Mayor on Duty

The staff and I meet with various groups that support and supply the town on a routine basis, and this past week Josh, Lamar Nix met with folks from Duke Energy. It was a good meeting. […]

At the board meeting last week, I did a rather long mayor’s report concerning initiatives I want the board address in future meetings. Let me briefly review several of these items. First, the master sidewalk […]

We got it, you got it too! What? We have all recently received our Macon County 2022 Property Tax Notice, aka tax bill. The bills go out every August and are due by January 5. […]

I have complied with the Save Highlands attorney’s public document request. All my emails concerning STRs have been sent to Derek Allen. There may be a few I have overlooked or missed, but I have made […]

Last week Sallie and I took our grandchildren on our annual trek to Jekyll Island. A goal was to include some educational experiences on the vacation schedule. So, we took a dolphin tour and did […]

My call for stakeholders to propose compromises concerning STRs underscores the community stalemate on this combative issue. I asked stakeholders to publicly put forth any proposed compromise. I wanted the community to see if there […]

Tonight, is a Special Meeting of the Highlands Board of Commissioners. It will be held at the Highlands Community Center next to the ball field at 6pm. The meeting can be accessed at the town […]

“Oh beautiful for spacious skies, For amber waves of grain, For purple mountains majesties, Above the fruited plain.” If our small convenience center at the recreation center is full (pictured above), please take your recycling […]

My heart almost stopped when Josh Ward told me that the public hearing concerning STR amendments had not been properly advertised as a legal notice in the Highlander. That oversight invalidated the subsequent actions of […]

Tonight is the May meeting of the Town of Highlands Board of Commissioners. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. at the Highlands Community Center next to the ball field. Prior to this meeting, the […]

Last Friday afternoon the weather was warm. Sallie was on the front porch listening to the birds. She asked me to join her. We began to hear voices talking over the Billy Ray Cyrus 1992 […]

We are getting close to the end of school and the graduation season. Highlands School usually has a senior graduation class of about 25 to 30 students. Being one of only three K through 12 […]

I attended the recent broadband meeting that Senator Corbin and Representative Gillespie hosted two weeks ago. There was a strong turnout of people throughout Western Carolina where broadband accessibility is a vital issue. Just in […]

I want to thank everyone for a very successful and civil public hearing last Thursday night that addressed the Highlands Planning Board’s recommendations concerning short term rental amendments to the UDO. Over thirty people spoke […]

This afternoon the public hearing concerning the Highlands Planning Board STR recommendations will begin at 5 p.m. at the Highlands Community Center. A signup list will be at the door for folks wishing to speak. […]