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County leaders hear from range foes
By Derek Hodges
County officials again heard from opponents of a proposed shooting range on Tilley Creek on Monday (May 2).
Mark Jamison, Perry Eury and Louis Spagna, all residents of the Tilley Creek area, spoke on the issue during the public comment porition of the commissioners’ meeting, even though the issue wasn’t on the agenda.
Jamison and Spagna both thanked commissioners Joe Cowan and Conrad Burrell for “taking a stand” on the range. At commissioners’ April 18 meeting Cowan and Burrell made and seconded, respectively, a motion to ask the planning board to draft an ordinance on shooting ranges.
“I understand why you did what you did,” Jamison said to commissioners’ Chairman Brian McMahan and Commissioner Roberta Crawford, who both voted against the measure. “We all hold some of the same principles dear.”
Eury presented a site assessment of the Tilley Creek area that he said had been compiled by Tilley Creek residents.
While the situation isn’t one they would prefer, having a common cause has united Eury and his neighbors, he said.
“I thank God for the people I’ve met and worked with,” he said.
“We’ve only just begun,” Spagna said as he took the speakers’ podium.
Spagna promised that he and his neighbors would continue fighting to stop Smoke Rise Field Club’s effort to come to Tilley Creek.
“This isn’t about guns. It isn’t even about a shooting range. What we know is that it’s about real estate development,” he said.
At previous meetings Spagna had suggested that the relocation bid is really an effort to get locals to move off Tilley Creek so the land could be developed for the wealthy.
“They need to listen and they’re not listening to us,” he said. “Leave us alone. Leave Tilley Creek alone.”
Later in the meeting Commissioner Joe Cowan asked that commissioners have a first read on the ordinance at a special session at 3 p.m. Tuesday, May 10.
County planner Linda Cable said a draft ordinance should be ready by that meeting. The planning board will meet to discuss the issue today (Thursday) at 6 p.m. in the Justice Center.
In other business May 2:
Heavy metal – A report was given on the efforts of Leadership Jackson in the “Heavy Metal Round-up” it held in April. Several groups worked on the project to pick up discarded appliances.
“We wanted to assist members of the community with cleaning up their households and the areas around their homes,” said Matthew Chadwick, a member of Leadership Jackson.
The effort netted 107 appliances and $565, which will be divided between the county’s greenway project and the Western Carolina University lacrosse club team.
Budget work session – Officials agreed to meet at 3:15 p.m. Tuesday, May 10, to continue work on the budget for the next fiscal year. The meeting will be held prior to a 6 p.m. meeting between the county and the municipalities.
Officer recognition – Upon a request by Sheriff Jimmy Ashe, commissioners voted to recognize Sunday through Saturday, May 15-21, as Law Enforcement Week. The proclamation is part of a national effort to honor law enforcement officials.
Roadway closure – Commissioners voted to close an undeveloped road that would have run parallel to N.C. 107 behind Sonic Drive-In and Andy Shaw Ford. The unnamed road exists only on planning maps and runs through property owned by Ed and June Stephens of Hillcrest Street.
Since the non-existent road is considered the dividing line between the Town of Sylva and Jackson County, both commissioners and town board members have signed off on the abandonment.
Bridge construction – Board members voted to ask the N.C. Department of Transportation to study the intersection of N.C. 116 and U.S. 23-441. Because of the high number of wrecks, some of them fatal, at that intersection, commissioners decided to request that a bridge be built “for the purpose of providing more efficient access from N.C. 116 to U.S. 23-441 while preserving safety.”
The resolution will now be sent to the DOT.
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