Macon County Commissioners 08-13-2013 Updated With Video

**update** Here is the full video of the meeting:




MEDIA ROLL CALL

Macon Media (me)
Macon County News
The Franklin Press
HighlandsInfo.com
WFSC-AM/WNCC-FM

If you see coverage of this meeting in any other new outlet, please know that they are reporting second hand information because they were not at the meeting. Smoky mountain News and WLOS-TV, I'm looking at you.


The Principal Chief of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians, Michell Hicks, spoke to the Macon County Commissioners last night in an effort to enlist their aid and suppoert in taking the Nikwasi Indian Mound from the Fown of Franklin. the entirety of his comments are below, as well as the discussion amongst the county commissioners afterward.



And my play by play is on Google Plus.





The Macon County Commissioners will be meeting tonight in the court house at 6pm and I'll be there to record the meeting for you if you cannot attend. 

I will also be posting a nearly live play by play of the proceedings on Google Plus and will be embedding the video of the meeting here sometime tomorrow.

I see that Principal Chief Michel Hicks is on the agenda. Here is what he had to say about Macon County and the Town of Franklin recently and the upcoming attempt by the tribe to take the mound away from the people of Macon County: http://youtu.be/Sm3hPZ6OAWc?t=2m55s 

I have included a copy of the public agenda and the press kit below for your convenience.

MACON COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

AUGUST 13, 2013

AGENDA

1.    Call to order and welcome by Chairman Corbin

2.    Announcements

3.    Moment of Silence

4.    Pledge of Allegiance

5.    Public Hearing(s) 6:15 p.m.

A.   Hearing on refund request LaCosta Development Corp. and Robert W. Rome

B.   Consideration of refund request

6.    Public Comment Period

7.    Adjustments to and approval of the agenda

8.    Reports/Presentations

A.   Presentation regarding Nikwasi Mound Principal Chief Michell Hicks, Eastern Band of Cherokee

B.   Scaly Mountain Historical Society John Bankston, President

9.    Old Business

A.   Transfer surplus 1983 Ford four-wheel drive ambulance to Southwestern Community College Public Safety Training Center

10.New Business

A.   Consideration of Memorandum of Agreement with the North Carolina Sedimentation Control Commission Matt Mason, County Planner

B.   Macon County Transit Kim Angel, Director

1.   Consideration of fares and cost share rates and contract rates

2.   Consideration of "Resolution Adopting an Updated Locally Coordinated Public Transportation and Human Services Transportation Plan for Macon County, North Carolina"

3.   Consideration of resolution and contract regarding the Southwestern NC One Call One Click Center for Veterans Transportation

C.   Consideration of extension of lease agreements with ForEx and Harmony House Foods Tommy Jenkins, EDC Director

D.  Consideration of change orders on Highlands School renovation Terry Bell

E.   Consideration of agreement with National Utilities Refund regarding audit of utility and telephone expenses

F.   Consideration of resolution and contract with HGACBuy

G.  Consideration of ambulance bids

11.Consent Agenda Attachment #11

All items below are considered routine and will be enacted by one motion. No separate discussion will be held except on request of a member of the Board of Commissioners.

A.   Minutes of the July 9 and July 30, 2013 meetings

B.   Budget Amendments

C.   Tax Releases

D.  Settlement for current taxes for Fiscal Year 2012-2013

E.   Report on sale of surplus property utilizing GovDeals

F.   Monthly ad valorem tax collection report

12.Appointments

A.   Technical Review Committee

13.Closed session (if necessary)

14.Adjournment/Recess

This press kit was provided to Macon Media and all the other members of the local press by the Macon County Board of Commissioners. In the interest of transparency and to promote accountability, this public document is now being shared with the general public.

Macon Commissioners Press Kit 08-13-2013 by Thunder Pig

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL PROVIDED BY A REPRESENTATIVE OF THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL CONSERVANCY WHO WILL BE SPEAKING DURING THE PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD


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Agenda and Press Kit for the August 2013 Franklin TDA Meeting Updated with Video

**update-August 13th** Here is gavel to gavel coverage of the meeting.

You may read my play by play on Google Plus or below the video:


Here is the play play:

Macon Media

Yesterday 4:38 PM

Edit

 

Ground Rules for Participation

I'll be posting the nearly live play by play of what happens at this meeting from 5:30pm onward tonight. If you are at the meeting or just wanna chime in, feel free to do so.

