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Vol. 109 No. 44
19 seek
office
in KM
Will Kings Mountain voters
return the six incumbent City
Council members and the may-
or to City Hall or will the
Council have more than one
new face next year?
The voters will make that de-
cision at the polls Tuesday.
Only in Ward 4 where former
city planner Gene White and
businesswoman Pat Childers
faceoff for the retiring Jerry
White's seat is there is a sure
change.
Mayor Scott Neisler is being
challenged by Kings Mountain
businessman Gary Joy.
In Ward I, Councilman Phil
Hager is challenged by Joe
King, a former county deputy
and city policeman, and Rev.
Howard Shipp, a local minister.
In Ward II, the race is on be-
tween first-term Councilman
Jerry Mullinax who is being
challenged by former council-
man Jim Guyton whom
Mullinax beat by one vote two
years ago.
In Ward III, Councilman
~ Ralph Grindstaff is being chal-
lenged by Clavon Kelly and
Gilbert Hamrick.
In Ward V, Councilman Rick
See City, 3A
Murphrey is being challenged
Thursday, October 30, 1997
: | Kip
OE ES ES TT
FOR KINGS MOUNTAIN CITY COUNCIL
MAYOR
NEISLER
JOY
WARD II
MULLINAX
GUYTON
WARD IV
WARD I
> AT LARGE
KING
WARD III
SHIPP BRIDGES
GRINDSTAFF KELLY
WARD V
HAMRICK
FOR KM SCHOOL BOARD
ALLEN GUY
BALLARD ROLLINS
FAVELL
HIGGINBOTHAM
of the children.
among a field of six newcomers.
for the three seats up for grabs.
on the ballot.
Kings Mountain mortician and current board
chairman Ronnie Hawkins is the only incumbent
All five candidates are political newcomers.
They are Martha Allen, W. D. "Bill" Favell,
Adam Green, John Higginbotham and Max D.
Rollins. A sixth candidate, Robert Roper, has
withdrawn from the race but his name appears
make a
7
“ eSince 1889 +50¢
SEER ES
[ocal _lections
set for Tuesday
Polls open 6:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m.
Kings Mountain citizens will
go to the polls Tuesday to elect
a mayor and seven ward com-
missioners and three school
board members.
Polls open at 6:30 a.m. and
close at 7:30 p.m. at the East
Kings Mountain Precinct at the
American Legion Building,
West Kings Mountain precinct
at the National Guard Armory,
Grover precinct at Grover Town
Hall, Bethware precinct at
David Baptist Church fellow-
ship building and Waco
precinct at Waco Town Hall.
Director of Elections Debra
Blanton is predicting that 40
percent of the registered voters
of 4,966 in Kings Mountain will
vote in the mayor's and city
council races and 40 percent or
more of the 11,735 registered
voters in the Kings Mountain
School District will vote for can-
didates for the three school
board seats.
Blanton says she anticipates
that vote totals will be posted
quickly, the only holdup may
be in the school board race
‘counted so it may take a little
more time to get the results in
"Dee" Byers.
the school board race posted,"
she said. :
One stop absentee voting will
be occurring until 5 p.m. Friday.
Monday, Nov. 3, at 5 p.m. is the
last time that ballots may be
sent to persons who are dis-
abled. All absentee ballots must
be in the Board of Elections of-
fice by 5 p.m. November 3 in or-
der to be counted on election
day. Absentee ballots can only
be returned to the Board of
~ Elections Office by the voter or
by a near relative of the voter or
by the postal service. Absentee :
ballots will begin to be counted :
at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 4.
Results of that count will not be
disclosed wuntil 7:30 p.m.
November 4 following the poll
closings.
As of Tuesday about 75 per-
cent of the absentee ballots had
come to the Board of Elections
office in Shelby from Kings
Mountain residents. "This tells
us that Kings Mountain voters
are finding it beneficial to the
county to conduct the city elec-
tions which gives them absen-
ise piviieg
See Election, 3A
3 seats available in School Board race
The seven Kings Mountain citizens running for
three school board seats in Tuesday's general
election say they are running because they con-
sider a child's education a priority.
Of the group, the candidates represent a diver-
sity of occupations and talents but all have
pledged that they will represent the best interests
Running for public office for the first time are ;
retired Associate Superintendent Larry Allen; as- :
sistant principal Ed Guy who is retiring in :
December from Parker Street School; Gene C. :
Ballard Jr., Melony Clark Bolin and Denorris :
Ballard and Bolin are running for the at-large
seat open on the board.
Allen, Byers, Guy and Hawkins are running for
two outside seats open on the board.
