Sylva leaders vote to close five streets

By Lynn Hotaling

All five streets - East and South Central on College Hill and Laurel, Plum and Franklin in the old Courtland Heights subdivision near the old Court Hill Inn - were platted but never constructed.

No objections to the street closings were voiced during the public hearing that preceded the Sylva Town Board's Feb. 7 meeting.

In other business last week:

- Board member Eldon Cabe asked that minutes be corrected to reflect his affirmative vote with regard to the Jan. 3 hiring town Manager Richard McHargue. "(The minutes) say I abstained, but I didn't," Cabe said. "I'd like the minutes to reflect that I didn't abstain."

Minutes, prepared by longtime clerk Tommy Thompson, initially indicated that Cabe and board members Danny Allen and Eldridge Painter had abstained from voting, though the vote to hire McHargue was recorded as unanimous because abstentions are counted as "yes" votes.

While Allen indicated his intent to abstain at the time of the vote, Thompson said he reported that Cabe and Painter also abstained because he did not hear them vote and their votes were not audible when he listened to the tape made during the Jan. 3 meeting.

The corrected minutes indicate that board members Cabe, Audrey Tritt and Maurice Moody voted "yes" and that Allen and Painter abstained. Moody asked for an addition to the Jan. 3 minutes so they would reflect that additional parking spaces were not added for taxicabs and that all taxis operating in town must share the three existing spaces.

- Board members approved an organizational chart for town government by a vote of 4 to 1. Painter cast the "no" vote.

The approved chart has the town manager and town attorney reporting directly to the board, with all other town employees reporting to the town manager. Painter questioned that structure, saying it was his understanding from discussion during the board's Jan. 26 work session that the clerk and the attorney were to report directly to the elected town board.

However, Tritt said she understood the clerk was to report to the town manager.

"We felt like (the clerk) should go under the town manager because of evaluations," she said.

State statutes require that all town employees be under the manager when there is a manager form of government, said Mayor Brenda Oliver, who added that the charter could be amended to allow the clerk to report directly to the board.

- Board members again tabled a request from Darla Mathews to rezone land she owns on Fortune Lane. The tract is currently zoned R-1, which allows only single-family homes, despite the fact that the property has a duplex and is located near several apartment complexes. Mathews has requested the property be zoned R-2, which allows duplexes and apartments.

Board member Painter announced that he would have to abstain from any vote on the request because his real estate firm is representing Mathews in her effort to sell the property in question.

Even though the property's current use is R-2 due to the duplex, which was grandfathered in under Sylva's 1998 zoning ordinance, it's right in the middle of a large area that is zoned R-1, Moody said.

"This would be spot zoning and would set a dangerous precedent," Moody said, "The owner wants to change (zoning classifications), but the nearest neighbor does not. I move we delay (a decision) until we can look at the entire Ridgeway area as a whole and get input from all the neighbors."

During a public hearing last month, adjacent land owners Karl and Veronica Nicholas expressed their preference that their neighborhood remain R-1 and asked that a decision be postponed until the area could be studied further.

- Board members approved a request from local attorney Heather Baker to amend an agreement REACH made with the town concerning the agency's contribution to construction of a new sewer line to serve REACH's planned transitional housing complex in Lovesfield.

The agreement states that REACH will reimburse the town $61,326, Baker said, but a grant REACH secured for the project will only pay $56,666. Board members agreed that REACH would contribute $56,666 toward the sewer line, and the agreement would be changed accordingly.

- Board members also approved an emergency management ordinance presented last month by Mike Ensley, emergency services coordinator for Jackson County. The ordinance clarifies the roles of emergency responders and law enforcement personnel in the event of a county emergency or disaster.

- Engineer Jesse Stiles was given the go-ahead to send most design drawings for the proposed sidewalk along N.C. 107 to N.C. Department of Transportation officials for approval.

The area in front of Video Update remains a concern, Stiles said, but plans for that section cannot be completed until a right of way is secured from Tricor Corp. of Maitland, Fla., which owns the video store.

A condemnation letter was sent to Tricor owner Mark Hagle on Jan. 30, said town attorney Eric Ridenour.

"We hope he'll send a right-of-way agreement back," Ridenour said.

- Local business owner and developer Wayne Smith asked board members to take action to correct a safety issue near his auto body shop on West Main Street. Smith's concern relates to children exiting a school bus each afternoon at Bridge Street.

"More than a dozen kids get off there, and they have to play dodge ball with cars," Smith said.

Illegally parked cars are part of the problem, Smith said. Another issue is the proximity of the Merita bread store to Bridge Street.

Mayor Oliver asked Sylva Police Chief Jeff Jamison to look into the situation as well as illegal on-street parking on Allen Street.

- Board members tabled a request from Swain County Commissioners to endorse Swain's efforts to persuade the federal government to construct the North Shore Road promised when construction of Fontana Dam flooded an existing road that connected Swain County and Tennessee.

Mayor Oliver recommended Sylva's board endorse Swain County's efforts to reach an equitable cash settlement. Swain County financed the original road through a bond, Oliver said, and did not pay off that bond until 1975, some 30 years after the county road was flooded.

Board member Moody said he'd prefer to support Swain's effort get the road built.

"The original agreement was that the government would build a road. (People in Swain County) have waited 60 years," Moody said. "I think it would be a good gesture to support our neighbors to the west."

Board members Tritt and Allen said they needed more information before making a decision.

- No action was taken on a request from John Kevlin of Metrostat Technologies for a franchise agreement to build a metropolitan area network within Sylva's city limits.

Such a network acts as a high-speed network to allow sharing of regional resources by providing access to unlimited, unmetered bandwidth at a fixed cost, Kevlin said. Metrostat already provides local high-speed Internet access, Kevlin said.

Mayor Oliver said the town would have to advertise and hold a public hearing on Kevlin's proposal before taking any action.

- Board members approved a salary increase for members of the Sylva Alcoholic Beverage Control board that raises compensation for Jana Fulton and Bruce Ann Green from $65 per month to $100 per month.

Painter asked whether town appointees Fulton and Green live inside the city limits and if such appointees are required to live in town.

Both lived in Sylva at the time of their appointment but no longer live in town, Tritt said, adding that appointees to that board are not required to reside within the city limits.

- Board members approved a resolution in support of the newly-formed Western North Carolina Caucus, which will act as a lobbying agent for the state's western region.

Local governments from 26 counties and 96 municipalities formed the group to have a "louder voice in Raleigh" and "get more funding this way," Oliver said.

- Ridenour reported that as best he can determine, there is no question that the town owns the current Chamber of Commerce property. Before construction of the four-lane and Grindstaff Cove Road, the chamber property was part of Sylva's city park, he said.

- Concerns were raised that all town citizens are not complying with Sylva's recycling ordinance and that the town's residential hauler, Country Collections, is throwing recyclables into the landfill.

Mayor Oliver said Country Collections is compiling a list of those who don't recycle so those households can be notified that recycling is mandatory in Sylva.

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