Letters to the editor: 10/25/01

Shopkeeper appreciates her customers

To the Editor:

Since Sept. 11th all of us have a different perspective about our lives. As a merchant of Sylva, I have tried to offer comfort and hope through my chalkboard sign messages. Some of you may have been in my shop at noon when my wrist watch alarm goes off and we pause to silently pray for world peace.

All of us are now more keenly aware of those things we took for granted before. One thing is our sense of belonging to a community. As a downtown shopkeeper, I have wonderful opportunities to visit with folks who live here and cherish the bond of being a member of our community. As we turn to one another and speak our fears and frustrations, we come away feeling a bit more secure and hopeful about our selves and our future.

Economically this is proving to be a healthy fall season for downtown Sylva. An awareness of the importance of having a town to call your own is being shown by financial support. I am very grateful to those shoppers who have made it a point to come in and buy items from my shop to evidence their support of the country, our town and the owner-operated business. It is this sort of active involvement that will keep our town vital and able to be there for the emotional value it has upon our daily life.

On behalf of all the small businesses in Sylva, I thank you for your continued support. We shopkeepers are here also to lend what stability and optimism we can to the community, so please feel welcome to come on in.

Sincerely,

Dottie Hoche

Owner

Worldly Possessions

to Lift the Spirit

Corrections for Qualla would benefit all of Jackson County

To the Editor:

As you may have heard, here in the Qualla area of Jackson County we have been struggling for a long time with preserving the peaceful rural character of our community. Ten years ago Smoky Mountain Raceway was built in the midst of a quiet, rural neighborhood. Now, nearly every weekend from spring through fall, area residents are forced to endure excessive noise levels measured as high as 120 decibels, comparable to a jet engine at takeoff.

The Cherokee Casino may have brought many good jobs and a boost to the economy, but it also has encouraged uncontrolled development along major highways and more traffic, a combination creating increasingly dangerous highway conditions.

A tourist helicopter business here has been growing over the last three years until recently area residents have been forced to endure the nearly constant noise and invasion of privacy with helicopter flights over their homes. Can you imagine having a helicopter take off over your house every 20 minutes, seven days a week?

More recently, a Swain County asphalt paver has announced plans to build an asphalt plant here in the midst of another residential area and bring the associated noise, increased traffic, dust and literally tons of air pollution along with it.

Many area residents concerned about losing even more of their quality of life have joined together and become the Qualla Community Development Council. We petitioned the county commissioners for and received a yearlong moratorium on new asphalt plants in Jackson County. We are now working hard to convince them to enact a "polluting industries ordinance" (sometimes called a "high impact industries ordinance") to protect all the residents of Jackson County.

Several counties in Western North Carolina have either already enacted such laws or are working on them now. Although the Qualla area seems to have attracted more than its share of such undesirable development, all of unincorporated Jackson County is vulnerable. As other surrounding counties pass regulations to protect their residents, Jackson County will become increasingly more attractive to polluting industries.

What other sort of "polluting industries" are we working to try to restrict from moving in next door to your home? This list is an example being considered by Macon County:

Amusement parks, asphalt plants, chip mills, concrete plants, conventions/special event centers, hazardous waste disposal facilities, incinerators, junk yards, mining and extraction operations, mobile/manufactured home graveyards, motor sports facilities, radioactive waste disposal facilities, sawmills, slaughtering and processing plants, solid waste management facilities, vehicle graveyards.

Do you want any of these next door to your school or your home?

A polluting industries ordinance usually requires such industries to be sited a set distance from schools, hospitals and private residences. It would also include other provisions to protect the health, safety, peace and privacy of county residents. This is not zoning, nor is it an attempt to stop development. It simply attempts to ensure that new businesses that create excessive noise, foul smells or other pollution take steps so as not to destroy residential neighborhoods throughout the county.

We need your help to protect everyone in Jackson County from polluting industries. Please take time to consider how you feel about this issue, and let local government know your views. As Jackson County proceeds with the Smart Growth process, we hope other areas of Jackson County will join with us in calling for a polluting industries ordinance.

