A proposal to build a new cell tower off of Skyland Drive in Sylva will go before the Jackson County commissioners for approval during a quasi-judicial hearing at 1 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 26, in room A201 of the Jackson County Justice and Administration Building. 

After taking input from the more than 100 people who attended a Jan. 14 public forum and carefully combing their suggestions for the upcoming N.C. 107 makeover in Sylva, the Asheville Design Center generated a respectably long list of design alternatives to investigate. 

A meeting to discuss possible solutions to the N.C. 107 issue in Sylva scheduled for today was postponed due to winter weather.

More than 100 people filled the Jackson County Public Library’s Community Room Jan. 14 to help kick off the Asheville Design Center’s quest to develop an alternative, less disruptive vision for N.C. 107 in Sylva. Attendees included business owners, community members, elected leaders and N.C. Department of Transportation representatives. 

By Carl Queen • Guest Columnist

As a long-time resident of Sylva — 48 years — I have had a front row seat to the evolution of N.C. 107 as it transgressed from a mostly rural two-lane highway into its current bustling five lanes. I moved to Sylva in 1970 to attend Western Carolina University where I spent the next four years pursuing both undergraduate and graduate degrees. 

Living in a garage apartment on the west side of Sylva, I traveled N.C. 107 to WCU almost daily for four years.  Beginning at the intersection of U.S. 19 and N.C. 107, the road at that time known as Cullowhee Road ran through a mostly residential area with very few businesses along its path. 

The Community Table in Sylva will get a new roof to the tune of $18,000 after Town of Sylva and Jackson County commissioners voted unanimously to contribute to the project. 

Sylva commissioners voted Dec. 13 to remove former mayor and longtime Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer Authority board member Brenda Oliver from TWSA, citing a desire for “fresh” and “out-of-the-box” ideas on the board. 

For over 25 years, journalist Quintin Ellison has roamed our region documenting the people, places and things that make up the distinctive history and culture of Western North Carolina. And now, she finds herself on the other side of the conversation. 

In an upcoming showcase of her photography, Ellison will be displaying moments of mountain life frozen in time, captured from behind the lens by someone who spreads the urgent nature of what’s inside each image. It is a heritage that — for the most part — is rapidly disappearing from our daily lives, whether you realize it or not. 

A Sylva town meeting this month drew a crowd of people to speak against the N.C. 107 road plan, but before the public comment period began Nov. 8 Mayor Lynda Sossamon reminded attendees of a few ground rules. 

With the N.C. 107 project continuing to move forward, the Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer Authority is beginning to talk about the part it could play in keeping affected businesses in Sylva.