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Money available for railroad, if commissioners ink deal

No actual decision was made, but County Manager Chuck Wooten told commissioners this week that they have $95,176 set aside in the budget if they want to give the money, as requested, to the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad.

The money would go toward fixing up a steam engine the railroad bought that is currently sitting in Maine. In February, the privately owned business asked for $817,176 in the form of a loan and a grant from Jackson County. A few weeks later, the railroad amended that request to ask for $95,176 in cash and $322,000 in the form of a loan.

Now the loan part is gone, and the railroad just wants cold, hard cash from Jackson County.

That’s because if the railroad did get a loan from the county, it might well be forced to immediately pay back another federal loan because of an agreed upon debt-equity ratio, Wooten said.

Businessman Al Harper owns the railroad. Until 2008, Dillsboro served as the headquarters of the railway, an excursion railroad catering to tourists. About 60,000 people a year rode the train, and Dillsboro boomed — until the train moved its administrative office and main depot to Bryson City. Dillsboro languished in the wake of that decision. Last year, and even more this year, the railroad did begin limited, seasonal excursions out of Dillsboro again.

With the steam engine, Harper is promising to run service out of Dillsboro two to three days per week in June, July and August, and three to four days out of the week in October.

Additionally, the railroad promises during November and December for the popular Polar Express to originate out of the tourism-dependent town.

“If there is sufficient passenger demand then (the) number of days could be increased,” Wooten noted. “There will also be trips on the steam engine originating out of Bryson City with a stopover in Dillsboro.”

Swain County and the Swain County Travel and Tourism Authority each have already kicked in $25,000, for a total of $50,000, to the railroad.

A decision by commissioners in Jackson County won’t be made until the steam engine is physically located in Western North Carolina from Maine, Wooten said.

Jackson’s new library might be economic boon

Set high on a mountaintop above Sylva, the historic courthouse has long been a focal point in this Jackson County town, attracting droves of visitors and professional and amateur photographers alike.

And with a just-finished retooling and addition of a new, 22,000-square-foot library annex to the original courthouse, many here believe this stately structure will play an increasingly important role in Jackson County’s economic future.

“It’s going to be huge, a huge draw,” said Mary Otto Selzer, a former investment banker who helped lead a drive by the Friends of the Jackson County Main Library to raise $1.8 million to outfit and furnish the new library. “It is going to be a destination.”

Selzer said tourists, even before the opening, have been showing up and asking questions.

“The (courthouse/library annex) has tremendous presence in Sylva,” Selzer said of the moths-to-the-flame pattern visitors are already displaying. “Location, location, location.”

The $8.6 million facility opened Tuesday, with the grand opening set for Saturday, June 11.

 {gallery}JacksonLibrary2011{/gallery}

 

‘Such a draw’

Down at the base of the mountain from the courthouse/library annex is the Hooper House, another renovated structure in Sylva. Interestingly, in 1999, during one of the many attempts to figure out how to accommodate the county’s need for a new library, county leaders decide to tear down the historic house down. They were trying to find room for expanding the old library next door, but opposition to the destruction prevailed. The Jackson County Chamber of Commerce now has its home in the Hooper House.

On this day, Linda Worley is manning the chamber desk. She is unabashedly excited about the renovations to the county’s historic courthouse, visible through the window over her shoulder as she talked.

“I tell every tourist who comes in here about it,” said Worley, a Kentucky native who married a local boy and ended up in his hometown via a protracted spell in Florida. Like Selzer, she believes the economic potential of the renovated courthouse and addition of a library annex for Jackson County will prove significant.

“It is just magnificent — such a draw,” Worley said, turning as she spoke to admire the building towering above.

Great attention was paid architecturally to the restoration and design of the old courthouse.

Macmillan, Pazdan & Smith, the architectural firm hired to oversee the project, used historic records to return the Jackson County Courthouse to near its original state. The building was gutted during a renovation in the 1970s, and almost no original features remained. The Madison County Courthouse, which by contrast retained its original character, served as a model.

C.J. Harris, a prominent industrialist and wealthy Sylva businessman, bankrolled the $50,000 project in 1914 in return for the county seat being moved from Webster to Sylva. He also used the Madison County Courthouse as his inspiration.

Newly returned to its former glory, the Jackson County courthouse is devoted to providing space for the community, and includes an approximately 2,500-square-foot courtroom available for almost any type of function or meeting. Office space for the county’s arts council and genealogical society also are provided in the old building.

