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Thursday, July 27, 1989
To Find Utility Improvements
City To Sell Bonds August 22
With a October goal for taking bids on sewer and
water projects, Kings Mountain City Council will sell
bonds for major utility improvements on August 22.
City Council Tuesday night set a special meeting
Aug. 8 at 7:30 p.m. to adopt the resolution for the sale
of bonds.
City Manager George Wood said that sewer bonds
will amount to $3,515,000, water bonds will amount to
$2,730,000 and electric bonds will amount to
$720,000 for a total of $6,965,000.
Wood, outlining guidelines for issuing the bonds,
said that a 40-50 page statement," A 1989 Series Utility
Bonds for City of Kings Mountain" is being prepared
AANOQVR
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TVIJORHY
- 7
i
Advedl
this week by Wood, Treasurer Marvin Chappell and
Community Development Director Gene White for the
- State Treasury
which oversees local government finances.
Wood and Chappell are back from Raleigh, where
they met with Treasury officials about the bonds.
Kings Mountain voters approved $9.2 million for
utility improvements in February.
Wood said the city will issue the rest of the bonds a
year or so from now since it will take at least two
years to make improvements in the electrical system.
He said Moss dam improvements can be deferred for
about a year. "We don't want to borrow money and pay
VOL. 101 NO. 30
interest on it if we can't use it," he said , referring to
major repairs which may run in the neighborhood of
$100,000 at Moss Lake Dam. Engineers are now
working on models of the spillway and the city is wait-
ing on recommendations from the state.
Wood said the city is expected to take bids on the
sewer and water projects in October.
The city will use the money from the bonds for wa-
ter and wastewater improvements and to upgrade the
electrical sub-station on York Road and to build a 15-
KV sub-station on Gaston Street. Transmission lines
will be changed on Gaston Street from 5KV to 15KV
capacity. "The electric system is now running at a high
KINGS MOUNTAIN, N.C.| |
percentage of its capacity," Wood said.
In other actions, the board authorized advertising
the sale of city property, establishing the minimum up-
set bid at $3,600.
Cablelink Corporation, Childers Street, is interested
in buying a 20,955 square feet parcel east of
Cablelink's existing building for construction of an au-
tomobile parking lot to service the industry.
Community Development Director Gene White said
the present zoning is Residential-10 and zoning
change would require a variance from the Board of
See City, 2-A
UPGRADE CROSSINGS-City and Norfolk-Southern workmen,
made in the past two months. While truck traffic has been prohibit-
above, complete the upgrading of the Linwood (Anvil Knit) cross. 4 “ed at three tracks in the city, { yiiiilgls consider the Linwood cross-
"Mig, one of three major crossings where improv¢ments have been * ing now one of the safest in the area for truck traffic.
Upgrading of three major railroad crossings
in the city have been completed by workmen
with Norfolk-Southern Railroad and city street
and maintenance crews.
The west set of tracks at the Linwood (
Railroad Crossings |
to drive over those tracks," said Moss.
Oak Street, Gold Street and Hawthorne
crossings are off-limits to trailer truck traffic
and signs are posted on both sides of the
crossings prohibiting truck traffic.
Anvil Knit) crossing was raised 11 inches and
the road bed at the eastern approach to the
tracks was raised 12 inches.
Tractor-trailer rig operators report smooth
riding now over the tracks where one trucking
firm recently lost five sets of dollies, said Karl
Moss, Superintendent of Public Works.
At the Piedmont crossing at the Depot, 155
tons of asphalt was used to raise the road level.
Before, it was just like riding a roller coaster
Neisler And Boyles Enter
Race For KM
The District 6 race for City
Council heated up this week as two
more candidates-Willard Boyles,
62, of Phifer Road, and Scott
Neisler, 33, of 405 Neisler Drive,
filed.
Their announcement brings to
five the number of people running
for the District 6 position. Eight
candidates seek three seats up for
grabs at City Hall this election
year.
Also challenging incumbent
Harold Phillips are Jerry White, a
Detective Sergeant with the
Cleveland County Sheriff's
Mrs. Bumgardner
Central Assistant
The Kings Mountain Board of
Education, meeting in a special
session Monday night, appointed
Ethel Bumgardner as the new as-
sistant principal at Central School.
Mrs. Bumgardner was approved
by a 3-0 vote. Board members
Billy King and Priscilla Mauney
abstained.
Mrs. Bumgardner, a resident of
Polkville, has been a sixth grade
language arts teacher at Central
since 1974. She takes over the as-
sistant principal duties vacated by
Mike Rhoney, who was recently
named assistant principal at Kings
Mountain High School.
"She's been a dedicated employ-
ee," said personnel director Ronnie
Wilson. "We hate to see her leave
the classroom but she's well-pre-
pared to be an administrator.”
Wilson said Mrs. Bumgardner's
See Bumgardner, 2-A
District Six
Department, and Floyd (Will)
Sanders, Spectrum Industries em-
ployee.
Boyles, a life-long resident of
Kings Mountain, is making his first
bid for public office. He said his
candidacy is a result of "a long-felt
desire to serve the people of the
community." He sees the need for
continued efforts to bring new in-
dustry to the area as well as expan-
sion of existing industry. He also
Stressed the importance of contin-
ued work toward providing ade-
See Race, 11-A
ot i
CALL 911 SEPT.1-Lee Clary, second from left, outlined plans for implementing the new county-wide
emergency telephone system to Kings Mountain Lions Club Tuesday night. From left, Lion W. Donald
Crawford, Clary, County Commissioner Joyce Falls Cashion and Lions President Kemp Mauney.
