mayor Begley asked when would be a good time to invite him; Councilman Mau suggested having him come to the April or May meeting, whatever works for him.

Mayor Begley said that she would email the slides from the TWSA update. Councilman Hooper said that it sounds like TWSA has more capacity.

Mayor Begley said that each municipality has a seat on the TWSA board; she asked the Council members if she should ask about a seat and the council agreed that she should. She asked Councilman Hooper if he was interested and he said that Councilman Perlmutter was involved with Water Shed, Councilman Perlmutter replied that he was not involved very much now. He said he would consider it since he mentioned the water issue in the valley.

     6.  Finance Officer Reporting Requirements Checklist: Mayor Begley asked Stephanie to update the requests for the reporting checklist monthly.

     7.  Public Comment: None

     8.  Adopt Vision & Mission Statements for the Village of Forest Hills: Councilman Mau made a motion to adopt the Mission and Vision statements submitted by the Planning Board, Councilman Perlmutter seconded the motion, unanimously approved.

     9.  Adopt Rules of Procedure document: Rule (32) Committees and Boards needs to be changed; it should read two or more members.

Mayor Begley asked if there were any discussions. Councilman Perlmutter asked in rule (31) Appointments, why is Mayor’s ability to vote included when it is stipulated in the beginning? Attorney Moore said that you must have three Council members every other time to have a majority. Majority is required to make a motion to reconsider. Councilman Perlmutter asked if this is a generally accepted rule and Attorney Moore said that it is.

Rule (6) Order of Business, lists items, Council asked about changing the wording. Councilman Perlmutter asked if additional should be added and council agreed that it should.

Councilman Perlmutter asked about Mayor Begley’s response on Public speaking being 5 minutes, does the limit have to be 5 minutes. Mayor Begley said that we need to stipulate a time limit. Attorney Moore said that in all practicality, you don’t have the luxury of accommodating unlimited time when we are meeting in a facility that closes at a certain time.

Councilman Corwin asked if there is any other rules that anyone has an issue or concern about. Councilman Mau asked if they can be changed if needed and Councilman Hooper said they can be changed. Mayor Begley said that room was left under rule (25) Special Rules of Procedure, for any changes or new rules.

Mayor Begley noted that under rule (17) Ratifications of Actions, a motion debated has 6 months to be before it can be reintroduced, is that ok with the Council? Attorney Moore said the Council needs to make a motion if they do not want something reintroduced for six months.

Rule (32) Committees and Boards, should this stay as a template? Page 3 add additional time to public comment? Councilman Corwin made a motion to adopt the Rules of Procedure; Councilman Hooper seconded the motion, unanimously approved.

    10.  Reappropriate $17K excess money currently budgeted for Contingency & Capital Reserve: 

  • Contingency fund cannot be greater than 5% of the Budget

  • Capital Outlay – Mayor Begley said there was no motion made for Capital Outlay, she said that the money needs to go into a separate fund; it cannot go back into the General Fund. Attorney Moore said that he feels these discussions should be brought up when the Budget is being adopted for the fiscal year. Mayor Begley said that she wants to have the Budget in compliance with the rules and statutes. She noted that she confirmed these laws with the attorneys and finance professionals at the UNC School of Government and NC League of Municipalities during the Essentials of Municipal Government course in Asheville.

     Mayor Begley suggested moving the following amounts to a new line item:

     $2,000 out of Entrance Capital to Entrance Operating

     $11,000 out of Contingency to Police $5,500, and Street Maintenance Non-Powell $5,500

     $4,000 out of Capital Outlay to Travel/Workshops $500, Office/Administrative $2,000, and Attorney $1500.

Councilman Perlmutter made a motion to move the amounts listed to the appropriate line items as identified by Mayor Begley, Councilman Corwin, seconded the motion, unanimously approved.

     11.  Clarify discrepancies with zoning ordinances and zoning map:

The County recommended we add a table of Contents to the Zoning Ordinances document and that we move the Definitions to the front of the document.

Mayor Begley noted that there is no P-1 listed on the zoning map, but it is listed in the ordinances. Councilman Hooper said that the proposed P1 areas are ETJ and they left it R1 for them to ask for Annexation. He noted that the map on the website is correct.

Attorney Moore said that Ordinances are effective, they have been adopted and recorded, and there is no legal deficiency. They are changed when other Ordinances come into effect.

Mayor Begley said there are dates that are incorrect and asked if we could give the Planning Board discrepancies to address with new Ordinances, Attorney Moore agreed that they could be given to the Planning Board.

Mayor Begley addressed the Village Ordinance about the number of people in a Family Care Home/Group Home. Attorney Moore said he did not see the benefit of listing the number of people allowed. Mayor Begley asked if the Council was ok with her giving corrections to the Planning Board, Council agreed.

Councilman Corwin suggested that Kolleen recommend that the Planning Board get Ron Hancock to assist with Ordinance issues since he helped the prior Planning Board make two amendments that were adopted and is familiar with the Village zoning ordinances.

     12.  Schedule of Fees, and where are we keeping the application forms? (i.e.; only with Clerk? Website for download?) Mayor Begley asked about applications and whether or not we have what we need such as Conditional Use Permits, Zoning Variance, and Building Permits. Mayor Begley said that she and Gerald Green prepared a Conditional Use Permit. She asked Attorney Moore who they should get to assist with the documents and he recommended checking on the NC League’s website or the School of Government’s site. He noted that requests are rare and if forms are created, there is a duty to keep the forms updated. Councilman Mau mentioned having a disclaimer to contact the Village of Forest Hills for the most up to date version. Mayor Begley asked who wanted to address this issue and Councilman Mau said that he would and Councilman Corwin agreed to help and they would report on the issue at the April meeting.

Mayor Begley asked if the Council wants to charge fees. Councilman Mau said he feels that fees should be charged and Councilmen Corwin and Perlmutter agreed. Councilman Hooper suggested adopting the Town of Sylva’s fee schedule. Councilman Corwin said that we are not comparable in size to Sylva. Attorney Moore said that he doesn’t feel that the Village is at the stage to determine a fee schedule. Mayor Begley asked if someone could review this and bring suggestions back, Councilman Perlmutter said that he would review and report at the next meeting.

     13.  Old Business:

  • Construction Management students update: Councilman Mau said he just needs to follow-up and he will bring updates to the April meeting.

     14.  New Business:

  • Councilman Corwin said that the monthly village meeting for September is scheduled for September 2, the same date of the next Joint County & Municipalities meeting and asked about moving it to September 9. He noted that all municipalities have to call the meeting to order and adjourn separately so the Joint meeting could not serve as a regular Council meeting.

  • Councilman Corwin asked about the possibility of purchasing a Printer/Scanner/Copier, and a Projector to be used for Council and Planning Board meetings so that everyone can see the same thing and so that we do not have to ask staff at the Recreation Center to make copies when needed. Councilman Perlmutter made a motion that Councilman Corwin purchase a Projector and Portable Printer for $700 or less, Councilman Hooper seconded the motion. Councilman Mau amended the motion to have a spending limit of $750, Council agreed.

  • Mayor Begley asked the Council to think of Budget items to address in April and confirmed that the Budget Committee members can meet on Saturday, April 5th at noon. She will check to see if the Rec. Ctr. meeting room is available and can be reserved. Stephanie will advertise the meeting to the public on the website and Sylva Herald. 

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