Sincerely,

Robert Franz

Chairman

Qualla Community

Development Council

Fund-raiser's success 'indicative of overall community support'

To the Editor:

On behalf of Sylva Partners in Renewal, I would like to take this opportunity to thank this community for its support of the upcoming Mill Street renovation project in downtown Sylva.

Our Oct. 20 barbecue fund-raiser was a huge success, and we appreciate all of you who came out to support this worthy cause by enjoying a plate of barbecue.

We would like to thank Lee Ewart for his generous assistance in providing and preparing all the food for this event. Lee, we could not have done this without you.

Thanks also to Nick Russell for offering his culinary skills and portable cooker to stir up a fantastic aroma throughout the afternoon. Our appreciation is extended further to Big Boy Restaurant in Cherokee for donating all the plates, cups and utensils.

Thanks to both The Sylva Herald and Smoky Mountain News for helping to advertise the event. Thanks also to Moody Funeral Home for providing tents, and to First United Methodist Church for allowing us to borrow tables and chairs.

Our appreciation is also extended to the town of Sylva's maintenance department for assisting with table/chair setup and trash removal. Thanks to John Faulk at the Applegate Inn for providing his tractor and trailer as SPIR's float in the Sesquicentennial Parade.

Finally, a big thanks to all the extra volunteers who helped in the morning and evening with the set-up and tear-down process.

The success of this fund-raiser is indicative of overall community support for the Phase II downtown project, as well as local understanding that improving our downtown's environment will contribute towards economic development and better-managed growth for all of Jackson County and the town of Sylva.

Again, thanks to all who came out and supported these important objectives on Saturday!

Sincerely,

Richard McHargue

SPIR Executive Director

Habitat work teaches lessons

To the Editor:

I have just returned home sweaty, dirty and filled with joy. For the last eight hours I have had the privilege of working with brothers from Kappa Sigma fraternity at our newest Habitat for Humanity house in Sylva. They joined the regular crew of board members, Habitat homeowners, church and community volunteers to put the finishing touches on this home.

Many of these Kappa Sigs were learning for the first time how to mix cement, prepare a lawn, dig plant holes in hard-packed, stony soil, and install insulation beneath the house. None complained.

What the rest of us heard was a desire to connect to the larger community and to be of service to those who could use their help. I would like to believe they gained as much as they gave by seeing the results of their hard work transform a yard and put smiles of gratitude on the faces of the new homeowners. They have promised to come back when the next house is begun.

They weren't the only ones who learned some things today. Next time we promise to double the pizza order!

Kathy Winters

Cullowhee

Paving hurts business in Dillsboro

To the Editor:

In a year when we the retailers of America have been plagued by a slowing economy, the effects of the tragedy of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington D.C., high gas prices, and generally a bad retail year, I for one would like to thank the state of North Carolina Department of Transportation for bringing a paving crew to the town of Dillsboro during the height of tourist season.

Your total disregard for the merchants of Dillsboro, as well as our customers, during this make-or-break time of year, has probably been the straw that broke the camel's back for many young businesses that were already in the red this year.

I hope you, as citizens of Jackson County, will remember this when the next election comes around. In all my 50 years, I don't believe I have ever been so effected by a government's total lack of concern as I have been this week. Even after meeting with people in charge and voicing our concerns, we were still walked on with both feet. In closing I would just like to say that we as a town, as well as our customers, could hardly believe what we were seeing. Maybe for an encore you could come back and dig up the sewers for luminaries in December.

Mike Potts

Nancy Tut's Christmas Shop

Dillsboro

Leaf season is wrong time of year to pave

To the Editor:

As a merchant in the town of Dillsboro, I am extremely upset with our local Department of Transportation office.

Anyone who lives in the mountains knows that the second and third weeks of October are considered color season, and the height of tourist season. The town of Dillsboro lives and dies on tourism; in fact, most of the merchants can expect to do 25 percent of their year's sales during color week, which was last week.

