Newspapers / The Kings Mountain Herald … / July 27, 1988, edition 1 / Page 1
Part of The Kings Mountain Herald (Kings Mountain, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
iNgnE EE A ES Ny Herald's Quiles Directory VOL. 101 NUMBER 31 AN —-X HO > ZO « Z wv nim: gp ze = =H xX | Z HI . = =z | - oO AE Gr . oH QZ > { sR No w > O << i+ 0 Iw - ON « g Legs > WEDNESDAY, JULY 27,1988 KINGS MOUNTAIN, NORTH ( = , =< ‘ who reported Robert Harmon missi Crowder’s Creek Project Still Possible | KM Wants Smaller Share Of Cost, Shot At Annexation BY GARY STEWART Managing Editor Kings Mountain City Council officially told Gastonia, Gaston County and Bessemer City of- ficials how much money it can afford to put into the proposed Crowder’s Creek Wastewater Treat- ment project at a special meeting of City Council Wednesday night at the Governmental Services Facilities Center. Kings Mountain is now awaiting their reply as the August 1 deadline for applying for a $14 ion federal EPA grant draws nearer. Gastonia City Council is scheduled to meet tonight to consider Kings Mountain’s proposals and to select a site for the Ee facility. Bessemer City has not scheduled a meeting to discuss the proposals and Gaston County Commis- sioners tabled the issue at a special meeting held Friday night in Belmont. Near the close of the lengthy meeting Wednes- KM Man Missing For Five Weeks By LIB STEWART When the telephone rings at the home of Nell and Willis Harmon in the Bethlehem Community they pray the caller will be their son, Robert, 27, miss- ing from home for nearly five weeks. Mr. Harmon saw his son last on June 27 when he went to Robert’s home nearby and learned that his son and a friend, William Henson, also of Kings Mountain, were planning a trip to Discovery Place in Charlotte and to the mountains in Henson’s rice, ; “I suspected that Robert ROBERT HARMON p54 quit his job at Southern Satellite Sales but he never told me and I didn’t question him about it that morning,” said Mr. Har- mon, who said Robert usually called when he was oing to be away from home for more than two ays. “It’s not like my boy at all,” said he father, y 6. Robert’s friend, William Henson, told Cleveland County Sheriff’s Department that the two had gone on a camping trip in the North Carolina mountains and stayed two nights at Bear Hunter Campground in Bryson City and later at a motel in Cherokee. On the morning of June 30, Henson said he dropped Harmon off at the intersection of Highways 412 and 28 in Franklin and returned home. Harmon was last seen by Henson riding a 10-speed bicycle with a backpack and camping gear. Henson said that he believed Robert was still camping or had gone looking for a job because he was looking at newspaper ads. Harmon said that operators of the campground where the two men stayed and the motel where they stayed recalled that both had been there. Harmon said his son’s employer could give no reason for his sudden departure from work. ‘He was doing a good job and was well liked,” said the father. ‘We have no idea why he quit and he ob- viously had quit for a week or so before he left for the camping trip. His camping gear and bike are one from the house and everything is in place just ike he left it.” ! The Cleveland County Sheriff’s Department, continuing their search for the missing man, told the Harmons that the body of a man fitting Har- mon’s general description was found in Marion County, Tenn., July 19. With additional details, of- ficials ruled the body was not Harmon’s. However, Turn To Page 5-A KM Postmaster Fred Weaver Is Retiring By LIB STEWART Operations day in which the official open meeting was recess- ed several times for officials of the four governing agencies to negotiate behind closed doors, Kings Mountain made the following proposals by a 5-0 vote. Councilman Jackie D. Barrett was absent: *That Kings Mountain provide $1.25 million toward construction costs. *That the four agencies sign an agreement that they would not annex any property along the I-85/Highway 74 corridor for five years after the ea plant receives its operating permit from e state. *That the master meter be located at the in- tersection of McGill and Crowder’s creeks rather than at the McGill Treatment Plant. Kings Mountain had been asked to pay between $3-4 million when the four agencies began discuss- ing the proposed regional plant about a year ago. But Kings Mountain only recently learned that it has some $11.5 million worth of improvements to UTILITY COMMITTEE TO MEET Kings Mountain Utilities Committee will con- sider doing away with gas and electrical tap fees and discuss minor problems at Moss Lake Dam and spillway and long-range plans for the dam and spillway at a special meeting at 7:30 p.m. tonight