The proposed New Life Women's Center would need a zoning exception to operate.

The Town of Hayesville could face legal action by preventing a zoning exemption requested by the New Life Women’s Center.

The town council received letters from law offices in Chicago and Washington, D.C. after Hayesville’s planning and zoning board unanimously recommended that no zoning exception be made for the proposed homeless shelter.

The shelter would accommodate women with addictions and drinking problems, or “disabled” individuals.

“The [Fair Housing] Act demands that municipalities, such as the Town of Hayesville, change the manner in which its zoning ordinances are applied to afford the disabled the same opportunity to housing as those who are not disabled,” wrote Steven G. Polin, Attorney at Law.

Brenda Cormack, the shelter’s executive director, submitted a bevy of documents to the town on April 9, including the letters from attorneys, local letters of support, and a petition with 144 signatures. Of the signatures, only nine represent Town of Hayesville residents, Zoning Administrator George Schaaf said.

“…We urge you to consider…the risks to the Hayesville community of ruling against the New Life Women’s Center contrary to federal law,” Attorney John Mauck wrote. “The consequences for depriving the New Life Women’s Center of their federal right could include a claim for damages and attorneys’ fees in Federal District Court.”

The law offices learned of the case by reading a Sentinel article on the Internet, Cormack noted.

“I did not even ask for help,” she said. “I did not seek this; they came to me.”

Polin said he first became involved in the case three weeks ago.

“I was contacted by Brenda Cormack,” he said. “She’s the one who contacted me.”

Cormack emphasized Polin’s statement that municipalities refusing to make a “reasonable accommodation” in zoning policies violates specific laws.

Mauck said that the zoning board faced “apparent pressure from other social service ‘competitors’ in the community,” and could be facing a “zoning discrimination” suit.

“Federal law and the North Carolina Constitution protect religiously motivated ministries of individuals and institutions that are restricted by zoning laws…” he wrote.

The homeless shelter is also considered a dwelling under the law, Cormack said.

“I don’t think my opinion matters because at this point we have two letters from lawyers that cite a lot of things that I know nothing about,” town councilman Harry Baughn said.

At Baughn’s encouragement, the council tabled the issue so that the town attorney, Merinda Woody, could inspect the legal case.

“Hopefully, the will of the residents here will get to be heard and it will not be just a decision made by lawyers,” he said. “But at this point, I don’t know.”

Too much help and not enough need?

The town council paused for story time Monday.

School board candidate John Martin told of a modern-day good samaritan who helped a traveler after his car broke down and a brutal fight had left him for dead.

Yet Hayesville tells a very different story, councilman Harry Baughn responded.

“If you broke down on the side of the road here,” he said, “the only fight that almost breaks out is from all the people trying to help you.”

Indeed, the town council listened to heated controversy from representatives of two women’s shelters April 12, each fighting to offer services to a seemingly invisible homeless population.

Sheriff Joe Shook said he asked every deputy and officer if anyone had been seen sleeping under cars or bridges.

“They say, ‘No, we don’t have anybody. We haven’t seen anybody,’” he said. “If we’ve got somebody here from Clay County, we’ll help them. But if we bring somebody here from [another] county, I’m afraid they’re not going to want to leave. Does that bring crime to our county? Yes, I think so… Then, it starts pulling on our social programs.”

Shook indicated that he was asked to talk to the town council by representatives from Reach, the county’s currently existing shelter.

After facing complaints from the town’s planning and zoning board that a homeless shelter would bring problems from across the state line into Clay County, Executive Director Brenda Cormack told the town council that she would no longer accept women from other states at her proposed New Life Women’s Center.

“Originally, my mission was to help any woman that was in need,” she said.

Since the issue first arose, she said, a woman in Towns County decided to open up a shelter for women from both Towns and Union Counties. Nevertheless, Cormack’s shelter would still serve individuals from Cherokee, Clay, Graham and Macon Counties.

“We’ve been sending our homeless women to Cherokee County for the past 15 years….with not one penny of assistance to help,” she said. “So I’m not concerned about the fact that I’ll be caring for women that are coming from Cherokee or from Macon County…”

Cormack said the New Life Women’s Center would be faith-based, but nondenominational.

“We believe that with the Word, it makes a difference in the women’s lives,” she said.

Judith Alvarado, executive director of Reach, Clay County’s current women’s shelter, said she believed New Life would duplicate services, despite the emphasis on faith.

“We have Bibles in everyone’s room and if the clients want, we will transport them to church and also take them to events,” she said.

Reach is never full, Alvarado said, noting that three women are currently at the shelter which can hold up to ten.

Baughn said the town council is charged to be compassionate to Hayesville residents first and foremost.

