Sylva leaders squash TWSA's relocation plans

By Lynn Hotaling and Lisa Majors-Duff

Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer Authority board members last month approved an amendment to their bylaws, which state the authority's principal office will be located in Sylva. The amendment would have made it possible for TWSA to relocate anywhere in Jackson County.

But changing TWSA's bylaws is not as simple as a vote of the authority. Proposed amendments are only allowed when each of the government entities that created the authority - Jackson County and the towns of Sylva, Dillsboro and Webster - also approve the change.

Sylva's town board members were united in their opposition to the proposed amendment that would allow TWSA to relocate its headquarters.

"They could move to Cashiers or Cowee or anywhere they want," said Sylva board member Eldon Cabe, whose wife, Ann, is one of Sylva's appointees to the TWSA board.

"Sylva is the county seat and the business hub of Jackson County," said Sylva board member Maurice Moody. "It was correctly put in the original TWSA agreement that TWSA headquarters should be in the Sylva city limits, and I think they should stay there."

Moody made the motion to keep the TWSA headquarters in Sylva; the motion passed by a 4-0 vote. (Sylva board member Norma Lee was not present; she remains hospitalized after a broken hip.)

At the same time Sylva was voting not to approve the change, Jackson County commissioners were voting 3-2 in support of the amendment at their meeting the same night. Commissioners Franz Whitmire and Conrad Burrell voted in favor of Chairman Jay Denton's motion to approve the change, while Commissioners Stacy Buchanan and Roberta Crawford rejected the idea.

Buchanan, who is serving as interim county manager during July, reported that he held a meeting with the mayors of Sylva, Dillsboro and Webster during the day July 5 to discuss the matter. After finding little support for the amendment, especially from Sylva's mayor, Buchanan said he felt the county should table the requested amendment. He further asked that the issue be brought up at the next joint session of the towns and county, which is scheduled for Aug. 16.

But Denton refused to withdraw his motion, saying the county's representatives on the TWSA board - Mickey Luker and Keith Ward - supported the amendment, as did TWSA's other five voting members.

"I support our TWSA board members," Denton said.

"(Relocation) is their power and authority," Burrell said before voting in favor of the motion. "I'll let them make that decision."

"I don't see anything wrong with (the amendment)," Whitmire said.

Sylva Mayor Brenda Oliver alluded to the same morning meeting during the evening session. The consensus reached was that since Sylva is the "business and financial hub of Jackson County," moving the TWSA's headquarters could create hardships for TWSA customers who drop in to pay their bills, she said.

Sylva's representatives on the TWSA board - Ann Cabe and Marion Jones - both supported the proposed change to the bylaws. The town's third representative, Bobby Beck, was sworn in after TWSA's board voted on the amendment.

Jones said he was not surprised at the Sylva board's vote that thwarts TWSA's relocation plans. "I had a feeling they wouldn't support it," he said.

However, Jones remains hopeful that a solution can be found that will suit both the Sylva and TWSA boards.

"If we can find a place close in, and if we communicate with (town board members), I think they'll work with us," Jones said. "(Town board members) want us to have a place." Mayor Oliver agreed that a compromise might be reached.

"Just because the board turned down the amendment doesn't mean we wouldn't work with them on a close-in location," Oliver said.

If TWSA purchases property within Sylva city limits, that property would be removed from the tax rolls. Mayor Oliver said she is not concerned with any possible loss of revenue.

"My main focus is to have the TWSA office in the business district of Jackson County, and to me that means Sylva, for the convenience of TWSA customers," Oliver said.

Oliver, who said in May she intended to improve communication between the Sylva board and its appointed TWSA representatives, said Monday she had not been aware TWSA's board planned to proceed with the proposed bylaw change.

Dillsboro officials were the first to address the proposed amendment at their meeting July 2. TWSA Executive Director Jerry King appeared before the Dillsboro Town Board to request its support of the change. King pointed out that since the bylaws were adopted 10 years ago, TWSA's customer base has grown outside the Sylva city limits to where now only about half the bills are mailed to Sylva residents.

TWSA's other reason for wanting to move is financial, according to King. The authority would prefer to own its own space, instead of renting, and be able to house its office, equipment and personnel in one central location. After an extensive search and attempts to purchase land, authority members decided suitable property was not available within the Sylva city limits, King said.

Dillsboro declined to act on the request last week. Instead, Mayor Wade Wilson offered to arrange a meeting of the mayors and the county manager. That meeting, which was not open to the public, was held at 11 a.m. July 5. King said Friday he also had not been invited to participate. In a letter to the county and towns dated June 27, TWSA attorney Raymond Large requested the amendment be brought up at their next meeting and that a TWSA representative be allowed to address the reasons behind it and any concerns the entities might have. King said Sylva's town clerk, Tommy Thompson, informed him late on July 5 that the issue would be brought up before the town board that night, to which King requested it not be discussed since he was unable to attend.

Since the amendment would only be valid with approval from all five entities, Sylva's rejection of the matter means neither Dillsboro nor Webster will need to consider it further.

Back to Archive: 07/12/01.