Village council decides to pave North, South Country Club drives

By Rose Hooper

After they determine ownership of a 500-foot strip of property between the two roads, council members say they further plan to grade and surface that section to connect the two roads.

"Weather permitting, the contractor could start tomorrow and be done by next week," said resident Gene Tweedy, who urged the council to proceed with the paving.

Tweedy and council member Joe Rossano recommended that William L. Smith Paving of Sylva be hired to do the work, noting that Smith's price was the lowest submitted and his company could begin immediately.

The long-term objective is to pave all of North and South County Club drives, Rossano said, "but obviously we don't have enough Powell Bill monies to do it all at once, so we're planning to do it in phases."

On the north side, the first phase will be to resurface 476 feet starting at the apartment houses behind the University Inn beyond the Budahl residence.

"We plan to fix that real bad curve and pave another 195 feet," Rossano said of the 18-foot-wide project.

On the south side, the recommendation is to begin where state maintenance ends by the Friesner residence and continue 1,122 feet. This 16-foot-wide project includes "shoring up the shoulders," Rossano said.

The connector project would include clearing and grading the 500-foot section, putting in a 12-foot culvert and placing 30 tons of 3-inch stone and 120 tons of smaller ABC stone.

"But first we have to determine the legality of that 500 feet," councilman Dick Iobst said.

Former Mayor Irene Hooper asked if the N.C. Department of Transportation had plans to take over maintenance of the two roads.

"If they do, our paving now would be a waste of our time and money," said Hooper. "I'm all for getting us good roads, but I just don't want us to use our Powell Bill funds for this if we don't have to."

Under Hooper's tenure the Jackson County Board of Commissioners approved a village petition asking DOT to take over maintenance of the roads, a project that remains in the negotiation stages.

DOT engineer Jonathan Woodard told the Forest Hills council last year that the average waiting time for road paving is four to five years. However, the number of homes on North Country Club Drive would help it receive a high priority, said Woodard, adding that the paving process could be accelerated if property owners, or the village council, chose to share in the cost of paving with DOT.

Finance officer Jim Weir reported that the village had $33,000 in its Powell Bill account.

In other action Monday, Sue Burton was named mayor pro tem. Also, the board agreed to pay $10 an hour to rent a meeting room at the Jackson County Recreation Park in Cullowhee on the first and third Mondays of each month from 7-9 p.m.

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