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Zoning Board
tables request
A request for rezoning from
light industrial to residential of-
fice by Ruppe and Woody
Associates was tabled by the
Planning and Zoning Board
Thursday for more informa-
tion.
Planning Director Steve
Killian said that a building on
the Ruppe/Woody property, a
former karate school on East
Gold Street, has been gutted
and that board members had
some reservations about how
much of it could be salvaged.
Killian said if the property is
rezoned as requested by the
owners that the uses would
vary. If rezoned it would be
the only R-0 spot surrounded
by light industry and people
living there would find them-
selves in the middle of an in-
dustrial district.
Killian said that the current
land development plan shows
that section of Gold and York
Road intersection to be a resi-
dential area.
In other action, the board
rubberstamped the final subdi-
vision plat presented by devel-
oper Mike Brown showing his
lots fronting East Ridge Street
to be sized for a R-10 district of
‘10,000 square feet in line with
what adjacent property owners
are recommending. The plan-
ning board said it would recon)-
mend to City Council that ev-
erything within 134 feet of East
Ridge south be R-10 and prop-
erty further south of Mike
Brown's lots would be zoned
General Business.
COOLING OFF
Marea Tippins and Tyler Short found the perfect way to cool off
on a hot summer's day by purchasing Hawaiian Shaved Ice at
North Piedmont Avensis
Eng's Schoo! of Self Defense on
29-year-old (Grover resident
hit by train, lives to tell it
Jeff Houser, 29, of Grover, is a
lucky young man.
Thursday he was struck by a
train at 1:15 p.m. at a Main
Street crossing and lived to talk
about it.
"I blacked out while I was
walking along the tracks and I
woke up two days later in the
Shelby Hospital," said the
Bessemer City Parkdale Mill
technician who lives about a
mile from the tracks across from
the Cameron Mill plant.
Houser said he had worked a
12-hour shift, had no sleep and
had left home after an argui-
ment to cool off and bought a
six-pack of beer at a nearby
store.
"I didn't even drink one of
the beers and I sure wasn/t
drunk, he said.
Houser's hands are swathed
in bandages, he lost one toe, the
tips of his fingers were badly
bruised and his legs were in-
jured but he considers himself
lucky.
"The Good Lord or some
guardian angel was watching
over me," said Houser who said
his children, Kayla Anne, 3, and
Joshua Craig, 2, were afraid to
look at him in the hospital bed.
Houser's mother, Antioch
Community resident Shirley
Canoutas, said her son will
probably be out of work four
to six months in rehabilitation
to learn to use his limbs again.
Doctors expect to discharge
Houser Monday from the hos-
pital.
Houser and his family ask for
prayers.
Council approves 7.76
The city's utility customers
will see a water/sewer increase
of 7.76 percent on the bills they
receive this week from the City
of Kings Mountain.
For a typical inside residen-
tial user of 9,000 gallons of wa-
ter this means the bill will go up
$2.02 each month.
For an outside residential us-~
er of 9,000 gallons of water the
increased cost would be $2.74
per month. ;
Customers will notice on
their bills a gas reclassification
but no increase in charges for
either natural gas or electricity.
City Council Tuesday night
adopted the 1996-97 budget
which reflects the increased
charges for water and sewer.
Water/Sewer Supt. Walt Ollis
asked Council to consider tack-
ing on the 3.5 percent increase
that was not passed on by the
finance department last year.
He said the increases are neces-
sary due to higher costs from
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‘Hicks beats board to punch,
resigns as KM City Manager
Interim City Manager Gary Hicks resigned at 5
p-m. Tuesday, 2 1/2
hours before a City
Council divided on his
leadership was ready to
fire him.
"I have enjoyed work-
ing with city employees
and I just hope Council
will give the next man-
ager a chance to man-
age," said Hicks, who
came to Kings Mountain
August 1, 1995 after 2
1/2 years as interim
manager in Lowell and
before that 25 years with
the City of Gastonia, of
which 20 were as city
manager.
Hicks said he had been retired only nine
months before Lowell Town Board called him as
interim manager and subsequently he was hired
through a week-to-week contract with T. S. S. Inc.
as Kings Mountain interim manager. Hicks said
he would probably take another job after a much-
needed vacation.
Hicks said his differences with the City Council
escalated when he would not follow Council's
direction in the personnel arena.
"I have to make my own decision when it
comes to hiring and firing," he said.
| "They like to micromanage,” said Hicks who
| would not elaborate on specifics, saying the city
employees were not the problem. "We have a
good staff," he said.
Supporters of Hicks, including Councilmen
Rick Murphrey and Dean Spears, said Hicks was
doing'a good job.
See Hicks, 3-A
RECUPERATING - 29-year-old Jeff Houser of Grover is recu-
perating in a Shelby hospital after being hit by a train.
percent utility increase
Gastonia for sewage treatment
at Gastonia's Crowders Creek
Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Ollis said Gastonia has raised
its rates to Kings Mountain 12.1
percent in the last two years.
"This increase actually eats
up the last two city increases
we've made, including the 3
1/2 percent increase that was
not passed on."
Utilities Director Jimmy
Maney suggested that the city
ask the city's consultants from
SVBK to return to the utilities
committee and give an indepth
report of the study they made
recently on utility rates and the
board concurred with the rec-
ommendation.
Ollis noted that the city re-
ceived $800,00 less than budget-
ed last year for water and sewer
and if the city is hit with anoth-
er plant closing that it will be in
trouble.
