The following members of the Council were present:

Councilmember Nilofer Couture

Councilmember Ron Yount

Councilmember Marcia Almond

The following members of the Council were absent:

Councilmember Daniel Shields

Mayor Jim Wallace

The following non-Council members were Present:

Stephanie Gibson, Clerk

Brad & Patricia Wink, Village residents

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 

     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 August 02, 2022, Regular 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 August 02, 2022, Councilmember Yount seconded the motion, unanimously approved. 

     5.  Acceptance of Financial Report & Checklist for the month of August 2022: (All financial reports are posted on the Forest Hills website once approved.) Councilmember Yount made a motion to accept the financial report, Councilmember Couture seconded the motion, unanimously approved. 

Stephanie asked for funds to be reclassed to cover additional fees charged for Village membership not previously billed and a small difference in the Insurance rates. Councilmember Yount made a motion to have funds reclassed to cover the membership and Ins. fees of $117. and $1039. from Professional Services, Councilmember Couture seconded the motion, unanimously approved.

     6.  Public Comments:  None

     7.  Reports: 

Mayor’s Report: Jim Wallace – Mayor Wallace was absent.

Roads: Ron Yount – Councilmember Yount said the roads looked okay but there were a few trees that needed to be trimmed or removed.

RPO/TAC: Marcia Almond – Councilmember Almond said there has not been a meeting since they had their annual dinner on 7-25 and she and Skip, Jim and Gloria, Ron and Diane and Stephanie attended.

Planning Board: Rick Cardona was absent

Village Safety: Nilofer Couture – Councilmember Couture said that the village was patrolled a total of 46 hrs. for the month and there were 51 calls, she noted that the majority were from Prospect, University Inn, and the Summit, two were made from Oak Forest for Vandalism.

8.  Unfinished Business:  

• Update on Municipal Grant:  Stephanie noted that the Municipal Grant in the amount of $4500 would be used to improve landscaping at the entrance.  BH Graning sent an estimated start time of November for the improvements and provided a list of landscaping options that need to be reviewed.
• Planning Board meeting/member status: Councilmember Almond asked Councilmembers to ask friends or neighbors who might be interested. Councilmember Couture asked that Planning Board manuals be printed, Stephanie will make a copy for Council.
• VFH SW Corner Property:  Councilmember Almond said the contract has been signed by the Village, but she hasn’t heard back on closing the purchase of the parcels purchased from the Dillards, she will follow up.
• Discussion of entrance work not covered by the Municipal Grant:  Councilmembers discussed the work on the left side of the entrance quoted by BH Graning and said that we needed to get two additional quotes for the work, if possible, for the work not covered by the grant since the amount is over $5K.  Councilmembers discussed the property being surveyed as well and agreed that they should be done prior to closing if possible.

     Update on Prospect Commercial Space:  No new information. 

9. New Business:  

• Drapes for Village Assembly Hall:  Councilmember Almond asked about drapes being hung in the Assembly Hall.  Councilmember Couture made a motion to approve the purchase of drapes for the Assembly Hall, Councilmember Yount seconded the motion, unanimously approved.
• Uncomplicated Kitchen Fundraiser:  Councilmember Couture asked the council about sponsoring the fundraiser again as the Village did last year for $100.  Councilmember Yount made a motion to approve the $100 donation to the Uncomplicated Kitchen, Councilmember Couture seconded the motion, unanimously approved.

   10.  Adjourn: At 8:15pm, Councilmember Couture made a motion to adjourn, Councilmember Yount seconded the motion, unanimously approved.

