Forest City Council Covers Safety Grants and Holiday Wrap-Up

The Forest City Town Council addressed public safety, technology upgrades, cemetery regulations, and community events during its regular meeting held on Jan. 12 at the Rutherford County Schools Administrative Offices.

Mayor Steve Holland opened the meeting with an invocation, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.

Public comment

During public comment, Deborah Keller introduced herself and announced she was seeking to run as an unaffiliated candidate for Rutherford County commissioner in District 1. Keller said she was required to collect petition signatures equal to 4% of registered county voters to qualify for the ballot for her to be on the November general election ballot. 

Keller told council members that signing the petition did not constitute a vote or endorsement and said the signatures were used solely by the Rutherford County Board of Elections to verify voter eligibility. She cited state law and constitutional protections related to the right to petition.

Approval of minutes

Council members unanimously approved the minutes from their December meeting.

ERP software update

IT Director Mickey Munn updated the council on the town’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) system implementation with Tyler Technologies. Munn said the project had completed its initial planning phase and had moved into training and analysis.

He said 26 training sessions had already been completed by town staff, placing the project ahead of schedule. A major data migration test was scheduled for the week of Feb. 9 to evaluate how existing data would transfer into the new system. A projected go-live date was expected later in the process.

Highway Safety Program grant

Police Chief LeRoy briefed council members on the North Carolina Governor’s Highway Safety Program grant. Forest City had received funding the previous year for one traffic enforcement position after originally applying for four.

Chief LeRoy reported that the grant-funded officer investigated 46 traffic crashes and issued 146 traffic citations during the first quarter, largely in response to citizen complaints. He said the officer also participated in traffic checkpoints and saturation patrols, including a multi-agency DWI checkpoint that resulted in two DWI arrests, two felony firearms-related arrests and multiple drug charges.

The department said it planned to reapply for the grant by the Jan. 31 deadline, requesting funding for three positions for the next grant cycle.

Cemetery rules revised

The council unanimously approved revised rules for the town-owned Cool Springs and Alexander cemeteries. Town officials said the updates modernized outdated language, reflected current pricing and added provisions governing mausoleums.

Under the revised rules, the cost per grave was set at $1,000 for Forest City residents and $1,800 for non-residents, with payment required in full at the time of purchase. The rules also outlined standards for grave liners, markers, decorations, conduct, vehicle use and mausoleum construction.

Surplus vehicles approved

Council members approved a request to declare two vehicles surplus: a 2005 Ford F-250 pickup from the fire department with more than 107,000 miles and a 2011 Ford Transit van from the IT department that had mechanical issues. Declaring the vehicles surplus allowed the town to dispose of them according to policy.

Hometown Holidays recap and manager’s report

Town Manager Janet Mason delivered a recap of the 2025 Hometown Holidays season, describing strong attendance and positive feedback from downtown businesses. She said merchants reported heavy foot traffic and increased sales during events such as the Thanksgiving night tree lighting, Small Business Saturday activities and the Christmas parade.

Mason said the town also hosted carriage rides, hayrides, visits with Santa and the Grinch, live music, an ice-skating rink and the Be the Light 5K. She said Forest City received a $3,000 Tourism Development Authority marketing grant to promote the festivities and saw increased attention from visitors outside the area.

In her manager’s report, Mason also updated council members on the new farmers market project, with grading and utility work expected to begin soon and a groundbreaking planned for Jan. 15. She said budget work for the upcoming fiscal year had begun, the town audit was expected to be presented in February, and interviews were underway to fill the Parks and Recreation director position ahead of a planned retirement.

Adjournment

After a brief discussion about extending holiday lighting to additional downtown buildings and the need for property owner permission, the council voted to adjourn. 

The council's budget work session is scheduled for Feb. 2, and the next regular meeting is scheduled for Feb. 16.