TWSA to move into NP&L

By Rose Hooper

The Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer Authority board voted Tuesday to spend $850,000 to purchase the former Nantahala Power and Light office building from Duke Energy.

Having long-since outgrown their current location at the intersection of N.C. 107 and Business 23 in Sylva ­ a former Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant ­ TWSA board members have been searching for a new headquarters location for several years.

They considered relocating to Savannah Drive in 1998, but Sylva's Town Board refused to rezone the area from residential to light industrial.

Then in April TWSA Executive Director Jerry King proposed the utility move its headquarters to D&R Professional Park on N.C. 116 in Webster. To build on 2 acres within Webster's only designated business district, King calculated would cost between $780,000 to $820,000.

Moving to Webster would also have required a change to TWSA's bylaws, which say its principal offices must be located inside the Sylva town limits. But that change, which each of the governing bodies establishing TWSA was required to approve, did not happen when Sylva's board again stood in the way.

TWSA encountered another snag in its effort to relocate when board members proposed purchasing 2 acres of the Lois Morris property, owned by Cogdill heirs. The price on that property, which fronts Skyland Drive, was $250,000. Neighbors objected when the Cogdill heirs, on behalf of TWSA, requested the Sylva Town Board rezone their property from residential to commercial.

"The Nantahala building is already zoned for business, and it's within the town limits," King said of the West Main Street property.

The NP&L facility, which is located on 2.59 acres, contains 9,600 square feet of heated space and another 3,600 square feet of covered ramp space.

"We will have enough room for everything," said board Chairman Mickey Luker. "We'll have plenty of office space, warehouse area and room for all of our equipment... and actually room for supplies ­ something we've never had before. Generally, we had to order supplies as we needed them because we didn't have any place to have them on hand."

The space will also allow room for expansion, King added.

The Jackson County Recreation and Parks Department, with offices next door, is planned to relocate to a new facility at Jackson County Recreation Park in Cullowhee sometime this year.

With recent corporate changes at Duke Energy, the Sylva division office is slated to close at the end of March, King said.

"Their move out day now is April 12, and we'll move in right after that," King said.

Back to Archive: 02/21/02.