Franklin Garden Club at Work

The Franklin Garden Club is out today sprucing up Rankin Square and the Clock Tower area in downtown Franklin today. Here are a few pictures of them in action. If you see them, thank them for volunteering to help keep Franklin beautiful!.

For those who might be interesting in joining the Franklin Garden Club, they meet on the first Monday every month at 11 am in the Boiler Room

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- LOCAL EVENT CALENDAR - July 12th through July 18th, 2015

If you have event announcements, or wish to inquire about a day sponsorship, email the information to editor@maconmedia.com. An advertising fee will be required for events that either charge admission or charge for vendor participation.

MONDAY JULY 13TH

11:30 am, the Battle of Sugartown Chapter of the North Carolina Society, Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), will be meeting at the Boiler Room restaurant at 1024 Georgia Road. All DAR members and prospective members are welcome. For further information, contact (828)524-2673.

5:30 pm, the Franklin Tourism Development Authority will be meeting in the lower level of the Franklin Town Hall. Link to the Meeting Agenda/Press Packet.

TUESDAY JULY 14TH

1:00 pm in the large conference room of the Macon County Senior Center, a "Travel with Us" travelog DVD on the Great Wonders of the World will be shown.

5:30 pm, the Franklin Appalachian Trail Community Committee will be meeting in the conference room at The Lazy Hiker (the old town hall). A Meeting Agenda/Press Packet has not been supplied.

6:00 pm, the Macon County Commissioners will be meeting in the Commissioners Boardroom in the Macon County Courthouse. Access will be via the rear of the building. Link to the Meeting Agenda/Press Packet.

THURSDAY JULY 16TH

4:00 pm, the Macon County Planning Board will be meeting at the Environmental Resource Center on Lakeside Drive for their July 2015 meeting. The board is currently working to revise the Telecommunications Ordinance for the county. No agenda/press packet has been shared with the media.

FRIDAY JULY 17TH

6:00 pm — Unmask Your Smarts– Heroes-Themed Trivia Contest in the Macon County Public Library Meeting Room. Be here for an exciting night of trivia! We're going to form teams, face-off at the buzzer board, run the scores across the big screen, and we’ll have prizes! We need a strong audience too, cheering the players on! Bring your family, bring your friends, bring your neighbors; all are welcome! We'll have some snacks and drinks too. 


SATURDAY JULY 17TH 

This is the deadline to RSVP for A Gala to Support Student Scholarship at SCC at Harrah's Casino in Cherokee, NC. You are invited to pull on your blue jeans, put on your bling and come prepared to kick up your heels at the Harrah's Cherokee Casino Resort. This gala is to assist the SCC Foundation in achieving its goal of raising $1 million for the Student Success Campaign in support of scholarships. A sponsorship of this exciting event will have tremendous impact upon those students it will ultimately support. RSVP by July 17th. For More Information, visit the SCC Foundation Gala Page.

The SCC Small Business Center also has a series of events/classes/seminars geared to the small business owner. You can access and register for them at the Small Business Center Network.

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Filing for the 2015 Municipal Elections Day One

The filing for the 2015 Municipal election season began yesterday. Here is the list of candidates by office and order of filing:

Town of Franklin:

Mayor

Bob Scott


Franklin Alderman

Angela Moore

Joyce Handley

Adam Kimsey


So far, no one has filed to run for offices in the Town of Highlands.

