Mike Decker is retracing the steps he made 11 years ago when he left county government for a job across the street in Franklin’s town hall.

Decker is returning to county government as human resource director and deputy clerk to the Macon County Board of Commissioners — essentially a jack-of-all-trades who keeps county government running as a right-hand man to the county manager. Decker worked as the Macon County planner for seven years, then the Franklin town administrator for 11.

County Manager Jack Horton lauded Decker’s experience and familiarity with county and municipal governments, saying the longtime public servant had exactly the right set of complex skills needed for the dual job.

“We’re very happy to have Mike step in,” Horton said.

Decker follows Wilma Anderson, who retired as HR director and assistant to the county manager last month after 36 years.

As director of human resources, Decker — a newspaper reporter and editor before getting into local government work — will help oversee about 360 fulltime employees. As deputy clerk to the board of commissioners, he is responsible for keeping minutes for the elected board and notifying reporters about times and places for the meetings.

“I’m grateful to be here, and I’m very grateful to have had time to work with Wilma before she left,” Decker said.

This fall, Macon County will have to fill another key government position when longtime Finance Director Evelyn Southard retires.

Decker is not the only one who’s played musical chairs between county and town government. When former County Manager Sam Greenwood retired from that job, he was soon hired by Franklin as the town manager.

The Macon County businessman and farmer who stirred up controversy recently by announcing plans to build a dirt-bike racetrack in a residential community said he’s still deciding whether to move forward with the plan.

More than 100 people turned out for a public meeting last month after Herman “Bud” Talley, owner of Nantahala Meats in Franklin and of a 45-acre farm in the Clarks Chapel community, asked the Macon County Board of Adjustment for a variance to the county’s high-impact use law.

A nod of approval would have allowed Talley to build a sanctioned track. He needed a setback exception — reducing a 750-foot buffer zone to about 350 feet — to meet parking and other needs stipulated by the American Motorcyclist Association. Board members appeared poised to reject the request, and Talley backed off in response.

But, as he and his attorney pointed out then, that rejection means he might just move forward with building a legal, but unsanctioned, facility for dirt-bike practice.

The devil is truly in the details on this one. If granted the variance, Talley had promised to build a track that would be used, at most, 16 days a year. Or, he could opt for the smaller practice facility — which would fit within the confines of the setback requirements and therefore doesn’t need a variance — and operate 365 days a year.

Opponents told the Board of Adjustment in December they’d rather gamble on Talley not following through rather than see him open a track under the auspices of county-granted legitimacy.

“I’m in limbo right now,” Talley said this week. “I’m kind of just exploring all my options.”

There’s no particular rush to decide given the harsh winter weather, which has shutdown construction projects across the mountains. Talley has characterized the construction of a dirt-bike racetrack as a last-ditch effort to save his farm.

John Binkley, who lives within earshot of Talley’s property and who has helped organize neighbors to derail the construction of a dirt-bike racetrack, said the loosely affiliated group is monitoring the situation the best they can.

“We’re keeping an eye on it,” he said recently. “No machinery has actually appeared and started digging.”

Binkley added he hopes the situation in Clarks Chapel helps other mountain residents understand why land controls are needed.

“When these kind of things happen, hopefully more and more people catch on,” he said.

Opponents have cited land devaluation and loss of peace and quiet as reasons they don’t want Talley to move forward.

Everybody loves a classic. At least that’s what the minds behind Franklin’s Overlook Theater Company were banking on when they put together the lineup for their 2011 season.

They’ll be putting on shows that embody every definition of the word classic, from the Broadway staple “Guys n’ Dolls” to adaptations of some of the world’s most beloved children’s books in “Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss” and “Narnia,” a two-act version of the Chronicles of Narnia.

The company will be taking on musical classics as well, opening the season with “Delovely,” a celebration of Cole Porter’s timeless tunes, following the yellow brick road to a production of MGM’s “The Wizard of Oz” and listening to the hills come alive with the Julie Andrews hit, “Sound of Music.” They’ll end the season channeling a modern comedy classic with a rendition of Disney’s side-splitting tale of sorcery in the Middle-Eastern sands, “Alladin.”