A giant addition built to the rear houses the new library. A glass atrium connects the two, serving as the entrance to the complex. The children’s section alone is larger than the entire old library it replaces.

The importance of community continues being melded into the new structure as well. Along with a continuity of design — which Selzer accurately describes as virtually “seamless” — endless efforts are being taken to weave ties to residents. June Smith, president of the Friends of the Library group, is in charge of one of those initiatives: “Jackson County Collects,” exhibits of the community, will be prominently highlighted in a built-in display area. For the opening, Jackson County resident Dot Conner’s apron collection has garnered the coveted spot.

 

Planning and leadership

The Friends’ successful fundraising campaign caught the attention of other groups in the region looking for methods of raising money during these tough economic times. Betty Screven, who is in charge of publicity for the group, said the keys were planning and leadership.

“This was a professionally run campaign, even though none of us had (significant) fundraising experiences,” Screven said.

Originally, commissioners asked for $1.5 million to be raised. Then the number went to $1.6 million. Ultimately, as previously mentioned, the group brought in $1.8 million. Money left over will go toward a library endowment fund to help pay for future needs.

To Screven, the most important contributions were in many ways the smallest gestures made  — she chokes up as she remembers the day she was working at the Friends of the Library’s used bookstore on Main Street, and a little girl came in, accompanied by her father, clutching a $1 bill.

“This was her allowance for the week — she came in, and said she wanted to give her $1, because someone else would then give a match of $1, too,” Screven said. “This library is truly for everybody in the county.”

That match was critical to the success of the campaign, and came about as the result of a $250,000 State Employees’ Credit Union matching grant.

“It was very inspirational to people,” Screven said, adding the grant came with the condition the building had to be 90 percent completed, which helped add concrete deadlines to the project.

A core group of about five people saw the project through, with endless help from others, said Screven, a former public-relations employee for two decades for a national bank. The official fundraising effort began in May 2008.

“It has been practically a full-time job for the core people,” said Screven, who after questioning by her sister estimated she was putting about 35 hours a week into the project.

The Friends group used the services of professional fundraisers for a few months to get the feel and structure in place, then took over without them.

“We put the right people in the right jobs,” Screven said.

 

What people are saying

“The past and the future of our county are visible on the hill.”

— Sue Ellen Bridgers, Jackson County resident and writer, the state’s former poet laureate


“It represents the history of Jackson County. It represents the glory and beauty of learning. It represents the literary heritage of the world. The other thing it represents is the absolute freedom to anyone who wants to come and enjoy what has become theirs.”

— Dr. John Bunn, Co-chairman of the Friends of the Library Fundraising Committee


“The public library was one of my reasons for choosing Sylva as my home in 1986. Our local area is filled with people I like to call ‘frequent readers’ because their wallets include a card for each unique library system. All of us frequent readers are eager to use the new Jackson County Public Library as a research source, a place to browse quality novels, attend community events, learn about regional history, and enjoy the revitalized courthouse complex. The public library has come such a long way. My hat’s off to all the library staff and friends.”

— Dianne Lindgren, library director, Holt Library at Southwestern Community College


“I think it’s an inspirational project that’s kind of taken on even more meaning as the project has proceeded. It’s a great example of what can happen when a community gets behind a project like that.”

— William Shelton, farmer and former Jackson County commissioner, who played a critical role in keeping the library downtown


“I was so happy when the county commissioners decided to renovate the courthouse and build an addition for the library. I knew it would be a huge asset to the town of Sylva, since the courthouse is such an icon for the town. But it also showed a lot of foresight for Jackson County, which will be elevated by the addition of not just a new library (which would raise the quality of county services a notch no matter where they located it), but one that is so unique and special in nature. The combination of modern library amenities with the historic preservation of the old county courthouse shows a local commitment to education, culture, history, and community. I feel so fortunate to live in a community that can embrace the unique, rather than shy away from it. Jackson County is special that way, even though we sometimes struggle.”

— Sarah Graham, former Town of Sylva commissioner, now employed by the Southwestern Development Commission


“‘Going to the library’ always meant an event to me, starting back when I was a toddler. It was even more exciting when the event came to us on wheels as the bookmobile. As an adult I learned that the library could be a meeting place for special events and programs ... and, on ARF days, you could even go home with furry little four-legged reading companions. But now, taking in all the splendor of the courthouse complex, I think going to the library will be a cultural experience, as well as a literary experience.”