If you wish to keep up with the list of candidates, you can visit the Macon County Board of Elections website, which will be updated daily at the end of the day. [Candidate list maintained by Macon County Board of Elections]


A copy of the 2015 Election Calendar, courtest of the Macon County Board of Elections is posted below for your convenience:



2015 ELECTION CALENDAR

Candidate filing opens for the Town of Franklin and the Town of Highlands Monday, July 6, 2015 at 8:00 am

Candidate filing closes Friday, July 17, 2015 at Noon

Filing fee for Town of Franklin: 

Mayor $72.00 
Alderman $36.00

Filing fee for Town of Highlands: 

Town Commissioner $5.00

Absentee by Mail begins October 2, 2015
[Click this link for an Absentee_Ballot_Request_Form]

Registration Deadline: October 9, 2015 at 5:00 pm
[Click this link for a NC Voter Registration Form]

One Stop Voting will begin October 22, 2015

Absentee by Mail ends October 27, 2015

One Stop Voting will end October 31, 2015 at 1:00 pm

Municipal Election Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Seats open for the Town of Franklin
Mayor: Bob Scott
Alderman: Verlin L. Curtis
Alderman: Joyce Handley
Alderman: Farrell Jamison

Seats open for the Town of Highlands
Town Commissioner: John (Buz) Dotson
Town Commissioner: Eric Pierson
Town Commissioner: Brian J. Stiehler


Mayors, Town Aldermen and Town Commissioners are chosen in municipal elections. Municipal elections are held in November during odd-numbered years and are non-partisan. Registered voters living within the city limits are eligible to vote in municipal elections. Only candidates that live within the city limits are eligible to file for office.

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Press Conference on Officer Involved Shooting of June 30, 2015

Clay Alan Lickteig, 52, of Hayesville, NC 



Franklin Police Chief David Adams held a press conference for members of the media today at town hall regarding the shooting death of Clay Alan Lickteig while officers of the Franklin Police Department were attempting to serve a warrant for a felony probation violation.

Lickteig was had absconded from a probation for various drug charges, including trafficking heroin and possession of drug paraphernalia, for which he was to serve 24 months on supervised probation that began in May of this year.

The full text of the press release and a few photos taken are posted below.

Town of Franklin
PO Box 1479
Franklin, NC 28734
828-524-2516

Franklin, NC—-Franklin Police Chief David Adams released details of an officer involved shooting Tuesday night in which a man identified as Clay Alan Lickteig, 52, of Hayesville, NC was shot after he shot at two police officers serving a felony probation warrant on him.

The incident happened at approximately 9:30 PM at a residence near the intersection of Woodland Hills Drive and NC Highway 28. One officer received a slight injury and was treated and released at a local hospital.

Officers had turned into the driveway to serve the warrant and saw Lickteig standing in the driveway. When Lickteig saw the officers he called a threat to them. Officers called to him to show his hands which he would not. Officers then fired a taser twice to Lickteig. Lickteig then pulled a handgun from his back and fired at the officers. Officers then returned fire, Adams said.

Lickteig was pronounced dead at the scene.

Lickteig has a prior record in Macon County for various offenses.

The investigation is now in the hands of the State Bureau of Investigation which is standard procedure in an officer involved shooting. An autopsy is to be performed later this week. The officers have been placed on administrative leave, with pay, which is also standard procedure in these instances, Adams said.

Additional information will be released following the SBI investigation, Adams said.

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Display Window at Historical Museum

A display window at the Macon County Historical Society Museum on Main Street in Franklin, NC.

Photo taken on July 1, 2015 by Bobby Coggins.

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Appalachian Trail Community Committee Holds Annual Meeting Officers Elected

The Franklin Appalachian Trail Community Committee met for their annual meeting at The Lazy Hiker due to their space being double booked by the Town of Franklin.

ELECTION OF OFFICERS

Chairperson..........Rob Gasbarro
Vice Chairperson...Matt Bateman
Sec/Treasurer.......Kristina Moe

MEDIA ROLL CALL (media outlets present for the meeting)
Macon Media (me)


Here is the video of the meeting:

Agenda

AT Community Committee Meeting

Annual Meeting

June 9, 2015

10:00 - 11:30 am

1. Welcome: (Matt Bateman)
    Introductions
    New members
    Guests

2. Review minutes of May 12, 2015 meeting (Kristina)

3. Old business:
    TDA and/or TDC issues
    AT Community Conference Nov 2015
2    013 Hiker Service Brochure corrections/updating
    Hiker Survey for 2016 Questions and survey locations

4. New business:
    Council nominating recommendations for Chairperson, Vice Chairperson and Secretary/Treasurer, discussion and vote
    Focus of effort going forward

5. Updates from Committee members

6. Next meeting date (July 14, 2015)

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Franklin TDA June 2015 Meeting and Board "Retreat"

Update: The video has been added.



