West Jefferson Schedules Public Hearings

By Joel Frady

The West Jefferson Board of Alderman approved two motions at their meeting on Thursday, Feb. 5, to

schedule public hearings for their meeting on Thursday, March 5. Both hearings are related to the Land Use Plan that the town composed with the help of the High Country Council of Governments as a tool to promote healthy growth in the future.

The first public hearing will give West Jefferson residents the opportunity to discuss the initial adoption of the zoning map proposed by the Land Use Plan, while the second hearing will relate to zoning amendments suggested by the plan.

Duncan Cavanaugh of the High Country Council of Governments said that the plan's goal "was to make sure that the town has a plan in place for orderly growth." He noted that "as the town grows, companies are going to come in and homes are going to start sprouting up. Companies and big residential areas may ask for things, like town water and sewer, and that's an expensive proposition." The Land Use Plan will "guide growth and make sure that in the future, growth is in step with the town's ability to provide infrastructure, to look out 25 years and say 'We know growth is coming, let's make sure we have the capability to accommodate that in a logical, non-haphazard way."

The Land Use Plan is available on the town's website at www.townofwj.com.

The Alderman also passed a motion at the meeting to change the pay period frequency for town employees from weekly to bi-weekly. The motion saw opposition from the town's employees, as both Public Works Director Eric Miller and Public Utilities Director David Hamilton said that their employees did not want to move to a bi-weekly pay schedule.

Alderman Calvin Green said the town's employees work hard and "don't ever ask us for anything," and later said that he thought the Board "should honor their request."

But Town Manager Greg McGinnis said that the plan was simply to help save the town money in "very precarious times."

Alderman Stephen Shoemaker said that "it calls for sacrifice, and everybody is having to sacrifice." The motion passed 4-1, with Green casting the dissenting vote. The change will take effect on April 1.

After the Board closed their regular session, they went into closed session and voted to hire David R. Paletta of Boone as the new town attorney. Jimmy Reeves, the town's previous attorney, recently resigned after 30 years of service.

Paletta graduated from Duke in 1976 with a B.A. in economics and history and from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill law school in 1980. He has served as the town attorney for Beech Mountain for 27 years and also served as the Boone town attorney for 12 years.

"David has a wealth of knowledge and experience in North Carolina municipal law," said Mayor Dale Hudler in a press release. "Although he has some big shoes to fill in Jim Reeve's departure, we have every confidence that David will advise and represent us well."

The Town of West Jefferson will hold their next meeting on Thursday, March 5, at 6 p.m. at West Jefferson Town Hall located at 601 South Jefferson Avenue. To find out more, contact the town at (336) 246-3551.