at City Hall. If the committee of three commissioners votes to do away with the fees, the full council will have to vote on the matter before it takes effect. Chairman Al Moretz said a tap fee is a deter- rent to customers who might otherwise connect to the city’s electrical system. Both Duke Power and the City of Kings Mountain charge the same amount for electricity and Duke does not charge tap fees. The city, in an effort to be competitive with Turn To Page 6-A DISCUSS REGIONAL PLANT - Gastonia Mayor Jick Garland, left, and Gastonia Public Works Direc- tor Sam Wilkins, right, discuss the proposed Crowder’s Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant at last Wednesday’s Kings Mountain City Council meeting at the Governmental Services Facilities Center. Kings Mountain Council approved allocating $1.25 millien to the project, but the Gastonia, Gaston County and Bessemer City boards have not yet accepted the KM action. Mrs. N.C. Pageant Mrs. Bolin First Runner-Up Melany Bolin of Kings Moun- tain was first runner-up in the Mrs. North Carolina America pageant last weekend at Scottish Rite Masonic Lodge in Wilm- ington. Connie Hedrick of Newton- Conover, last year’s first runner- up, won the event which offered over $5,000 in cash and prizes, in- cluding an all-expense paid trip to Hawaii for the Mrs. America Pageant on October 22. Mrs. Bolin, wife of Danny Bolin and owner-operator of Body Tone Salon, was second runner-up a year ago. She won a trophy and gift certificate for her showing this year. “I had a wonderful time,” she said. “I met a lot of nice people from all over North Carolina.” Assistant MELANY B ... First Runner-up The 13 contestants were judged salute to state festivities, Mrs. on interview, swimsuit, and Bolin dressed as a Mountaineer evening gown. During a special because of Kings Mountain’s an- Ta nual Mountaineer Days celebra- “tion and its connection with the Battle of Kings Mountain. : She got the idea from former Kings Mountain teacher Juanita Goforth, who also helped prepare her for the interview segment in a possible 50. During the interview session, Mrs. Bolin answered such ques- tions as why she would like to be chosen Mrs. North Carolina, her opinion on Mothers Against Drunk Driving, and questions about family and values. For the bathing suit competi- tion, she wore a red bathing suit, and for the evening gown com- petition, she wore a white gown by Steven Urich which was trim- med in gold sequins. Her inter- view attire was a white skirt with matching blouse which was Turn To Page 6-A North Piedmont Avenue. He got which Mrs. Bolin scored 49 out of make in its city utility system. The city is also under judicial order to clear up problems at its Pilot Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant by June 1990. The city has been advised by its consulting engineers that it can expand the Pilot Creek plant to provide more treatment at a smaller cost than through the proposed Crowders project. City Manager George Wood pointed out that the city could spend approximately $1.28 million at Pilot Creek and treat an additional two million gallons of wastewater per day, or could spend $3-4 million on the Crowders Creek project reat an additional 1.28 million gallons per day. “Our sewage system is operating at 92 percent capacity now,” Wood told Gaston officials. ‘We don’t have a whole lot of time to drag out that (Crowder’s Creek) project. The Pilot Creek pro- ject is fucker and gives us more capacity.”’ Asked what the city’s bottom line for staying in the Crowder’s project would be, Wood told Turn To Page 6-A * * Kk Gas System Is Released From Order A Show Cause Order under which the Kings Mountain National Gas Department has operated since 1980 was lifted July 18. Tom Dixon, Chief of the Pipeline Safety Section of the Transportation Division of the State of North Carolina Utilities Commission, wrote City Manager George Wood that all areas of violations have been corrected and “the directive of the Com- mission is rescinded. We will continue to perform an annual inspection on the facilities.” he said. KM Natural Gas Department is probably the on- ly city utility without problems. The Show Cause Order was issued in 1980 for failure by the city to comply with the minimum federal safety regulations for pipeline facilities and transportation of gas. Dixon wrote Wood: ‘The record shows that bet- ween 1971 and 1980 the Commissions’ Pipeline Safety Staff made numerous inspections of the pipeline facilities owned and operated by the City of Kings Mountain. These inspections revealed numerous continuing violations of the safety stan- dards, with resort, the Commission issued a Show Cause Order, which resulted in a hearing in Kings Mountain October 22, 