Being Upgraded
resulted in meetings with city and railroad
officials discussing ways to improve the
public's safety on railroad crossings. Local
trucking companies delivering to industries in
town had also written railroad officials about
the Linwood crossing, said Moss.
Moss is recommending the city close the
West Mountain Street crossing to truck traffic.
"Safest crossings for trucks are Linwood,
Piedmont and the overhead bridge, "says Moss.
A trucker escaped serious injury at the Gold
Street crossing in 1987 when he jumped from
his rig and his truck was hit by two trains.
Civil suits against both the city and railroad
were dismissed but Moss said the incident
L. E. Wetsel, of Greenville, S. C., Division
Superintendent for Norfolk-Southern, and J .D.
Bryant, Division Engineer, met with local city
officials to coordinate the improvements
completed this week and underway since May.
Cost to the city was $5500 and labor and cost
to the railroad was $18,000. Paving was
contracted.
Water Meters Installed
In Margrace
The city has installed 50 water
meters in the Margrace area of
town, which brings to completion
the installation/replacement of
1,250 water meters to Kings
Mountain residents.
City Clerk-Treasurer Marvin
Chappell said increase in water us-
age for the period August 1988 to
June 1989 reflects an increase of
2,478 gallons of water or an annu-
al cash increase of $50,924.28. The
total number of customers in
August 1988 was 3,034. The total
number of customers in June 1989
was 3,079.
In another report to City Council
Tuesday, Chappell said that the
county water line which extends to
Kings Mountain Hospital =)
Wants Psychiatric Unit bh.
Kings Mountain Hospital
trustees have asked the Cleveland
County Mental Health Board to ap-
prove a 20-bed psychiatric unit, a
first in Cleveland County.
An ad-hoc committee studying
the proposal will brief the full
board at the Aug. 9 meeting in
Shelby.
Cleveland County currently has
no licensed beds for the mentally
ill. Over 350 Cleveland County
residents are sent to mental wards
at hospitals in Charlotte, Gastonia,
Asheville and Morganton each year
and patients and their families
spend several million dollars a year
for treatment, said Mental Health
Director Dr. Sandy Brenneman.
Mill Area
Grover was taken over by the city
for the April 1989 billing and the
revenue has increased by
$15,694.15 for the first quarter.
Chappell said "this revenue in-
crease is 100% because we were
already responsible for maintaining
the line and meters. Taps are cov-
ered under our policy that outside
citizens pays twice the inside rate
or cost for industry. Before the city
took over the line we could not re-
cover sewer charges by our country
contract, but now we do. The rev-
enue increase for the year is an es-
timated $62,776.00."
Chappell said the total billing
See Meters, 5-A
Dr. Brenneman said hospital
trustees have asked the Mental
Health Board to approve a waiver
for certificate of need, a process
that will allow beds that have been
allocated to state hospitals to be
reallocated to local hospitals.
Kings Mountain Hospital, with 102
beds, has 10 beds designated for
long-term use and the remaining
for acute care, said Huitt Reep, ad-
ministrator.
Both Brenneman and Reep said
patients would benefit from local
treatment because the same doctors
would be nearby for follow-up
care. Patients would have stronger
See Hospital, 5-A
Mauney Seeks To Retain
Seat On KM School Board
Priscilla Mauney is the only in-
side-city resident to file for a seat
on the Kings Mountain Board of
Education. Filing continues
through Friday, : T
August 4.
Mrs. Mauney's
seat is up for
grabs, along with
the outside city
seats of Paul
Hord Jr. and Bill
McDaniel. Thus 4
far, Hord, Ronnie = MAUNEY
Hawkins and Wanza Davis have
1911 Emergency System
| To Begin In September
Cleveland County's new 911
emergency telephone system will
cut- on in September.
Lee Clary, Communications
Supervisor for the county, said lo-
cal residents can prepare for the
system by putting house numbers
on their houses, because in some
cases, it is difficult for emergency
vehicles to find the address.
Letters from County
Commission Chairman Joe
Cabaniss are going out this week to
property owners giving the correct
addresses of residents and busi-
nesses which must be prominently
displayed.
If your house or business is
some distance from the road, the
number should be displayed on a
yard sign, as well as your mailbox.
A yard sign near the driveway
filed for the outside seats.
McDaniel, who has served for 12
years, said he will not seek re-elec-
tion.
Mrs. Mauney was appointed to
her position almost two years ago
when Kyle Smith resigned after be-
ing elected Mayor of Kings
Mountain. She had been an unsuc-
cessful candidate in the 1987 race.
Mrs. Mauney said she decided to
run again because of her "love and
concem for the welfare of children
and my belief that I have the ability
See Mauney, 2-A
would be best. Mailboxes that are
across the road will not locate your
house. Property owners are asked
to inform their tenants about the
system. If you live on the property
but use a postoffice box for mail,
you still need to display the num-
ber on a yard sign. "In as-
signing house number addresses
and incorporating those numbers
already assigned, we have found
that some existing numbers are too
far out of sequence to be usable. If
you are getting a change of num-
ber, it is the county, not the postof-
fice, that is making the change,"
the letter points out.
Clary was speaker for Tuesday
night's meeting of Kings Mountain
Lions Club on program arranged
by Lion W. Donald Crawford.
See 911, 3-A
poner J
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