— Rose Garrett, former staff writer at The Sylva Herald and now public information officer for Southwestern Community College


“The courthouse is for me the symbol of Jackson County. It defines Sylva now as it did when I was growing up (and when I was born in the old hospital located only a few hundred yards up the hill from the courthouse). It has gone through changes, from red brick to white, from a line of trees in front to a landscaped hillside, but it is still “the courthouse.” Whenever I see someone standing in (literally “in”) Main Street of Sylva trying to frame the building and, as one architectural guide noted, that cascade of steps, I’m reminded of how special it is.”

— George Frizzell, university archivist for Western Carolina University


“My mother, who’s the reason I’m a librarian, is hugging herself somewhere.”

— Jackson County Librarian Dotty Brunette

Pinnacle Park profiled for Trails Day

A discussion about the future of Pinnacle Park outside Sylva will be held at 9 a.m. Saturday, June 4, followed by a short hike from the Fisher Creek trailhead.

The 1,100 acre tract once served as Sylva’s source of drinking water and has now been preserved.

Those interested in the hiking and biking potential of the park, as well as those who use the park for birding, wildlife and native plant activities, are encouraged to attend, and future volunteer opportunities will be discussed. Information from the discussion will help the town of Sylva and the Pinnacle Park Foundation determine future park needs.

The Jackson County Greenways Project is organizing the event in honor of National Trails Day.

828.293.3053 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Living at the top has some down sides

Living in Cashiers has certain perks: There is a beautiful lake to play on, gorgeous homes to live in and lovely vistas to enjoy. There also are nice restaurants, great gift shops and even an upscale Ingles grocery store that is the envy of residents in the much larger town of Sylva, who are afforded considerably fewer shopping selections at their smaller, scaled-down version.

But there’s a price to pay for living in Cashiers, both literally — because of high land prices — and figuratively. You’ve got to drive “off the mountain,” as the locals here say, for most shopping and to enjoy other amenities — and to work out.

Unless, that is, you’re made of sterner stuff than most. Which Rebecca Smith must certainly be — because she tries to swim for exercise three times a week (during the warmer months) in nearby Lake Glenville.

Smith, however, said she’d welcome a recreation center, and hopes Jackson County commissioners follow through on building it. Not so much for her personal use, but for the kids who live in the community, and for the younger people here in general. Friday at 1:30 p.m., the commission board will hold a meeting at the Cashiers library to discuss the possibility. Smith noted down the time and place. She’s going to try to be there.

Smith is a member of the Glenville community club, and on this day, was volunteering at the group’s thrift shop alongside N.C. 107. Her husband is currently the club’s president.

During a recent meeting, Smith said, group members were discussing how best to keep the community’s young people from leaving the area. Take her own grandchildren for example, who went to nearby Blue Ridge School but then “couldn’t wait to get out of here,” she said.

“‘What’s here for us?’ they said. And, that’s true,” Smith conceded.

There are a few options for the recreationally minded when they don’t want to hike or swim in the lake. Cashiers residents can motor over to neighboring Highlands and use the fitness center there; they can drive down to the Jackson County Recreation Center in Cullowhee. Either way, though particularly if heading to Cullowhee, they are dealing with a windy, slow, two-lane road. Depending on where a person lives in Cashiers, it can easily take 30 minutes or more to get there.

There is one more option, and oddly enough, it was exactly what Zac and Jama Koenig were, just that morning, discussing the possibility of doing. The couple was picnicking Saturday in the Village Green with their daughter, Emma, and her friend, Addie. The Village Green is a community park paid for and built by people living in this community.

Even with the park, “unless you are a member of a club, there’s nowhere to do anything,” Jama Koenig said. “There’s nowhere to go to be fit.”

The solution this couple and many other Cashiers residents are forced to settle on? Buying a small “amenities” lot in the Country Club in Sapphire Valley, down around the Jackson-Transylvania county line, so that they can use the facilities.

The fitness club at Sapphire is 3,600 square feet, offering both cardio- and weight-training equipment. There are locker rooms and saunas, and places to play golf and tennis.

Zac Koenig, who runs the family owned Koenig Homebuilders, said the amenities lots generally are priced starting at $2,500. There’s reasons they can’t be built on — no septic, things like that, but buying a lot does allow people to buy their way in to the club.

