Location for Sylva’s public bathrooms still up in the air

Renderings show what the new public restrooms would look like if located at the old railroad depot (left) or at the Spring Street location, as viewed from Main Street. Donated rendering

HANNAH MCLEOD STAFF WRITER

Several Sylva residents came out Thursday night to express their opposition to the closure of Spring Street to construct public bathrooms.

The town recently received $250,000 through the State Capital Infrastructure Fund, direct appropriations in the state budget, in order to build public restrooms downtown.

“This money was given to us by the state legislature to construct a bathroom downtown because of festivals that we have,” said Mayor Linda Sossamon.

Earlier in the year, Sylva commissioners came up with three potential locations for the project — Spring Street, the old railroad depot off of Mill Street, and the old Ritz parking lot. Over the past several months, the board has discussed the merits of these three locations, and following a March 24 meeting, most commissioners seemed to be in favor of building the restrooms on Spring Street, which would result in its closure between Mill and Main streets. (According to Public Works Director Jake Scott, sewer connection at the old Ritz parking lot is cost prohibitive.)

At a May 5 meeting, commissioners approved a plan to temporarily close Spring Street to conduct a traffic study in order to determine how permanently closing Spring Street for a public restroom might affect traffic flow in the downtown area.

However, after a public hearing on the issue Thursday night, with relatively strong public opposition to that site, further discussion will have to be held to determine the final location for public bathrooms in Sylva.

PUBLIC OPINION

Six people spoke in opposition to a Spring Street bathroom during the public hearing, and commissioners read emails from two more members of the public that were also opposed to the Spring Street plan.

The first person to speak, Marian Garrett, said that while bathrooms were absolutely needed downtown, Spring Street wouldn’t be a good location for the project because they would be a focal point of downtown. She was also concerned that closing Spring Street for the bathroom would cause traffic jams, and that the current traffic study would not be a good indicator for future problems because May is a relatively low traffic flow time for Sylva.

Another speaker agreed with this sentiment saying that while bathrooms are needed downtown, they shouldn’t be constructed at the expense of Spring Street.

Jeffrey Hersh, a Sylva resident that lives on the corner of Shulman and Jackson Streets, said that he had noticed a strong increase in traffic since the closing of Spring Street for the study.

“This is an insane idea,” said Nicole Owen, a Sylva business owner. “There are other viable options that aren’t going to cause traffic accidents and aren’t going to look as bad.”

Finally, residents were concerned that closing Spring Street could present challenges for emergency services accessing different parts of town.

BOARD DISCUSSION

Following the public hearing, Mahaley Odell Thompson, the Sylva architect charged with creating preliminary plans for the project, spoke to the board about proposed plans for each location. According to Thompson, a bathroom at the Spring Street location is estimated to cost as much as $400,000, around $100,000 more than at the railroad depot location. That price estimate for Spring Street does not include redoing the pavers where Spring Street meets Main and Mill, something commissioners have discussed.

The basic layout of the restroom would be similar if constructed on Spring Street or at the old railroad depot location, totaling around 400 square feet, though Thompson did mention that there was more space for construction at the old railroad depot.

One of the difficulties of building on Spring Street is that officials do not know what is underneath the road as far as sewer, water and storm drains are concerned. One issue with building at the old railroad depot is reaching an agreement to lease the land from the railroad.

“That isn’t insurmountable, but it is something to consider,” said Scott.

One member of the public, speaking during the portion of the meeting for board discussion, mentioned that it made more sense to have the bathroom closer to Bridge Park where so many events are held.

“This isn’t necessarily an event bathroom,” said Commissioner David Nestler. “Events down there [Bridge Park] have a bathroom. What we’re looking for is a good location for the everyday shopper, tourist and locals downtown that need a restroom. I think we’re covered on events. It definitely serves events better at the depot, but this isn’t necessarily an events bathroom, it’s a downtown bathroom.” A major concern for commissioners is accessibility. Regardless of where the restroom is constructed, it must be ADA compliant. Commissioners think that a bathroom on Spring Street would provide easier access for people shopping on Main Street. Mayor Sossamon noted that walking down Spring Street all the way to the old railroad depot could be difficult for elderly people.

“I think one of the cases for Spring Street was the accessibility from Main Street where your customers are that might suddenly need a restroom,” said Sossamon. “We wanted something that people who are at the festivals like greening up could come to and that’s why Spring Street was a first thought since one lane of it is already closed and sitting there doing nothing.”

Commissioner Ben Guiney said that he had walked the distance from Main Street to the old railroad depot and that it was not that far; he estimated it at 120 feet.

“I’ve walked it, it’s Sylva, it’s small, it’s not that far,” said Guiney. “When you weigh that [distance] against the disruption of digging up Spring Street, the unknown costs — this sounds like a nightmare to start digging into Spring Street. We’ve seen the traffic study; it’s been a week and it’s already causing a lot of disruption. I understand wanting to have it close to Main Street, but if you weigh it against the drawbacks of tearing up the road, I don’t feel so sure.”

“My concern for locals or visitors is pedestrian accessibility and vehicle accessibility,” said Commissioner Natalie Newman. “When we say we don’t want to close Spring Street, I think we’re saying we want to make it accessible to cars, but I think Spring Street is a better location to make things accessible for pedestrians. You can drive down another street in a car, but someone may not be able to walk back up Spring Street to get to Main Street.”

Mayor Sossamon said, “I think at some point there may be money where we can also construct another bathroom in the Bridge Park area.”

The board will continue to discuss the best location for public bathrooms in downtown Sylva.

“Stay tuned for further development, is all I can say, when we will have further discussion,” said Sossamon.

