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VOL. 97 NUMBER 16
THURSDAY, MARCH 29. 1984
KINGS MOUNTAIN, NORTH CAROLINA
City Board Considering Utility District
BY ELIZABETH STEWART
News Editor
Development of a utility
district to extend city water and
sewer to Kings Mountain’s
“bedroom” communities was
outlined by engineer Ralph
Johnson to members of the city
board of commissioners Monday
night.
Utilizing Johnson’s plan, ac-
cording to Mayor John Henry
Moss, would not mean that
water and sewer would be
lavailable to all outlying areas
overnight but both the mayor
and Johnson called the Kings
Mountain Utility District a
much-needed program for the
future of Kings Mountain.
“This would take a decade or
more ‘to accomplish”, said the
Mayor, “but it’s something we
need to be working toward
now.”
The utility district plan,
developed by the W.K. Dickson
Engineering Company of
Charlotte and explained in map
form, calls for the extension of
city water and sewer lines to
residential areas north and west
of the city, a wide area extending
as far west as Buffalo Creek and
as far north as Waco and areas
below Cherryville.
Mr. Johnson said the city’s on-
ly present water ‘line extends
from Moss Lake to the city,
passes through eight to nine
miles of “fairly dense” populated
residential areas. He told the
board that water could be fur-
nished “fairly cheaply” and
recommended that commis-
Fifth Urban Renewal
Project Is Approved
Five Urban Renewal con-
struction: projects are going up
soon in downtown Kings Moun-
tain, the fifth given final ap-
proval by the city board of com-
missioners Monday night.
Mrs. Charles (Ruby) Alex-
ander told the board she expects
to begin construction within 10
five brick apartment
ander has under
construction across from West
School. Mrs. Alexander said she
has a waiting list of prospective
tenants.
M. Eugene White, Executive
Director of Community
Development, said that other
projects with the go-ahead sign
from the city board will’ go up
soon in the downtown area.
“distribution
Two parcels of land have been
acquired in the area of Phifer
Hardware, City Street, where
Boyd Edmonson plans to con-
struct a body shop and Bob
Bridges plans to construct a parts
center and
warehouse. Arlene Smith, who
owns Scissor-Smith, plans to
begin construction soon on a
new beauty and hairstyling salon
ot beside of Grif-
fice complex North of First
Union National Bank.
Final building plans have been
approved by the city board for
all five projects, White said.
“I am elated that citizens are
acquiring land from the city and
building downtown’, said
White, who said that all five pro-
jects will be going up
simultaneously.
Crosby Arrested
For Embezzlement
Former Kings Mountain at-
torney Christopher = Stevenson
Crosby was arrested Thursday
and charged with four counts of
embezzlement.
He allegedly embezzled:
$169,704.38 from three clients,
according to the indictments.
Crosby,32, is currently serving a
12-month sentence for embezzle-
ment and forgery at Cleveland
County Jail. He also has receiv-
ed a six-month sentence for
writing a worthless check. Under
North Carolina law embezzle-
ment is a Class H felony. If con-
victed, Crosby could receive up
to 10-year sentences on each
count.
Following his indictments in
June, Crosby had voluntarily
resigned his license to practice
law in North Carolina. He was
subsequently disbarred.
© Crosby began serving his
12-month sentence on Dec.
19,1983, according to Cleveland
STEVE CROSBY
County Sheriffs Department
with work release privileges. He
is employed during the day with
the Charlotte law firm of Myers,
Ray and Myers and returns to
the jail at 8 p.m. each evening.
In other actions. The board:
—After a public hearing in
which no one objected to his re-
quest, the board rezoned Ben H.
Goforth’s property at the in-
tersection of West King St. and
Roxford Road from R-10 to R-0.
Mr. Goforth plans to rent his
property for retail florist use to
Mrs. Ken Yarbro. The Kings
‘Mountain Planning and Zoning
ommended the rezon-
Board rec
Fe
0 : w
signatures opposed his previous
request to rezone a portion of his
property from residential to
.general business. The Planning
Board suggested that the
Residential Office zoning would
be more suitable and more in
keeping with neighborhood ac-
tivity.
—Accepted the low bid of
$18,511.30 from Municipal
Utility, Asheville, for waterline
materials for the Bureau of Out-
door Recreation Project at Moss
Lake. Other bidders were Pyco
Supply Co., Charlotte, $23,120;
The Poe Corporation, Green-
ville, S.C., $20,206.68; ITT
Grinnell Corporation, Charlotte,
which bid for one phase only,
$1,193; Davis Meter, Columbia,
S.C., $21,193.05 and Pump &
Lighting Co., Charlotte,
$18,297.33. There were no bids
from City Supply of $umter,
S.C. and Ben T. Goforth Plumb-
ing of Kings Mountain who had
received summary of bid infor-
mation from the city.
—Authorized refund of pro-
perty taxes in the amount of
$740.38 to HBE Leasing Cor-
poration due to exemption of
county on 1983 taxes paid.
Turn To Page 5-A
BAG LEAVES
Jim Downey, superintendent
of the Kings Mountain Sanita-
tion Department, urges all Kings
Mountain citizens to bag leaves
which are placed on the curb for
pickup by the sanitation depart-
ment. Loose leaves cannot be
picked up at this time of the
year, Downey said.
sioners adopt a policy for pro-
viding water where it is needed.
