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County leaders OK funds for REACH safety upgrades
By Justin Goble
A recent contribution from county leaders will go towards safety improvements at a local domestic violence shelter.
Jackson County Commissioners unanimously agreed Nov. 20 to allocate $18,000 to the REACH shelter in Sylva. According to REACH Director Jean Bockstahler, that money will be used to upgrade security at the facility.
County Manager Ken Westmoreland said that while the funds will be spent to make the shelter safer, REACH won’t overdo it.
“It doesn’t turn the facility into a fortress,” Westmoreland said. “These are measures that make sure everything is done in a respectable manner.”
“We want to provide security while keeping the shelter a warm, nurturing environment,” Bockstahler said.
Initially, REACH officials were seeking nearly $40,000 from the county; however, grant funds from the Governor’s Crime Commission lowered the amount needed from county coffers.
This allocation comes after Bockstahler spoke with county leaders Oct. 2 about what can be done to stop another shooting inside the domestic violence shelter like the Sept. 18 murder of Bonnie Woodring.
Woodring was shot and killed by her estranged husband, John “Woody” Woodring, while she was staying at the local shelter.
Court documents show Bonnie Woodring took refuge at the shelter to escape an abusive relationship with her husband.
Bockstahler said in October the REACH shelter was doing the best it could with what it had, but that the organization did not have enough funds to upgrade security at the facility.
“People are looking to us to make a stand,” Bockstahler said, “This is a wonderful opportunity to remember Bonnie. Something good can come out of this.”
District Attorney Mike Bonfoey, who was also on hand at the October meeting, urged commissioners to do what they could to make the REACH shelter safer.
“We come to you for support because all of us should feel safe in our communities,” Bonfoey said. “If a person seeks refuge at the REACH shelter, they should be safe. If someone violates that safety, they violate each of us.”
In other business Nov. 20:
– County leaders unanimously approved a resolution urging Mediacom cable to retain WLOS-TV on its station lineup.
Mediacom has been in a contract dispute with Sinclair Broadcasting, the company which owns WLOS, for the past month. If that dispute is not resolved by midnight tonight (Thursday), the channel will be removed from the cable company’s offerings.
“We’re asking the two to negotiate in good faith,” Commissioners’ Chairman Brian McMahan said. “WLOS is the major source for emergency warnings, school closings, weather and news. The station is in the county’s emergency plan for school closings, terrorist attacks, or any other attack for that matter. If it’s not available, that could cause problems.”
The dispute is also worrisome since the translator tower for the station was taken down last year, McMahan said.
“Residents can’t pick it up with their antennas if they wanted to,” he said.
Leaders will follow up the resolution with letters to the Federal Communications Commission in an attempt to get federal officials to intervene.
– Commissioners unanimously renewed their lease with the Kudzu Players.
Kudzu Players have used the old Jackson County Courthouse to stage productions for many years. However, Westmoreland said this year county leaders had to increase the rent to cover maintenance costs.
“In past years, that compensation had been $125 a month,” Westmoreland said. “We raised it to $350, which covers about two-thirds of the costs of keeping the building open. It’s even more expensive in the winter months when we have to keep the building heated. When I talked with Kudzu members, they were agreeable to the new terms.”
The lease will run through June 30, 2007.
– Officials unanimously agreed to allocate up to $406,000 to the Whittier Sanitary District.
County leaders, along with officials from the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians and the Church of God Assembly, agreed to move forward with the project, which will construct a sewer system for the Whittier area and provide a connection for Smokey Mountain Elementary School, McMahan said.
The three entities earlier this year agreed to put up $260,000 each to construct treatment and collection plants, which were initially estimated to cost around $700,000. However, bids for construction came back at $1.7 million, McMahan said.
This current allocation includes that $260,000, and adds up to $146,000 to help secure grant funds and get the project started again. McMahan told the other commissioners he did not expect the actual costs to exceed $370,000.
– A resolution requesting the state transportation board name the portion of U.S. 23/74 between the county line at Balsam and the Jake Parris Jr. Memorial Bridge the “Lacy H. Thornburg Highway” was passed unanimously.
The motion was introduced by outgoing Commissioner Conrad Burrell, who serves on the state transportation board. Burrell said Thornburg’s service to the county and the state during his terms as a legislator, Superior Court judge and state attorney general merited the honor. Thornburg is currently serving as a U.S. District Court judge.
“Judge Thornburg has been, and remains, a valuable public servant for Jackson County,” Burrell said. “He was instrumental in obtaining funding for several capital projects on the campus of Western Carolina University, such as the Albright-Benton residence hall in 1962 and the enlargement of the Reid Gym in 1965.”
Commissioner Eddie Madden said, given Thornburg’s history of service, the honor is long overdue.
“We should have done this before, but I’m just glad we can be part of it now,” Madden said.
– Commissioners unanimously supported a resolution to install a traffic signal in front of Smokey Mountain Elementary School.
School officials and members of the public called for the installation of a light last month after two accidents happened on U.S. 441 in front of the school within a week.
N.C. Department of Transportation officials conducted a study to see if a light was needed earlier this month and agreed to install one.
According to DOT District Engineer Joel Setzer, traffic counts in that area have steadily increased during the past few years, though only recently has the traffic reached a high enough level to warrant a light.
“Those volumes of traffic now meet the federal standards for putting in a light,” Setzer said.
The light will be installed in February at a cost of $130,000, Setzer said. There will also be yellow warning lights to let drivers traveling in each direction know of the light before they reach it.
– Sharon Holt and John Sullivan were reappointed to serve on the Cashiers Design Review Board.
– Pat Doherty, Charlie Ward and Jeff Zahner were reappointed to the Cashiers Area Planning Council. Commissioners also approved Wendy Dowden’s appointment to that council.
– Randal Turpin was unanimously reappointed as a county representative to the Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer Authority.
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