Creative Director Scotty Corbin said that the troupe arrived at the idea after seeing the stress and worry that the still-slumping economy is bringing into American life. He wants the company’s shows this year to be a haven where people can come enjoy the good, simple fun of a timeless production, a space to step away from the stress of modern life, if only for a few hours.

“Everything has to do with a good, old-fashioned time in the theater,” said Corbin. “We want this year to be able to provide a place where people can laugh and clap and have a good time in the theater.”

And maybe, he said, even be a part of it themselves.

The company was started back in 1996, when Corbin and a few friends decided to stage a show in a barn, to general appreciation from attendees and performers alike. The show grew into a tradition, that grew into a passion, that grew into a company that now has a state-of-the-art venue to call home. They bounced around to different stages around the Macon County area, but with the opening of the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts, they’ve found a permanent nesting place that is ideal for their busy calendar.

Putting on such a full season of ambitious shows takes a veritable army of cast, crew and volunteers that are a mix of amateur, professional and semi-professional thespians. For a full-on Broadway musical like “Guys n’ Dolls,” the company will need up to 80 people to pull off the show every night, and they’re proud to say that they pull participants from all walks of life.

“A lot of these young people who come, they started at a young age and every year we see the improvement that takes place,” said Nikki Corbin, who heads up marketing and publicity for the company. “It’s allowing people the opportunity to be able to perform and to be able to do something that we love to do, to discover the talent within.”

The company, she said, is committed to fostering that artistic discovery and expression within the community, offering a shared experience for the audience, the cast and crew and the local community.

That, said Scotty Corbin, is what drives their desire to keep costs low. The shows they’re gearing towards children and families — “Aladdin” and “Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss,” just to name a couple — are just $10 per adult ticket. For larger, mainstage-style productions like the “Wizard of Oz” and “Guys n’ Dolls,” they’ll top out their ticket prices at $13 in an effort to keep it affordable for anyone who wants to have the magical experience of live theater.

“It’s all about letting the community have a great experience together,” said Scotty Corbin. “We want to make it extremely affordable so as many people as possible can come. You can bring your entire family hopefully for the price of one ticket at a larger venue.”

For every show, they hold open auditions that will be listed in advance online and announced through their e-mail list, and Corbin encourages anyone who is interested to come out and give it a shot.

In addition, they’ve got a local talent show that’s become a staple of their season, and, he said, they’re excited to see the quality performances that locals bring to the table this year.

As they go into the 2011 season, Scotty Corbin is excited about where theater in Western North Carolina is going, and he hopes that this season of classics will help solidify his company as a classic part of the region’s entertainment scene.

“Not only is it an entertainment venue, it’s a place where people can come nurture their talents and grow and learn,” Corbin said. “The sky’s the limit the way we’re looking at it. We just want everything we do to be as top quality as we can possibly be and hopefully each time make it better.”

For more information, visit www.greatmountainmusic.com or call 828.349.5856.

Show schedule:

• “De Lovely,” (a dinner show featuring music of Cole Porter) Feb 3, 4, 5

• “Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss,” March 1 and 3

• “The Sound of Music,” April 14, 15, 16, 17

• “Who’s Got Talent,” a local talent competition, May 31

• “Guys and Dolls,” June 23, 24, 25, 26

• “Narnia” (a two-act play based on the Chronicles of Narnia), Aug. 4, 5, 6, 7

• “Who’s Got Talent,”  Sept. 27

• “The Wizard of Oz,” Nov. 3, 4, 5, 6

• Disney’s “Aladdin,” Dec. 13 and 15

Transportation experts and town leaders plan to meet this week in Franklin to consider whether it’s feasible to turn one-way Main and Palmer streets into two-way roads.

As in many small mountain towns, visitors to Franklin find themselves motoring around a large roundabout of sorts. That’s a problem in Sylva, too, and for storeowners in these towns who feel they only get one shot at attracting potential new customers.

There is a significant difference, however, about this Macon County town that sets it apart from its neighbors: downtown Franklin saddles a steep hill. Given the limited parking, motorists are sometimes forced to hike a fair distance to their destinations. Only the truly determined are usually willing to hike uphill to get there.