Meeting in Brief

Matt Bateman resigned from the board, PRiemiere Marketing made their annual budget presentation to the board. Doug Morton of The Taste of Scotland Festival spoke to the board, wanting additional funds. He said an article in a local paper stating the festival had made a profit of $1,000 last year had cost them donations this year. After a lengthy conversation with Morton, the board denied the festival additional funds.

David Linn spoke to the board regarding a 5K to raise funds for the Shriners Hospital in Greenville, SC. He will be back at a later meeting with an updated budget to present to the board.

The remaining 5 members of the board approved the budget prepared and presented by PRiemerewith the addition of $3,500. $3,000 to pay for an audit and $500 to pay for the Finance Officer's bond. The total 2015-2016 budget is $113,700. For reference, the 2014-2015 budget was $118,400. 

2015-2016 Franklin TDA Budget

BUDGET LINE ITEM	AMOUNT
Festivals/Miscellaneous	$30,000
Pandora (Mobile Audio/Advertising)	$20,000
Trip Advisor (2 runs @ $10,000 ea/Advertising)	$20,000
Asheville Citizen	$26,500
Facebook	$30,000
Google Ad Words	$10,000
PRemiere Marketing Services	$3,700
A/V Media	$0
Photography	$0
Internal Audit/Finance Officer Bond	$3,500
TOTAL	$113,700

The board will meet again on July 13th at 5:30 pm in the lower level of the Franklin Town Hall.

MEDIA ROLL CALL (Media outlets with reporters present)

Macon Media (me)

Macon County News and Shopping Guide

The Franklin Press

The Franklin Tourism Development Authority will be having the June 2015 meeting today at 5:30 pm in the lower level of the town hall. The meeting will also serve as the annual "retreat" for the board. The public agenda and the press packet have been posted below and the video will be added sometime after the meeting.

Franklin TDA Press Packet for June 2015

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Macon County Sheriff Holds Press Conference on Arrests at South Macon Elementary School

Macon County Sheriff Robbie Holland held a press conference to share information with the media about the arrest of Adam Conley and Kathryn Jetter at South Macon School.

Here is the full audio of the press conference:



Here is full video of the press conference:



Here are some photos from the press conference: [Link to Flickr Album]

Created with flickr slideshow.

Macon County Sheriff Officers Close Down South Macon School to Search for Weapons

Regarding the "missing" post from this morning.

Facebook got back to me and said that the school deleted their post, which I had shared. Since I shared their post, my post disappeared when theirs did. A couple of people confirmed this when they messaged me and said they had shared the original post by the school, too and theirs had also went missing.

So, there is no conspiracy to delete posts on developing public safety situations. YAAY!!!!



So, instead of directly sharing posts by the school and other local government pages, I plan on copying and pasting then linking when something major is going down so the chain of information is not broken and people can be kept up to date on situations in the community that involve public safety.

For some reason my previous post has been removed. Fortunately, I had it mirrored:

Macon County Sheriff Officers have temporarily closed South Macon School after a brief foot chase netted the recovery of four firearms from two subjects. Macon County EMS was called to the scene to remove taser probes from at least one of the subjects.
The reason for the temporary closure is a search for possible additional weapons. Macon Media has left a message on the Sheriff's phone and is awaiting a response on how long the school will be closed and will relay additional information once it becomes available. Please stay away from the area until the all clear has been given.

As of 6:20 am, a bag with a pistol and ammo was discovered on one of the school buses and the search for additional weapons continues.