“One of these attorney’s letters indicated that this would not be a financial burden on the town, but guess what? It’s become a financial burden,” he said. “I don’t know what it’s going to cost us for the town attorney.”

Citizens say the need is real

“Homelessness does exist in Clay County,” local real estate broker Debbie Woody told Hayesville’s Town Council Monday. “I’m telling you it’s coming, it’s getting worse, and some of it’s already here.”

Woody said people have pleaded with her that they’re about to lose their home.

“We need to get prepared now,” she said. “I don’t think the Lord gave us a vision for this homeless shelter for nothing. It sure wasn’t something that I wanted to take on. I needed this like another hole in my head. I’ve got enough to do… You can wait until they’re camped out here on the courthouse lawn or you can try to prepare a facility to take care of some of this.”

Local resident Robin Miller said she wondered if the shelter would go back “to the drawing board” if any residents were harmed by its participants.

“It sounds like a great idea by sincere people,” she said. “I’m wondering about the execution of the idea in this county instead of in a larger city where the problem is right there. Instead of bringing the problem to us, wouldn’t it make more sense…to take it to a larger county?”

Michelle Updike said the sheriff’s office was familiar with a homeless family that stayed in a camper trailer she provided on her property last year. Updike aid she placed dozens of people in homes last year.

“Some of these agencies rejected these people when I called,” she said. “I took a handicapped boy in my home for six months. I didn’t ask for food stamps, welfare, nothing. He stayed in my home and I paid for everything.”

Many local churches are getting involved in the effort, Updike said.

“Sometimes it’s easy to say they’re problems, but they’re not problems if we’re here to help,” she said. “There are a lot of kids in our school systems who have no families… It’s here.”

Sheriff Joe Shook said he was worried about people who would abuse the system.

“There’s not a more compassionate guy in this room than I am,” Shook said.

When his daughter was 18 she became a heavy drug user and told every church in the county that she had no money, Shook said.

“She had plenty of money and she had a bedroom to stay in and a house to live in,” he said. “Just like her there’s other people who won’t do what their mommy and daddy says.”

Shook said he pays his daughters bills every month, even today.

The central problem is determining how many people are just taking advantage of local programs, he said.

“There’s nobody who’s had any more problems than I have with children and drugs,” Shook continued. “How many people are going from place to place to try to get something and then move on to the next place? My own daughter done that, right here in this county.”

Living Word Revival Center Pastor Valerie Swisher said she wasn’t at the meeting as a representative for Brenda Cormack.

“I get phone calls every day of women with children who have nowhere to live and they beg me to sleep in my [church's] gym,” she said.

Swisher said the shelter was simply a good thing.

“We’re fighting to open a place to help somebody,” she said. “We should really go home and ask God to forgive us.”

Cormack is the one offering to do all the work, Swisher said.

“She’s getting the grants, she’s going to take care of it, she’s getting volunteers, she’s doing whatever needs to be done and we’re putting it in your hands to make a decision,” Swisher said. “I really wouldn’t want to be in your position.”

“How can you say ‘we have one place that takes care of people?’” resident Mary Ables asked the town council. “Does that mean we could only have one bookstore? And, praise God, maybe only one bar?”

Editor’s notes:

• Sheriff Shook said “I was asked by these ladies here…” in response to questioning about if he was at the meeting in an official capacity. Shook later clarified that no one asked him to attend the meeting and he volunteered to come.

• Brenda Cormack clarified that Mauck contacted her without her prompting. After that time a local suggested she contact Polin, she said.

The plan, which aims to help landowners stay in agricultural production, will also benefit generational ownership transitions.

Clay County lost 47 farms between 1987 and 2007, according to the 2007 Agriculture Census.

“Agriculture in Clay County is at a crossroads,” Waldroup said. “We have to encourage land owners to make the best choices they can about how their land will be used, who will use it, and how it can be preserved.”

Waldroup said it was important to make contact with landowners who are having trouble, noting that light attendance at the four workshops held so far indicates there are still people to reach. The next meeting is at 8 a.m. on April 15 at the Clay County Community Services Building.

The preservation plan should be drafted by early summer, Waldroup said.

Commissioners also approved a proclamation to approve April as “Public Health Month.”

County Manager Paul Leek said that a rough draft for an economic development program was in the works.

The local incentive program is being developed by Leek, Brian Trout and Erik Brinke, he said, and will be available by May.

A new board may be appointed to oversee retail operations in Clay County’s historic courthouse.

Clay County Communities Revitalization Association members Rob Tiger and John Bayne approached commissioners Thursday at the request of commissioner Harry Jarrett.

Numerous comments and surveys suggested choosing a nonprofit organization to lease the old courthouse to, Jarrett said.

Tiger said that forming a limited liability company would ensure a board was appointed to handle business and other operations.

