Franklin takes steps to fix sewage woes
By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer
Franklin town leaders are in the process of fixing some of the sewage spills throughout town, Franklin Town Manager Mike Decker said.
Macon citizens deserve better from DOT on Siler Road project
A major road is in the planning stages, and neighbors and others in the community feel like it’s more of a runaway train that will help developers, encourage sprawl, and subsequently change their future forever rather than a consensus-building project to provide taxpaying citizens with an answer to their transportation woes.
Ample options, no decision yet on Franklin Town Hall relocation
By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer
The possibility of relocating Franklin’s town hall has been a topic of debate among town board members and residents for some time now.
Land trust branches out, helps preserve community store
The Land Trust for the Little Tennessee has taken the protection of the historic landscape one step further with the recent purchase of a century-old general store in the Cowee community in Macon County.
Elections board investigates school bond activities
By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer
A complaint filed against the Macon County School Board over questionable campaign actions has the school district in hot water with the North Carolina Board of Elections.
Siler Road timeline
The benefits to private development of the Siler Road project in Macon County figured prominently in early planning documents and meetings, but were later toned down. Here’s a time line.
Four options considered for the new road
The N.C. Department of Transportation is mulling four options for a new road in Macon County that would facilitate future development, but some members of the community wonder why a fifth option — simply improving the existing road — isn’t on the list.
Tax opponents organize in Macon, Swain
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer
A property transfer tax that could potentially bring nearly a million dollars a year to county coffers is meeting fierce opposition in two Western North Carolina counties where the tax will appear on the November ballot.
Recreation plan attracts mostly supporters to bond hearing
A public hearing Monday on a $64 million bond for various construction projects in Macon County attracted relatively few naysayers.
Voters in Macon will get to weigh in on the slate of construction projects in a countywide vote on Nov. 6. Each component of the bond package will be a separate item on the ballot. The biggest share of bond money is for new schools. Other components include recreation, a new library in Highlands, a new senior center, and a new community college building.
Macon leaders finally address animal shelter crisis: Five years with no animal laws wore public thin
After years of debate over stray animals in Macon County — namely the lack of anywhere to take them — county leaders decided last week that it’s time to build a county animal shelter.
Along with the shelter will come two animal control officers to pick up strays and enforce animal control laws, as well as one office staffer. It will cost the county upwards of $250,000 a year, but county commissioners said it is an issue the county has dodged for too long.
