The following members of the Council were present:

Mayor Marcia Almond

Councilmember Robert Kehrberg

Councilmember Larry Ingersoll

Councilmember Nilofer Couture

Councilmember Daniel Shields

The following non-Council members were Present:

Stephanie Gibson, Clerk

Jack Brown, Planning Board

Jim Hartley, Resident

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

     2.  Announcements:

Reminder – Please silence cell phones for meeting. 

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

     4.  Approval of Meeting Minutes for December 05, 2023, Regular Council Meeting:(All meeting minutes are posted on the Forest Hills website once approved.) Councilmember Shields made a motion to approve the meeting minutes for December 05, 2023, Councilmember Ingersoll seconded the motion, unanimously approved. 

     5.  Acceptance of Financial Report & Checklist for the month of December 2023: (All financial reports are posted on the Forest Hills website once approved.) Councilmember Shields made a motion to accept the financial report, Councilmember Kehrberg seconded the motion, unanimously approved.

6.  Public Comment:  None

     7.  Reports: 

Mayor’s Report: Marcia Almond – Mayor Almond said that the RPO/TAC meeting will be held at the end of the month.  She also said that she spoke with Chris Lee at the NC Department of Transportation concerning road issues and that he will attend the February meeting. 

Mayor Almond asked about the Village landscaping contract and when it would end.  Stephanie will check the dates.  She said that she had spoken to Robbie Hess, and he does similar landscape maintenance, and she would like to get additional quotes for landscape maintenance and compare services provided.

Roads: Larry Ingersoll – Councilmember Ingersoll said that the small area to be paved is still not complete Tim Echard’s house.  He said that the roads were in good shape.

Planning Board: Planning Board Chair Tim Eckard was absent.

Village Safety: Nilofer Couture – Councilmember Couture said that the village she has not received the report with the number of hours the village was patrolled or the 911 report.

8.  New Business: 

• New Mayor Pro Tem – Mayor Almond said that a new Mayor Pro Tem needed to be selected.  Councilmember Shields said that he would be willing to assume that role.  Councilmember Ingersoll made a motion to appoint Councilmember Shields as the Mayor Pro Tem, Councilmember Kehrberg seconded the motion, unanimously approved.
• Seminars for new members of the Council – Mayor Almond said that new members are required to take the Essentials of Municipal Government course and noted that a course will be offered at Biltmore Park in Asheville February 15^th -16^th. 

9.     Unfinished Business:
   

•  Road Project follow up:  Mayor Almond said that she would speak to Jim Wallace about the road widening project discussed previously.  Councilmembers discussed the potential road widening and whether it would be beneficial.  The consensus of the Council was that it may not be worth the cost of the project and Councilmember Kehrberg suggested installing signs that state narrow road ahead to caution drivers and Council discussed installing mirrors in certain areas of the Village that would assist in areas with limited site distance.  Stephanie will order road signs and Councilmember Ingersoll will check on road mirror costs.

•  Update on Prospect Commercial Space:  No recent updates.  Councilmembers said that the Axe Bar has not caused any noise issues of which they are aware. 

•  Trees close to Village Roads:  Councilmember Shields said that he was concerned about the number of trees that were close to the road in the Village.  He noted particularly the number of trees that lined the area on SCC Drive.  He asked about the possibility of having someone look at trees within the village that are within 5’ from the road and see what it would cost to remove or trim those to prevent the danger of falling in the road.  Councilmember Kehrberg suggested having an Arborist check the status of the trees, he said that the County Extension office has someone that can do that.  Discussion to follow at the February meeting. 

•  Written Complaint:  Councilmember Ingersoll said that he had received a written complaint about cross ties left near the road at a house on SCC Drive and another complaint about debris left for a long period at a house on SCC Drive.  He asked the Council how to proceed and was told he should send a notice to the property owners who had material and debris visible to the road and ask that they address the issue. 

•  Ordinance Update:  Councilmember Ingersoll asked about the Ordinance update for STR’s being on the website.  Stephanie will post the updated ordinance. 

•  Update on Grants:  Councilmember Couture said she would check with Patricia and ask that she be researching grants that might be applicable to the Village.

     10.  Adjourn: At 8:10pm, Councilmember Shields made a motion to adjourn, Councilmember Kehrberg seconded the motion, unanimously approved.