And, many Cashiers residents are doing exactly that, Jama Koenig said.

Jama and Zac Koenig (he serves on the county’s planning board) represent, in many ways, both ends of a debate that is likely to take place over building a recreation center in Cashiers. A projected $5 million project to serve a selected few in the county, yes, but in a part of the county that is among the most isolated, and which pays the bulk of Jackson’s taxes.

“Our portion of the tax base is huge,” Jana Koenig said. She has no doubt the community needs and deserves a recreation center.

Her husband, however, isn’t so sure, though he’d enjoy having a recreation center nearby.

“I have mixed feelings about it,” Zac Koenig said. “Our area does pay most of the taxes, but in the winter, there’s not many people here.”

That’s because Cashiers’ population is dominated by seasonal residency. Many houses stand vacant during cold-weather months, and the numbers of people in the community plummet.

 

Plans for the Cashiers Recreation Center

• Approximately 2,500 square feet in size

• Gymnasium for basketball and volleyball

• Eight-foot wide indoor running/walking track

• Fitness equipment area

• Meeting space, kitchen, storage

• Aerobics and dance areas

Source: Jackson County

Cashiers, Glenville show their pull in the polls

The three new Jackson commissioners — Jack Debnam, Charles Elders and Doug Cody — owe their victory last fall in part to the Cashiers and Glenville communities, where they won by margins of nearly 3 to 1.

Though they won in several other precincts as well, no where was their showing as impressive as it was on the mountain.

The floundering Cashiers recreation center project could be partly to blame for their predecessors’ ousting  — although it’s not the only reason. All three were Democrats, and no Democrat on the ballot, from Congress to sheriff, fared very well in Cashiers — though none did quite so poorly as the commissioners.

While the new board of commissioners will surely curry favor with Cashiers-Glenville voters for finally making the recreation center a reality, the stage for success was set — ironically — by the former commissioners despite their dismal approval rating there.

The blueprints, the costly site work to date — and most notably $5 million squirreled away in savings to pay for construction — were left behind on a silver platter for the taking.

Cashiers and Glenville combined have a year-round population of just 3,700, according to the latest census. But there are far more seasonal residents that flood the mountain in the summer. Of the 6,440 homes in the Cashiers-Glenville area, only 25 percent are lived in year-round, according to the census.

 

Cashiers/Glenville election results

Jack Debnam    904

Brian McMahan    513

Doug Cody    1,179

Tom Massie    439

Charles Elders    1,175

William Shelton    453

Cashiers recreation center might finally become reality

Jackson County commissioners say it’s high time Cashiers gets its due: an $8 million recreation center as pay back for the disproportional share of property taxes carried by the affluent homeowners there.

Blueprints for a Cashiers recreation center have been ready to roll since 2006. Five years later, the long-promised but yet-to-be delivered recreation center has become a symbol of discontent for Cashiers residents. Cashiers residents frequently claim they are neglected for the off-the-plateau county seat of Sylva and the communities surrounding it.

“They deserve a lot more than they have gotten in the past,” said Charles Elders, a newly elected Jackson County commissioner. “They feel like they have been neglected quite a bit.”

Elders said the recreation center has floundered on the “back burner” but that is about to change.

“I feel it was time to get serious about it and get busy with it,” Elders said.

SEE ALSO: Cashiers, Glenville show their pull in the polls

The county has spent $3 million over the past five years getting the site ready, including water, sewer and grading. All that’s lacking now is construction, estimated at $5 million.

County Chairman Jack Debnam, also a newcome to the board, said it seemed like the county had lost momentum on the project.

“After this site preparation stuff, the building sort of vanished,” Debnam said. “I am not sure what happened and how we got to where we are at.”

Debnam, like Elders, cited the taxes paid by Cashiers and Glenville residents — a product of the higher-priced homes and lots in those communities — as justifying the expense.

“If anything happens as far as any kind of building project, I would like to see that be one of the projects we do,” Debnam said. “It is a project that has been promised evidently for years and other things have always pushed it back.”

But Debnam said other outlying areas of the county — such as Qualla for example — also deserve more.

“People in Jackson County stay so close to their communities they don’t understand the wants and needs of the other communities is what I have found,” Debnam said.

 

A long and twisted road

Progress on the recreation center was stymied at several turns by a web of environmental permits. Site work hit one setback after another as the county learned of yet another regulatory hoop that had to be jumped through. There were also water and sewer lines to run, and an entrance road to build.

