COUNCIL MINUTES

VILLAGE OF FOREST HILLS

August 06, 2013

The regular meeting of the Village of Forest Hills was held on August 06, 2013 in the meeting room at the Jackson County Recreation Center at 6:00pm.

The following members of the Council were present:

Jim Wallace, Mayor

Carl Hooper

Clark Corwin

Ron Mau

Suzanne Stone

The following Non-Council members were present:

Stephanie Gibson, Village Clerk

David Moore, Village Attorney

Quinton Ellison, Sylva Herald

(1)  Call to order: 6:00pm by Mayor Jim Wallace.

 (2)  Vote on Agenda: Councilman Corwin made a motion to approve the agenda; Councilman Hooper seconded the motion, unanimously approved.

 (3)  Approval of meeting minutes from July 02, 2013 Council meeting:  Councilman Corwin made a motion to approve the minutes with a spelling correction to one of the homeowner’s names, Councilwoman Stone seconded, unanimously approved.  (Approved meeting minutes are posted on the Village website.)

 (4)  Financial Information:  

Financial Report for the Month of July:  Stephanie Gibson provided the Financial Reports.  The budget for July included $1,014.18 in revenues from interest and sales tax and expenditures of $5,496.01 for notices/ads, police protection, entrance operating, insurance, audit payment, attorney fees, membership to the School of Government and clerk fee.   Motion to accept the financial report was made by Councilman Hooper, seconded by Councilman Corwin, unanimously approved.

(5)  Public Hearing:  No public present.

Update Relative to the Budget for 2013-2014:  Stephanie Gibson noted that the Budget for FY 2013-2014 needed to be revised to remove uncategorized expenses as a line item and proposed that $2,000 of that money go into Capital Outlay and the other $550 into Office/Administrative funds.  Councilman Hooper made a motion to modify the budget and Councilman Corwin seconded, unanimously approved.

 (6)  Planning Board: 

Mayor Wallace said he had hoped to have an update on the Village’s Mission and Vision from the Planning Board but he spoke with Janie Prentice and she asked that the Planning Board wait and give an update at the September Board meeting since the Planning Board is scheduled to meet next week.

(7)  New Business:  Councilman Mau asked about Cave Springs Road not being a Village road and Mayor Wallace said that as far as he knows, it has not been dedicated to the Village. 

Councilman Mau also asked about the growth that was covering some of the road signs on state maintained portions of North and South Country Club Drive.  Mayor Wallace said that he would contact the Department of Transportation about taking care of the trimming.

(8)  Old Business:  Mayor Wallace said that he had talked with Chris Greene regarding the purchase of the Valley and Mr. Greene asked to know the status of the potential purchase of the land by the Village after the proposed village meeting in September.  Mayor Wallace asked the council about scheduling a public hearing and it was agreed that a public hearing would be arranged in September.  Councilman Corwin asked if Chris was open to other options for the property, Mayor Wallace said that Chris told him that there could be a potential for a (PUD), Planned Unit Development.  Councilman Corwin said we may want to consider changing to a mix use ordinance to allow other options for a green area, walking trail, or office space.  Mayor Wallace questioned whether a business would be supported off the highway.

Councilwoman Stone mentioned that property values have dropped significantly in recent months and the prospect of developing would be costly and difficult to see a return on the investment.

Mayor Wallace asked if Councilman Mau and Councilman Hooper could determine the amount that homeowner’s taxes would increase if the Village purchased the property.  Councilman Mau said that could be easily determined.

Councilman Mau asked about Mr. Greene’s proposal to owner finance the purchase of the property, what were the terms and the interest rate?  Mayor Wallace said he is not sure how negotiable Mr. Green is but can ask about the rate and terms. 

(9)  Closed Session:  Mayor Wallace asked that the council go into closed session to discuss personnel and financial matters.  Councilman Hooper made a motion to go into closed session; Councilman Corwin seconded the motion, unanimously approved.

At 7:35 a motion was made to go back into open session by Councilwoman Stone, Councilman Corwin seconded, unanimously approved.

 (10)  Adjourn:  At 7:35 Councilman Corwin made a motion to adjourn; motion was seconded by Councilman Hooper, unanimously approved.