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By Rose Hooper
What started off on the premise of one individual putting in a
driveway for a house has escalated into a possible subdivision
road, Forest Hills Mayor Jim Davis told his village council Monday
night.
"We just had that section of the road laid down and sealed,
and now a bulldozer has broken that seal," Davis said of
a portion connecting North and South Country Club drives.
Not only is there the expense involved, Davis said during the
council's meeting held on Labor Day at his home, but "now
we'll have water runoff, and with freezing and thawing that just
means more potholes."
Council member Dick Iobst said the recent bulldozing violated
both the sedimentation control ordinance, and the watershed ordinance.
John Murray, who purchased the old Dillard house, told the council
that the bulldozing "infringes 15 feet on my property on
old Willow Springs Road."
"We'll need to determine the exact infringements and violations
and who's behind the violations," said Davis, who was instructed
by council members to contact the village's attorney about the
matter.
In other road matters, council members approved spending $2,000
to cut overhanging trees and bushes on both sides of North Country
Club Drive. Saying that she would be "affected personally,"
council member Sue Burton, who lives on the upper end of the road,
abstained from voting.
"I think individual property owners should be responsible
for the upkeep," Burton said.
Voting against the motion, council member Jim Wallace objected
to spending ad valorem taxes on the project. He urged the council
to ask the N.C. Department of Transportation to take over the
road.
"The people have asked us to do this; we're not doing our
job if we don't follow through," he said.
Former Mayor Irene Hooper said that 97 percent of the homeowners
had signed right of ways, with the only exception being the motel
owners.
"The Jackson County Board of Commissioners approved our petition
be submitted to DOT, and we did that," said Hooper.
However, she said, DOT officials indicated during recent conversations
that 10 people have not signed right of way requests.
"I'm not sure if that means DOT has gone ahead and tried
to secure right of ways and some homeowners have since backed
down," she said.
"As a village we own right of ways – that's what our
attorney, Jay Coward, told us," Wallace said. "We can
petition the state to take over the road. We've got to get this
thing going."
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