Mark Jamison named to county planning board

By Lisa Majors-Duff

Making the last of five recent appointments to the county planning board, commissioners approved the nomination of Webster Postmaster Mark Jamison. Jamison's name was proposed by Commissioner Stacy Buchanan.

Jamison became involved in the political arena after the Village of Forest Hills last year proposed an extra-territorial jurisdiction that would have affected his property in Cullowhee. Though that plan has not been discussed recently, Jamison remains vocal on issues of land management and land owners' rights, having just last week written to this newspaper to share his views.

"Jackson County is experiencing unprecedented and destructive growth. We are losing our culture and our way of life," Jamison wrote. "If we are to preserve that which we value, we must be very careful. Many of the solutions that have been proposed will only accelerate the growth process; they will do exactly the opposite of what they are purported to accomplish."

The county planning board will hold its next meeting Monday, Jan. 29. Jack Debnam will call his first meeting as chairman to order at 7 p.m. in the Nantahala Power and Light building. Topics of discussion will include an introduction of new members, as well as reports from the county building inspections office, Smart Growth project and Greenway developments.

Commissioners also gave the go ahead for a new full-time income maintenance position in the Department of Social Services. The need for the new position was discussed earlier this month by DSS Director Bob Cochran, who said the new position would be created by moving the current Carolina Access staff member on site at Harris Regional Hospital to better address the significant number of patients who qualify for Medicaid insurance but do not apply. These individuals and families consequently are burdened with medical bills they cannot afford, Cochran said. Because of their difficulty in paying these bills, the hospital subsequently loses revenue that it needs to operate, he said.

With approval to outpost the Carolina Access position at HRH, Cochran will hire a full-time income maintenance position to alleviate the stress in his department caused by an increase of 2,276 Medicaid cases to 3,302 during in the past four years.

Due to a need to better coordinate efforts of the Heritage Hills senior development, Helen Bryson of the Department on Aging requested commissioners consider employing someone to serve as a project coordinator three years. After that time, she said, Heritage Hills should be financially able to support the position.

Heritage Hills is proposed to be a 100 acres mature-life campus, consisting of community buildings and independent-living housing for senior adults. Total cost of the project is estimated at $6 million.

After a closed session to discuss personnel, commissioners unanimously supported Wendy Smith for the position of data entry clerk in the tax assessor's office. Starting salary for the position is $15,585, Chairman Jay Denton said.

Addressing once again the county's sesquicentennial, board members heard from rec department director Jeff Carpenter about his plans to form a committee to organize activities. Some of those already involved have suggested a countywide celebration be held in late summer or early fall. Previously, the Fourth of July had been suggested as a possible time to celebrate the county's 150th birthday.

Carpenter also reported that construction has begun at the Cullowhee Recreation Park on a multi-purpose facility. In addition to this project, the remainder of the park project is about 75 percent complete, with only paving, irrigation, lighting and some painting left to be done. He also expressed his thanks to Western Carolina University grounds superintendent Roger Turk for his department's assistance with landscaping at the Cullowhee park.

After a report on the county's participation in the multi-jurisdictional domestic violence prevention program funded by the Governor's Crime Commission, commissioners agreed to reapply for an additional two years and expand the program to include sexual assault. The grant requires an in-kind county match, which is made up of office space at the Sheriff's Department, equipment and vehicles. Sheriff Jim Cruzan has also assigned two officers in his department to head the Jackson County Domestic Violence Task Force.

The reason for the program's expanded scope, said attorney Sybil Mann, is to encourage more people to report incidences of sexual assault.

"There's not a lot of sexual assault cases being reported in the region because people are not necessarily coming forward," Mann said. "But we believe that an expansion of the program will encourage more people to report the crimes."

After several meetings on the issue of requirements for coverage for retired county employee insurance, commissioners approved an adjustment to their policy. The requirements are as follows:

Regular employees enrolled in the Local Government Retirement System - 1) If hired before Jan. 18, 2001, attainment of 60 years of age and accumulation of 10 vesting credit years; 2) If hired after Jan. 18, 2001, attainment of 60 years of age and accumulation of 15 vesting credit years; 3) Accumulation of 10 vesting credit years for any employee for disability retirement insurance coverage; 4) Any age and accumulation of 30 vesting credit years.

Law enforcement employees enrolled in the Local Law Enforcement Retirement System - 1) Attainment of 55 years of age and accumulation of 20 vesting credit years; 2) Accumulation of 10 vesting credit years for any employee eligible for disability retirement insurance coverage; 3) Any age and accumulation of 30 vesting credit years.

Additional provisions for all employees - 1) The employee must be an active employee at the time of retirement to be eligible for the benefit; 2) The retired employee remains on the regular plan until eligible for Medicare, then is changed to a Medicare supplement; 3) Coverage for eligible dependents or retired employees may also be continued, but dependents may not be added after retirement of the employee. The retired employee must pay the cost above individual coverage for dependent coverage; 4) Coverage for surviving spouse of a deceased retired employee may continue until the payment of the total premium of the insurance to the county.

The next regular meeting of the Jackson County Board of Commissioners will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 1, at the Justice Center. Other meetings to be attended by board members include Smart Growth meetings Feb. 13 (Qualla community) and 27 (Cullowhee); a joint meeting with town governments on Thursday, Feb. 15 at 5 p.m. at the Justice Center; and an all-day budget retreat scheduled for Friday, March 2, at Mica's at Sapphire Valley.

Back to Archive: 01/25/01.