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C—O To ) nT Fr ER Ser APT { VOL. 106 NO. 43 % Alm, ¥, \ $ | Lf i { City Planner Gene White retiring 3-A Ma 5S ‘fe i KMHS girls volleyball team wins SWC title 1- B 414 Thursday, October 27, 1994 PR | Kings Mountain, NC 28( Ok | % $i 28086 3 GU 12 oY RY LIBRA IAL L CARA ave ~ FEEEEET 21/95 MONT AY DUNTAIN Ho ED 10/ TEEEEEE KINGS H City officials admit billing erro... City manager refuses to release info City Manager Chuck Nance refused Tuesday to release results to the press of an in-house audit into possible electrical billing errors. He said that the information would be made public when City Attorney Mickey Corry re- searched it and differentiated between what is a legal matter and what is public information. Some Council members and city staff dodged reporters after the City Council meeting but not before a confrontation ensued between the mayor and an out- of- own reporter who was refused on the floor of the meeting the answers to clarifica- tions he wanted to hear from Utlities Director Jimmy Maney. Maney, who commented from the in-house au- dit report after being questioned by Councilwoman Norma Bridges, left the meeting before it adjourned. Three Council members, Jim Guyton, Bridges and Dean Spears said after the meetiing they saw no reason for the press not to get the answers and that the reporters should get copies of the consul- tant's report. Bridges said she was told by the city manager there may be some errors in the consultant's re- port and that he would share that information with the press later. City Council will hold a special meeting November 8 at the suggestion of City Attorney Mickey Corry to hear the results of the audit and to determine what steps, if any, should be taken. Nance said Tuesday that it is clearly the city's fault in most of the irregularities but that the at- torney needed to study the entire issue further due to legal matters which could come from it. The two city officials who head the two city departments they are auditing for possible billing irregularities acknowl- edged at Tuesday night's City Council meeting that errors ex- ist. Finance Director Maxine Parsons and Utility Director Jimmy Maney said they are working to correct the errors, some of which go back two years. "We can't blame all of this on yesterday's situation,” said Maney. : After Mayor Scott Neisler opened the discussion, City Manager Chuck Nance sug- gested that the board take City Attorney Mickey Corry's rec- ommendation to set a special Mayor: Nip it in the bud "The buck stops with the su- pervisors," says Mayor Scott Neisler. He was responding to ques- tions about the city's in-house audit into the City Utility Department. A fe our job as elected offi- cials to hit * this situation head on and “ ‘about find ing the solu- tions," he . said, saying hay that rumors NEISLER were flying this week that city officials were trying to sweep the prob- lem under the carpet. "T asked that this problem be aired in open session and placed on the agenda for Tuesday night's meeting," said the Mayor. (The item was removed by the city manager, said the mayor, on recommendation of the eity attorney. Tuesday, the mayor put the item back on the -agenda, moving it from other business to the top of the agen- da order). "We always have to sacrifice something when we don't have enough staff," said Neisler, de- fending possible billing errors. "One person can't handle it all. "The management study is correct that there are not enough people to handle the billing," he said. Monday, the mayor estimat- ed that the city may have to pay back some $215,000 to cus- tomers who have been over- charged while attempting to collect some $240,000 from customers undercharged for electricity. (Tuesday night Maney reported those figures as $143,028.56 in overbillings and $113, 264.27 in under billings). See Mayor, 8-A GENE HARRIS Residents of the Hillway,/Hilltop communities off Lake Montonia Road celebrate a ''drug-free commu- nity." From left around a bingo table are Courtney Thompson, Ebony Leach, Ontario Leach, Gregory McNeill, and Furman Thompson. Standing are Calistra Cureton, left, and Sabrina McNeill. 1 1 Hilltop winning drug war By ELIZABETH STEWART of THE HERALD STAFF The big celebration scene Saturday afternoon was something that longtime Hilltop Community residents never dreamed they'd live long enough to see. A war on drugs by residents of two neighbor- hoods off Lake Montonia Road, in cooperation with Cleveland and Gaston Police Departments and Kings Mountain Police Department, was won through Community Watch and over 50 arrests of drug offenders. "We've taken our neighborhoods back," said Robert Curry, President of Hillway/Hilltop Community Watch as 90-100 children and adults gathered under yellow circus-type tents to play bingo, fry fish and have a good time. The local and area law enforcement teams were presented with appreciation plaques. Longtime residents Pauline Love and Erma Lou Borders said that life was much different now for the six homes located in the once drug- infested Hilltop Community. "It's so quiet now and we don't hear the sound Kings Mountain People | Blindness is a blessing for KM's Gene Harris of guns and aren't afraid to step out our doors," said Love. Borders said that she never could turn on the light at night because she was afraid and she al- ways stayed close to the telephone. The all-out effort against drugs started last March, according to Sgt. Jeff Icenhour of the Gaston County Police, supervisor of the K-9 Unit and a 16-year veteran of the police force. "We started with street drug interdiction and made arrests and then involved other areas of county government, such as health agencies and solid waste management, and organized a Community Watch with the help of other law en- forcement agencies. "When we got rid of the dealers we got rid of the users," according to Sgt. Mark Simpson of the Kings Mountain Police Department. Icenhour said that police are on a first name ba- sis with the residents of the two communities. "The change is as different as day and night," said Valerie Beam who said the area was cleaned See Hilltop, 8-A ' 904. By ELIZABETH STEWART of The Herald Staff When he walks the trails Gene Harris, 