“We’ve seen the traffic study; it’s been a week and it’s already causing a lot of disruption. I understand wanting to have it close to Main Street, but if you weigh it against the drawbacks of tearing up the road, I don’t feel so sure.”

— Sylva Commissioner Ben Guiney

Sylva nears final budget

HANNAH MCLEOD STAFF WRITER

The Sylva Board of Commissioners is one step closer to accepting its budget for the 2022-23 fiscal year. However, the town is still awaiting a decision by the county regarding the Sylva Fire Department and its request for paid personnel.

“Unlike in prior budgets, many long-term needs and priorities of the Board are now possible with the infusion of federal funds and state grants,” Town Manager Paige Dowling’s budget message reads. “The Board is currently prioritizing projects to utilize funding from the American Rescue Plan. The Town of Sylva received state and federal funds to help with the Allen Street slope failures, capital improvements and playground equipment for Bryson Park, and constructing a public restroom downtown. These grant projects are underway and therefore are not included in the proposed budget.”

The budget is proposed without a tax increase; the tax rate will remain $0.44 cents per $100 of property valuation. One penny on the tax rate currently generates $49,200 in Sylva. The general fund budget totals $5,847,875, which is an increase of a little less than $1.5 million or 29% from the original FY 2021-22 budget. When grants and other proceeds are not included, the general fund budget is $4,151,036, which is an increase of almost $400,000 or 10% from last year’s budget.

The budget does not appropriate from the capital reserve fund. Over the last two fiscal years, the town has budgeted for Allen Street repairs instead of adding to capital reserves. Because the town has used capital reserve funds and not added to it, the fund is now at $218,345.

“That is low when looking at upcoming capital needs,” said Dowling. “The public works department needs to replace large equipment in the near future, and we need to plan for this in the capital reserve fund. The town needs to rebuild the capital reserve fund when possible.”

The proposed budget includes an additional employee and vehicle in public works and two patrol cars that keep Sylva on its police car replacement schedule. It also implements a salary study, a Municode recodification and allows the town to continue operating at its current level. The most recent line item added to the budget is the $10,000 for a temporary skate ramp.

The town receives $75,000 annually in Powell Bill funds for paving its roads. According to Dowling, an estimated $39,000 is needed each year above the current funding level to maintain town streets.

There is over $2 million in the Allen Street Slide Capital Project fund, and construction is likely to begin this summer. The town has $3 million in the Bryson Park Improvements SCIF Grant Project fund and $290,000 in the Public Restrooms SCIF Grant Project fund.

A public hearing on the proposed budget will be held May 26 at 5:30 p.m. and the budget will likely be adopted June 9 at 5:30 p.m.

SYLVA FIRE REQUEST

This budget cycle, Sylva had requested funding from the Jackson County Commission for paid personnel at the Sylva Fire Department. It is currently a volunteer department with two full-time fire coordinators paid for by the county. If the county were to fund the request, Sylva would move to a combination department with paid staff and volunteers.

Increasing call volume and fewer volunteers initiated the request for paid personnel. Sylva contracted Brigade Consulting, LLC to recommend a staffing model for the its fire department. The report gave multiple options for the department but ultimately recommended a 24/72 shift with 11 full-time employees. County commissioners are considering funding eight or 11 paid personnel.

However, at the latest budget work session on May 12, the Sylva Board of Commissioners considered withdrawing its request, noting two main concerns — that the request would not fund enough firefighters to support a healthy staff and that a future county commission may decide to no longer fund Sylva’s fire department leaving the town to foot the bill. Commissioners were concerned that it is too close to the budget deadline to work these details out.

“That’s where we’re coming from, we want to hold the county to this and have some real guarantees that moving forward, in the future, for whoever knows how long, that the Sylva Fire Department is going to be funded,” said Commissioner Ben Guiney.

This would be a major change to the budget because the plan was for Sylva to spend the money to fund the fire department and then be reimbursed by the county.

Sylva Fire Chief Mike Beck had the chance to speak with the board before it gave its final direction to the town manager, and he pleaded that the board not rescind its request but accept funding for 11 or eight paid personnel, whichever the county is willing to fund.

“I feel like if we get started, then in future times if things pick up, they’re going to pick up all through the county,” Beck said. “By funding us now, that helps them with mutual aid and insurance rates throughout the county.”

Commissioner David Nestler asked Beck why he would want to rush ahead with eight paid staff members when the report from Brigade Consulting made it clear that Sylva Fire Department already needs 11 paid staff members.

“Because I feel like we should accept what they’ll give us right now so we can get started,” said Beck. “In the future if call volume keeps going up, they will start funding Cullowhee more, us more and some of the outlying parts, increasing staff. But you have to start somewhere and that’s what I’m looking at here. We’re pretty far into it now to back out.”

“I think we shouldn’t take less than 11,” said Nestler.

The county already funds two full-time fire coordinators, as well as payments for the Sylva Fire Department building. If the county were to fund eight paid personnel, an additional $643,212 would be needed for the total funding amount of $1,074,290. If the county were to fund 11 paid staff an additional $760,536 would be needed for the total funding amount of $1,191,613. This would cost the county $0.0055 or $0.0065 cents respectively of the tax rate.

The final direction the board gave to town staff was to accept the funding for any amount of personnel eight or above. At its last meeting the county commission committed to deciding on funding during the week of June 6-10.

FACES OF HAYWOOD

Being a member of your local chamber is a huge asset to a small business owner. I’m fortunate enough to also sit on the board for the Maggie Valley Chamber. I try to tell everyone I know that own a business how important it is to become a member of their local chamber. The networking alone drives business with the locals. Advertising drives business with tourists. Business begets business. We have so many great businesses in our county and our community is so great to support us."

— Travis & Maggie Bramlett

The Hot Tub Store & More Valley Cigar & Wine Co.