The good, bad and ugly: A look back at 2019 in quotes

Dec. 27--"I love it when a family brings their kids in and it's their first movie and you get to see the look on their face when they see that magic of the big screen."

-- Greg Israel, owner of Smoky Mountain Cinema, on plans to bring back the shuttered Waynesville movie theater. Israel totally gutted and renovated the old theater in time for a summer opening, once again giving Haywood County a full-size movie theater.

"You have to put your foot in the water sometimes, and this would be the time to step into the pond."

-- Waynesville Mayor Gavin Brown on the passage of an affordable housing incentive policy. Waynesville is the only local government in Haywood County so far to adopt a tangible initiative that would spur construction affordable housing by offering grants to developers.

"It almost brought me to tears -- I saw a picture in Mumbai of a giant beach completely covered in trash, and then it was just totally cleaned. There are no limits to social media, or how far things can spread."

-- Steven Reinhold on inadvertently going viral with his environmental social media movement called "hashtag trashtag." Reinhold began picking up trash-strewn areas and posting before-and-after shots with the tag #trashtag, sparking a movement.

"I'm not a rich man, but I have a little bit of money, and I was going to do it and pay for it. And the reason why is I wanted it done before I die. It's probably the achievement of my life, really."

-- Earl Lanning, a Revolutionary War historian and sculptor, on creating a larger-than-life cast bronze statue called "1776 Militia Rifleman." The statue of a frontiersman, clutching a historic reproduction of a Kentucky flintlock rifle built by Lanning, was installed on the lawn of the historic courthouse as a tribute to Revolutionary War soldiers.

"My prediction is we'll fill that complex in five to six months from open date. There are probably two to three complexes in Waynesville that could open and they would all be slap full. I don't have any hesitation about that."

-- William Ratchford, vice-president of the Charlotte development firm behind the Palisades at Plott Creek, on the housing shortage. The 200-unit apartment complex broke ground this summer, after a protracted zoning battle that pitted the preservation of Plott Creek's community character against the pent-up demand for rental housing.

"We love the consistent growth that the Waynesville area has had over the past eight to 10 years. But we feel strongly the supply and demand is out of whack. The demand is there, but the supply isn't. There is absolutely no housing."

-- Ron Linsky, of the Florida-based real estate firm RFLP, on plans to turn the former BI-LO plaza into apartments. BI-LO closed in February after flagging the Waynesville store as "underperforming" amid increased competition in the local grocery store scene. The stripmall will be razed for a 210-unit apartment complex.

"Our geotechnical engineers have scoured this entire gorge. We know where all the hotspots are that are likely to fail. The thing you can't predict is when. Our goal is to get this open as quick as possible."

-- Ted Adams, DOT construction engineer, on the latest Interstate 40 rock slide. Every few years, the infamous Haywood County stretch of I-40 known as the Pigeon River Gorge is shut down by a slide. Luckily, no one was injured when the slide hit and I-40 only had to be closed for a week in February

"Just don't post anything mean or embarrassing. It's really that simple. If you send it, you can't take it back. It's a huge snowball effect. "

-- Caroline Lampton, Bethel Middle School counselor, on social media etiquette for teens. Haywood Schools launched a campaign to help student to navigate the online world safely and responsibly, during an already fragile developmental time in their lives.

"It wasn't pretty at all. You don't have time to be scared -- you do what has to be done. If it weren't for all of us working together to ensure he got out safely, it would have resulted much differently. Most thankfully he is recovering well."

-- Cat Miller, a bear hunter, on the rescue of a fellow hunter when a hunt went bad in the rugged Mount Sterling area. A bear that was shot and injured attacked a hunter. Aside from being mauled, the hunter fell more than 200 feet down a bank while entangled with the bear, posing a challenging rescue scenario in the remote and isolated area.

"The cemetery is more than just a place where people are buried. The cemetery is multi-dimensional. We need to create a vision, create a painting if you will, of what the cemetery is."

-- Waynesville Mayor Gavin Brown on the formation of a Greenhill Cemetery Committee. The town experienced public backlash after a dragnet removal of grave decorations. The committee was charged with developing palatable rules for what kind of grave adornments would be allowed and how the cemetery would be managed.

"I applaud the town for stepping up and saying 'Hey, we need help.' There will be debates on what you can have and what you can't have, but eventually I do see that this will turn into a give-give, where we can all meet in the middle. That's what we signed up for."

-- Scott Ybanez, an appointee to the Greenhill Cemetery Committee, on finding a resolution to controversy. Ybanez had been a vocal critic of the town over the cemetery sweep.

