Susan S. Phillips Gunther Jochl Village Manager Mayor Stacy C. Eggers IV Scott J. Brown Village Attorney Mayor Pro Tem Council Members David Ammann (828) 898-9292 Wade Wittman www.seesugar.com Dick Casey THE VILLAGE OF SUGAR MOUNTAIN 251 Dick Trundy Lane Sugar Mountain, NC 28604 April 11, 2025 Our battle with the remnants of Hurricane Helene has been continuing over the last month. The debris crews are making substantial progress with the right of way debris and tree removal. With the completion of the workday today, the tree removal on Grouse Moor drive will be complete. This crew will progress down Cross Park drive next week, SO expect the closure of this road for several days. Residents will be able to exit via the lower side of Cross Park. This will be very tedious work as this is the only section of the mountain with overhead power lines, and there is a very large amount of downed timber above the road directly under the lines. Mountain Electric will be on hand to assist with this part of the project. The crew on the Sugar Mountain Drive side is nearing completion of Elk Horn Road and upper Sugar Mountain Drive. This is the most heavily damaged portion of the entire mountain and the removal of the debris on this side has taken more time than I could have imagined. This crew will progress down Sugar Mountain Drive from Timber Ridge road to Glenwood Road over the next couple of weeks. Please be aware that traffic will be stopped for up to 15 minutes at a time to get trailers safely loaded. If we have to let traffic move every 2-3 minutes, this process will take much longer. - replay the morning of September 27 over every time I travel that section of roadway as - - had to cut my way out of that section to get to the safety of the golf course parking lot during the height of the storm. I never want to go through that again as I know many of you do not want to either. It is imperative that we all understand that this work is being done for the future safety and wellbeing of the mountain and the residents of Sugar Mountain. would also like to brag on our staff in public works. These men have now been working 12- 14 hour days for going on 6 weeks now keeping traffic moving around these machines and crews. They are also keeping the road clean of sticks and debris during this work, rain or shine. Needless to say, we are becoming tired, maybe even a bit ill-tempered and we are looking forward to the end of this portion of the cleanup. I - only ask for patience; this is still going to take another month to end this part of the cleanup. Once the work on our two main roads is complete, our staff will be able to resume a somewhat normal schedule and begin picking up the smaller sticks and debris alongside the roadways. Iwould like to share with the Village Council this brief letter I received from the managers of State Tree Service, the contractor responsiple for the 4 machines operating in the Village at this time. ( My name is Lisa Goff, I am with State Tree Service in Sumter, South Carolina. Our crews have expressed an immense amount of sincere gratitude for the hospitality and support provided by Sugar Mountain as the "Green Machines" continue to remove the destruction provided by Hurricane Helene. I think I can speak for all 4 of the operators as well as the numerous hauling crews whin I say we greatly appreciate you and all that you do! The residents and visitors have been SO very patient and kind as well. They are even baking cookies for the crews. We SO hope that you will receive a sense of normalcy in the coming weeks and months as we finish up this monumental task. Thank you all SO much for your kindness toward us!" la am very appreciative to receive this letter of thanks, it helps get through the tough days to know that there are those that appreciate what is going on. 1 I have only received 2 complaints about the trees being cut. Everyone else that I encounter has been SO nice and thankful for what is being done. Of course there are those that - get secondhand information about, that are complaining behind our backs about the work that is being done and about our staff. I refuse to give these any attention if the ones registering the complaints do not have the fortitude to say what they feel in front of me personally. We will continue to do what we feel is best for the Village. - - am also looking forward to getting the work started on the golf course. We are currently able to mow most of the areas on the course that have not received damage. It is my sincere hopes that by May 10th we will be able to offer a reduced amount of holes to play while avoiding the construction that will be taking place. This will give us 8 holes to play, those being 1,2, 8,9,11,17 and 18. The golf pro shop will be open this weekend for anyone that has needs for their golf game. We encourage our pass holders and guests to offer their business to our neighboring course, Mountain Glen while we await the day to re-open. The reconstruction work will be performed by Wildlands Construction and Jeff Dail Golf. We are familiar with Wildlands and they will be handling the streambank restoration, culverts, and cart paths while Dail Golf will be performing the work on the turf areas and ounkers. Our course will arise from this disaster in better shape than ever before! Respectfully submitted, Bill Daniels, Village Maintenance Director