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Sylva leaders to apply for watershed-protection grant
By Justin Goble and Lynn Hotaling
Sylva officials decided last Thursday (Sept. 1) to apply for a Clean Water Trust Fund grant in exchange for permanently protecting the Pinnacle Park watershed.
After a brief discussion on what to do with the area, town board members followed the advice of Paul Carlson of the Land Trust for the Little Tennessee and opted to apply for the grant. Applications are due on Dec. 1.
The vote was 4-0; town board member Eldridge Painter was absent.
“If the sense of the board is the conservation of that land, there is a window of opportunity here,” Carlson said. “I’d suggest asking for a grant from the Clean Water fund.”
Carlson and the Land Trust have been working to devise a plan for conserving the Pinnacle Park area since its resources were cataloged by Western Carolina University’s Department of Natural Resources this past spring.
The 1,100-acre tract, located north of Sylva on the southern side of the Plott Balsams, was purchased by the town in 1912 to use as its source of drinking water. The property includes the headwaters of Fisher Creek, which supplied Sylva with water until 1997, when the Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer Authority began drawing its supply from the Tuckaseigee River in Cullowhee.
Town leaders are interested in retaining the water and timber harvesting rights for the watershed, which they may have to give up if the town accepts the grant. Mayor Brenda Oliver said the town wants to negotiate to keep those rights.
According to Carlson, water harvesting is an ideal use for the land, but in his opinion the watershed is not suited for timber harvesting.
Town manager Jay Denton disagreed. Even though Carlson and others aren’t recommending logging, Sylva leaders should not rule it out as an option, Denton said.
“If we get it, great,” Denton said. “If not, we’ll continue to look down the road. We’ll send it off in November, and we won’t hear if we’ve got it until March.”
The Clean Water Trust Fund offers grants to municipalities to fund water protection and conservation projects or for conservation easements.
If the town gets one of those grants, Pinnacle Park would be placed in a conservation easement. This allows the town to retain ownership of the land but places stringent restrictions on development of the area.
A conservation easement for Pinnacle Park was also on the table seven years ago.
Town leaders in September 1998 rejected a proposal that would protect the area permanently. A month later they refused an amended agreement that would have lasted only 99 years.
Sylva officials said that it may be a long shot for the town to get the grant, but if they are successful, any funds received will likely be added to the general fund.
While no target amount was mentioned, the fund last year offered Bryson City $1.4 million in exchange for the development rights to its watershed.
But town leaders are not the only decision-makers when it comes to Pinnacle Park. The property is currently leased to Pinnacle Park Foundation. Its president, Sylva attorney Jay Coward, has consistently opposed logging the area. This newspaper in July published two guest columns by Coward that outlined why he prefers to keep loggers out of Pinnacle Park.
The foundation’s lease of the park – at a price of $10 a year – won’t expire until November 2020, with the foundation having the option to exercise five 5-year options to renew, Coward said.
According to Coward, the town’s lease agreement with the Foundation indicates there should be no extraction of natural resources, and a 1992 town resolution says there should be no mining or logging.
Town records indicate the former watershed was last logged in the late 1950s and early 1960s by Hennessee Lumber Co., which paid about $35,000 for the trees. At that time, only 600 of the total 1,100 acres was accessible by ground-logging equipment.
In other business Sept. 1:
– Officials passed the first reading of the new Mediacom cable franchise agreement.
Under the new agreement, the town will receive a 5 percent franchise fee from the cable company. The agreement has to pass on more than one reading. The final one will be at the next regular meeting on Sept. 15.
– Mayor Oliver gave an update on the new Sylva post office site.
Oliver said that she spoke with real estate specialist Bill Rizzuto with the U.S. Postal Service, who said that he had not yet surveyed any of the prospective sites. After he does, Oliver said he will inform the town and the post office, after which there will be a 30-day period for public comment before Rizzuto chooses the site.
– Officials scheduled a street committee meeting for Friday, Sept. 9, at 9 a.m. The purpose is to discuss street lights on Business 23 coming into town from Harris Regional Hospital.
– Planning Director Jim Aust said that Jennings Builders Supply plans to move into the old Ashley Co. location on Harold Street.
Aust also said that, in reaction to recent storms, the N.C. Geological Survey will begin mapping mud slides in Western North Carolina.
– Public Works Director Dan Schaeffer reported that the Maple Street resurfacing had been completed. He also said that parts of Oakwood and Laurel lanes were patched during the work.
Schaeffer also reported the town’s Mill Street improvement project is about to go to bid.
– Police Chief Jeff Jamison told board members the police force will face a lack of manpower during the upcoming month. He said two of his officers will be out due to surgery.
Jamison also reported the large number of mental illness commitments the police force is having to assist with is putting a strain on his staff. Officers often have to spend as much as eight hours at the Balsam Center for each such commitment, and the department is averaging one a week, Jamison said.
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