"Are they actually studying over break? As a teacher, having two weeks off of your regular instruction, it worries you. Rather than stressing for two weeks over exams they could enjoy the winter break."

-- Layna Cope, a math teacher at Tuscola High School, on the new high school schedule to take exams before Christmas break. For the first time, students took exams before break, even though it meant slightly truncating the first semester to do so.

"There is such a shortage of nurses period -- nationwide, statewide and locally. The demand for nurses is tremendous. Statistics show that is not going to decrease anytime soon."

-- George Marshall, chairman of the Haywood Community College board, on the need for a new $7.8 million Health and Human Services Building. The project will allow HCC to expand its nursing program, growing the number of nursing school graduates from 38 to 65 a year, along with other health-related fields.

"We wanted a project that would have the biggest impact on the community. We believe this is it. Every single aspect of the community will be touched by this -- the students, the people they will care for, the hospital, the nursing homes, the acute and chronically ill populations and industrial care."

-- Anthony Sutton, chair of the Haywood Healthcare Foundation, on its pledge to fund $5 million of the new HCC health building. While state bond money is available to pay for part of the project, where the remainder would come from was a barrier if not for HHF stepping in.

"The temptation of phones is always tugging at kids. A lot of it is the social media pull, constantly wanting to check the Facebook, the Instagram, the SnapChat. We say for the seven hours you are with us, let's put those phones away and focus on learning and growing as students and individuals."-- Canton Middle Principal Carol Fox on the cell phone ban in middle schools. All three middle schools in the county have doubled-down on bell-to-bell cell phone bans that prohibit students require phones to be put up in lockers during the day.

"It seems to me this process as it is unfolding so far seems a bit rushed. To establish trust in the citizenry, we need to make sure we are including all viewpoints and not just a select few. While I understand the urgency to get to work, the most important thing is that we get it right -- rather than get it right now."

-- Waynesville Alderman Jon Feichter on a preliminary list of names to serve on a homeless task force. Aldermen objected to an initial list proposed by new Mayor Gary Caldwell for not including a cross-section of the public or critical voices. The town board decided to go back to the drawing board with an open application process for interested members of the general public.

"At some point in time, it became more important to me to shine the light on the homeless issue than win the election. Not only I, but the people of Waynesville, are winners because we forced the powers that be to talk about it. These folks are all good intentioned, but you can't let good intentions cloud good judgement."-- Joey Reece, an unsuccessful candidate for Waynesville town board, on the impacts of the homeless and vagrant population in Waynesville.

"It's something we've heard for a number of years that people wanted to see, and we did our best to find an option that would work. What we now know is it takes a tremendous amount of people on the ice the whole time to basically break even."

-- Maggie Valley Town Manager Nathan Clark on an artificial ice-skating rink, Maggie Valley used tourism funds to install and operate the rink in February, but didn't see enough use to make it viable.

"At the end of this, we are still friends. There is no question about it. We can both interview for this job, and be happy for the other person. Brothers don't get mad at each other if the other one gets the girl."-- Former Waynesville Mayor Gavin Brown on his race against long-time friend and ally Gary Caldwell. Caldwell and Brown had served on the town board together for 20 years before finding themselves on opposing sides of the ballot, but kept their pledge to run a friendly race.

"It was a real blessing this year when SOAR walked through our front door looking for space. The festival alone can't support the building, so this will help prolong the life of the building. It is a great thing for Folkmoot, for Haywood County and the town of Waynesville."

-- Folkmoot board chair David Francis on a private outdoor-based boarding school occupying a portion of the Folkmoot Center in the old Hazelwood School. Keeping up the century-old building was a drain on Folkmoot. The lease from SOAR will provide much-needed revenue to keep the building from falling into disrepair.

"Our job is to make sure we are prepared for an influx if it happens. We need to anticipate growth as reasonably as we can and be prepped should our student numbers rise."

-- Dr. Trevor Putnam, associate superintendent for Haywood County Schools, on a rash of housing projects in Waynesville that could create a spike in student body. Two apartment complexes, a duplex project and a Habitat affordable housing community will add 470 new housing units over the next 18 months. With the two elementary schools in Waynesville already maxed out for space, school leaders are preparing for the possibility of needing to reopen Central Elementary School.

"I'm very worried about my agency friends. They've been furloughed since Dec. 22, and there's no question there's a cost to spinning it all back up again once this is resolved. It's not easy."

-- Bill Hodge, executive director with Southern Appalachian Wilderness Stewards, on the effects of the federal government shut down on national park and national forest system. The 35-day shutdown was the longest in history.

"The county's been blessed to have his service, and I feel he's done a tremendous job, especially on state issues. He's helped us stay on the cutting edge."