“Progress has been slowly plugging along but nobody has seen a building go vertical,” said Commissioner Mark Jones, who lives in Cashiers.

Trying to explain why it has taken so long has been a “nightmare,” Jones said.

“I would tell people we are going to build it and they would say, ‘Oh yeaaahhhh, suuurrre,’” Jones said.

The site lies in the headwaters of the protected Chattooga River, and thus required stricter-than-usual environmental requirements. The county had to navigate a maze of permits from the Army Corps of Engineers, the N.C. Wildlife Commission, the N.C. Division of Water Quality and the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System

At each step, costs ballooned skyward.

“We had to spend a phenomenal amount of money to meet the environmental requirements and permits,” Jones said.

The county ponied up an additional $900,000 for site work between 2006 and 2008 to comply with tougher standards on everything from wetlands to stormwater runoff. Even bringing water and sewer to the site cost more than expected.

Cost overruns did influence the project’s timeline, Jones said.

“As we were spending the extra money, we saw more and more go to site prep and less and less left for the building,” Jones said.

County Manager Chuck Wooten, who just came on board in January, said it is unlikely the former board of commissioners would have kept spending on site work if they didn’t plan to follow through with the project somewhere down the road. In 2007, commissioners took out a $2.7 million loan to cover the site work.

But the drawn-out process and lack of actual construction work left many thinking the project was never going to be completed.

“I do think the folks up there in Cashiers are confused as to why it hadn’t been taken care of,” Wooten said.

Jones said the former board of commissioners were always committed to the project — at least the majority of them were.

Former commissioner Tom Massie said publicly — during a candidate’s forum held in Cashiers no less — that he thought it was unwise to spend the money at this time given the uncertain economic conditions and school funding shortfalls that could lead to layoffs of teachers. Jones said Massie’s honesty in a roomful of Cashiers voters on the eve of the election was admirable, at least.

At the same forum, the three newly elected commissioners pledged support for the recreation center.

Making good on their promise, they asked Wooten to bring them a status report on the project and what it would take to jump start it.

The architect, Dan Duckham of Cashiers, told Wooten plans could be ready to go to bid within two months. The cost estimate stands at $5 million.

Wooten hopes it might not be that much. Builders are hungry for work given the depressed construction market, he said.

“It is a great climate for bidding,” Wooten said.

The county has enough in reserves to pay for construction without borrowing.

Jones said the county once intended to take out a loan for construction but were waiting until this year, Jones said. The county this year will finish making loan payments on the Fairview and Scotts Creek schools, freeing up the county’s debt load.

Wooten instead has recommended tapping the county’s plentiful savings, which stands at roughly $20 million. Commissioners have informally agreed.

The county built up its reserves over the past decade, growing the fund balance by $10 million in the last 11 years, Jones said.

“They were very wise in socking away a considerable amount of money,” Jones said. “You have to give credit to the former county manager and boards of commissioners.”

The recreation center will cost another $330,000 annually for staff, overhead and maintenance, Wooten estimated. Part of that would be offset by memberships.

Jones said the Cashiers recreation center will provide economic stimulus in Cashiers, both creating jobs and spurring investment. People who have bought lots but not yet built their retirement home may now decide to do so thanks to the coming amenity.

 

Want to go?

Jackson County commissioners will hold a work session to discuss the Cashiers Recreation Center, including a chat with the architect, at 1:30 p.m. Friday, June 3, at the Cashiers library.

Green Energy Park completes upgrade

A blower upgrade to the landfill gas system that helps power Jackson County’s Green Energy Park has been completed.

The upgrade, which included a moister separator, should help the system be more efficient, according to Director Timm Muth, director of Jackson County’s Green Energy Park, located at the old county landfill in Dillsboro.

The new blower has nine stages of operation that should better regulate the gas output pressure while facilitating a steadier and possibly higher level of gas flow to the forges and kilns.

The Jackson County Green Energy Park uses landfill gas and other renewable energy resources to provide fuel for blacksmith forges and the foundry, glassblowing studios and greenhouses. www.jcgep.org.

WNC native son takes the helm at Jackson County Schools

Jackson County Schools has hired Michael Murray, currently associate superintendent of Operations for McDowell County Schools, as its new superintendent. Murray will replace Sue Nations, who is retiring.

