Haywood sheriff to assume Clyde police duties

from Smoky Mountain News | September 23, 2020

Just what is ‘appropriate” for a newspaper?

BY CORY VAILLANCOURT S TAFF WRITER

A request by the Town of Clyde to disband its police force and contract with the Haywood County Sheriff’s Office for policing services was approved by Haywood County commissioners Sept. 8.

“The chief deputy, my hat’s off to him,” said Haywood County Sheriff Greg Christopher of Jeff Haynes’ work on the project. “He’s worked very, very hard with Joy [Garland, Clyde town administrator] to make this happen. Many hours went into this, to make sure the town of Clyde feels that they will get professional law enforcement services, and we look forward to this occurring.”

Per the agreement between the town and the county, the sheriff’s office will provide the services of four deputy sheriffs and one supervisor to the town beginning Oct. 1 and ending at the end of June 2025. As a result, there will be no change in the level of policing in the town.

Through next June, the town will pay $30,893 per month for the services. The next year, it’ll be $32,605 per month. The year after that, the cost rises to $40,125, before dropping down to $37,340 in the fourth year, and then finally $47,083 for the final year of the deal.

Assets of the Clyde Police Department — including weapons and vehicles — will be transferred to the county. Patrol cars will be rebranded with the HCSO livery and feature a decal designating them as Clyde Patrol. Officers currently serving the town will be given the opportunity to complete the additional training required of sheriff’s deputies.

The deal is revenue-neutral for the county, meaning it won’t cost Haywood County taxpayers a dime to provide the services to the town.

“I think it’s a good joint relationship and something that’s a positive change,” said Commissioner Brandon Rogers.

Clyde Mayor Pro Tem Frank Lay said it was also revenue-neutral for the town, but would probably result in more and better services for basically the same cost to the town’s taxpayers.

The town of Clyde regularly competes with the town of Maggie Valley for Haywood County’s smallest population; given the economies of scale, it’s been hard for Clyde to staff the positions continually.

“We have had a difficult time employing and retaining good police officers, mainly because we don’t provide state benefits like most all towns across the state of North Carolina,” said Clyde Mayor Jim Trantham.

Town officials including Trantham, Lay and Garland stressed the move was completely unrelated to the “defund the police” discussions currently taking place across the country, the state and the region.

Maggie Valley Fall Days, a community affair

BY HANNAH MCLEOD S TAFF WRITER

Fall decorations in Maggie Valley are a tradition that involves the entire town.

This year the Town Board of Aldermen voted to donate $1,500 to the effort to decorate a 5-mile stretch of road in Maggie Valley, despite only being asked for a donation of $750.

“I think this is a pretty important deal, especially this year we’re going to have a lot of people in town, going back and forth,” said Mayor Mike Eveland. “I want to make sure we put a good impact on this.” This is the 26th year that Maggie Valley has been coordinating with volunFall decorations in Maggie Valley SMN photo teers, the town, the Maggie Valley Chamber of Commerce, local businesses and the Haywood County Tourism Development Authority to decorate the Valley for fall. According to TDA Executive Director Lynn Collins, this year the TDA gave $7,000 toward Fall Days.

Each year businesses in the town submit orders for decorations. Those orders are coordinated by Sue Pendley, owner of Maggie Mountaineer Crafts and all decorations are sourced from local merchants.

“Steve at Ace Hardware was one of our merchants that supplied us with 700 bales of straw to build all of our displays. Justin Smathers grew 700 bundles of corn stalks to decorate our telephone phones. More than 1,000 pumpkins came from right inside the Tennessee line, 450 bundles of Indian corn was grown close by in Tennessee. Sloan’s Nursery in Canton grew 280 of our mums. Maggie Mountaineer Crafts ordered all the metal pumpkins for each display,” said Pendley.

At a Maggie Valley Board of Aldermen meeting Sept. 8, Town Manager Nathan Clark said that orders for Fall Days decorations were down this year due to COVID, and for that reason they were seeking additional funding.

“I think everybody enjoys it, even residents, and visitors, everybody loves the decorations throughout the town,” said Alderwoman Twinkle Patel. Patel later made the motion to approve a $1,500 donation for Maggie Valley Fall Days.

This year there were 35 volunteers who helped decorate, without whom Pendley said, the whole thing would not be possible.

“It is hard work but can be really fun too, and you can get to see your neighbors and make new friends,” said Pendley. “We have been blessed with everyone’s love to make it look great.” Mission: Support a safe community by implementing prevention activities, promoting safe choices, and reducing unsafe conditions for our children and families.

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