“That board would include members from other civic organizations in the county and also include a representative from the county,” Tiger said. “It would be at the discretion of the commissioners who that person was.”

Tiger proposed that a commissioner serve on the board if the position wouldn’t create a conflict of interest.

“It would be a more transparent operation if we had somebody from the county on the board,” he said.

Bayne said that having a member from the county on the board would create a more efficient communication process.

The lower floor would serve as retail while the upstairs could be used as community space for the general public or performances, Tiger said. Bayne added that events such as weddings or class reunions could use the space.

Asserting that nothing has yet been settled, Bayne said the county would be expected to help with maintenance and upkeep. Revenue from retail stores would ideally fund day to day operations one day, Tiger said, noting that the county would need to pitch in, at least initially.

“I don’t know whether if in the first year or two years or three years you can expect [retail] to be paying all the utility bills, critical maintenance issues,” Tiger said. “I think the county would have to help on that.”

Bayne said the CCCRA was too active to take more on at the moment.

“We’re stretched kind of thin on a daily basis right now, so that’s why we want to have this new group set up to specifically work for the courthouse,” he said. “It’s beyond important; it’s absolute necessity in my personal opinion.”

Decisions on specific uses are in progress, Jarrett said.

“I think one of the things we’ve all wanted is for [the old courthouse] to continue being a living building with a lot of activities going on,” he said.

The next course of action is to determine who in the county would be interested in writing business plans, securing grants, and forming a new advisory board, Bayne said.

“This particular plan would be somewhat unique, at least in Western North Carolina,” he said. “Whereas other counties in the past have turned their older courthouses into museums, museums don’t generate income at all.”

Commissioner Herbert Cheeks emphasized the necessity of transforming the courthouse back into the county’s “focal point.”

“We don’t get anywhere if we don’t have community involvement,” he said.

Commissioner Stephen Sellers, however, expressed concern over the plan.

“I’m all for it; I think it’s a great idea,” he said. “[But I'm] wondering what taxpayers would have to pay… I’m not saying we can’t do it… but it throws a flag up for me.”

Churches that seem to double as concert halls. It’s an increasingly common sight.

In an age of technological enhancement, St Nicholas Orthodox Church may seem a bit untraditional, but only because it’s so deeply rooted in… tradition.

Incense. Saints. More candles than seats. And chanting… verses and prayers.

“It’s connected to the historical stream of Christianity, theology, belief and practice that has changed very little,” Fr. James Blomeley explained. “It’s entirely consistent now with what it was 1,000 or even 2,000 years ago.”

Before St Nicholas opened in Peachtree last August, the few Orthodox believers in the mountains would have to travel to Marietta or Chattanooga to attend services, Blairsville resident Van Crikis said.

Blomeley, the church’s priest, served as a deacon in an Atlanta parish for several years before being ordained last May. During the week he practices law in Murphy.

“I didn’t really know if there were orthodox up here,” he said. “The first Sunday I didn’t know if anyone would show up.”

He said he was surprised to see 20 locals attend the opening service.

“They all thought they were the only orthodox in the area,” Blomeley explained. “They had no idea there was anybody else.”

For Holy Week the church held eight different services, actually fewer than the traditional full range, Blomeley said.

“It is a lot of work, but for us Holy Week and Easter is just complete emersion,” he said. “When we actually get to Easter it really is the greatest of all feasts.”

Concluding a selective fast, the congregation gathered for bar-b-que at 2 a.m. Sunday morning.

“It was your usual church potluck,” Blomeley said… except for the time.

About eight people attend on an average Sunday, Blomeley said, noting that it ranges to 20 on occasion. While most of the congregation is older, one family and some locals in their thirties attend.

“Yes, there is an emphasis nowdays on technology and immediacy and cultural relevence…but what I find is that for a lot of people there is a search not for the surface, but for the depth,” Blomeley said. “The candles, the incense… it speaks to a lot of people.”

Blomeley said that he hopes the parish could one day leave behind the quaint compartment it currently occupies at Peachtree Place and construct a standalone church.

Before that happens, however, the parish has to become financially sustainable. At this point contributions cover the basics and utilities, but Blomeley is serving without a salary.

“We have more people now than we really thought we would at this point,” he said. Fifty to one-hundred families is what you shoot for to become a real parish… If we could get to that point over five to ten years I’d be tickled.”

But no matter how much it grows, the services will stay the same.

“We’re not for everybody,” Blomeley said. “Some find their fullfillment in the technological aspect of services, but others find it in the timelessness.”

“I think the snow’s over, so we set a graduation date,” Superintendent Scott Penland said. “I think we’re safe.”

June 11 is one day past the mandatory last day of school according to North Carolina state law, but the board has the authority to overrule in the case of inclement weather, Penland said.