Do something please, but just don’t add parallel parking to the problem, said Ellen Jenkins, the new owner of Primrose Lane, a gift store on Main Street. Jenkins fears parallel parking would reduce the number of already-limited spaces available in front of her store.

“But I would love to see it two way,” the shop owner said.

A fix won’t be easy, Franklin Town Planner Mike Grubberman said last week.

“There’s quite a bit involved,” he said.

Such as feeding the traffic into the main highway corridors of U.S. 441, U.S. 64 and N.C. 28. The Little Tennessee River also bounds the town, limiting how and where traffic could be siphoned in and out of Franklin.

“You can’t just concentrate on Main Street,” Grubberman said.

The town planner also recognizes parallel parking probably isn’t in Franklin’s future, even though it would only reduce the number of spaces available by one, he said.

“But that seems to be a go-to-guns issue,” Grubberman said.

Suzanne Harouff, who has lived in Macon County since the late 1970s and owns Books Unlimited on East Main Street, said the road in front has been one way as long as she can remember.

In Franklin, both Main and Palmer streets are one way but two lanes. Additionally, parking is available on either side of Main Street, though large vehicles actually jut into the road.

Harouff said she would like to see the town explore options. She did express concern about the large hill that marks the climb into downtown. In winter, Harouff said the hill often becomes dangerously slick, a safety problem that could be compounded in bad weather.

A 4,000-square-foot, $800,000 expansion that includes a major renovation at the Franklin Health and Fitness Center will be finished in about eight weeks.

“We’re wrapping it up,” said Rodney Morris, the facility’s general manager.

Additions include a new aerobics room, a cardio room with updated equipment, a new women’s locker room, a remodeled and expanded men’s locker room, an enhanced spinning room, an expanded KidsZone, a redesigned service desk and a new entrance with handicap access. There will also be new paint and flooring throughout the center.

Franklin Health and Fitness Center opened at its current location on East Main Street in 1988. Rodney’s father, Dr. Ed Morris, was an original founder and is now sole owner of the center. This is the second — and by far the largest — expansion at the facility.

To build or not to build

Morris appeared before Macon County commissioners back in September 2007 at a public hearing on a countywide recreational bond referendum that, if passed, would have built a county recreation center.

Morris told commissioners then that his facility operated on a small profit margin and that any loss of members could result in Franklin Health and Fitness having to close its doors. That bond referendum ultimately failed.

Rodney Morris said that, at this time, he didn’t see a great need for another recreational center in the county and that the majority of voters must have felt the same way.

“If there wasn’t a facility already here, they [commissioners] could have made a better case,” Morris said.

Members first

Sean Callahan, owner of Wind River Construction of Franklin — the company doing the expansion — said he got an unusual request from Morris.

“They asked us to slow down a little,” he said. Callahan said the construction was done in phases to ensure members always had access to the facility.

Rodney Morris said that member access and convenience was paramount during construction. “We’re open from 5:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.,” Morris said. “Sean and his crew went above and beyond to help us accommodate our members.”

Callahan said that meant working lots of nights. “All the tile had to be laid at night,” he said. And it meant adding stages to the plan so they could come in after hours when members wouldn’t be there.

Jerry Wright has been a member for the 22 years Franklin Health and Fitness has been in business.

“I helped cut the ribbon,” Wright said.

Wright called the expansion “first class,” and said that members were inconvenienced as little a possible.

“At one time they were thinking they may have to close some to accommodate the construction, but they worked around that. I am very pleased that they didn’t have to shut down,” said Wright.

Wright said he remembers 22 years ago when he heard of plans for a new fitness center in Franklin. “I’m a racquetball player,” Wright said, “and when I heard they were gonna have racquetball courts I went down to sign up. At that time Western Carolina was the closest place to play.”

Wright said he and his family enjoy many of the amenities at Franklin Health and Fitness Center.

“My son takes karate twice a week and the pool is really a fun place for the family,” he said.

Wright said there’s nothing better on a cold winter’s Sunday afternoon than loading the family and heading to the fitness center’s 25-yard heated saltwater pool.