See School, 2A
All newcomers eye 3 seats in Grover
GROVER - Three new faces will join the five-
member Town Board after voters make their deci-
sion Tuesday from a candidate list of five vying
Town Hall between 6:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. in the
municipal election.
Council members are elected for a term of four
years. Members of the board whose terms do not
expire this year are Jack Herndon and Elizabeth
Throop. The term of Mayor Ronald Queen does
not expire this year. Councilmen Robbie Sides,
Noel Spivey and Tim Rowland.
Voters at the Grover precinct who reside in the
Kings Mountain School District will also receive a
A total of 429 persons are registered to vote at
See Grover, 2A
- Council hopeful says city should save police department
Pat Childers, candidate for
Ward IV commissioner in
Tuesday's municipal election, is
circulating petitions in town "to
save the former City Hall, po-
lice station building" from being
axed.
After the meeting retired city
planner Gene White, who also
seeks the Ward 1V seat, said his
opponent shouldn't have wait-
ed until the week before the
election to voice her concerns.
City Council voted unani-
mously on April 21 to accept
the recommendation of a police
department building committee
to build a new $1 million law
enforcement center on the exist-
ing site on Piedmont Avenue
and demolish the current build-
ing with temporary headquar-
ters to be set up in back of the
building. Ken Newell of
Stewart-Cooper Architects pre-
sented the preliminary sketches
at that meeting.
But Childers said at Tuesday
_ night's Council meeting that she
and other citizens hope that
Council will reconsider its deci-
sion to destroy the current po-
lice station because it is one of
the older remaining municipal
buildings with a history and
should be preserved.
Childers told Council that she
agrees there is a need for a new
police station but she disagrees
with the site selection, saying
that the 60-year old police sta-
tion could be used by various
civic organizations or sold to a
private buyer with an agree-
ment that the outside would re-
tain its original appearance.
"Piedmont Avenue is a very
grand and beautiful street with
Mauney Memorial Library at
the end of the block, two
churches and the historical
home occupied by Harris
Funeral Home. Please don't put
a modern building on this
street,” she urged.
While commending the ad
hoc committee for its diligence
to the project, Childers said that
she understood it would cost
the city additional money to re-
locate the police station at the
city hall complex. "How much
actual additional money would
it be once you deducted the cost
of the demolition of the build-
ing and preparation of the site
for construction?" she asked.
"The cost may not be all that
great to the overall cost of the
project.” ;
Childers showed the original
site plan for City Hall and Fire
Department built 18 years ago
and detailing a former marsh
area and pond site.
"Everyone I have talked to
wants to save the police build-
See Police, 2A
Sprint Communications wants to erect tower on Margrace Road
A new 175 foot cellular tower
could be built by Sprint
Communications on John
Bullard property at the
Margrace by the first of the year
but first City Council says it
must spell out the details in a
zoning ordinance that now does
not spell out the height limita-
tions or particulars for a multi-
ple use tower.
City Planning Director Steve
Killian said the company wants
THE HERALD - YOUR BEST SOURCE FOR KINGS MOUNTAIN NEWS
to erect a mono pole design.
Currently a mono pole design is
included in one of two towers
now located on Marie and
Floyd Streets in the city.
Council last month banned
cellular towers in the city for
120 days until an ordinance
could be worked up but Bullard
said he had been talking with
city officials before Council
agreed on a moratorium and
said it was only fair that the city
permit the tower under a
grandfather clause.
Tuesday night Councilman
Jerry Mullinax made the motion
that the board rescind its former
action and reduce the moratori-
um to 60 days. Councilman
Jerry White seconded the mo-
tion.
But City Attorney Mickey
Corry said the moratorium was
issued to give the Planning
Board and Council time to ad-
dress multi use, height, close-
ness to residences and impact
on neighbors. Councilman Phil
Hager agreed with Corry that it
‘would take the full 120 days to
get guidelines in order.
Planning Director Steve
Killian said the city had re-
ceived a set of plans from Sprint
on Friday prior to the last city
board meeting but that no per-
mit had been issued. "This is
standard procedure,” he said,
responding to Councilman
Dean Spears who said he was
unaware when he voted on a
moratorium that an application
had been made.
Representatives of Sprint say
the company is ready to start
construction as son as the nec-
essary permits are in order . But
they also said they could wait
until the first of the year until
the city's zoning is in place.
Bullock said he started talk-
ing with Sprint officials last July
about his Margrace Road site
and had since regraveled the
road, conducted a soil test and
discussed with city officials the
codes that call for towers to be
located 100 feet away from ad-
joining property. Bullock said
the propgsed tower would be
located over 200 feet from resi-
dences located across the street
See Tower, 2A
RE
ET
“election is the location of the
SSI