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January Village Council Meeting Minutes |
| Date:
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Tue, 25 Jan 2005 18:09:57 EST |
Council Meeting Minutes
Village of
Forest Hills
January 3, 2005
Mayor Jim Davis called the
regular January meeting of the Council of the Village of Forest
Hills to order at 7:02 p.m., January 3, 2005. This meeting was
convened at the University Inn in the Village.
Council
Members present were: Sue Burton, Richard Iobst, Joe Rossano and Jim
Wallace.
Others present were: Sherry Wilson, Court Recorder;
Robert Rowland, Zoning Board of Adjustment Member; Lee Budahl,
incoming Zoning Board of Adjustment Member; Charlie Bauder, reporter
for WRGC Radio; Carey King, reporter for the Sylva Herald; Jim Weir,
Finance Officer; Evelyn Rooks-Weir, Assistant Clerk; Jay Coward,
Attorney for the Village; Charlie Clement, Attorney for Summit
Apartments of Cullowhee; Vann Stayton, one of four owners of Summit
Apartments of Cullowhee; Irene Hooper, EDC Village representative;
Charlie Burton; and Trish Davis.
Mayor Davis opened the
meeting with an invocation. The first item on the agenda was
approval of minutes of the December meeting. Copies had been
distributed to the Council members prior to this meeting for their
reading. Councilwoman Sue Burton moved approval of the minutes
with the correction of the spelling of Charlie Bauder's name.
Councilman Rossano seconded the motion which passed
unanimously.
Mayor Davis then turned the meeting over to
Councilman Joe Rossano who chaired the Public Hearing of the Zoning
Board of Adjustment. Councilman Rossano called the Public
Hearing to order and turned the floor over to Attorney Coward.
Attorney Coward presented orally a suggested amended decision of the
Zoning Board of Adjustment regarding the Summit at Cullowhee
Apartments application for a building permit that was filed March
19, 2004. The initial decision of the Zoning Board of
Adjustment, made on September 1, 2004, was to uphold the decision of
the Village Zoning Administrator, Richard Iobst, to deny the
building permit applied for by Summit at Cullowhee Apartment,
LLC.
The suggested amended decision was to allow Summit
Apartments at Cullowhee to build a fourth apartment building on a
4.5 acre tract, but deny its plan to build fourteen additional
buildings on an adjacent 10 acre tract. After some discussion
involving Zoning Board of Adjustment Members, Attorney Coward and
Attorney Clement, a vote on whether to accept the suggested amended
decision presented by Attorney Coward was taken. Zoning Board
of Adjustment Members voting for the amended decision were: Sue
Burton, Jim Davis, Robert Rowland, and Joe Rossano. Zoning
Board of Adjustment Member Jim Wallace voted against acceptance of
the amended decision.
The Public Hearing of the Zoning Board of
Adjustment was adjourned at approximately 7:40
p.m.
At 7:45 p.m., Mayor Davis called the Village
Council into session. He asked Finance Officer, Jim Weir
to present the December, 2004 financial report. Jim Weir
distributed a copy of the financial report to each Council
member. He called to the attention of the Council that during
the last two months of the calendar year, the Village has a larger
income due to Jackson County's collection of property taxes at that
time. A slightly over nine-thousand dollar ($9,000) payment
was made by Jackson County to the Village in December for collection
of taxes by Jackson County during November. Weir noted that
another large revenue item will occur in January for property taxes
collected by the county in December. Finance Officer Weir
called attention to a second item of note, that being a large
expenditure for Summit Apartments at Cullowhee litigation.
That amount was eleven-thousand, eight-hundred and twenty-five
dollars ($11,825).
Finance Officer Weir expressed his concern to
the Council again regarding the rapid depletion of funds. He
pointed out that the large litigation expenditure has essentially
depleted the Village's income from ad valorem taxes. He also
noted a balance of funds in the Village treasury of fifty-two
thousand dollars ($52,000). Weir pointed out to the Council
that he questions expenditure of seventeen-thousand dollars
($17,000) from Powell Bill funds. He is not sure whether this
seventeen-thousand dollars ($17,000) has to be paid from general
funds. If this is the case, then there is only thirty-five
thousand dollars ($35,000) in the treasury. Mayor Davis
reminded the Council that the ad valorem tax payment coming in
January will boost the treasury a bit. Weir estimated the
payment of ad valorem taxes due in January would be five-to-ten
thousand dollars ($5,000 to $10,000). Mayor Davis asked Jim
Weir to check into the expenditure of the Powell Bill funds to be
sure that the Village is adhering to the law regarding the use of
these funds. Jim Weir stated that end-of-year accounting would
abide by the regulations.