Building plans

Bernlohr Architects of Annapolis, Md., designed the expansion and remodeling.

“We interviewed several architects but when we talked with Jim [Bernlohr], we knew he was the best fit for us,” said Rodney Morris.

The firm had worked on more than 150 fitness centers across the country

Callahan said the plans were straightforward and the design was good.

“The architects have never had to make a site visit, everything has gone according to plan, “ Callahan said.

And those plans include a passive electric-solar design along with a natural gas backup that’s used to heat the pools and showers. The roofing, which uses light colored, reflective shingles, is LEED-certified (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) and hot water is provided by energy-star certified tank-less hot water heaters.

Morris said the architect, the builder and the sub-contractors were all knowledgeable and comfortable using the latest technology to help create an environmentally friendly environment. Morris said the green building design not only makes sense from an environmental standpoint but that it is also money-saving in the long run.

Meeting needs

Rodney Morris said the driving force behind the expansion was meeting needs.

“Our membership is growing, the town of Franklin is growing and people are more health-conscious,” he said.

There are approximately 1,800 current members at Franklin Health and Fitness Center. Morris said the facility employs about 50 people, with seven full-time staff members. The expansion will likely create a few more employment opportunities.

Morris said the center is diligent in finding the best possible employees and instructors.

“We always conduct a series of interviews,” he said “and all of our instructors must present a class for co-workers before they work with members.”

“We look for instructors with experience. And many of our instructors have four-year degrees in their fields,” Morris said.

“All of our instructors must either be certified or obtain certification as a requirement for employment,” he added.

Morris said the new additions and enhancements should nearly double membership capacity at the facility. However, he said there is still room for growth.

“We own three-and-a-half acres here,” Morris said “and we are prepared to meet the needs of our members.”

By Kristen Davis • Contributing Writer

If a painter were to illustrate a Thursday morning at the Uptown Gallery in Franklin, she might depict this scene: a silver-haired woman painting a watercolor landscape chatting with a young man who has sketched a portrait of his Golden Retriever.

For the past 10 years, members of the Macon County Art Association have convened every Thursday at the gallery to critique one another’s work, offer encouragement and foster a sense of community. The “Thursday Painters’ Group” usually consists of about 10 to 12 people, a mixture of member artists and people of the general public who wish to improve their skills. The meetings are scheduled from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

“Anybody who wants to join is invited,” said Pat Mennenger, a member of MCAA who regularly attends the sessions, teaches art classes at the Uptown Gallery and serves on the gallery’s Board of Directors.

The painters in the group work with several different mediums and techniques, Mennenger explained. Currently, she is using oil to paint still life, but the gathering includes creators of landscapes, portraits and folk art.

“Every once in awhile, someone will bring something they’re knitting or crocheting,” she said. “Sometimes someone will show up with no intention of painting.”

As a long time member of the group, Mennenger added that the “close-knit” community of artists has given her valuable feedback over the years.

“For some of us, it’s the only day of the week that we paint,” she said. “It’s good for discipline.”

Elsie Spriggle, a Thursday regular and member of MCAA, said the group is often joined by a retired professor who offers free critiques from a highly skilled perspective.

But the group is not all work and no play.

“We have an awful lot of fun,” Spriggle added. “When it’s your birthday, you bring the cake, and you share it with us.”

The social atmosphere draws in Jim Smythe, a member artist who trained as an abstract artist in college but now paints realism, primarily landscapes. He said he looks forward to Thursdays as a welcome change from painting by himself at home. He has come to rely on the creative input of his fellow artists.

The regular Thursday meetings contribute to the community aspect of MCAA and draw in newcomers from the public, said Ruth Goodier, director-elect of the Uptown Gallery.

Most of the MCAA members have retired from full time careers and now paint primarily for the pure pleasure of sharing their passion for art with their peers and younger generations.  

Mennenger describes herself as “happily retired,” which allows her to spend more time painting during the day. A former commercial art teacher who trained as a graphic artist, she now teaches art lessons to children at the gallery once a month, and she insists that all aspiring artists, no matter their skill level, can gain helpful assistance at the gallery.