Murray has been with the McDowell County school system for the past six years, and prior to the position of associate superintendent, he served as the assistant superintendent of curriculum. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from Mars Hill College in 1984. He then obtained his Master of Arts in Education in 1988, the degree of Education Specialist in 2005 and completed his program with the degree of Doctor of Education in 2008, all from Western Carolina University.

The son of a Madison County pastor, Murray grew up in the mountains of Western North Carolina and graduated from North Buncombe High School. His wife, Carmen, is a principal in Buncombe County. They have seven children ranging in age from 11 to 25.

Murray takes over as superintendent July 1. He will be paid $120,000.

 

Q: Why did you want to become superintendent of Jackson County Schools?

A: During the past 27 years I have been preparing for and looking forward to the opportunity to lead a school system in the mountains of Western North Carolina. I absolutely love the mountains and enjoy working with these wonderful people. I have long wanted to be superintendent because I believe that I can serve our children in a meaningful and positive manner.

I am ready to take this next step in my career and I was absolutely thrilled when the opportunity developed in this school system. It is impossible to replace a person such as Sue Nations who has done a wonderful job creating a solid and innovative school system. I will do my very best to build on what she has accomplished as superintendent and help lead this outstanding school system to the next level.

The opportunity for building relationships and establishing collaboration between community partners is another positive aspect of this position with Jackson County Schools. Having such wonderful resources such as Western Carolina University and Southwestern Community College are a rare opportunity for a school system.

Jackson County Schools is an excellent match for my leadership style and personality. This county has consistently maintained a quality education system that has a long-standing tradition of excellence. My strong passion for education and my high standards in the areas of honesty, integrity, trust and respect mesh perfectly with the ideology of this school system. I am excited about bringing my skills and expertise to Jackson County Schools where I will continue to build on the level of excellence already found here.

 

Q: In the face of steep projected state budget cuts, how can schools best tackle the challenges of educating students?

A: Every school system is currently facing the same budget crisis. Each system will have to know and understand the local, state and federal resources available and then determine the best optimal usage of these funds. The current administration has been striving diligently to make the most of their budget by saving Jobs Bill money, not replacing some non-instructional positions, and minimizing the amount of cuts needed to meet possible budget shortfalls.

It is critical that we continue to do our best to protect the integrity of the classroom. Building relationships and sharing resources with other agencies will be more important than ever. When facing the challenges of budget cuts, our goal should be to impact actual classroom delivery of instruction as little as possible. As we work through these hard economic times I will continue the same philosophy of the current administration. They have been able to maintain a strong educational foundation despite the budget cuts that have occurred. And when the budget outlook improves we should be able to start expanding important programs again and continue to provide phenomenal services to our children.

 

Q: What are the most significant challenges you see facing Jackson County Schools?

A: The budget crisis will continue to be our system’s biggest challenge for the next couple of years.  Ensuring that we use transparent leadership and make decisions that utilize limited resources effectively and that align with the district vision will be top priorities under my administration. Public education has changed mission calls and will require leaders that can create a school district will adapt quickly to improve performance. One of the main challenges will be for the superintendent, and a supportive school board, to create these systems of change and to build powerful relationships that tap into the collective knowledge of all the members of the educational family. We will need to focus on the use of data, research-based effective practices, teamwork, and creating professional learning communities within our organization. The biggest challenge will be to generate a sense of urgency to ensure that every student in Jackson County graduate from high school with 21st century skills and be equipped with the confidence to compete globally. Our school system is ready for the challenges we face and I certainly look forward to leading the charge.

 

Q: Blue Ridge School is a combined k-12.  Do you support this model, or would you consider consolidating all or a portion of the school?

A: It is my understanding that Blue Ridge School is actually two separate schools now. Three years ago it was separated into a pre K-Six configuration school and a 7-13 virtual early college school. I intend to continue to support the current administration’s approach to the configuration because it is apparently working well. However, current state proposed budget cuts could possibly eliminate funding for virtual programs across the state, which could affect the final decision on this program. I will be listening intently to my current leadership teams and working directly with our school system’s finance officer to monitor this situation closely.

 

Q: The General Assembly is likely to lift the cap on the number of charter schools allowed in North Carolina. There is already one such school in Jackson County. Do you believe charter schools pose a threat to the viability of public schools?

