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Commissioners discuss future of county high schools

By Lisa Majors-Duff
Discussion on the future of the county's two high schools dominated a commissioner's meeting Friday (Aug. 4) at the Justice Center.

In a statement to an audience that included members of the Jackson County Board of Education, Commissioner Stacy Buchanan expressed concerns about plans to spend $1.8 million at Blue Ridge School in light of recent requests from parents to transport their high school-aged children to Smoky Mountain High, a distance of some 22 miles.

"I have concerns with awarding this contract if plans call for consolidation," said Buchanan, a teacher at the Sylva high school. "I don't want to see us put $1.8 million in a location when those children are going to another location.

"I would personally like to see consolidation; I would like to see those children brought off the mountain and enjoy the courses that are offered at Smoky Mountain," he continued.

School Board Chairman Martha Queen responded that her board has not made any decision on transporting students from Glenville to Sylva.

"I don't know what we're going to do," she said. "I know the high school (at Blue Ridge) is going down in population and that we cannot provide the kind of education that we can down here." Some 17 students who reside in the Blue Ridge school district are scheduled to attend SMHS, she said. Plans call for school board members to talk with Glenville-Cashiers residents Tuesday, Aug. 15, about transportation options.

"That money was earmarked for those kids," Buchanan said. "If they come down here, then those kids would not benefit from money spent (at Blue Ridge)."

Available funds for the planned eight-classroom addition at Blue Ridge consist of $209,000 in state critical needs money, $670,000 left from the 1996 state education bond and $900,000 borrowed last year by county commissioners. The apparent low bid for the project was a multi-prime bid from H&M Construction, Haynes Electrical and Price Plumbing that totaled about $1.6 million, said school system construction coordinator Clarence Hubbell.

School board members unanimously voted to table Blue Ridge construction plans during an Aug. 7 special meeting after board member Ali Laird-Large moved to delay the decision. She based her motion, she said, on concerns expressed by county commissioners as well as on the issue of "whether more kids will want to come down the mountain."

SMHS, the county's largest school, ended the past school year with 897 students in grades 9-12. Blue Ridge ended the year with 84 high school students.

While questions remain on what to do at Blue Ridge, commissioners and school board members seemed certain of their plans to improve SMHS. After reviewing documents prepared by architect John Cort for a $2.2 million renovation of the 40-year-old school, commissioners approved the project for bids pending acceptance by state regulatory authorities. The first phase of renovations includes relocating the school's cafeteria into space currently used by agricultural teachers, constructing a new vocational building and renovations to the gym.

Provided the plans are approved in Raleigh, bids on the project could be let as early as Aug. 21, Cort said. School officials will collect bids then for about a month, he said.

Also at SMHS, commissioners awarded a $43,000 contract to Bolton Corp., low-bidder on a project to replace the school's boiler. The project came in well under bid, Cort said, with $100,000 set aside for the work, which is scheduled to be completed by mid-October.

Another project scheduled to begin this fall at SMHS, replacement of windows, has been temporarily postponed by a requirement to rebid the work after only one bid was received, Cort said.

In other business to come before the board, commissioners voted again on their soil sediment control ordinance, and again it passed by a vote of 4-1. Commissioner Roberta Crawford again cast the single "no" vote.

"Due to recent lawsuits, especially here in Jackson County by folks suing over technicalities, we've decided to bring it up again," board Chairman Jay Denton said. "I'd feel more comfortable if we voted on it one more time and put that final nail in the coffin."

A public hearing on the document was held June 15, after which commissioners voted 3-2 to boost its authority by calling for a permit to be required for any land-disturbing activity of at least one-half acre. That vote failed to approve the document since state law requires unanimous approval on an ordinance's first reading.

The ordinance was voted upon again July 20, but only after the land-disturbing language in the document was again amended to its original one-acre requirement. The change was made following a work session with the state's Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the county's building inspections department. It was decided then that "it would be virtually impossible for one ordinance officer to monitor the number of sites there would be if the ordinance were based on one-half acre," said DENR's Mike Goodson.

Also last week, commissioners discussed but did not finalize a decision on providing insurance benefits for retired employees. Board members had hoped to include all retired employees on the same plan, but reduced benefits for some under a new plan caused concern.

Appointments approved by the board included Chip Hall and Tom McClure to the Jackson County Airport Authority, which meets next Monday, Aug. 14.

Commissioners will gather again with officials from the county's four municipalities - Dillsboro, Forest Hills, Sylva and Webster - for a joint governmental meeting Tuesday, Aug. 15. The 7 p.m. meeting will be held at the Justice Center.

The next regular meeting of the Jackson County Board of Commissioners will be held Thursday, Aug. 17. Agenda items for the 5 p.m. work session will include Smart Growth and Greenways, and a proposal by Department of Social Services Director Robert Cochran to allow his employees to work at home.

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