Penland said he was reconsidering the two proposed Clay County Schools calendars for 2010-2011 and the board approved both plans for the time being until an official decision is made on moving up the start of the school year.

“I feel pretty good about the calendar,” Penland said, noting that spring break had to stay on a consistent week across both proposed calendars to match with other local school systems for athletic reasons.

The school board also reviewed the General Fund Revenue Report & Economic Outlook provided by the North carolina general Assembly.

Penland said it was good news that the downward trends of economy-based taxes had flattened out, but the report said that “there are very few signs an upturn can be expected anytime soon.”

Prolonged weaknesses in the economy mean that consumer spending is down, the report stated, noting that the dismal employment outlook is projected to extend far into the year.

In addition, consumers are choosing to pay off debt rather than increase debt.

“That’s bad for short term economy but good for the longterm economy,” Penland said, adding that the only option was to “ride out the storm.”

Job conditions in both North Carolina and across the nation, however, show “few signs of improving,” the report continued.

Penland pointed to a news article stating that about 600 teachers have recently been laid off in just the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system, in addition to pay cuts across the board for assistant principals.

“It’s not looking too good right now,” he said. “I wish I had some better news on the budget, but I’ve got to report what I’ve got.”

Penland said that so far, the 2009-2010 school year has been fine, despite the crunch.

“We made the necessary adjustments,” he said. “We’re still able to continue most things we’ve been doing. We’ve got a few less teachers, but it’s all worked out.”

A proposed budget for the 2010-2011 school year was unveiled, but is yet to be approved by the county, Penland said.

The largest expense cuts come from salaries, a decrease of $95,000. In addition, money for supplies was cut by $1,000. Maintenance and telephone budgets also saw severe cuts.

Planned expenses included $5,000 for new HHS banners, $65,000 for technology upgrades, $1,000 for additional speed bumps, $25,000 for additional paved parking for HHS, $8,000 for high school and middle school security cameras, and $35,000 for storage buildings.

• The expense “wish list” also included $225,000 for replacing the bleachers at the football stadium. “Engineers told us they’re not going to last forever,” Penland said.

• $18,000 is allotted to placing security cameras on every bus, Penland said. The devices are only in four busses, currently.

• An influx of kindergarden registrations may prompt the purchase of an additional mobile unit, he said.

• Penland also reviewed preschool information with the board. He said that parents who submit an application for their child after April 30 would be added to a waiting list. He noted that the licensed program has received five stars, the highest rating possible to achieve. First grade and kindergarden teachers can notice the difference, he said.

• Student Emmalee Stillwell was released to Cherokee County Schools.

The school board unanimously approved a project development agreement with Johnson Controls, which will spend the next 60-90 days evaluating the campus to determine how to make the schools more energy efficient.

The deal, which would entail a 12-year payback, is nothing new to Clay County Schools, Superintendent Scott Penland told the board.

The school system’s relationship with Johnson Controls goes back nearly two decades, he said, noting that the last agreement provided proven results. The first project, which cost $250,000, expired several years ago, he said.

“They guarantee that our annual savings will more than offset what the cost is,” Penland said. “And they did that the first time; …Actually they came in the first year and did the energy audit and we had not saved as much as they thought and they wrote us a check for the difference.”

Improvement measures and services included in the project development include retrofitting the lighting system with current technologies and motion sensors, water conservation with low-flow water closets, replacing outdated HVAC equipment with higher efficiency units, and exploring boiler retrofits to reduce fuel expenses.

“You think it doesn’t cost that much for lighting…but this is just one classroom,” Penland told the board. “We’ve got probably 200 classrooms on campus.”

Replacing the roof on Hayesville Middle School was also mentioned, but Penland said that the project would not result in useful payback and would require capital contribution from Clay County Schools.

Pablo Pittaluga, the K12 Account Executive with Johnson Controls, said that a preliminary study found that Clay Schools currently pays about $400,000 per year for power, gas and diesel. The estimated savings, he said, would be about $57-$77,000 per year.

“We find the bulk of the savings through lights,” Pittaluga said

Johnson Controls will do the retrofitting or will hire local contractors, Pittaluga said.

“If they can’t produce the savings then we don’t owe them anything,” Penland said. “We’re not going to be out any money. We’re going to be switching money”

School board member Darryl McClure called the effort to save money a “win-win” situation.

Steve Kaagan and Bryan Hedden emphasized such statistics Monday in an effort to step up recycling efforts at Clay County Schools.

Partners for more than four years now, Hedden and Kaagan transformed the “Tough on Trash” campaign they created into an entire initiative dubbed “Greening Clay County.”

Having collected a freshly-tossed mud-speckled bottle from a county roadside earlier in the day, Kaggan explained to the school board that student learning is key to the plan.

