November 2010
COUNCIL MINUTES
VILLAGE MINUTES
NOVEMBER 9, 2010
The regular meeting of the Village of Forest Hills was held in the meeting room at the Jackson County Recreation Facility on November 9th, 2010.
The following members of the Council were present:
Clark Corwin
Carl Hooper
Gene Tweedy
Suzanne Stone
Jim Wallace, Mayor
The following Non-Council members were present:
Kolleen Begley, Finance Officer
Tammy Tawney, Clerk
1. Call to order made by Mayor Jim Wallace at 6:06pm
2. Swearing in of Ken Dickert (Planning Board Member) and Tammy Tawney (Clerk).
3. October minutes are unavailable and will be reviewed at next council meeting.
Gerald Green, Planning Director, Jackson County
Working with the community requires planning on a physical, economic and marketing level
states Mr. Green.
Discussion ensued regarding sidewalks, greenways and bikeways, linking students and others
safely from the other side of Hwy. 107, Speedwell Rd and Old Cullowhee Rd to campus. Mr.
Green also discussed Suzanne Roderick “The Greenway project” in
regard with working to embellish the community.
Discussion was directed at council regarding meeting with student body and hosting meetings
on campus to help educate and involve the student population.
Clark Corwin responded that the Cullowhee Coordinating Committee has recently emerged
and does include students, “realizing that students are stakeholders in this process and need to
be included”. Gerald Green verbalizes one way to achieve this would be to have a couple of
representatives from the students, the village and local businesses and form a
skeleton group initially, before taking it to the student body at large. Mayor Wallace inquires
about putting together a Steering Committee to help formulate a plan and reduce redundancy
going forward. Gerald Green responds that going on the community based planning
concept, the steering committee can outline questions like: boundaries of the community and
property owners within those boundaries. Going forward these guidelines will set the
physical structure of the community which is the first action of the first legal step to
incorporate these areas into an incorporated municipality.
Annexation
Mayor Wallace verbalizes that there will not be any forced annexation of Old Cullowhee,
Landowners may apply when they are ready and there must be 100% that sign for voluntary
Question asked on important aspects of annexation, Clark Corwin responds that revitalization
of the area is the primary reason, which would be an important aspect to community and
economic development. Kolleen Begley submits that
it was CURVE that initially came to Forest Hills to talk about annexation in an effort to help
secure grant and loan monies for municipalities. In response to the waiting for WNC’s
proposal, Suzanne Stone re-iterates that we need to go forward and form a steering committee
of folks from the various interests groups now as Gerald Green prompted, regardless
WCU’s timeline. Clark Corwin suggests that Tom McClure or someone from WCU
Administrations participate in a steering committee.
Financial Report: Kolleen Begley
There was little activity for the month of October. This included property taxes and police
Protection charges and we are on budget in fourth month of this fiscal budget.
Contracts
Gene Tweedy talked with R&R and they would like to talk to the council
regarding a proposal. Discussion ensued regarding the economic and environmental
impact of the continued use of mulch. Clark Corwin suggests that the council have “a
closed meeting” for discussion of contracts.
Planning Board discussion tabled until December meeting:Suzanne Stone made motion, Clark
Corwin seconded, motion passed, 6:40pm
Code of Ethics for Village of Forest Hills
Mayor Wallace and Clark Corwin discuss the need to comply with the state statute to adopt
A code of ethics. A sample copy was given to council members by Clark for review. Board
Members must take the online Ethics certification and there is a link available until sometime in
December. Mayor Wallace will mail the link to those who have not taken it.
Student Survey: Professor Todd Collins
Professor Collins handed out a sample survey to the council of questions that was initiated by
his students based on his interaction with the council. He would like the council to review
give feedback at the December meeting. Mayor Wallace suggests that question #10 should be
asked in two questions. If members have anything to add, it should be submitted
to Suzanne Stone prior to the December meeting.
Jackson County Landfill Changes
Per Mayor Wallace who received notification, the landfill will no longer be accepting electronic
equipment beginning January 2011.
Contract for Maintaining Village Entrance
Mayor Wallace suggests that the council will decide in December on a list of requirements to be included in a contractfor maintaining the Village entrance.
Planning Board Reports
There needs to be a written report from the planning board for the council to review.
Road Maintenance: Kolleen Begley
Kolleen has received a written proposal from Tim Green to do Cave Springs Road and the extension between N and S Country Club (the loop) and the ditch cleaning on the gravel roads. It is $650.00 forboth. It is excluded from needing3 contractor bids because it is under $1000.00. Discussion ensued regarding having the ditches on the paved roads done as well. Kolleen says Tim is willing to give a quote for this and has done so in the past. Kolleen will obtain 2 additional bids, the paved roads and the “bad area around Sue Burton’s”. Suzanne Stone made a motion to accept proposal at hand, Gene Tweedy seconded, motion passed at 7:08pm.
Discussion ensued regarding the interests of the Village vs. the interests of WCU. Suzanne Stone discusses that as Gerald Green alluded to, we need to “start at the grass roots level” getting the community involved. Gene Tweedy/Clark Corwin verbalize that we need to focus our vision on the residents and community of Forest Hills and what is important to them.
Discussion with community participant ensued on the definition of annexing and the importance of it to the council. Conversation continued with the question of Old Cullowhee’s interest in annexation and again it was stressed by Mayor Wallace that 100% of property owners must agree.
Meeting to Adjourn by Gene Tweedy, Clark Corwin seconded, passed. Meeting adjourned at 7:20pm