Unaka – Kicking off the second half of its year-long quest to zero in on solutions for Cherokee County’s most pressing problems, the Needs & Solutions Advisory Committee met on Aug. 8 and was greeted by its largest audience yet.
The NASA board met at the Unaka Community Center, where more than 30 local residents outlined issues that are important to their and surrounding communities – some of the most remote settlements in the county.
The board met in Unaka one day after presenting its interim report to the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners. That report listed broadband internet connectivity as the most pressing issue in the county, which was music to the ears for the people who showed up Aug. 8.
Save for about three who have Starlink’s groundbreaking satellite service installed at their homes, most people at the meeting have been getting by with spotty satellite, DSL and even cellular data to remain connected with the world. Some simply do without internet service.
The Unaka community had been high priority for broadband internet during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, but was removed from the priority list as the pandemic subsided, said Margaret Ackiss, a NASA board member.
Graham County, another mostly remote county with limited internet connectivity, had also been a priority before it was removed, but leaders there lobbied successfully to add that county back to the list. Ackiss said she hopes the same thing can happen in Unaka.
One resident put down a $750 deposit to be placed on the Starlink waiting list. That was three years ago and she’s still waiting.
A combination of Starlink and cable-based broadband internet should become more widely available in Unaka and most of the rest of North Carolina by late 2024.
Cherokee County Commissioner Jan Griggs, who attended the Unaka meeting, said, “It’s coming. It’s slow, but it’s coming.”
While NASA has identified broadband internet as the highest priority for the county, Unaka residents had other issues they want county leaders to address.
For example, the area is plagued by illegal dumping of garbage and appliances. The illegal dump sites are well concealed by non-native kudzu as well as native plant species during the warmer months, but reveal themselves once the leaves fall.
Residents complained that the county makes it difficult to dump garbage, appliances and electronics legally; officials are in the process of closing some convenience centers while adding one new site. The problem is compounded by the fact that services are available only for county residents; that’s a problem for summertime tourists, who don’t have anywhere to take their garbage.
Residents also called attention to narrow country roads that in many cases have no shoulders.
NASA member Sue Lynn Ledford pointed out that residents in the area pay the same county taxes as everyone else, yet when it comes to fire protection, garbage services and roads, they get very little return for their tax dollars.
Committee Chair Mark Kephart pointed out that snow plows focus on school bus routes, but could also be encouraged to continue plowing to those residents where local firefighters and medical technicians live so they don’t get stuck during dispatches.
Local fire departments are struggling to recruit younger volunteers because of an increasingly aging population in the area, one volunteer firefighter said from the audience.
A show of hands in the audience of mostly older men and women showed about one-third served as volunteer firefighters in the area. One volunteer firefighter said the average age of members at her department is 59.
Griggs said the county can’t afford to hire paid firefighters without raising taxes.
Some say that leads to another problem. A lack of effective school consolidation and aging school facilities do little to attract younger families to the area. A shortage of younger residents results in a smaller pool from which to draw younger, able-bodied volunteer firefighters.
Kephart said he was dead-set against consolidating high schools, saying it robs high schoolers opportunities to play sports because one high school has fewer team spots than three high schools do.
Ledford said many problems in Cherokee County, including schools that lag behind those in neighboring counties, result in difficulties recruiting health-care providers and other professionals.
“We’re so behind the curve it’s going to take awhile to catch up,” Kephart said, adding that county schools need to develop a long-range plan to update schools.
Ledford described a typical situation where beautiful homes exist amid natural splendor, but with limited fire protection and medical care, with neonatal care unavailable in the county at all, will continue to hamstring the county until those problems are solved.
NASA has held meetings in Murphy (twice), Andrews, Hiwassee Dam, Texana, Bellview and
Unaka. Upcoming meetings will be held in Ranger (Sept. 12), Culberson (Oct. 10), and Peachtree (Nov. 14), with meetings in Wolf Creek/Hot House and Martins Creek still being planned.