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Page 2A-THE KINGS MOUNTAIN HERALD-Thursday, March 2, 1995
COUNCIL
From Page 1-A
a lady with two sick children and
financial difficulties had come to
her about her utility bills and even-
tually had her service disconnected
by the city. :
“This bugs me to throw money
away when we're going out and
cutting people's utilities off.” she
said. "We need a better system."
Mayor Scott Neisler noted the
"seventy-five hundreds here and
the six hundred thousands there"
‘that have been mis-billed would
have created the eight percent fund
balance required by the Local
Government Commission to give
‘the city a clean audit.
Although no official action was
itaken, Councilman Rick Murphree
‘suggested that Ollis meet with the
‘Finance Director and City Manager
and bill the golf course for the
‘amount called for in the contract.
While $7,500 is not pocket
change, the real eye-opener came
later when Mrs. Bridges questioned
the status of a 1990 Cleveland
County mapping project to which
the city was to pay $107,318 for
maps of its natural gas system. Gas
Superintendent Jimmy Maney re-
ported that to date the city has
spent $90,000 toward the project
and hasn't received anything for its
money.
Maney explained in detail how
he and Finance Director Maxine
Parsons had uncovered the prob-
lem. He said the eight-phase coun-
ty-wide project was to be complet-
ed by January 1, 1995, and that the
Kings Mountain phase was sup-
posed to be completed by August
1, 1991.
According to Maney, he got in-
volved in the situation after the
North Carolina Utilities Committee
cited Kings Mountain for viola-
tions in its mapping system. He
said the city's mapping has not
been updated in 25 years, but after
the violation he remembered that in -
the past the City Council had ap-
proved participating in the county
mapping project. After being in-
structed by Council at a recent re-
treat, he and Parsons began investi-
gating and found that $90,000 had
been paid to the Pennsylvania engi-
neering firm conducting the map-
ping but that the payments had
...been credited to Cleveland
| | 1 {County's account.
. ii... The contract entered between
: the county and the engineering
* firm called for the firm to provide
. various maps and aerial photogra-
- phy for $1,188,461. Kings
Mountain was to be phase 7 of the
" project and the city was to pay
$10,000 for vertical ground control
mapping, $60,360 for digital plani-
metric mapping, $36,100 for digi-
tal topographics, and $858 for the
bond for a total of $107,318.
Maney said he and Parsons
found that from 1990 to 1994 the
city was billed a total of $90,000
and that another $17,000 was bud-
geted to be paid this year. He said
the invoices stated only "amount
now due" and did not make any in-
dication of any work performed.
Maney said he began contacting
the county and the engineering
firm recently and found out that no
one was in charge of the project,
and that at some time "it just got
put in a drawer somewhere." He
said he found out later that the man
originally in charge became ill and
the payments the city was making
apparently were credited to the
work going on in the county.
"As a result the Kings Mountain
project has just been laying there
and they haven't done much with
it," he said. "How it all got mixed
up, I don't know. Somehow the
work was confused with the work
WINS GEOGRAPHY BEE - Kenny Grant won the recent
Geography Bee at North Elementary School.
going on in the county.”
Maney said he was assured that
the engineering company would
get the problem straightened out,
but city officials say they want
their money back and suggested
that City Attorney Mickey Corry
and City Manager Chuck Nance
take the necessary steps to get it re-
ume do
¥
Maney said because of the gas
system violations he has had to
contract with another firm to satis-
fy state requirements. "I can't wait
on the county and what's going on
with these maps," he said.
Maney said he did not act on the
city's behalf when it entered into
the agreement with the county, but
that he was just "trying to tie up
loose ends" and find out the status
of the project. He said he was
amazed to find a $1.2 million pro-
ject that "nobody can tell you
about."
Councilman Ralph Grindstaff
said the city "had an Engineering
Department” at the time and it
should have been the "engineer's
responsibility to follow up on this.
I don't like this kind of spending
and not getting anything for it. I
want to city attorney to get in-
volved in it and if they're not going
to give us results, get our money
back."
"If the county picked up $90,000
in credits, they're using our money
to pay their bills," Councilman
Dean Spears noted.
Councilman Jerry White said the
city's phase 7 was supposed to be
completed in 1991 "and I don't
want their business. They're five
years late."
Maney said after the meeting
that he would take his findings to
the City Manager and City
Attorney and it would be their re-
sponsibility to make a proposal to
Council on collecting the money.
In other action Tuesday,
Council:
HW Approved reimbursing devel-
oper Jim Lybrand $1,699.50 for
street work and $12,767 for water
system to the new Ashley Park
Subdivision upon occupancy by
the homeowner of the first home
constructed and verification that all
15 stipulations of the engineering
consultant's findings are met.
HB Re-appointed Dean Spears,
Phillip Hager and Jim Guyton to
the Utilities Committee.
EE Appointed Rick Murphree to
the [Isothermal Planning and
Zoning Commission Board of
Directors.
B Designated Easter Monday as
a holiday for city employees.
B Approved advertising for an
exchange of 1,200 feet of surplus
3-inch fire hose to the Town of
Grover for a 1952 model brush
truck.
HM Called a public hearing for
March 28 at 7:30 p.m. to consider a
request by Alltell Mobile
Communications (Charles R.
Bridges) for a conditional use per-
mit to construct a 180 foot
telecommunications tower at 816
Floyd St.
HB Re-scheduled a public hearing
for April 25 at 7:30 to consider an
amendment to the City Sign
Ordinance.
BM Approved changing the gas
utility flex rate to create a floor and
ceiling on rates to interruptible gas
customers. Utility Director Jimmy
Maney said changes in prices re-
cently have resulted in the city sell-
ing gas for 75 cents more than the
suggested retail rate and that a pol-
icy is needed to prevent selling for
more than six percent over the
city's cost.
B Approved the division of
property from one lot to two (ap-
proximately 35 acres each) for Sara
Lee on Canterbury Road.
ed
PRINCIPAL'S AWARD - These third through fifth grad3e students at Bethware School were recently
awarded the Principal's Award for good citizenship. Front row, left to right, Kristi Hilliard, Steven Brown,
Isaac Hill, Amy Robinson, Judy Russell. Back row, Amy Pullen, Kim Robertson, Ashley Miller, Leslie
Callahan, Hugh Holland, principal. Not pictured, Jamie Camp.
Hager, Neisler
on committlees
Morganton Mayor Mel IL.
Cohen, president of the North
Carolina League of Municipalities,
has appointed Kings Mountain
Council member Phillip Hager and
Mayor Scott Neisler to NCI.M
committees.
Hager was appointed to the
Finance, Administration and
Intergovernmental Relations
Committee, and Neisler was ap-
pointed to the Energy,
Environment and Natural
Resources Committee.
The committees study and make
recommendations concerning
league policies in their areas. The
committees meet throughout the
year and recommend policies to the
League's board of directors. The
board, in turn, recommends legisla-
tive policies for adoption by the
full membership of the League.
Municipal legislative policy is
adopted annually by the member-
ship at the organization's annual
convention.
The League is a non-partisan
federation of 508 cities, towns and
villages in North Carolina.
Founded in 1908, the League pro-
vides a broad range of services to
member cities and towns
Established 1889
Published Thursday at East King Street at Canterbury Road, Kings Mountain, North Carolina 28086
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