Councilman Wallace asked, "Can we
legally spend the Powell Bill money before we have it?" Weir
answered that financial statements do not show monies in accounts
such as Powell Bill, ad valorem, etc., but simply income or
expenditure. Mayor Davis asked Weir to check on this with the
auditors and report back to the Council. Jim Weir noted that
he had anticipated having the auditor's report to present to the
Council at this meeting, but it has not been delivered to him at
this date. He expects that he will be able to present it at
the regular February Council meeting.
Councilman Wallace asked
where the distributed financial report says that the Council has
thirty-five thousand dollars ($35,000)? Weir explained that
the bottom line shows fifty-two thousand dollars ($52,000) cash on
hand, and seventeen-thousand ($17,000) deficient Powell Bill
funds. The net result is thirty-five thousand dollars
($35,000). Councilman Iobst pointed out that the thirty-five
thousand dollars ($35,000) is the amount of cash on hand because the
Powell Bill funds likely will have to be replaced. Weir agreed
that he thinks that the Council will have to say that the monies
spent were taken from income derived from taxes rather than the
Powell Bill. Weir assured the Council that he will get a
definitive answer to this question before the end of the fiscal
year.
Jim Weir pointed out to the Council that the auditors have
already asked him to relay to the Council the need for the Village
of Forest Hills to have a policy statement regarding conflict of
interest. Weir shared with the Council an example of a
Conflict of Interest Policy Statement that was provided by the
auditors. Councilman Rossano asked Jim Weir if the Council
needs to approve acceptance of the policy statement presented.
Weir responded that he thought minutes of this meeting should
reflect approval of the Conflict of Interest Policy Statement.
Councilman Iobst raised a question about what is meant by the term,
"nominal value"? Weir answered that attorneys could argue
these points, but he suggested an arbitrary amount such as
one-hundred dollars ($100) might be thought of as a nominal
value. Councilman Wallace asked for clarification of a phrase
regarding "...selling of services of Council members...". Weir
stated that this did not relate to reimbursement for expenses
incurred by Council members. Councilman Wallace moved that the
"Conflict of Interest Policy Statement" provided by the auditor be
adopted by the Council of the Village of Forest Hills.
Councilman Iobst seconded this motion. The motion passed
unanimously. The "Conflict of Interest Policy Statement",
adopted by the Council of the Village of Forest Hills
is:
Village of Forest Hills Conflict of Interest Policy
Statement
Council members and employees are expected to avoid
engaging in any conduct that creates, or gives the appearance of
creating a "conflict of interest" with job responsibilities.
An
employee of a member of the Council will not engage in selling goods
or services to the Village and will not have a financial interest,
directly or indirectly, in any activity that conflicts with his or
her responsibility in the Village.
No gifts from any person or
group desiring or doing business with the Village will be accepted
by an employee or Council member except for nominally valued
items.
The Council recognizes that some employees or Council
members, in their own time, may pursue additional
compensation.
Disclosure of a possible conflict of interest shall
be made to the Council prior to Council's accepting of the possible
"conflict of interest" transaction. The Council may then waive
the conflict of interest policy of the Council.
Council
Iobst moved and Councilman Wallace seconded approval of the
Financial Report presented by Jim Weir for the month of December,
2004. Motion passed unanimously.
Mayor Davis asked for a
report from Irene Hooper, Economic Development Commission
representative. Mrs. Hooper had no report, but stated that the
Commission would meet later in January of 2005.
No
representative of the Village Planning Board was present to
report.
Councilwoman Burton had no report because the
Village/University Liaison Committee has not met since the last
Council Meeting. Mayor Davis did invite Councilwoman Burton to
attend a planned meeting of SPARK (Alcoholic Environment Liaison
Committee). Mayor Davis will brief Burton with details about
this meeting.
Mayor Davis called for Old Business.
Councilwoman Burton presented a problem to the Council of a littered
yard at one of the Motel Condos. She asked what could be done
about this? Mayor Davis answered that because there is an
ordinance against such an environment in the Village, the landlord
could be contacted to eliminate this litter at Unit Four.