“This isn’t a waste; it’s a resource,” he said, adding that the goal was to turn the next generation into advocates for recycling.

Hedden said that the high school’s environmental science class is already collecting recyclables on campus, having recently gathered nine 33 gallon bags filled with plastics (during just the month of March) and taking the bags to the transfer station.

The school also has a mixed paper trailer for use.

By becoming more conservative and sending less to landfills, the school system can save money, Kaagan insisted. He said he was interested in inspecting the school’s current operations.

Short-term goals include setting up paper recycling boxes in every classroom and establishing a strong recycling system for special school events and sports matches.

Hedden said that they’re trying to find state grants to acquire a cardboard recycling trailer for Clay County Schools. Eventually, he said, a system should be in place to handle recycling in the school cafeteria.

It’ll be great to see money come back to the schools,” Kaagan said, noting that the school system is one of the biggest producers of refuse in the county.

There are just two decades left (on average) for United States landfills, Kaagan said, stressing that there aren’t likely to be new ones built in the meantime.

The Georgia Mountain Research and Education Center wants to reach across state lines to help Clay County citizens become more aware of the environment.

The center’s community council met with local business leaders last week to discuss a series of programs and express the necessity of the center.

“Even though we’re neighbors in a different state, we have the same environment, we have the same needs, and we hope to serve you just as well as we can serve the citizens of Georgia,” Resource Committee Chairperson Joe Garner said.

Council members said that the goal was to encourage people to make better decisions through knowledge, noting that the closest similar program in North Carolina is hours away on the other end of the state.

“We want to cooperate with them; we’re not in conflict with them,” Garner said.

The center is open for residents of Towns, Union, Fannin, Clay and Cherokee Counties, the council said.

“I think we all realize the increase in population in our region,” Outreach Committee Chairperson Lou Ann Bleakley said. “New residents face the challenge of a different environment completely in their gardening and farming.”

The center aims to help newcomers by answering questions and offering advice.

“This year we are trying to help people deal with the economic situation,” she said. “We are so blessed to have this in our region to help our residents.”

Seminars on topics such as cutting energy bills and even raising backyard poultry all add up, she said.

Education Committee Director Peg Schneider described the importance of the program in local schools.

“If we had to name one major supporter of our programs, it’s Hayesville Elementary and Mr. Tommy Hollingsworth,” she said. “They come to everything,…so we always go to them first.”

Schneider said that the center just introduced its first water lessons in Hayesville schools, adding that Hayesville will get the “first shot” at every new program.

“The teachers told me the kindergarden students have an attention span of about 20 minutes,” she said. “They are so wrong. You keep them busy, you teach them the right stuff, you’re gonna have them forever.”

At the research center’s recent Johnny Appleseed program the kids paid attention for an hour and fifteen minutes, she said.

On March 19 the research center plans to teach a bird lesson at Hayesville schools, encouraging kids to create their own birdfeeders in class.

“Our programs are all about action,” Schneider said. “Hayesville’s really special to us because they believed in us from the beginning.”

A base of about 200 volunteers come together to design programs for each grade level, she said.

Of the 2,700 students served last year by the center’s education program, more than 600 were from Clay County, Schneider said, noting that the council expected more than 3,000 kids to take part this year.

“Obviously, you can tell we are excited about this place; we view it as a treasure that’s in our community,” she said.

Clay County Commissioner Herbert Cheeks said he enjoyed visiting the center as well, noting that he approved of the student events.

“I always love the kids being able to go,” he said.

Preservation Team Director Jennifer Cordier invited citizens to the grand opening of the center’s interpretive center on June 5.

“These are the oldest mountains in the world, and we have the most diverse biological plant life probably on the planet,” she said. “We are living in a very, very, very special place.”

Cordier said that a plant rescue team volunteers to move plants that may be in harm’s way due to developments.

“Many of the weeds we stomp around on in our backyard are actually displayed in [the center's] garden because they have played an important role in our past and in our present,” she said. “We honor folks who have set aside a portion of their property as a native botanical sanctuary;…more than 700 acres have now been preserved.”

Sandy Zimmerman, a representative from Congressman Shuler’s office, said that the agriculture and education program was of big interest to Shuler.

“It’s good to see that the council is working across not only county lines but state lines,” she said.

Garner said that the community council relies on donations to keep activities going.

“The state legislature’s been going through some turmoil,” he said. “We think that there will be some cuts, we don’t know how hard. We’re expecting our budget to be restored;…hopefully the cuts are not as severe.”

Council member John Mays said that the center’s budget is $8,000 lower this year than the standard $60,000 per year.

“Would we like financial support from Clay County? I think the answer is ‘yes’,” he said.

One of the research center’s recent projects has been to study the effect of cold weather on palm trees.