64, sees the au- tumn leaves and the changing colors of fall through the eyes of others. Trauma from a head injury in a truck accident three years ago damaged the optic nerve in his eyes. He is praying for a miracle that God will restore his sight but he is thankful for life. "I can make out shadows but I depend on my wife Wilma and our grandsons when I go for walks in the woods and yard," said Harris. Wilma Harris, who admitted- ly never liked to drive a car, recently chauffeured her hus- band to the Outer Banks of North Carolina for the Lions of North Carolina Visually Impaired Persons Fishing Tournament. "We all learn to make adjust- ments," said Harris, who con- siders his blindness-one of life's challenges instead of an impair- ment. And Harris said new friends like Lion Joe Harris of Shelby and his sister, Mary, longtime friends like Arthur Sprouse and Mitch Norris, neighbors on Phifer Circle and Family Living Church ot God help him cope. April 3, 1991 is a day that the Kings Mountain trucker will never forget. Harris and a friend usually rode to work together but on that morning Harris was alone in his small Mazda truck on I- 85 North near the Sam Wilson Road about 8:30 a.m. Enroute to work at Spartan Express, he had stopped for breakfast in McAdenville. "I was just driving along and suddenly a plastic bag hit the windshield and the truck swerved," said Harris. He learned much later that his truck meeting November 8 to discuss the problems after all the infor- mation was in hand. But Commissioner Norma Bridges persisted with questions to Parsons and Maney over ob- jection of Councilman Phil Hager who said the board should proceed with agenda items. "We can't solve the problems tonight," he said. Maney used a copy of a re- port of an audit of meters and billing by a consultant who worked with him and Parsons on an internal audit of the two departments they head. Maney gave copies of the re- port to Nance after the city utili- ties meeting Monday night and later to members of the full Council but not to the press. Responding to questions, Maney confirmed: At least eight accounts of electric customers were audited. The City of Kings Mountain underbilled electric customers $143,028.56 and overbilled cus- tomers $113,264.27 for electric- ity during the period from January 1992 through August 1994. No residential power users are included in the group audit- ed, only some industry and business which have demand charges. Maney explained that errors could have occurred if a service order did not come in from the See Billing, 9-A Guyton: Rec salary higher than discussed The hiring of the new Parks & Recreation Director at a salary higher than commission- ers had reportedly discussed in a recent closed session was questioned by Councilman Jim Guyton Tuesday night. "Wie may as well have all dis- cussions in starting salary would f... be $25,000," 7" said Guyton ~~ GUYTON at City Council's regular meet- ing. City Manager Chuck Nance said he thought he had the au- thority to hire and fire and he hired the best person for the job in the person of Bessemer City resident Karen Langston-Byers. Nance said the two top con- tenders for the $33,000 a year job already made more than the starting salary Guyton had men- tioned. Byers, who reports to work with the City of Kings Mountain November 1, had been Recreation Program Coordinator for Gaston County Parks & Recreation Department since April 13. Her annual salary was $20, Guyton said that commission- ers in a closed session that Nance did not attend had agreed that the position of Parks & Recreation Director would not be on the same pay scale as the Chief of Police. "Discussing personnel mat- ters in closed session don't mean a thing," he charged. Nance said that no action was taken by the board after the closed session last month and he was not aware that a salary had been proposed. See Guyton, 9-A was struck by another vehicle. The Harris truck flipped over. Rescuers used the Jaws of Life to remove Harris from his flat- tened vehicle. "The doctors told us he would never survive but God answered prayer and Gene is living proof," said Mrs. Harris. Visitors to the Harris home never guess that the friendly, confident man who greets you on the front porch has any prob- lems. He uses his cane to walk outdoors but he knows every inch of his house. "lI wash dishes and Wilma prepares my lunch before she leaves for work at Mauney . City Manager Chuck Nance Head meter reader quits Adding to the City of Kings Mountain's utility problems this week was the resignation of the head meter reader Kenny Bell of Grover, who has worked for the city 10 igned M : g ty comes a a bad time but I didn't plan it this way," he said. "The oppor- tunity for advancement came and I took it." : Bell gave his resignation fo Monday and will work a two week's notice. Bell had only praise for Utility Director Jimmy Maney, his supervisor. : "Meter reading is no picnic," said Bell, who said complaints from some commissioners about the job he was trying to do was the reason he started looking for another job. "If the commissioners would leave us alone and let us do our job and if there wasn't so much turnover in the billing depart- ment at City Hall I think we could all these problems I just heard about straightened out," he said. Bell says some commission- ers say meter readers aren't reading the meters. Bell said he was unaware of the city's current audit into pos- sible billing irregularities of electric utilities. "That isn't the reason I'm leaving," he said. "These are human errors they're talking about, not com- puter errors." Bell says he turns in all his paper work to City Hall on a daily basis. See Bell, 9-A Hosiery," said Harris, who has telephone buddies who keep in touch with him constantly. Harris plans to stay in touch with new friends he met during the recent Lions Club outing in Dare County. At first skeptical about mak- ing the long trip to Nags Head. Gene said he's glad that his wife twisted his arm. In addition to showing Wilma how to put squids on a hook and fish from a pier. he and 300 other visitors were treated royally by Lions from six host clubs to a fish fry, barbecue. banquet and the 11th See Harris, 9-A
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