Councilman Iobst will go through the realty company that manages the
property to learn who owns this property. Then he will write a
letter and cite him/her for violation of an
ordinance.
Councilman Wallace asked about street signs?
Mayor Davis responded that he had not given Councilwoman Burton any
list of street signs to be ordered.
Councilman Wallace
announced that he had not heard from Roger Turk about the
landscaping of the entrance to the Village of Forest Hills.
Mr. Turk indicated that in January he would be contacting Councilman
Wallace regarding this project. Councilman Rossano suggested
that other landscapers be contacted for this project. A
discussion regarding the entrance landscaping project and the
present appearance of the entrance followed.
Mayor
Davis called for New Business. He announced to the Council
that Councilman Iobst, on advice from Richard Ducker from
Chapel Hill, has tendered his resignation from the Village Zoning
Board of Adjustment. Councilwoman Burton moved that, with
"Thanks" to Councilman Iobst for his service on the Zoning Board of
Adjustment, Councilman Iobst's resignation be accepted.
Councilman Wallace seconded the motion which passed with no
discussion. Mayor Davis thanked Councilman Iobst for his
outstanding service to the Zoning Board of Adjustment, and asked for
his continued service as the Zoning Administrator.
Mayor
Davis announced that Lee Budahl has been recruited as a replacement
for Councilman Iobst on the Zoning Board of Adjustment.
Councilwoman Burton moved acceptance of Lee Budahl to serve as a
member of the Zoning Board of Adjustment to fill the vacancy left by
the resignation of Dick Iobst. Councilman Wallace seconded
this motion which passed with no discussion. Mr. Budahl was
welcomed to the Zoning Board of Adjustment of the Village.
Councilman Wallace will accompany Mr. Budahl to the Jackson County
Court House in the near future so that he can be sworn in to serve
on the Zoning Board of Adjustment for the Village of Forest
Hills. Councilman Iobst announced an upcoming class on zoning
issues to be conducted by Dr. Richard Ducker on January 11 at the
North Carolina Arboretum in Asheville. He moved that each
Zoning Board Member and the Zoning Administrator be encouraged to
attend this class and that the Council pay the registration fee for
each attendee. Councilman Wallace seconded this motion.
Motion passed. Zoning Board of Adjustment members who plan to
attend are: Lee Budahl, Robert Rowland, and Jim Wallace.
Zoning Administrator Iobst will also attend.
Mayor Davis
announced a grant opportunity coming up in March. These funds
are for parks or recreational facilities and are being distributed
through grants that must be submitted by March 31, 2005. A
discussion of grant writers followed. Davis suggested
Councilman Iobst contact a grant writer in Hillsboro, North Carolina
for assistance.
Councilwoman Burton announced that the
Village is to be the host in April for the next meeting of the
Jackson County Multi-Jurisdictional Committee. At this
meeting, each municipality reports on successful and unsuccessful
projects. The host council is encouraged to have all members
present. Councilwoman Burton suggested a number of possible
meeting locations. Details of this meeting will be given at a
later date.
Mrs. Irene Hooper announced that her term of
office on the Jackson County Economic Development Commission is
nearing completion. She is willing to continue to serve in
this role if it is the wishes of the Council. Councilman Iobst
moved that Irene Hooper represent the Village during the next three
years on the Jackson County Economic Development Commission.
Councilwoman Burton seconded this motion which passed
unanimously. Councilman Iobst asked that the minutes reflect a
hearty, "Thank you!" to Mrs. Irene Hooper for her service to the
Village as mayor for two terms and as Jackson County Economic
Development Commission Representative during the past three
years.
Councilman Wallace asked about the status of meeting
space for the Village Council? Mayor Davis has been unable to
talk with the Recreation Center personnel during the holidays, but
he was told that the center is busier with recreation
activities. A discussion about meeting space followed.
Councilwoman Burton volunteered to get information about possible
meeting spaces and report this to the Council.
There being no
further business, Mayor Davis called for a motion to adjourn.
Councilman Iobst moved that the meeting adjourn and Councilman
Wallace seconded it. Motion passed and the meeting adjourned
at 8:23 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by:
Evelyn
Rooks-Weir, Assistant Clerk
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