Garner said that while there have been more chill hours this year than last, the temperatures fluctuated more wildly in the past.

“In 2006 we started working with wine grape, trying to have a diseased vineyard,” he said. “We’ve got an acre and a half of wine grape. I know that you at least have some wine grape enthusiasts in Clay County;…they’ve come to see us before.”

The center’s current concern is Hemlock Wooly Adelgid, a pest that has started killing hemlock trees in the north, Garner said.

“This is the big black eye coming into our general area. …We’re working with scientists who are trying to discover answers on how to control it,” he said.

Claire Johnston, the community council’s technician, said that the insects are originally from Southeast Asia, and noted that by the end of April, the problem will be extremely apparent as a serious concern.

Clay County resident Clay Logan voiced his support of the council’s programs to local business leaders, too.

“It sounds like you all have come to join us, not to change us,” he said.

Hayesville may not be getting a new homeless shelter for women if the town council takes the advice of the local planning and zoning board.

The council voted unanimously not to recommend a zoning ordinance exception to allow the women’s center in the central business district downtown.

New Life Women’s Center’s Executive Director Brenda Cormack and representatives from Reach, the county’s existing shelter, were present March 9 to answer questions from the board.

The board decided that the shelter’s placement is inconsistent with the commercial district around the courthouse.

“The land use plan is not law, it’s a guide,” Zoning Administrator George Schaaf told the board, noting that there’s no obligation to follow the plan.

The board was concerned that an increasing homeless population in downtown Hayesville would not contribute to local commerce revenues.

“These women will be shopping,” Cormack said. “Monies will be coming into local businesses.”

The Reach shelter was established before zoning regulations took place.

The house under consideration for the new shelter was important because of its location within walking distance of downtown, Cormack said.

“Most homeless individuals, you want to get them as close as possible so there’s conveniences for them,” she said. “There won’t be any loitering or congregating around the front of the building.”

Cormack said she looked for a suitable location for a year and a half, but had to settle on something close to Hayesville.

“From past experience I know that law enforcement is not going to drive 25 minutes” to take someone to a shelter, she said. “I have had my eye on that house for a long time.”

The house belongs to Truett Memorial church, which originally purchased it for use as a children’s shelter, Cormack said. However, the church found a larger location, so Cormack said she thought the building was already approved.

“I never thought that it would not be approved by the city,” she said. “I never dreamed that that would be a problem.”

When a story about the new shelter first hit local newspapers, calls for help started flowing in, Cormack said.

“We have a house that’s in place and I have women who are living out by creeks in tents,” she said. “Is this something that’s needed? I say yes. There’s nothing like it in a 50-mile radius.”

The board expressed concern that the new shelter might simply be a duplication of services already offered by Reach.

“I think it’s great that [Reach is] here,” Cormack said. “When it was established domestic violence was a huge issue.”

In recent times, the economic situation has created a bigger need for the homeless, Cormack said, promising that she’ll network with other regional agencies to work together.

While the board noted that Murphy’s homeless shelter is struggling to secure grants, Cormack said she was able to tap into a strong grant writer she worked with previously in Florida.

While the shelter is currently built to house eight women, Cormack said she is considering doubling the possible number of occupants in the future.

Clay County’s director of social services, Debbie Mauney, said her department works hard to prevent homelessness.

As a former Reach board member, she said that the shelter has never turned down women and children. Homeless people who enter Clay County are entitled to public assistance, she stated.

Board chairperson John Miller said he was concerned about whether government money spent on such programs would stay in the county.

Because most counseling and mental health services for the homeless take place out-of-county, in-county circulation of funds can’t be guaranteed, Mauney said.

The board was concerned that due to the county’s relatively low population, an extra shelter might compete with grant funding for Reach.

“These people are going to need mental health, they’re going to need substance abuse services… we have none here,” Betty Smith, chairperson of the Reach board and transportation director, said. “Right now we’re barely hanging on;… I’d love to take care of everybody but we barely have enough for Clay County.”

Reach member Amanda Patterson said that her current shelter could hold up to ten people but that in her five years of employment, the shelter has never been full.

“Ninety-two percent of all homeless women have been abused at some point in time. That’s only an eight percent gap, so we try to take everybody,” she said.

Reach previously maintained a 30-day stay limit, but as the economy worsened, the stay limit has been dropped, Patterson said.

“We’ve had to relieve the limit as long as the women are attempting to find employment,” she said. “I personally don’t see a difference. Ours has a domestic violence title and their’s doesn’t.”

While Reach aims only to house the Clay County homeless, the New Life Women’s Shelter would operate for people from multiple counties.

“I don’t want this to impact and cause problems on the county,” Cormack said. “Any of us sitting at this table could be homeless tomorrow. We’re just a paycheck away.”