‪#‎WNCscan‬ ‪#‎MaconEd‬

**6:39 am** Students that arrive will be placed at the church on the hill near the school. All school buses have been searched and no additional weapons found.

**6:43 am** Macon Media has been following this story since before 6am.
https://twitter.com/WNCSCAN/status/606396226985025536

**6:48 am** Sheriff Officers are going back into the school to retrieve breakfast bars and drinks for the students who are being housed at the church near the school. The Sheriff has requested the NC Highway Patrol respond to assist with traffic control at the scene.

**6:54 am** Two people, a male and a female have been transported to the Macon County detention Center.

**7:23 am** School at South Macon Elementary has been cancelled for today and faculty are to report to Prentiss Church of God near the school.

**8:05 am** Superintendent Dr. Baldwin made the decision to close South Macon Elementary for the day. Parents can return to school to pick up their children. Source: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=837754229627638&id=178160228920378

**8:45 am**

South Macon Elementary has now been cleared by law enforcement officials. Faculty & Staff may now enter the campus and parents may pick up their child if they were at school. There will be no classes at South Macon today, Thursday, June 4, 2015. All other schools in Macon County are on regular schedule.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1615642172012021&id=1489091731333733

For some reason my previous post has been removed. Fortunately, I had it mirrored:Macon County Sheriff Officers have...
Posted by Macon County Public Safety, Road Conditions and Weather Updates on Thursday, June 4, 2015

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Franklin Town Board June 2015 Meeting

**update 12:18 am June 2nd** Here is the video of the meeting. Supporting documents are embedded below.




The Franklin Town Board of Aldermen will be meeting tonight for their regular June 2015 meeting. Among the items on the agenda is a public hearing and vote on the Fiscal Year 2015-2016 budget for the Town of Franklin. You can see a copy of the proposed budget and a video of the complete work session held by the town board to review the budget at this link. 

A copy of the 1 page public agenda and the 59 page agenda packet that the Town of Franklin shares with the members of the media are posted below. Currently, Macon Media is the only organization that shares the larger packet with the public.

After the meeting, a full video of the proceedings will be added to this post at the top of the page, so please bookmark it and come back to see exactly what happened and who said what at the meeting.

Town of Franklin Board of Aldermen 

Agenda 

Monday June 1, 2015 7:00 p.m. 

1. Call to Order- Mayor Bob Scott

2. Pledge of Allegiance- Vice Mayor Verlin Curtis

3. Adoption of June 1, 2015 Proposed Agenda

4. Approval of the May 4, May 16 and May 18, 2015 Board Minutes

5. Public Hearing 7:05 p.m. for Re-Zoning Request for Dan Street and Watauga Street

6. Public Hearing 7:10 p.m. for Proposed Fiscal Year 2015-2016 Town of Franklin Budget

7. Public Hearing 7:15 p.m. for Text Amendment to the Sign Ordinance Regarding Banners

8. Public Session

9. New Business

A.) Board Action on Re-Zoning Request for Dan Street and Watauga Street

B.) Board Action on Proposed Fiscal Year 2015-2016 Town of Franklin Budget

C.) Board Action on Text Amendment to the Sign Ordinance Regarding Banners

D.) AT&T Wireless Telecommunications Eligible Facilities Request- Land Use Administrator Justin Sester

E.) Budget Amendments- Finance Officer Kyra Doster

F.) Request for Indoor Gun Range at 245 Carolina Mountain Drive- Land Use Administrator Justin Sester & Town Manager Summer Woodard

G.) Re-Appointment of Cheryl Pullium to the Tourism Development Authority Board- Town Manager Summer Woodard

H.) Re-Appointment of Josh Drake to the Tourism Development Authority Board- Town Manager Summer Woodard



10. Legal

A.) Amendment to Streets and Sidewalks Ordinance Permitting Banners- Town Attorney John Henning Jr



11. Announcements

A.) Town of Franklin Employee Luncheon will be July 2, 2015 at 12:00 p.m. at Fat Buddies

B.) The Town Hall Offices will be closed Friday July 3, 2015 in observance of this holiday



12. Adjourn

Press Packet June 2015 Aldermen Meeting

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Macon County Commissioners Budget Work Session

The Macon County Commissioners met for a budget work session late in the afternoon of Tuesday, May 26, 2015 and considered the proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2015-2016. They heard from representatives of Macon County EMS, Franklin and Clarks Chapel Fire Departments, the Sheriff's Office and the school system. There were no members of the general public present. You can read the text play by play Macon Media posted during the meeting on Facebook.

