Shelby Powell - Reporter
The Macon County Board of Commissioners met Thursday, May 21, to hear from county fire departments and other entities about the pro- posed 2026-27 budget. The board continued the discussion on Tuesday, May 26.
Hudson Library Foundation president Philip Curcuru and board member Andrew Chmar requested $350,000 to match money contributed by the Town of Highlands, private donors and foundation funds for renovations and improvements to Hudson Library.
The foundation is the nonprofit body which owns and maintains the grounds and property of the Hudson Library, but the institution of the library is operated by the Fontana Regional Library in the same way that Macon County Public Library is owned and maintained by Macon County, but run by the FRL. The Hudson Library Foundation is a signatory on the Fontana Regional Library interlocal agreement.
These improvements are part of the foundation’s capital improvement plan and would add new meeting rooms and an upgraded young adult section while replacing carpets, shelving, furniture and lighting. Curcuru said the foundation has already completed work to the outside of the library building and is now hoping to quickly complete renovations to the inside of the building to keep the library operational as long as possible. The plan to conduct renovations inside the library could shut down the building for as little as two weeks if everything goes according to plan, Chmar said.
In pursuit of the indoor renovations, the foundation will ask Highlands for $350,000 and raise $210,000 from private donations. Macon County was asked to offer the remaining $350,000 to cover the estimated $910,000 project. The foundation presented this request originally in December and were asked to return to commissioners during budget season.
Chmar said the foundation has a small reserve fund of $325,000 for covering immediate, unexpected and necessary capital improvements to the library property, but wants to avoid using it for these large projects. He said the fund was built over the course of 10-15 years.
“Nearly 100% of the improvements that we’re asking for support are for items or constructed elements that are now 41 years old,” Chmar said. “That includes bookshelves, that includes carpet, that includes areas that have not been touched in that 41 years. The only element that is not, in that regard, is the furniture and a small reframe that we’re suggesting to be replaced. It’s only 18 years old.”
“I hope before you make a final decision on this that we can get each of you to come to the library so we can show you what we’re presenting in person,” he continued. “This is a community asset that’s used extensively, and it’s benefiting both the residents of Highlands and the visitors.
Commissioner John Shearl said he would be unwilling to support any funding for the library until the project had been put out for bids. Chmar said the foundation was just asking for the county to make the funding available in the budget so it can move into the bid process and transfer the necessary amount when it is needed.
Commissioner Barry Breeden questions the foundation for making improvements to the outside of the building, which he said was less important, and then asking the county to supply funding to renovate the inside of the library.
Curcuru said the capital improvement plan was developed based on a needs assessment survey, and the foundation was responding to requests from the community to make improvements to the library and library grounds. It made the improvements to the outside of the library because they were able to go ahead and make those improvements, rather than because they were strictly and immediately necessary.
“Like John [Shearl] said, our county manager has cut out over $7.5 million worth of asks for our county,” Breeden said. “We’re doing the best we can, I just feel like the priorities are backwards.”
HIGHLANDS FIRE AND RESCUE
Highlands Fire and Rescue requested a .02 fire tax increase, raising the district’s total tax to .0391. Fire Chief Ryan Gerhardt said the department held a community meeting on March 31 to collect information, which attracted “a few” community members to attend. He said no attendees voiced opposition to the increase.
“In 2025, Highlands Fire and Rescue had 946 calls for service; 16.25% of the calls received were overlapping calls, meaning we were paged to a call and while we were on that call we get paged back to a second call,” Gerhardt said. “That’s the need for a
third firefighter on each shift. A third firefighter would allow for the station to be covered while the other two firefighters are on a call. The third firefighter could also deploy a second fire apparatus out of the station a little quicker in the event of an overlapping call.
The department has eight full-time employees and 21 volunteers, and are seeing more calls each year, increasing 68.33% since 2020, he said. The increase would help the department cover those three extra employees and start working toward replacing fire engines which will need to be replaced in a few years. Gerhardt said the extra employees would cost $100,000 each and the new fire trucks could cost between $500,000 to $800,000 and up.
At the Tuesday, May 26, budget workshop, commissioners heard again from Gerhardt a swell as Highlands town manager Josh Ward and finance director Rebecca Shuler
Ward said the department was hoping to secure a better insurance rating – and thus better rates – for Highlands residents. Gerhardt said though the department’s current vehicles have not yet failed a pump test, newer vehicles would be less likely to fail on the job than older vehicles.
Shearl said he was concerned about multiple full-time administrators working during the day. He said the fire department could make do with just one additional firefighter by replacing the assistant chief position with a full-time firefighter working night shifts. Gerhardt said he would bring up this change as a proposal but could not promise it would be implemented Gerhardt said the current assistant chief, Robbie Forrester, was planning to retire probably in the next six months but was not certain when the exact date would be Shearl said, “You see it all the time, whether it’s in private business or public. Sometimes, if a person’s not willing to retire, and sometimes you have to make that decision to better the fire department and to save the community.” The two full-time administrative positions were created by Highlands but are funded with the county fire tax
collections.
Shearl expressed frustration the Town of Highlands had established the positions without consulting the county. County Manager Warren Cabe clarified the contract the county has with the Highlands Fire Department does not specify how the department spends funds, but rather that the department provide service at a certain level. Shuler said someone at the county had signed off on the positions when they were established
“I’m not trying to dictate the operation of Highlands Fire department – I retired. But at the same time, I have to try to get you guys to help us help you and getting what you truly need without bankrupting what local people are left in Highlands,” Shearl said. “There’s been a mass exodus of local people in Highlands, whether they’ve passed away or it’s getting so expensive that they can’t stay there … I listened to the town board meeting. We’re talking about employee housing and affordable housing and all this other stuff and then an hour and a half later we’re talking about raising taxes.”
Ward said the town has been paying for six full time firefighters out of the department’s fund balance already, a decision it made when it was unable to make a balloon payment on a fire building due to terms in the loan conditions. Ward said continuing to fund these staff out of fund balance would quickly deplete the remaining $1.3 million fund balance. Commissioner Barry
Breeden said he was originally willing to vote for a half-cent increase, but would now have to go higher to prevent Highlands from having to fund positions out of its fund balance.
Commissioners agreed to add a 1.3-cent Highlands fire tax increase to the 2026-27 proposed budget, bringing the Highlands rate in line with the Cashiers fire district rate of .0321.