See Increase, 3-A
‘GARY HICKS
istrative officer.
good
projects.
der of the day:
Maney, 42, succeeds
Gary Hicks as Interim
City Manager. Hicks re-
signed Tuesday.
Maney said after the
meeting that he will fo-
cus on establishing a
communication
line between Council, the
city manager and citizens
to keep all informed
while promoting positive
Maney unanimous
choice as interim
Jimmy Maney, the city's utilities superinten-
dent for 16 years, was the Tr
unanimous choice of the
Kings Mountain City
Council Tuesday night to
be the city's chief admin-
JIMMY MANEY
"The city operates a $20 million dollar business
and there are many positive things that become
overshadowed by small negative things that are
not necessarily a true representation of how the
city is being run," he said.
Maney said he will schedule his duties with the
city so that he will be available in his Public
Works office from about 7 a.m. until 9 a.m. daily
and then in the city manager's office the remain-
See Maney, 3-A
Gene White calls for Murphrey
Retired city planner Gene
White called for Councilman
Rick Murphrey to step down
Tuesday, charging that the
Spectrum vice president of sales
is in conflict of interest in voting
on utility charges that affect the
industry.
Later during the lengthy
meeting, White was politely
told by a Shelby lawyer that
Cleveland Container, the low
bidder for the city's proposed
privatization of garbage collec-
tion, would no longer remain
silent about criticism they at-
tributed to statements made in
recent Council meetings.
Don Edwards and Shelby at-
torney Rob Deaton, represent-
ing Cleveland Container, said
the Shelby company had noth-
ing to do with the way the bids
were submitted nor the con-
tracts and Deaton said "there is
no evidence of unlawful in-
ducements or illegal payments."
Edwards said that contrary to
what had been said in public
meetings that the company was
willing to offer employment to
any qualified person displaced
by the city sanitation depart-
ment by privatization and that
the company would provide
backyard pickup to citizens un-
able to place garbage on the
curb.
"Cleveland Container is a re-
sponsible company and we
have kept silent while criticism
to resign as City Councilman
was leveled," said Deaton.
Deaton said the company has
contracts with municipalities as
far distant as Boone, Valdese,
Hickory and Newton, among
others.
He said Cleveland Container
responded to the city's request
for privatization in a responsi-
ble, professional manner and in
a detailed written manner."
White had asked that the city
reconsider its decision to priva-
tize but said he was not against
privatization only the way in
which the city bid the job.
Directing questions to
Murphrey, White said, "How
could you possibly expect any
citizen to believe that you were
unaware that the 3 1/2 percent
increase in water/sewer was
not passed on to Spectrum and
other customers.in the city last
year?" White read from a pre-
pared statement and passed
out copies to the full Council.
Murphrey did not respond to
White during the open meeting
but confronted him afterwards.
But Spectrum Engineer
Hubert Johnson defended
Murphrey after the meeting and
said the salesman would have
had no knowledge, nor would
he, that the rate increase had
not been implemented by the
city's finance department last
July by looking at the bills.
See White, 3-A
Birthdays.........cueseesn. 3B
Business News......9-10A
Church News...............2B
Classifieds.............. 6-7B
Cooking Corner ..........5B
Obituaries. .......cuesseeeesns 2A
OpINIoN.....ocerenrenscnsnnnn 4A
School News............7-8A
SPOMS......ccconussessensensnns 6A
Weddings.......cccseusenenns 1B
Kings Mountain People
Police News.................8B |
Rev. Odas Shelton, the
Chaplain of the Kings
Mountain Rescue Squad, offers
spiritual guidance and comfort
not only to the Squad facing
life-threatening situations but to
their families.
The pastor of Calvary Baptist
Mission says he stays close by
the telephone in event of emer-
gencies.
Recently the Squad was
called to a home where an in-
on duty immediately called the
preacher to give comfort to the
young bereaved parents.
"They didn't want to let their
fant had died and the Rescuer:
baby leave the house and we of-
fered prayer and comfort as
much as we could to the griev-
ing parents," said Shelton who
considers love and concern his
duty and his calling.
Shelton also visits the sick
and their families and has con-
ducted one funeral for a Squad
member and helped relocate the
widow to relatives in another
city.
When Shelton isn't minister-
ing to the Squad and to his
small congregation he joins his
wife of 50 years, Ruth Hord
Shelton, her sister Eunice
Ledford, Annie Mae Daves,
Thelma Dellinger and his broth-
er, Doyle Shelton, on visits to
area nursing homes and leads
brief worship and song ser-
vices.
"Just about every day of the
week we are singing and read-
ing scripture at a rest home or
nursing home," said Shelton,
who never preaches long ser-
mons. The residents at Autumn
Years, Cherry Oaks, Carolina
Care and Kings Mountain Care
tell him they enjoy the gospel
music and preaching.
A retired textile worker,
Shelton, 72, was reared on a to-
bacco and vegetable farm in the
Rev. Shelton always on call for Resuce Squad
mountains and came to Kings
Mountain as a teenager to
babysit his sister's children.
He was one of 10 children
and one of five sons of Martha
Baldwin and Jeeter Farida
Shelton drafted in Uncle Sam's
Army during World War II
Shelton went overseas in the
Eastern Theatre of Operations
to France and Germany in 1944
and on D Day he said he was in
the second wave going into
France and helped close up the
Battle of the Bulge. A Section
Sergeant in the mortar division,
“See Shelton, 3-A
REV. ODAS SHELTON