Like Mennenger, Goodier has been painting all her life. She graduated from art school several decades ago. Now, she is retired and devotes her time to developing her artistic outlet, which is painting folk art with a variety of different mediums. She has been a member of MCAA for eight years.

Goodier added that a diverse range of ages can be found in the gallery on Thursdays and throughout the rest of the week. During the summer, an influx of college students frequents the gallery—a venue that connects the older and seasoned to the young and amateur.  

The goal of MCAA is simple: promote art in its Western North Carolina community. Similarly, the Thursday meetings aim specifically to promote MCAA’s artists in the community, said Stephen Clark, VP for Promotions of MCAA.

To further MCAA’s objective, Clark partners with local civic organizations, such as the Franklin Garden Club and the Wilderness Society. MCAA also reaches out to the youngest members of the community through children’s workshops and holding events at the Fun Factory — a popular family venue with arcade games and go-carts.

The paintings of MCAA artists adorn the walls of the Macon County Airport, Southwest Community College and several local businesses, including Franniecakes Bakery.

“We’ll work with anyone who wants to hang our art in their business,” Clark said.

With so many creatively inclined folks concentrated in the Smoky Mountain region, it is no wonder that similar artistic collaboration groups exist. Mennenger said she also belongs to a Renaissance musicians group and has heard of several other visual artists’ groups that meet in community members’ homes, though the groups are not organized under an umbrella organization such as the MCAA.

This past Saturday, the Uptown Gallery held its Pumpkinfest event, which attracted a crowd of autumn-enthusiasts from the community. The artists demonstrated their techniques, sold their art along the street, and performed balloon making and face painting for the children. Every week, the gallery holds classes that are open to members and non-members alike.

More info:

For a detailed class schedule, visit MCAA’s website at http://mcaauptowngallery.org.

Sam Greenwood has been around the governmental block a few times. He twice served as Macon County’s manager, and after retiring he promptly returned to the ranks of bureaucracy again, this time as the town of Franklin’s manager.

So it shouldn’t surprise anyone to learn that Greenwood, that grizzled veteran of local government, has been working to position Franklin ahead of a probable state change that would complicate how towns annex. Which would mean the creation of new hurdles for towns seeking to broaden their tax bases. And that could result in less money for towns to provide services to its residents.

This is more or less why Franklin in July annexed more land and businesses, in preparation for this next phase: to extend its extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ), or the area of land — the urban-rural fringe, as it has been called — in which town leaders can plan and regulate development. State law allows towns that are Franklin’s size a one-mile ETJ. With the latest annexation, Franklin extended where the ETJ could go, because the one-mile measurement starts at the town’s official borders.

Those being placed in a new ETJ don’t have to pay town taxes. That’s a point Franklin Town Planner Michael Grubberman takes great pains to emphasize. Additionally, it is those future businesses — some perhaps not yet even envisioned — that will be expected to adhere to the same appearance standards as businesses built in town.

This extension of the ETJ, in large part, is also intended to knit together the disparate parts of Franklin. Pockets of annexation have taken place over the years. A business — the Ford dealership on U.S. 441 north of town is a good example — would ask the town to annex, and of course, provide it town services. Franklin would oblige. In doing so, gaps were left between the official borders and these newer additions.

“The town grew in dribs and drabs,” Greenwood said.

(An involuntary annexation of 88 land parcels is also under way in Franklin. An information meeting is scheduled for Nov. 22 at 5:30 p.m., and a public hearing will be held the following month. In a memo, Grubberman noted to the town board that the annexation involves “commercially developed parcels that are contiguous to the main body of town as well as parcels that we already surround that are not annexed, or that are partially annexed.”)

The ETJ, as proposed, does not a tidy one-mile circle make. Greenwood, Grubberman, and the town’s elected officials are focusing on controlling the commercial corridors: U.S. 441 south; U.S. 441 north; along the upper reaches of Highlands Road; out U.S. 64, and so on.

“We’re pretty much looking to shoot one mile out down the corridors,” Greenwood said.