The following members of the Council were present:

Mayor Jim Wallace

Councilmember Nilofer Couture

Councilmember Ron Yount

Councilmember Daniel Shields

Councilmember Marcia Almond

The following Councilmembers were absent:

The following non-Council members were Present:

Stephanie Gibson, Clerk

Jack Brown, Village Homeowner

Patricia O’Neil, Grant Writer

1. Call to order: at 7:00pm Mayor Wallace called the meeting to order. 

     2.  Announcements:

Reminder – Please silence cell phones for meeting 

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

      4.  Approval of Meeting Minutes for February 01, 2022, Regular Council Meeting:(All meeting minutes are posted on the Forest Hills website once approved.) Councilmember Almond made a motion to approve the meeting minutes for February 01, 2022, Councilmember Yount seconded the motion, unanimously approved. 

      5.  Acceptance of Financial Report & Checklist for the month of February 2022: (All financial reports are posted on the Forest Hills website once approved.) Councilmember Yount made a motion to accept the financial report, Councilmember Shields seconded the motion, unanimously approved. 

Stephanie noted that a separate line item for the Village social had been added as discussed and voted on at the January meeting. 

Also, Stephanie noted that she and Mayor Wallace transferred the Village money market account from First Citizen’s Bank to Jackson Savings Bank as voted on and approved in January due to a better interest rate.  They also met and opened a separate account at United Community Bank as recommended by the Auditor and voted on for the Village ARP funds.

6. Public Comments: None  

7. Grant Writing – Patricia O’Neil - Ms. O’Neil who is a Grant Writer in Cherokee presented a handout with information about herself, what she does, and what potential funding and grant opportunities are available to Municipalities.  She provided several potential funding sources such as the Nature Conservancy, Land Trust Alliance, State Division of Water Infrastructure, the Dogwood Health Trust and USDOT among others.  

Council discussed potential ideas for projects in the village and several were mentioned, a park, purchasing small tracts of land available within the village for park or recreational areas and additional Landscaping at the entrance to for the smaller municipal grant.  Council discussed and agreed to hold a public hearing on 3-17-22 to gather input from residents and decide what they would like to apply for and potentially hiring Ms. O’Neil to research and apply for grants on behalf of the Village.

     8.  Reports: 

Mayor’s Report: Jim Wallace –

Mayor Wallace said that he had spoken to Attorney Anthony Fox about the Ordinances, and he had emailed him a copy of the ordinances that Mike Poston had submitted with a few revisions, and he would forward the email to the Council.

Mayor Wallace said he wanted ideas for grants that were feasible for the village to obtain and use.

Roads: Ron Yount - He said the only issue he had noticed was a tree that needed to come down, but it is on state maintained property.

Councilmember Yount said that he attended the Solid Waste Committee but only 5 people attended so they did not decide anything.  He will attend the next meeting in April.

RPO/TAC: Marcia Almond – Councilmember Almond said there were no meetings, but Russ Harris sent her an email with potential grant opportunities, and she would forward it to the Mayor and Council to review.

Planning Board: Rick Cardona was absent

Village Safety: Nilofer Couture – Councilmember Couture said that two officers patrolled a combined 39 hours for the month. She noted that 50% of the 911 calls made for the month came from The Summit and Prospect.  She noted that one came from the University Inn regarding the Homeless program and 3 came from Caves Springs.

Councilmember Couture said she would try to get the county Municipal Grant submitted for additional landscaping near the entrance.

9.  Unfinished Business:  

• Village Entrance Repair Update/Estimates: Mayor Wallace said that he spoke with B.H. Graning and the entrance repairs should be completed by May.  The Insurance company submitted the check for payment of the repairs.
• Update on Municipal Grant:  Councilmember Couture will submit the grant application for additional landscaping needs.
• Planning Board meeting/member status: Mayor Wallace asked that the Council members each ask one person if they would be interested in serving on the Planning Board and report back at the April meeting.
• Update on Prospect commercial space:  Mayor Wallace said that he spoke with the Attorney about zoning, and he would report when he has more information.
• 10.  New Business: 

     11.  Adjourn: At 8:50pm, Councilmember Shields made a motion to adjourn, Councilmember Yount seconded the motion, unanimously approved.