The following members of the Council were present:

Councilmember Nilofer Couture

Councilmember Ron Yount

Councilmember Marcia Almond

Councilmember Daniel Shields

The following Councilmembers were absent:

Mayor Jim Wallace

The following Non-Council members were Present:

Stephanie Gibson, Clerk

Jack Brown, Village Homeowner

Clark Corwin, Village Homeowner

Skip Almond, Village Homeowner

Shea Shields, Village Homeowner

Rick Cardona, Planning Board

Ann Melton, Jackson Co. Clerk of Court

1. Call to order: at 7:00pm Mayor Pro Tem Almond called the meeting to order. 

     2.  Announcements:

Reminder – Please silence cell phones for meeting 

Swearing in of newly appointed Councilmembers Ron Yount and Daniel Shields

     3.  Approval of Agenda: Councilmember Yount made a motion to approve the agenda, Councilmember Couture seconded the motion, unanimously approved. 

     4.  Approval of Meeting Minutes for November 2, 2021Regular Council Meeting:(All meeting minutes are posted on the Forest Hills website once approved.) Councilmember Couture made a motion to approve the meeting minutes for November 2, 2021, Councilmember Yount seconded the motion, unanimously approved. 

     5.  Acceptance of Financial Report & Checklist for the month of November 2021: (All financial reports are posted on the Forest Hills website once approved.) Councilmember Shields made a motion to accept the financial report, Councilmember Couture seconded the motion, unanimously approved. 

Stephanie checked on local banks for the best rates and reported that Jackson Savings Bank had the best interest rate she found locally at .35%.  Councilmember Couture made a motion for Stephanie and Mayor Wallace to sign required documents and move the Money Market Acct. from First Citizens Bank to Jackson Savings Bank, Councilmember Yount seconded the motion, unanimously approved.

    6. Public Comments: None 

     7.  Reports: 

Mayor’s Report: Jim Wallace – Mayor Wallace was out of town and absent for this meeting. 

Roads: Ron Yount - Councilmember Yount said that the only issue he had noticed was a tree that had fallen on the bank between his house and the University Inn.  He said he would contact B.H. Graning about clearing the tree. 

Councilmember Yount said that he spoke with Kim Shuler about the Solid Waste Committee And said the next meeting will be in January and he plans to attend.

RPO/TAC: Marcia Almond – Councilmember Almond said she attended the meeting on 11-22 and met the new director, Russ Harris.  She said there will be a meeting tomorrow and they will be discussing potential uses for the APR funds.

Planning Board: Rick Cardona provided an update on the Planning Board, he said due to Covid the board had not met other than a time or two via zoom.  He said that he spoke with Mayor Wallace and that he plans to hold the January meeting on 1-17-21 and hopes to get back to the normal meeting schedule of the third Monday each month for 2022.  Councilmember Almond asked how many members are currently on the board and he said 4 but that more will need to be nominated the first of the year.  Mark Ellison will need to be sworn in, his term has expired, one additional member will need to be appointed to have the required number of 5 members.

Village Safety: Nilofer Couture – Councilmember Couture said that two officers patrolled a combined 46 hours for the month. She said that there were twenty 911 calls on the report and noted that five of them came from The Summit, 2 from Prospect, 5 from Pin Cushion and several from the University Inn. 

Councilmember Couture asked one of the officers about the abandoned car on SCC Dr. and he said although it has VA tags, it is registered to a man in Texas and has not been reported as stolen.  The officer said to put a notice on the car that if it is not moved in two weeks, it will be towed.  If it is not moved, it will be towed and stored and if the owner wants to get the vehicle at that point, he will be responsible for towing and storage fees.

Councilmember Couture also mentioned that there is a Ferrell cat population in the village particularly near the University Inn.  She spoke with Kaleb Lynch and he said that if the cats could be caught, they could have the cats fixed and tag them.  Rick Cardona said that he would speak to Jay Patel at the University Inn about assistance catching some of the cats.

8. Unfinished Business:  

     9. New Business: The Audit contract was revised to provide additional time for approval.  Council approved the revision to allow the date to be extended to 12-15-21. 

    10.  Adjourn: At 7:30pm, Councilmember Shields made a motion to adjourn, Councilmember Yount seconded the motion, unanimously approved.