On April 14, the Waynesville Town Council voted 4-1 to annex the Queen’s Farm/Valleywood Farms Phase 2 property into the town limits. As part of the Town of Waynesville, an annexed property receives services, is subject to zoning and other town regulations and pays property taxes. 

I voted to annex Phase 2 of Valleywood Farms, and I want to tell you why. 

Faced with the possibility that state lawmakers could strip away one of their few reliable revenue tools, Haywood County commissioners moved Monday night to draw a line in the sand. 

In a formal resolution adopted April 20, the board voiced opposition to any effort by the North Carolina General Assembly to limit local property tax authority, warning such changes could destabilize county finances and undermine essential services in counties and municipalities. 

A low-flying plane circling his property was the first sign. The passes were frequent enough to be noticed. Haywood County farmer and longtime Farm Bureau President Don Smart knew immediately what that kind of attention usually means. 

In the old days, Smart said, they’d have been looking for illegal cannabis or tobacco plantings, but that wasn’t why the plane was tracing slow, deliberate circles in the sky over his farm. Two weeks later, confirmation of his suspicions arrived in writing.

Crumbling promises and frozen FEMA reimbursements cast a long shadow over Waynesville’s budget retreat, where town officials confronted a stark reality — a $5.4 million deficit for the coming fiscal year, nearly $4 million of it tied up in lagging FEMA reimbursements from Hurricane Helene. 

With insurance costs climbing, mandated retirement contributions rising and capital requests topping $20 million, Waynesville Town Council will now face what one member called “the worst ever” budget picture in recent memory. 

The Nikwasi Mound in Franklin is one step closer to being transferred back to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, a process almost a century in the making. 

At a Franklin Town Council meeting Jan. 5, the board voted unanimously to transfer the deed for the property, which is just south of downtown near the Little Tennessee River, from the Noquisi Initiative, a nonprofit formed for this very purpose about a decade ago, to EBCI. 

Haywood County commissioners have approved a proposed land purchase intended to expand the physical footprint around Tuscola High School in Clyde, giving the school district some flexibility to meet future needs if and when they become apparent. 

The action authorizes a $1.176 million budget amendment within the Haywood County Schools debt service fund to appropriate fund balance for the purchase of two adjoining parcels totaling 13.07 acres on Hospital Drive.

Following a presentation discussing the results of a feasibility study, the Franklin Town Council has withdrawn its offer to buy the property where the Angel Medical Center used to sit for $910,000. 

The medical center came under the control of Hospital Corporation of America when HCA purchased the Mission Health System in 2019.

On a quiet stretch of riverfront wedged between Sylva and Cherokee, the old Drexel furniture plant in Whittier is set for new life as an economic development engine that just might end up hosting a few “engines” of its own. 

Cannabis regulation was again debated by Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ leadership on Aug. 7 as tribal council considered two resolutions — in both instances, council representatives overwhelmingly favored the status quo. Nonetheless, a few questions were raised in the process. 

Two members of Waynesville’s Zoning Board of Adjustment were improperly appointed by Town Council in violation of the town’s own term limits policy, a Smoky Mountain News investigation has found.