Highlands Town Board of Commissioners convened on Thursday, Feb. 19 for its monthly meeting, where it reviewed appointment procedures, the Highlands Chamber of Commerce’s lease, workshops, outdoor recreation policy amendments and Mayor and Town Manager reports.
Town Board Commissioner Appointment Procedure
The Board unanimously approved a motion to hold a special meeting March 12 at 3 p.m. to discuss Food and Wine and interview commissioner candidates, with a potential appointment to follow. The meeting will be open to the public.
Each candidate will be given 10 minutes to respond to questions and three minutes for an opening statement. The order of interviews will be determined by lottery at the beginning of the meeting.
The Board will follow nomination ballot procedures, with each commissioner completing a ballot. Whichever candidate receives three votes — a majority — will be appointed. If no candidate receives a majority, those with no votes will be eliminated and the Board will proceed to additional rounds of voting until a majority is reached. If a deadlock remains, the Board can approve a motion to permit the Mayor to act as a tiebreaker.
Town Board Committee Discussion
The Board held discussions over the effectiveness of workshop meetings and whether they should transition to a different format.
Town Attorney Nick Tosco stressed the importance of following North Carolina’s Open Meetings Law (N.C.G.S. Chapter 143, Article 33C) which prohibits a majority of a three-person committee from meeting privately to discuss public business. He advised the Board to use workshops instead, allowing commissioners to discuss issues in greater depth without worrying about time constraints before regular Board meetings.
The Board instead leaned toward forming committees rather than holding workshops. Commissioners Jeff Weller and Amy Patterson said committees allow members to gather information and examine matters more effectively before bringing them before the full Board for a “coherent discussion”.
“The only thing I’m trying to get away from and avoid is a work session,” said Weller. “We had 11 hours last year and in most cases, it was just starting dialogues.”
The Board will review its previous committee structure to determine which committees to reestablish and continue developing a format ahead of next month’s meeting.
Town Board Commissioner Rules of Procedure
Because the Board does not have a formal set of procedural rules, Tosco — following a recommendation from the UNC School of Government — formulated guidelines based on Robert’s Rules of Order. He said he adapted the suggested roles to what best suited the Board.
“It’s a set of ground rules that you all can refer to and that I can refer to when you have a question about how to handle part of a meeting or something before or after it,” said Tosco.
Tosco added that the proposed rules also entail a built-in public comment period policy.
The Board will review the specifics and revisit the documents at next month’s meeting.
Highlands Chamber Building Lease
Highlands Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Johanna Fein brought a request to the Board to extend the Chamber’s lease to a minimum of five years, saying it would save resources and prevent additional discussions.
“We do have some improvements we’d like to do and to do that, we’ll need to continue to increase its value and take good care of that building,” said Fein. “Assuring time there would make us more willing to make those improvements.
Tosco said a five-year lease would require the Board to adopt a resolution stating that it does not need the property for the term of the lease. If the Board chooses to proceed, it would need to pass a motion directing staff to prepare the resolution.
The Board unanimously approved to do so.
Mayor’s Report
Mayor Patrick Taylor reported that the demolition of Highlands Playhouse was completed and Bryson Grading and Paving leveled the property, filled in the basement, hydroseeded bare areas, and installed silt fences. He said that while community members have proposed ideas for repurposing the property, he prefers to let the hydroseed settle before moving forward.
Taylor also thanked those who participated in the recent public hearing on redistricting in Macon County, noting that a majority of attendees want to consider different options before moving forward. He added that a referendum might be the preferred route, rather than seeking special local legislation through the NC Legislative Delegation.
After attending another public hearing, this one on potential changes to the Macon County Planning Board, Taylor said he spoke in favor of continuing Highlands’ participation. However, the commissioners disagreed, later voting to dissolve the previous makeup of the planning board.
A new county planning board will now be established with five appointed members. Highlands will have the option to send a representative who can attend the meetings but will not have voting rights.
“What happens in the county also can impact the towns, so I hope that things will work out in the future, but I was disappointed that we lost our representative to the planning board,” said Taylor.
Town Manager Report
Town Manager Josh Ward said the town was approved for additional Helene relief grants totaling $3,164,254, which will be used to replace four water lines.
“It’s going to take some time — probably two or three years if it tracks like the other funding we received — but at least we were awarded the funding, so we’re excited about that,” Ward said.
He added that he has received the intent to fund, the first step from the state, for the first Helene relief grant, which will go toward a new generator. That grant totaled just under $1 million.
To wrap up his report, Ward noted that the Town Attorney will begin drafting the MOU with the Boys and Girls Club of the Plateau following official approval and hopes to have it sent out within the next month.
Audit
Travis Keever of Gould Killian CPA Group completed the town’s 2024–2025 audit and outlined his findings during the meeting. He said the auditors issued an unmodified opinion on the June 30, 2025, financial statements and found no material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting.
He added that no instances of material noncompliance with laws or regulations were reported, and a single audit of FEMA funding noted no findings.
Outdoor recreation use policy amendments and special event permit application
Tosco drafted a single special event use permit for anyone interested in using town property — including land, streets and facilities — providing protections to the town. He also revised the outdoor recreation use policy amendments, including changing “renter” to “user”.
The motions to amend the outdoor recreation use policy amendments and approve the revised special event permit application were unanimously approved.
Other News
Tosco recommended that the Board wait to take any action until the county reviews his proposed interlocal agreement regarding improvements to the old landfill for dredging material disposal.
“I feel like it’s a win-win for us,” said Ward. “It gives us a place to dispose of material here in Highlands, which will reduce the cost to haul the material to Franklin and allow us to haul more loads out of Mirror Lake.”
The Board also unanimously approved a motion allowing the town to negotiate and pursue a $1.59 million design-build contract with Kompan for a new playground and to amend the Duke Energy Power Purchase Agreement.
During the work session prior to the board meeting, commissioners discussed the addition of commercial building exterior materials and building height requirements for Government Institutional.
- Mitch Stone
reporter@highlandsnews.com