He also suggested the city pro-
vide fire protection and install
hydrants, in the areas not now
served by water and sewer. He
projected that the city could
receive substantial revenue from
these potential customers and
suggested the city could begin
laying the pipes to begin supply-
ing the water.
“Y our mayor component, the
water treatment plant and
sewage treatment plant is some
distance away from the city”, he
said, “and the finished water line
from Moss Lake passes through
highly developed residential
areas not tapped to your
system”, he pointed out. He said
that four-fifths of KM’s water
supply now goes for industrial
use and only one fifth to residen-
tial use and projected that only a
half million gallons of water
would be used daily in these new
rural areas or “bedroom com-
munities” but it was time to
begin supplying water where it is
needed in the high concentrated
areas.
“You have the big facility at
Moss Lake”, he said, and pointed
out that 10-15 houses per mile
are located on the route from
Moss Lake to the heart of Kings
Mountain. Johnson said his
survey revealed trailer parks and
numerous developments along
Road 2033 on Persimmon Creek
and a large concentration of
houses in the Oak Grove area.
Turn To Page 6-A
BLIND STUDENTS - Drama students who portray blind students in “Miracle Worker” are pic-
tured, left to right. They are Gordon Small, Litza Harry, back row; Also - Tim Wright, Dana
Donna Stroupe, Nelson Young, Bobby Necessary, Tammy Brown, Lori Thrift, Tippi Curry and
Sonja Ross as Annie Sullivan. See Page 1-B
Adams Enters Race
* Declaring that “now is the
time to secure our children’s
education”, Jerry O. Adams of
Shelby became the fourth can-
didate to enter the May 8
Democratic Primary for one of
three seats in the 48th House .
district.
Adams, 28, joins incumbent
Edith Lutz of Lawndale, Jack
Hunt of Lattimore and Charles
Owens of Forest City in the race.
Adams ran unsuccessfully for
the post in 1982. “This time I ex-
pect to win, this time I am more
organized”, he said.
Adams says he will appeal to
the voters with new ideas.
“Seems like the voters are fed up
with the same people running. |
think they are ready for
something new”.
One of Adams’ ideas is the
elimination of annual county
property taxes. Under his plan,
buyers would pay a one-time five
percent sales tax on home pur-
JERRY ADAMS
chase, but no future taxes.
Farmers would pay only one-
fourth of that tax. “I don’t think
it’s fair for them to pay many
times over for something they
already own”, he added.
Adams also favors a 100 per-
cent across-the-board increase in
welfare benefits for mothers
with children. “They’re just not
getting enough money to sustain
a decent life”, he says. Adams
proposes using the money cur-
rently allocated for highway con-
struction to fund the increase.
“Why build a highway when
we've got kids around here
hungry”, he said. “It just doesn’t
make sense.”
Adams says that he believes
the top issue facing the General
Assembly in the next term will
be the re-drawing of legislative
districts so minority voting
strength will not be diluted. “I'm
100 percent for it”, he says.
Adams says that he believes
the legislators in the General
Assembly realize the shortcom-
ings of the present educational
and welfare systems. “They
know these things and they
haven’t done nothing”, he said.
“Its time for new ideas.”
Adams is employed as
marketing specialist for Roses
Stores.
Mrs. Clemmer Wins Jefferson Award
Virginia Clemmer of
Gastonia, stepmother of John
Clemmer of Kings Mountain,
has been called the unsung hero
of the mentally, physically and
emotionally handicapped of
Gaston County.
She was honored as one of the
five winners of the prestigious
WBTV Jefferson Awards for
public service benefitting local
communities Monday at a lun-
cheon at the Charlotte Mariott
Executive Park and on WBTV’s
“Top O’ The Day.”
Mrs. Clemmer, widow of
Oscar Clemmer, is also step-
mother of Charles Manor and
Mrs. Marvin Robinson, both of
Gastonia.
She received a bronze
medallion featuring a replica of
the Great Seal of the United
States of America on the front,
and, on the reverse, signatures of
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and
the Honorable Robert Taft, Jr.
“In recognition of outstanding
public service.”
Community leaders have
described the Gaston County
native as the initiator of more
programs and activities for per-
sons with special needs than any
other single individual in her
community. She began her work
with retarted children during the
Depression and helped organize
a special education program for
the mentally and physically han-
dicapped. She was responsible
for bringing Dr. Mary Ellen
Nelson to Gaston County and
starting the Mary Ellen Nelson
Center for Handicapped
Children. The center, now part
of the Gaston County School
System, includes a program for
trainable retarted children, a day
care center for the profoundly
retarted, and the Gaston County
Skills sheltered workshop, for
which Clemmer was named staff
psychologist in 1966. Now sup-
posedly retired, she continues
helping the needy, the retarted,
the lonely. She chauffeurs them,
she visits them and makes sure
they have the care they need,
and she gives them her money
and her possessions. When told
she couldn’t give everything
away, she smiled and said,
“Don’t worry, God will take care
of me.”
All five winners of the WBTV
Jefferson Awards are eligible to
win the five national Jefferson
Awards in the category “The
Greatest Public Service Perform-
ed by Private Individuals
Benefiting Local Communities.”
The winners of the national
awards will be named during the
summer.
The Jefferson Awards were
established along with the
American Institute for public
Service in 1973 by the
Honorable Robert Taft, Jr.