A: I am a very positive person and I try to maintain a good attitude regarding most subjects. Charter schools, private schools and other choices that are available should not be treated as a threat or talked about detrimentally. Obviously I strongly support public education and believe we should do everything in our ability to make it the best choice for parents.

I am aware of the proposal you have referenced; however, it is currently being debated heavily and has faced multiple changes from the original proposal. We should never be against good healthy competition or providing alternatives choices for our communities. Our responsibility in public education is to create and maintain a strong school system that creates future ready students for the 21st century. Maintaining rigorous and relevant core curriculum goals, using current technology as an effective tool to drive instruction, and providing highly qualified professional educators creates a situation that most parents should want to select for their children. These practices will eliminate the threat of not being selected when parents are given a choice.

All of my seven children have attended Western Carolina public schools.  I have been very pleased with the education they have received and are continuing to receive with this choice.  My goal will be to work diligently to provide the best choice, which will be Jackson County Public Schools.

Q: What are the strengths of Jackson County Schools?

A: In pursuing this position I did a great deal of research including pulling data on test scores, employee education/experience levels, school improvement plans, Race to the Top plans, Title I proposals and even the training level for each of our five board members.

Our greatest strength at Jackson County Schools is the people that make up the Jackson County School System. Beginning with our school board that have demonstrated strong commitment through the hard work of obtaining certificates of advanced training through the School Board Association. We have an outstanding central office staff that have proven what a wonderful resource they are and have shown their support for our schools every day.  Strong leadership is evidenced from our principals, administrators and leadership teams. Other departments work hard to provide safe transportation, clean and well maintained facilities, safe creative learning environments, financial checks and balances, clerical support and incredible student support. Quality instruction is provided by our teachers, teacher assistants, tutors, and the extremely important parent volunteers. Every member of Jackson County Public Schools educational family is committed to student success. What I found during my research that was consistently reinforced in countless ways was that dedicated people were making a major impact and this strength had combined to produce a tradition of quality education in Jackson County.

Strength is also apparent through the strong partnerships established with the community, particularly with Southwestern Community College and Western Carolina University. These wonderful resources provide an educational advantage to our school system. Throughout my research I found a common thread showing that Jackson County has a reputation as a “caring” school system. My personality and style of leadership is based on building relationships. This strength of established relationships and partnerships with the school district was a perfect match for my leadership skills and experiences.

This is a tough question because Jackson County Schools has too many strengths to list. I believe it is critical that a superintendent understands the essential beliefs of the community and then use that knowledge to make sure we have common goals for our children. It will be my pleasure to serve the children of this community and I look forward to meeting as many people as possible starting this summer. It is an honor to represent Jackson County Schools as we prepare our children for the future.

Murray selected as Jackson schools superintendent

The Jackson County Board of Education is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Michael L. Murray as the new Superintendent of Jackson County Schools.  The Board voted unanimously to offer the position to Dr. Murray who will begin work on July 1, 2011.  Dr. Murray will be succeeding retiring Superintendent Sue Nations.

The Board is confident that Dr. Murray will work well with the existing staff and administrative structure in Jackson County Schools.  “Dr. Murray’s leadership will be a valuable asset to our already exceptional staff,” says Ali Laird-Large, Vice Chair of the Board.  “I have confidence that he will continue our strong tradition of quality education in Jackson County.”

Dr. Murray is currently the Associate Superintendent of Operations for McDowell County Schools, where he has also served as Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction.  Prior to joining McDowell County Schools, Dr. Murray was a high school teacher for four years and a school administrator for sixteen years in Buncombe County.

As the Associate Superintendent of Operations for McDowell County Schools, Dr. Murray provides oversight for the day-to-day operations of the school district.  The Board of Education was excited to see his experience in the development of programs to reduce the dropout rate, since this has also been a major initiative in Jackson County.  Dr. Murray’s involvement with the implementation of a district wide reading program also compliments the work already in place in Jackson County Schools which focuses on a balanced literacy program.  Dr. Murray, as Associate Superintendent of McDowell County Schools, has demonstrated a strong commitment to establishing community relationships and looks forward to continuing the Jackson County School partnerships, particularly with Southwestern Community College and Western Carolina University.  His unique experiences and proven leadership skills will be valuable in his new position as Superintendent of Jackson County Schools.

The Board voted to grant Dr. Murray a four-year contract which includes $115,560 from state funds (includes advanced degree with doctorate) and $4,440 from local funds for a total of $120,000.   