Cormack said she wouldn’t compete with county transportation funding as her shelter aims to purchase its own bus.

“Monies brought into the area will benefit the county,” she said. “I’m not here to drain the county.”

The planning and zoning board’s report will be reviewed by town council in April.

Mark Linkous wasn’t born to be a coal miner.

Determined to keep out of the Virginia mines that consumed his family in the 1960s, he turned to music.

He became a rock star, moved to North Carolina, and on March 6, took his own life.

CNN. The New York Times. Rolling Stone. The Washington Post. The news of his death… shocking.

“Shot himself. With a rifle. In the heart. Knoxville, Tennessee.”

An anomaly among rock stars. Popular, famous, but living shy and secluded in a small mountain town no one’s ever heard of: Hayesville.

The leader of an alternative rock band called Sparklehorse, he operated a secret recording studio in the heart of Andrews, and called it “Static King.”

The elusive musician

“He was extremely shy, painfully so,” recalled Angela Faye Martin, who worked with Linkous on the last album he produced prior to his death. He avoided parties and never wanted to be around more than four people at a time, she said.

The two met in February 2008 when Martin, a Franklin-based singer and songwriter, traveled to Andrews to seek his expertise recording two demo tracks.

The only problem, Martin said, was that no one seemed to know who Linkous was, let alone where his studio was located.

Local record store owner Dean Williams was the only one who said he knew the elusive musician, but he wouldn’t reveal the spot of the studio.

Williams said he wouldn’t even tell his friends when Linkous was in town after a tour. The few people who knew the whereabouts of the artist’s lair kept the secret out of respect, he said.

But the studio was never far from sight. Linkous rented a building across the street from the record store, Williams said.

The record master described Linkous as “a close distant friend.”

It seemed as if Linkous “turned on a switch” when performing for a live audience, he said, but when the musician came off stage “he was a very private person, more private than any person I’ve ever met.”

“Even talking with Mark was like feeding berries to a deer,” he said. “There was something very fragile about his personality.”

The studio album

After listening to some of her songs, Linkous was persuaded to produce two demo tracks for Martin’s album.

“We spent lots of long hours together at that studio,” she said. “Everything in his studio was old. If he had to have a new component he would deface it in some way.”

At times production had to be stopped for up to three hours at a time just so Linkous could fix his vintage equipment, she said.

“He was extremely Appalachian in his approach to everything he did,” Martin recalled. “We’re so lucky that he lived in these mountains as long as he did.”

Despite a studio filled with “freaky organs,” and a collection of old motorcycles, Linkous didn’t fulfill the “slob stereotype” of most rock stars, Martin said.

“He was the most organized person I’ve ever come across in music. And I’ve been doing music for a long time,” she said. “I’m probably a better housekeeper because of him.”

After executives turned her music down, blaming the economy, Linkous decided to produce Martin’s 10-song album himself, beginning in January 2009.

“He was at a point where he needed to help somebody,” Martin said. “He did it – by industry standards – for the tiniest little bit of money.”

When Linkous worked on a project, it completely captivated his attention, Martin recalled.

“He was incredibly diligent; he would rarely even pick up a ringing phone when you were working with him.”

At times Linkous would work for 12 hours at a time without eating or drinking, Williams said.

“Compared to his peers, he lived without a lot,” Martin said. “He was comfortable in his southerness.”

In September 2009, the album, “Pictures from Home,” was completed.

Light in his music

In Williams’ words, the music Linkous created was simply “undescribable,” almost incomparable to any other artist.

“There was light in his music; there was a lot of sadness but you could tell there was a joy in the midst of the sadness,” Williams said.

He had a soft-spoken vocal style almost like whispering, Williams described. “He put his heart into every piece of music that he made.”

Linkous was a “brilliant engineer, able to create surreal atmospheres,” Martin said, adding that he’ll long be remembered as a talented songwriter.

“There’s a lot of beauty and a lot of hope in his songs,” she said.

At times his music boasted strange rhythms and rock and roll themes, but most of it expressed his love for the natural, Martin said.

“He was trying to extract the inner thoughts of these mountains,” she said. “And he loved these mountains so much… This was a good place for him to be because he really, really needed quiet.”

A man of few words, Linkous expressed himself instead through a menagerie of instruments.

“He could play anything,” Martin said. “It was a pretty special chapter of my life getting to work with Mark.”

Linkous was also known for his avid reading. Edwin Arnaudin, a librarian at the Andrews Public Library, said he began listening to Linkous’ albums after he met the musician.

“It takes some getting used to,” he said. “It’s like a challenging novel – it takes a few times, but it’s worth the effort.”

Fighting depression

“Mark struggled acutely with depression,” Martin said. “We didn’t talk about it much, but you knew it… He was constantly seeking positives, ways to deal with it.”