MEDIA ROLL CALL (media outlets with reporters present)

Macon Media (me)
Macon County News and Shopping Guide
WFSC-AM/WNCC-FM
The Franklin Press


The video of the work session is embeded below.


There will be no series of budget work sessions to conduct an extensive review of the budget as there has been in years past and the commissioners will hear from the public at the June 9th public hearing on the budget before voting to approve it.

Budget Messages 2013-2015

2015-2016 Budget Message (includes copies of the proposed budgets 2011-2014)

2014-2015 Budget Message (the first delivered by Derek Roland)

2013-2014 Budget Message (the last budget message delivered by Jack Horton, the post includes a text copy of the previous year's budget message)

Here is a copy of the the 2015-2016 budget message and the proposed budget before the commissioners made their changes at the May 26th work session. It is followed by a series of photos taken at the meeting. Click on any of the photos to view them at a larger size.

Proposed 2015-2016 General Fund Budget by Thunder Pig

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Play Golf to Help Hurting WNC Children & Families

PRESS RELEASE
Children's Hope Alliance
May 26, 2015

Are you struggling to find the perfect Father's Day gift, or would you like to give dad and grad a special day on the golf course?

On Saturday June 20th, 2015 you have the unique opportunity to help hurting children and families in Western North Carolina by joining us for the 2015 Tournament of Heroes at the beautiful Mill Creek Country Club in Franklin, NC. This unique experience allows you to combine a love of golf with a passion for helping those in need. All proceeds from the tournament go to benefiting the foster children and runaway youth of Children's Hope Alliance, a 501(c)(3) Non-Profit whose mission is to provide a safe healing journey for hurting children and families-creating hope now and in the future. I hope you will join us on June 20th either as a player or as a sponsor. Please take a moment to look over the registration form and feel free to contact me if you have any questions.


Sincerely,
Katie Henry, Development Officer
(C) 828-231-5431
KMHenry@childrenshopealliance.org

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2015 Memorial Day Ceremony in Franklin, NC

Local veterans organizations and members of the public gathered at the Veterans Memorial Park on Monday to mark Memorial Day. Here is video of the ceremony honoring the sacrifice of those who gave the last full measure of devotion to this nation.


You can also see some of the photos taken at the ceremony on Flickr or on the slide show viewer below.

The website of the Veterans Memorial Park has information on how you can purchase a brick in memory of a loved one who served in the military and information on how you can donate to the park.

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Macon County Commissioners Meeting for May 21, 2015 County Manager Presents 2015-2016 Budget Message

The Macon County Board of Commissioners met last night. The county manager delivered his annual budget message in a presentation that lasted approximately 30 minutes. 

VIDEO OF MEETING



BUDGET MESSAGE

The bottom line dollar amount is $46,646.357, an increase of $1,125,235 (2.47%) over the $45,521,122 asked for in last year's budget proposal [see video and supporting documents associated with the FY 2014-2015 presentation].

Below is a video of the budget message as delivered by the county manager. It is a low resolution video that will be replaced with a high resolution version in the next few days so the slides can be read.


The commissioners established a budget work session for 5 pm on Tuesday, May 25th to work on the budget numbers and begin hearing from departments regarding their requests for the coming year. 