Just leave the personal attacks on the Board Members or Town Staff at the door. This is not Facebook or Twitter and I expect a higher standard of behavior on Google Plus. 

Macon Media

Yesterday 5:12 PM

 

I'm in the town hall now, getting ready for the meeting to start.

Macon Media

Yesterday 5:20 PM

 

I left the cord for my laptop in the office, so this play by play won't last long...perhaps another 20-30 minutes.

Macon Media

Yesterday 5:31 PM

 

The board is currently one member short of a quorum.

Currently, Chair Candy Presley, Summer Woodard, Mike Gruberman and Josh Drake are present. The board attorney, John Henning, Jr is also here.

Macon Media

Yesterday 5:33 PM

 

MEDIA ROLL CALL

Macon Media (me)
Macon County News

others
Barbara McRae (candidate for Town Alderman)
Danny Bates (Franklin Police for security)

Macon Media

Yesterday 5:33 PM

 

Board Member Vickie Springer just arrived.

Macon Media

Yesterday 5:34 PM

 

The meeting has been called to order.

Macon Media

Yesterday 5:35 PM

 

Summer Woodard is giving the FInancial Report. I don't have a copy, so I can't report the numbers.

Macon Media

Yesterday 5:42 PM

 

SUmmer Woodard has delivered a request from Linda Schlote (who is out of town) for $1,500 for the Pumpkinfest. They asked for $2,000 last year and hope to generate revenue by not allowing vendors to sell sodas, which the Main Street Program will be the sole provider of.

Macon Media

Yesterday 5:42 PM

 

The board will decide on this request at the September meeting.

Macon Media

Yesterday 5:47 PM

 

Summer Woodard is discussing the bids for hosting the Franklin TDA website. Only one vendor agreed to bid. She says two other website providers declined to bid.

The only bidder was SiteDart Hosting, a local company owned by Drake Enterprises. URL: http://sitedart.net/

Macon Media

Yesterday 5:48 PM

 

Josh Drake still says he doesn't understand why they should have more than one website for the TDA. 

Macon Media

Yesterday 5:48 PM

 

SiteDart has been chosen as the host for the TDA website by unanimous vote.

Macon Media

Yesterday 5:51 PM

 

Summer Woodard is discussing the recommendations of the marketing firm (Premiere Marketing...another Drake Enterprises company) hired by the TDA. regarding the website, including adding the ability to blog, Facebook Advertising and Google Adwors.

Macon Media

Yesterday 7:00 PM

 

My laptop battery died right after the last comment. The meeting did not last much longer than that.

The only significant item (in my opinion) that occurred after that was a successful push by Josh Drake to get the board to get rid of the $100,000 Reserve Fund and cap it at 25% of the annual budget.

If I recall correctly, Matt Bateman tried to get the board to come off the $100,000 reserve before, but was rebuffed.

Anyhow, I am now home and will process the video and upload it sometime tomorrow morning.

Goodnight.

The Franklin Tourism Development Authority will be meeting Monday evening at 5:30PM in the Town Hall. I have posted the agenda and press kit below so that the general public may know what is on the agenda for the meeting before it happens, not after. You may watch video of the previous meeting of this board by following this link.

(The following agenda has been copied verbatim from the PDF provided in the press kit)

TOWN OF FRANKLIN TOURISM DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY

AGENDA

MONDAY AUGUST 12, 2013

5:30PM TOWN HALL BOARD ROOM

1...Call to order - Chair Candy Presley

2...Approval of the July 8, 2013 minutes

3...Financial Report - Summer Woodard

4...Sub-Comnittee Reports
A...Finace/Budget Chair Report - Miker Gruberman
C...Policy and Rules of Procedure Chair report - Vickie Springer
D...Application Review Chair report - Summer Woodard

5...New business
A...Funding request for Pumkin Fest for $1,500.00
B...Update on website hosting for TDA websites - Summer Woodard
C...Update on Facebook and Google Adwords - Summer Woodard
D...Update on Electronic Billboard Campaign - Summer Woodard
E...Update on Tourism Development Commission meeting - Summer Woodard

7...Items from the board

8...Announcements - The next regularly scheduled TDA meeting is Monday September 16, 2013 at 5:30PM in the Town Hall Board room.

9...Adjourn



This press kit was provided to Macon Media by the Franklin TDA as a member of the local press. In the interest of transparency and to promote accountability, this document is shared with the general public below before the meeting takes place:

Press Kit Franklin TDA 08-12-2013 Meeting

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The Macon County League of Women Voters "Lunch with the League" The Sheriffs of Macon County

The Macon County League of Women Voters hosted a program that featured former Sheriff Homer Holbrooks and current Sheriff Robbie Holland. Former Sheriff George Moses was invited, but could not attend.