But on December 25, 2009 Linkous’ friend and fellow musician, Vic Chesnutt, died from an apparent overdose in Athens, Georgia. Linkous grieved the loss until his own suicide just two months later, Martin said.

“He wasn’t able to be social and share himself with the people of the mountains,” she said. “These mountains were lonely for him, but only because of his lonely nature.”

Nevertheless, Linkous found joy in the company of misfits, elderly, animals and children.

“I know that he was definitely troubled for many years, but he put that aside when you spoke with him,” Arnaudin said. “You could tell there was kind of a shadow around him, but if you could penetrate the shyness a little bit then he was very friendly.”

Martin said Linkous knew she and her husband were avid fans.

“Mark tolerated a lot of fan-like behavior from us,” she said, adding that Linkous’ life was proof that it’s possible to live in the mountains and still make a difference.

She said the economic downturn has made it “a very rotten time for creative people.”

“Mark didn’t make a lot of money at all,” she said. “Nobody’s buying music, particularly music that’s under the radar.”

Williams said he too was aware of Linkous’ battle with depression:

“I don’t want to say it’s necessary to make great music, but…most of my favorite songwriters have struggled with depression.”

Bad news

Returning from a ten-mile hiking trip, Martin checked her cellular phone on Sunday evening to find a message she didn’t believe was true.

Once she arrived home, however, the Internet was all it took to confirm her friend’s death. And as articles began appearing, there was no other option but to believe the unbelievable.

“Mark didn’t always take the best care of himself, but he didn’t seem like he was going anywhere anytime soon,” she said. “I always figured he would die decades later from some cigarette-related illness and I would have been at his bedside telling him he shouldn’t have smoked. That’s how I imagined it…”

Linkous had just signed a new record deal, Martin said. While she was recording with him he talked about plans to move his studio to Knoxville.

Local musician Rob Tiger said Linkous occasionally stopped by his store in downtown Hayesville, most recently in January. At the time he was speaking with the owner of a California record company.

“It seems like it was yesterday,” Tiger said. “He would come in and have a cup of coffee; he was never really forthcoming about what he was doing.”

Linkous never discussed Sparklehorse or even music in general, Tiger said.

Mary Fonda, a librarian at Hayesville’s Moss Memorial Library, described Linkous as a modest fellow. She said no one knew a rock star of his caliber lived in the area until he was asked about his job while at the library one day.

“He rubbed shoulders with a lot of heavy hitters in the music industry,” Tiger said. “Mark had a major label contract but those usually aren’t that lucrative.”

Martin said she hoped that Linkous’ final project, which he had just finished recording, would eventually be made available.

“The release of his album will be a very healing thing,” she said. “I heard a song from it and it was just fantastic.”

Williams said he was shocked by the news of Linkous’ death on Sunday after watching the musician move out of his studio on Friday.

“He just waved at me that day, and there was something very calm about the way he waved.”

An under-appreciated artist

“The first time I met him I didn’t know who he was,” Arnaudin recalled. “I think he liked that he could talk casually with me without having to deal with the whole celebrity factor. The second time I met him I had heart palpitations when he was around because I knew who he was at that point, but I tried to keep it cool because I knew he would run away if I wasn’t.”

Arnaudin and Williams both called Linkous a literature buff, noting that fans would sometimes lay books on the stage for him when he performed. Often, when he returned home from tours, he had a box of all the books fans had given to him.

Although he carried Linkous’ music in his record shop, Williams said that the only times customers would purchase his albums was when the music was playing on the store’s audio system.

“Most of my customers have never heard of Sparklehorse;…he was very unappreciated while he was alive,” Williams said. “He was a lot better known in Europe.”

One day, while selling buttons at the record shop, Williams said he noticed one that read “Famous in Europe.” He saved it and gave it to Linkous. The musician replied that he would wear it with pride.

“I think, tragically, now that he’s passed away he’ll be even more famous than when he was living,” Arnaudin said. “It wasn’t like having Bruce Springsteen walk around; it was the exact opposite.”

At times hardcore fans of Sparklehorse would find Linkous’ hometown on the Internet and come searching for him, Arnaudin said, even though the musician didn’t like to talk about his own work.

“I’ve always felt that if he had a way to make a living by recording albums and just putting the records on his shelf without releasing them, he would have still put just as much time into them,” Williams stated.

Martin said she believed the irony in Linkous’ life was that despite his aversion to digging deep in the hills of Virginia, the elusive musician still dug deep into the mountain culture around him.

“He was the first in his family to escape mining as an occupation,” she said. “But he didn’t really. His studio was a cave, and though the cave was toxic for him, he was mining the essence of these places. He brought out these gems for all of us to see and hear.”