-- County Commissioner Chairman Kevin Ensley on outgoing county attorney Chip Killian. Killian had been the county attorney since 1972 -- the longest serving county attorney in the state.

"The greenway has been important to me for a very long time. If I could get a bridge installed, the other greenway connection would come along. I saw the need, and it was something I was able to do. Greenways are a wonderful thing. "

-- Philanthropist Philan Medford on her $100,000 donation toward a bridge spanning Richland Creek. The bridge is a critical missing link in the long-range vision to connect Waynesville's greenway system with Lake Junaluska.

"Would we be biting off more of a cookie than we want to chew on? You get this one situation that everybody is up in arms about, and I am really not into taking on such a large item because one guy appeared to put up what appears to be a spite fence."

-- Waynesville Planning Board Member Jason Rogers on whether the town should adopt appearance standards for fences. A ruckus over fences pitted individual property rights against community aesthetics after a homeowner strung a mesh privacy fence around his yard. The fence was erected in response to criticism over his dog and his yard appearance, but only led to more complaints from people who didn't like the fence.

"I have strong objections to eliminating the recreation department. We have worked a long time to have a recreation department. If you get rid of a department, it's hard to ever get it back."

-- County Commissioner Kirk Kirkpatrick on whether the county should disband its recreation program. Amid the struggle to find its niche in the recreation field, the county contemplated merging its rec department with the towns of Waynesville and Canton. Instead, commissioners decided to re-envision the program with a new focus on outdoor recreation.

"The plan is important because it allows our community to decide how and where we can 'grow smart' and what we want the future of the town to look like. It also identifies what makes Waynesville so special and what we want to preserve and reflect as a community."

-- Waynesville Town Planner Jesse Fowler on the pending rewrite of the town's land-use plan. A citizen-led task force spent 18 months soliciting public input to shape a new long-range vision for the town.

"This is about celebrating how far we've come with the reintroduction of the elk in the last 20 years. The elk are a big part of tourism here in Haywood County, and it goes hand-in-hand with conservation and preservation and all of those things that are very important for this area."

-- Lynn Collins, executive director of the Haywood County Tourism Development Authority, on the inaugural Smoky Mountain Elk Festival. The TDA spearheaded the development of the new event.

"I didn't know everybody and their brother was going to show up to testify against me, and I didn't know I needed a lawyer, but I guess that's how things work in Haywood County. You can say what you want to, but that was dirty the way they did me. They done me wrong."

-- Doyle Sutton, owner of Doyle's Garage & Wrecker Services, on seeking an exemption to the county's zoning rules for junkyards.

After initially being denied, Sutton was told he could ask the county commissioners for a variance, but was blindsided by the formal nature of the hearing, that included 10 opponents speaking against him.

An appeal filed by Sutton over the county's decision is now pending in court.

"That's hard for me to fathom why people would up and leave like that. Haywood has always been a really good place to be as far as a teacher. They support the kids and support the schools and they are very loyal. I do know some people who went because of the money, but then they feel like they sold their soul."-- Pisgah High Teacher Harold Sheppard, on the loss of 27 teachers in single year who took jobs in other counties with higher pay. The school system quelled the trend the next year after increasing the local supplement for teachers for the first time in years.

"We'll be here until the merchandise sells out. It's sad to say it."

-- Jeff Redmond, assistant store manager of Kmart, on the closure of the store. Kmart opened in 1987 as Waynesville's first big-box store. It's closure is a commentary on the decline of retail storefronts in America.

"The board of aldermen does not want to send a signal that it does not care. This does not criminalize homelessness. The issue we are dealing with is trying to balance the needs of the homeless with the rights of the other citizens of the town."

-- Waynesville Town Attorney Bill Cannon on new rules addressing squatter encampments on vacant property and a new curfew in public parks. The new rules paved the way for the town to settle a months-long stand-off with a make-shift homeless camp.

"We are excited. It is nice to be able to provide affordable homes for 10 more Haywood County families. We are blessed we were able to find that land."

-- Jamye Sheppard, executive director of Haywood Habitat for Humanity, on a new affordable housing community. The project calls for building 10 three-bedroom homes on quarter-acre lots each on a 3-acre tract in the Chestnut Park area of Waynesville.

"You used to be able to come out with a few styles and just kind of lay back and let it sell, but now everybody wants to know what's next, what's new. We're getting everything set for the next big round of expansion."

-- Kelsie Baker, co-owner of Boojum Brewing Co., on the name the brewery's made for itself in just four years. Boojum scored an economic development incentive from the county for the job growth and capital investment of its expansion.

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