The son of a Madison County minister, Dr. Murray is originally from Western North Carolina and graduated from North Buncombe High School.  He completed an undergraduate degree from Mars Hill College and then obtained a Master of Arts in Education degree in 1988, the Education Specialist degree in 2005, and completed his Doctorate in Education in 2008, all from Western Carolina University.  Dr. Murray’s wife, Carmen, is a school administrator and together they have seven children ranging in age from eleven to twenty-five.

The Board of Education performed an extensive search to find a superintendent with a strong educational background, an understanding of the operational aspect of a school system, and a proven record of leadership to continue to guide Jackson County Schools in their pursuit of academic excellence and commitment to students.  “The Board agreed unanimously,” said Board Chair, Ken Henke, “that Dr. Murray is the right person for the job.”

Sylva makes bid to Jackson leaders for old library

Sylva leaders want their Jackson County counterparts to lease, for $1 a year, the old library building to them, citing space needs and a heightened Main Street presence for the town’s police department.

The Sylva library is in the process of moving to a building beside the newly renovated, historic Jackson County courthouse. The grand opening is set for next month. This comes as Sylva’s 15-member police department jockeys for space in 1,000 square feet the town can allot to it. The Sylva Police Department is next to town hall on Allen Street, several blocks from the downtown.

Lack of space “makes it very difficult to investigate cases, interview witnesses and interrogate suspects,” town board member Chris Matheson, a former assistant district attorney, told county commissioners at a meeting this week. “It is imperative at this point we try to find a location for them.”

County Commission Chairman Jack Debnam said they’d consider discussing the town’s request during a budget work session next week.

The town has eyed the former public library for a police department at least since the spring of 2009. Then Police Chief Jeff Jamison contacted then County Manager Ken Westmoreland at the town board’s request. Westmoreland told Jamison the county would be willing to sell or lease the building, but didn’t specify the town’s cost for either of those options.

That was then, and this is now: Jamison is gone, Westmoreland is gone, and a new majority of commissioners took control in last November’s election. It’s unclear what they want to do with the old library building, if they even know, at this juncture, themselves.

Matheson characterized the town’s desire for the centrally located building as something of an “equity issue.” She pointed out Sylva shares 50 percent of its ABC revenues with the county. A vast number of cases investigated by the town police involve people who have been drinking alcoholic beverages, Matheson said.

ABC dollars totaled $139,890 this year alone in revenue gains for Jackson County.

“What have we done that makes Sylva want to be so good to us?” Commissioner Joe Coward asked Matheson about the town’s willingness to share the ABC wealth.

The councilmember responded she believes Sylva simply didn’t — at least initially when it agreed to share the wealth — realize how significant the revenue stream would prove. After voters approved the sale of mixed drinks at bars and restaurants in a 2005 referendum, sales at the Sylva ABC store went up more than 40 percent.

This 50-50 split between a town and county is an unusual arrangement, Matheson said, and is mirrored by just five or so other municipalities in North Carolina.

Franklin keeps 100 percent of its ABC revenues; Bryson City keeps 90 percent and specifies the remaining 10 percent go to parks and recreation; Waynesville keeps 64 percent and gives 18 percent to the schools, and the remaining 18 percent is funneled into Haywood County’s general fund.

Matheson, drawing on her legal skills to weave a persuasive sticky web commissioners might find difficulty disentangling from, continued gently but firmly pressing for the coveted downtown space. She pointed out that Sylva officials were kind enough to rent to Jackson County a town-owned building for use as a senior-citizen facility — $1 a year for 15 years, and before that, for free. And, additionally, the town provided a building to house the chamber of commerce — again, Matheson noted, free of cost to the county.

What the town offers in return for the old library building, Matheson said in summation during her closing argument, is an opportunity to protect and serve all the residents of Jackson County who come, in large part, to conduct the county’s business in Sylva. And that could best happen if the space-crunched police department is in the old library; for, she said, a nominal fee a year accompanied by a long-term lease consisting of at least 25 years. And the town will even pay for renovations and repairs, which she estimated could total $150,000, Matheson said, adding a possible enticing carrot.

County commissioners thanked the town board member for her presentation, but did not commit one way or another to her request.

Carl Iobst, a regular member of the public at county meetings, told commissioners during the public-comment session that he wants the town to reimburse the county “a fair and reasonable amount” for the building, saying in these fiscally trying times, $1 a year is too little an amount for such a prize.

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