1980. As a result of the hear- ing, the Commission directed the city to take im- mediate steps to correct the violations, as well as build a new transmission line, to correct some pressure problems. Our staff was instructed to monitor the compliance action taken by the city and report our findings to the Commission.” Maney, who came on the job as Natural Gas Superintendent in 1980 on recommendation of the state, said no fines were imposed on the city. In a speech before the Kings Mountain Lions Club Tuesday night, Maney said that ‘‘the natural gas industry is more complex today and has undergone many changes.” He called what the ci- ty’s supplier, Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Cor- poration terms ‘new maximum daily quantity’’ as a way to open up the pipeline for open access and praised city council for looking into a new pro- gram, Southern Expansion, first time offered since 1971, which would add 1,000 MCF per day to the ci- ty’s present city gas contract with Transco of 4100 MCF, operating under four different gas contracts on a daily basis to gain lower prices for the con- sumer. “The gas industry is very exciting”, he told Lions. News Editor Postmaster Fred Weaver, pro- moted through the ranks from a substitute mail carrier, retires next Wednesday after 30 years service. “I was trained from the ve first day on the job that the mail must go through despite rain, snow and biting dogs,” he laugh- ed, recalling that his first work as a substitute mail carrier on a city route brought him face to face with some of the “challenges” that face the mailman. On February 29, 1964 he became a career employee, then substitute clerk, regular clerk, and then Supervisor of Postal Postmaster. He served under then - Postmaster Charles Alex- ander. He became Postmaster April 8, 1978. A native of Clover, S.C. Weaver is the son of Mrs. Avalonia Weaver of Kings Moun- tain and the late B.O. Weaver. He grew up in Kings Mountain and graduated from Kings Moun- tain High School, then served in the 11th Air Force three years which the U.S. Postal Service credited to his 30 year retirement career status. His retirement is effective Aug. 3. Before going in service Weaver worked at Mauney Hosiery Mill and after service he owned and operated Weaver's Dry Cleaners for 19 years on FRED WEAVER out of the dry cleaning business after successfully passing postal examinations and came on the KM post office staff as a substitute carrier when there were only four rural routes and five city routes. Now there are seven city routes, six rural routes and the postoffice has oc- cupied a new building with 29 members on the staff, including substitute carriers. “I’m proud of the service that our Postoffice staff gives to Kings Mountain citizens’, says Weaver, who admits there are still a few changes to be made in the new building which was built 20 months ago. ‘The working Turn To Page 8-A TOM FIELDS Codes Job A Challenge His day may start with a routine building inspection on a new construction project in Kings Mountain, and may end with a phone call to a local landlord about upgrading run- down rental houses. “It’s a challenge,” says Tom Fields who became Kings Moun- tain Codes Director a month ago. “I took the job with my eyes open and knew it would be a big challenge,” he added. : Fields’ job in Kings Mountain fills a nearly year-long vacancy in the department, a situation that forced city officials to hire outside licensed inspectors from Shelby to fill day-to-day inspec- tions. “It left a big void and we are sure there has been some building projects that should have been inspected, but went by the way-side,”’ said City Manager George Wood. ‘Also, the job of seeing that junk cars were removed and vacant lots Sloaned, just couldn’t be handl- e 2 But Fields says that will change. ‘It will take a year, but I believe people will notice some changes.” Priorities that Fields says will be addressed include: ---Workmanship in all phases of construction; --Working with landlords in improving below standard rental housing; Turn To Page 6-A REAMS OF PAPERWORK - The Show Cause Order in which the city has operated the Kings Mountain Natural Gas Department for eight years contained reams of paperwork but no fines were impos- ed. The STate Utilities Committee lifted the court order July 18 and the Gas Department is now probably the city’s only utility without problems. Utility Superintendent Jimmy Maney holds up the file. The city has corrected all violations and built a new transmission line to correct some pressure problems. a as
The Kings Mountain Herald (Kings Mountain, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
July 27, 1988, edition 1
1
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75