REVISION TO HIGHLANDS FIRE DISTRICT

Commissioners then heard a presentation from Warren Cabe, the Emergency Management Director, regarding the new fire district lines for Highlands Fire Department to reflect the construction of a new substation. Commissioners voted 5-0 to approve the new lines, as did the county commissioners in Jackson County, who were meeting at the same time in Sylva, because the district crosses county lines.

PARKER MEADOWS CONSTRUCTION PROJECT CLOSEOUT

Commissioners than discussed closing out the Parker Meadows construction project before the fiscal year ended. Commissioners voted to transfer a little over $303,000 from "Fund 56," the nickname for the Tennessee River/Cartoogechaye Creek Sewer Trunk Project Fund, which still had over $500,000 available for use. 

It was noted that the discovery of a grave site (tooth fragment) resulted in an additional expenditure of $244,442.63 to preserve the area according to the wishes of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians. A grave marker has also been designed and given an area or prominence in the new recreation facility.

GRAND OPENING FOR PARKER MEADOWS

Seth Adams, Macon County Parks and Recreation Director, announced that plans were underway for a grand opening ceremony of the Parker Meadows Recreation Complex to take place on the afternoon and evening of Saturday, August 1st.

Commissioners recessed the meeting until 5 pm on Tuesday, May 21st for a budget work session.

There were no members of the public present at the meeting.

MEDIA ROLL CALL (media outlets with reporters present)

Macon Media (me)
Macon County News and Shopping Guide
The Franklin Press
WFSC-AM/WNCC-FM

Supporting documents from the meeting are embedded below for your convenience, and in the interest of transparency. Macon Media is currently the only media outlet in the county that makes every document released at meetings available to the public when they are made available to Macon Media.

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS

MACON COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

CONTINUED SESSION

MAY 21, 2015 – 6 PM

AGENDA

1. Reconvene and welcome – Chairman Corbin

2. Presentation of the recommended Fiscal Year 2015-16 budget – County Manager

3. Approval of fire district map for new Highlands Fire Department sub-station – Emergency Services Director Warren Cabe

4. Discussion of items needed to complete/close-out Parker Meadows Recreational Complex project – County Manager/Finance Director

5. Schedule time(s) for budget work session(s)

6. Adjourn/Recess


NOTE - Copies of the county manager's budget message and proposed budget will be added to this section when he releases them to the public.




CROWD FUNDING

Please consider donating to keep these reports of local government activities coming by visiting my page at Patreon [click here to see the page] and choosing a dollar amount to give every month. All I am requesting is a dollar a month. Several people give more. Choose what amount you feel comfortable with and can afford. I currently (as of May 2015) cover 6 local governing and advisory boards, The Macon County Commissioners, The Franklin Town Board of Aldermen, The Macon County Board of Education, The Macon County Planning Board, The Macon County Airport Authority and the Franklin Tourism Development Authority. I also cover things like parades, public forums, political debates and parades.

Macon Media is not currently being funded by advertising like the other media outlets in the county. This is the work of one person seeking to provide more complete, and accurate, coverage of local public affairs than is possible by the local and regional papers or radio stations. I am funded by donations from people who support my effort. Some give cash or write checks from time to time, some have donated/loaned equipment for me to use. Currently every camera and desktop computer (plus one laptop) Macon Media uses have been donated.

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County and Town Boards Hold Joint Meeting in Cowee

The Macon County Commissioners hosted a joint meeting on May 18, 2015 with the town boards of Franklin and Highlands at the Macon County Heritage Center located in the old Cowee School. Members of the boards and the managers of the towns and county shared information on their current budget process and updated one another on the progress of various projects in their respective jurisdictions. Bobby Kuppers also updated the boards on the status of the facility and gave a run down of coming events.

The meeting was catered by Fat Buddies and the music provided by local members of the SouthEastern Bluegrass Association.

MEDIA ROLL CALL (media outlets with reporters present)

Macon Media (me)
The Franklin Press
WFSC-AM/WNCC-FM
The Macon County News and Shopping Guide
The Smoky Mountain News

A video of the meeting is posted below.

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