At least one business owner, Debbie Drake (no kin to the other Drake family in Macon County) of Carolina Motel south of Franklin, believes this is a good idea. A native of Pennsylvania, she moved to Macon County after a layover in Florida. Uncontrolled, unfettered growth, Drake said, is a blight on a town’s beauty.

“If you don’t take steps to control zoning and the people moving in, you have the masses of people doing whatever they want to do,” she said. “And this is such a beautiful, quaint town.”

Want to know more?

A public hearing on the proposed extraterritorial jurisdiction for Franklin is scheduled for Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. at town hall.

Spine care for residents of Macon and adjoining counties will be available in Franklin beginning Tuesday, Sept. 7 with the opening of Mission Outpatient Spine Center at Angel Medical Center. A grand opening celebration will be held at noon on Sept. 7 in the Outpatient Medicine Department where the service will be provided.

The center will be staffed by three board-certified Surgeons from Carolina Spine and Neurosurgery Center in Asheville who specialize in the treatment of spinal conditions.

Services will initially be provided on Tuesdays and Fridays. These include physician evaluations, MRI and CT diagnostic testing, treatments, and physical therapy provided by Angel physical therapists under the clinical direction of the surgeons.

angelmed.org, csandnc.com or Missionhospitals.org.

“Cool!” was the typical response from kids as Fun Factory visitors walked in to find a colorful, life-sized killer whale on display just inside the Fun Factory’s entrance. It’s the centerpiece of a free August and September arts and crafts program hosted by the Macon County Arts Association and the Fun Factory.

The MCAA is a nonprofit that regularly conducts children’s art classes at its gallery, so the Fun Factory approached them to help create a fun program for kids based around its giant, fiberglass killer whale that just happened to need a new paint job.

The arts and crafts sessions will be from 10 a.m. to noon and from 2 to 4 p.m. on both Saturday, Aug. 28, and Saturday, Sept. 11, inside the Fun Factory in Franklin. These are open sessions, so kids can drop in at any time to create a sea creature craft adn visit the “Art the Whale” display.

“We want them to develop an appreciation for the arts, but this promotion also teaches them about the environment, marine life and even has a recycling component,” said Stephen Clark, MCAA marketing director.  

In addition to helping to put the finishing touches on the whale itself, children who participate also get to recycle empty milk jugs, plastic bottles and more, into craft sea creatures. Clark developed about five different craft creatures including various fish made from recycled bottles, a milk jug whale, and even a crab made out of pasta and pipe cleaners.

Registration is encouraged. All kids who register in advance or on site will be eligible to win prizes. All participants will receive a coupon for a free $5 Fun Card plus a pass to see the Shark Tales movie Friday, Sept. 24, at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts.

“We want the kids and parents to bring their own empty plastic milk jugs and bottles to decorate,” said Clark. “But we’ll have plenty of extras on hand if someone forgets.” The MCAA will provide instructors to assist the children at each session, and the Fun Factory is providing all paint and craft supplies.

Many of the craft sea creatures take only about 15 minutes to create. When complete, children can place their sea creatures on display with Art the Whale for future pickup, or they are welcome to leave with their finished crafts.

Registration forms are available inside the Fun Factory, at www.funfactoryfranklin.com or at the Macon County Arts Association/Uptown Gallery on Main Street.

mcaauptowngallery.org or 828.349.4607.

The Smoky Mountain Quilters Guild will present its 2010 quilt show, “Quilting New Trails” Aug. 19-21 at the Community Facilities building in Franklin.

Established in 1983, the guild is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to stimulate an intelligent interest in the art of quilting in the community and to provide opportunities for the exchange of ideas, instruction and the presentation of pertinent information among members of the guild.

Every two years the guild sponsors a quilt show featuring local and national quilts, judged by an NQA (National Quilter’s Association ) accredited judge. There will be cash prizes and ribbons awarded. There is a silent auction featuring small wall hangings made by members of the guild, vendors booths, a Member’s Boutique where items made by guild members can be bought, and raffle tickets for the guild’s scholarship fund.

The dates are Aug. 19, 20, and 21. Thursday and Friday hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $5 per day or $10 unlimited access. For more information call 828.369.2125 or visit www.smokymtnquilters.org.