Everyone also knows that North Carolina is in the middle of a financial crisis, with a slow down in revenue. This slow down has also affected Dillsboro: sales are down, with a decrease in tax revenue. Needless to say, the merchants of Dillsboro were looking forward to a good color week.

What was our local DOT folks doing last week? They chose to pave the roads through the middle of Dillsboro, often having traffic backed up on the interstate so it was virtually impossible to even get into Dillsboro. There was hot, gooey tar over half of the road and only one lane of traffic - a total disaster for tourists and merchants alike. There were times when tourists could not cross Haywood Street for more than 30 minutes at a time, then crossing meant getting tar all over their shoes.

Additionally, the second busiest week for Dillsboro was the week of Thomas the Tank Engine. That week, DOT chose to pave the intersection into Dillsboro, often not even allowing traffic (tourists) to enter Dillsboro! These situations cause me to wonder if there is a conspiracy against Dillsboro and the merchants.

Needless to say, last week I called everyone I could get hold of at DOT to complain and ask "why?" The only answer I received was "sorry." I wonder if when my rent comes due this winter I can simply tell my landlord "sorry" and that will take care of things? Or could I send my rent bills to DOT and they will take care of it? Sorry is not an appropriate response, I believe DOT owes each and every merchant in Dillsboro a sincere public apology and a heartfelt promise to never do such a destructive action again. That's called being a good neighbor, folks, and looking out for our local economy!

Sincerely yours,

David Gates

David's Place

Dillsboro

Remember William Holland Thomas as you celebrate

To the Editor:

It is inconceivable in times such as these that someone would complain about the placement of an item in the newspaper.

Nevertheless, I feel that I cannot let this go by. Buried on page 14C of the Oct. 18 edition of this newspaper is an item about an address by Richard Iobst. His subject, William Holland Thomas.

As the county's celebration of 150 years winds down, it might be of interest to know that Mr. Thomas was the "Daddy of the Railroad" through Sylva. Without the railroad, there would have been no Sylva.

Also, the Qualla Boundary and the Cherokees who occupy it would never have existed had it not been for the long and hard work of Mr. Thomas.

One-quarter mile east of Whittier stands an historical marker to Mr. Thomas in a beautiful flower bed. His home, Stekoa Fields, stood a quarter of a mile from this marker. Mr. Thomas is buried in Green Hill Cemetery in Waynesville. You may pay your respects at his grave.

This one man did more for his fellow man, both red and white, than any other, or maybe all others, before or since!

As you watch the magic of Jack Frost wielding his paint brush over these mountains, deep in the "Land of Milk and Honey," where the grass grows up to the cows' bellies and they give pure cream, think of William Holland Thomas and the long, hard miles he traveled by horseback and stage, and you may have a deeper appreciation for the County of Jackson.

Allen Fisher

Sylva

Library deserves our support

To the Editor:

I agree, strongly, with the letter last week's letter to the editor from Kenneth Lee on the need for a better library. Perhaps one of the first steps would be to find more funding to keep the current library open. The hours have been cut back sharply this year. What this will do is show there are no customers for the library, since when you cut the hours back people can't get there, particularly if they work.

I come from Raleigh, where the library stays open until 9 p.m. If you go into any of the branches, you will find children and young adults up to closing time. Are there people in Sylva who want some place for the children to go? Is the solution to lower the library hours?

Perhaps the commissioners need to take a close look at the situation. As Kenneth Lee mentioned, there are ways to raise money. Why aren't we looking at them? Is it because libraries carry books we don't like? They also carry all sorts of references, they carry tax forms, they have lnternet access, they provide a copy service, they provide a notary... that should out weigh a few books we don't like.

I depend on the library quite a bit. It saves me a great deal of money, since I can rent instead of owning. I would really like to see the Sylva Library expand. The other libraries in the area did not get the cut backs, why Sylva? Kenneth Lee says show us where to start digging. Well, I will also show up with my own shovel. Meanwhile I am waiting to see if the county commissioners are listening.

Sincerely,

Chris Behre

Tuckasegee

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