The League meets every second Thursday for a "Lunch with the League" program that features various speakers of interest. The League has a Facebook Page and a page on the North Carolina League of Women Voters website.

The Sheriffs spoke about being the sheriff (and positions they held within the department before running for office) and the challenges that come with the job and the changes that the Macon County Sheriff Department has undergone through the years. Sheriff Holland handed out a list of the sheriffs that Macon county has had since it's formation in 1828. Sheriff Robbie Holland is the 26th man to be sheriff in the department's 185 year history.

The Macon County Sheriff Department has a page on the Macon County website. There are some links on the left hand side to an infrequently updated blog and press release page.

Here is a list of the sheriffs of Macon County that I gleaned from the handout the Sheriff distributed to the lunch attendees:

Administration	Sheriff	Term of Office
1	B.W. Bell	1828-1834
2	J. Truit	1835-1838
3	T. Roane	1838
4	Eli McKee	1839-1842
5	T.M. Angel	1843-1844
6	Ezekiel Dowdle	1845-1851
7	T.M. Angel	1851-1856
8	James G. Crawford	1857-1861
9	J.L. Moore, Jr.	1862-1868
10	J. Cansler	1868-1869
11	William Higdon	1869-1870
12	James Roane	1871-1872
13	J. Cansler	1873-1884
14	L.H. Allman	1885-1886
15	J. Cansler	1887-1888
16	William Higdon	1889-1890
		1891-1892
18	C.T. Roane	1893-1896
19	J.G. Siler	1896-1900
20	Bragg Higdon	1900-1904
21	H. Davis Dean	1905-1908
22	Alex Moore	1908-1928
23	Charlie Ingram	1928-1930
24	Burt Slagle	1930-1942
25	Perry Bradley	1942-1950
26	Harry Thomas	1950-1962
27	Brice Rowland	1962-1970
28	George Moses	1970-1974
29	Hubert Bateman	1974-1982
30	George Moses	1982-1986
31	Homer Holbrooks	1986-2002
32	Robert "Robbie" L. Holland	2002-Present

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Local Entrepreneur Promotes Cash Mobs

+Matt Bateman, local entrepreneur and promoter of all things Franklin, appeared on Martin Brossman's Show via a Google Hangout. I have posted a video of that above.

Matt has also written an update on the local Cash Mob effort he has helped organize. Here is an excerpt:

The calm before the storm

Before each cash mob, we meet up 15 minutes before our scheduled mob.  We meet at a central location that’s closest to the biz we’re about to bombard with cash money.  For example, with  our downtown businesses, we’ve been meeting at our cool and historic, Franklin Clock Tower.  This works well for us for so many reasons.  First, we’re a large group standing together and that immediately draws attention.  Grabbing passerby’s attention is always a good thing.  Second, I always pass around a clipboard asking folks to “sign in” to let us know they were there.  I also ask for email addresses to add to our growing lists for our e-news.  This ensures that we’re always promoting to a growing audience for each new cash mob.  Next, I make announcements and go over the “rules.”  Like I mentioned before, VLF is involved in other initiatives, so I take a few minutes to talk about what’s new.  Then I go over our rules (don’t worry, we’re not that strict! HA!).

1.  Commit to spend at least $20 cash.
2.  Meet at least 3 new people.
3.  Have a blast! … and I always add a 4th rule, which is, “Talk about Ca$h Mob Franklin!”

Finally, we take a group picture, and head towards the biz with our $20 cash in hand (hooting and hollering, of course).

Source: Venture Local Franklin (click the link to see the entire article)

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Macon County Republican Party to Hold Fundraiser on Saturday

PRESS RELEASE
Macon County Republican Party
Franklin, NC
August 8, 2013


"The Macon County Republican Party will have a Pancake Breakfast Fundraiser on Saturday, August 10th, 7:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. at FATZ of Franklin. [Map]

 Tickets are $7.00 and can be purchased at the door. Volunteers from the Gem Country Republican Women's Club and our local elected officials will be assisting in the serving. All citizens are welcome regardless of Party affiliation.

###

For more information on the local Republican party, please visit their website.

If you have an event or fund raiser and you would like it advertised on Macon Media, please send me a press release (including a photo or digital flyer) that I can use on the blog and on social media at editor@wncreport.com

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