Member
North Carolina Press Association
Vol. 109 No. 01
BANNER YEAR FOR BUILDING - The city's planning director
Steve Killian, above, sees 1997 as a banner year for building
projects currently underway or planned for the new year.
Wham! Look Out
~ at Phifer Intersection
‘A change in the traffic pattern
“at the intersection of West
- Mountain and Phifer Road at
- The Armory is being closely
monitored by the Kings
Mountain Police Department,
according to Chief Bob Hayes.
Initially, the Department of
; Transportation had put up three
stop signs at the intersection
but Hayes said motorists were
confused and complained and
two of the signs came down.
Monday motorists traveling
that intersection had to be very
cautious about the other drivers
who were running the stop sign
or slowing somewhat t
; See Stop, 7-A
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Thursday, January 02, 1997
City officials see New Year
1997 as a banner year for build-
ing in Kings Mountain.
If activity in the city's plan-
ning and codes department
during the waning days of 1996
~ are an indication, the new year
should be a busy one, according
to Planning Director Steve
Killian and Director of
Inspections Jeff Putnam.
The current projects:
Firestone Fibers & Textiles
Company is building a 120 feet
tall plant on I-85 near the city
limits to manufacture and treat
the textile materials they use to
make tires.
Summitt Place has submitted
revised plans for an assisted
living facility across from the
middle school.
Habitat Architects of
Charlotte has submitted plans
for a new Holiday Inn Express
south of the interstate across
from Falls Exxon on property
diagonally across from the
Comfort Inn.
The new Alexander Business
Park is going up beside of City
Hall downtown.
A new Doctor's Building is
under construction on Highway
161 on the Fulton property be-
side of the ABC Store where
Gaston Memorial Hospital has
set up a modular office for new
KM Schools will seek public input on facility needs
What does the Kings
Mountain School District plan
to do with $6.1 million in con-
struction money from the state
in the future?
That's the question that resi-
dents of the Kings Mountain-
Bethware-and Grover areas will
be asked at public meetings
which will begin early in 1997,
according to Ronnie Hawkins,
chairman of the Kings
Mountain Board of Education.
"We want to know what di-
rection to take and will encour-
age public input," said Hawkins
who predicts that 1997 will be a
good year for Kings Mountain
Schools.
With recent passage of the
school and road bonds by vot-
ers, Hawkins said Kings
Mountain will use matching
funds and the money due from
the state for either new con-
struction or for repair of current
schools.
Hawkins says he is already
getting input from some citi-
zens who like the idea of a new
school for all children in Grades
5-6 to free up all the fifth grades
at East, West, North, Grover
and Bethware Schools, reduce
the population at the middle
school and eliminate some of
the traffic on Phifer Road to the
middle and high schools.
Other ideas come from those
who prefer a new school for
grades K-5 somewhere between
the communities of Grover and
Bethware.
And others are suggesting ex-
pansion at current schools and
using the money for repairs.
"There are a lot of things to
consider and that's why we
need to get public input at
meetings that start with the
new year," said Hawkins.
Hawkins said a new program
in the works is called Character
Education. Dr. Jane King is
chairing the committee which
begins regular meetings in
January. The committee is
charged with suggesting how
teachers can teach such traits as
honesty and student behavior
in the classroom.
A third committee begins
meetings in January on the new
school calendar with an eye to
keeping the calendar as is or
presenting two calendars to
give parents a schedule of
events a year in advance.
The Kings Mountain Board of
Education meets January 13 at 7
p-m. at the school administra-
tion building on Ridge Street.
Engineer's analysis on industrial park on board agenda
An engineering analysis of
the two parcels of land that the
Cleveland County Board of
Commissioners is eyeing for an
industrial park will be on the
agenda for Tuesday's 7 p.m.
meeting of the county board in
Shelby.
David Pond, of the W.
K.Dickson Company of
Charlotte, will present his find-
ings as item 13 and the last item
son the board's agenda.
County Chairman Jim
Crawley said it is unlikely any
action will be taken on the re-
port.
Crawley said the board has
taken an option on both the
235-acre Grier Plonk property
west of Kings Mountain and the
329-acre property of Sheby
Loan Company off Southern
Road in Shelby.
The county's options on the
two pieces of property runs out
January 28.
Crawley said that the board
could hold a special meeting if
it decides to make a decision on
either parcel of land before the
options run out.
Last August the Cleveland
County Economic Development
Commission recommended the
Plonk property as the No. 1
choice of three for a county-fi-
nanced park and the county
board accepted that recommen-
dation by 4-3 vote. The project
stalled after several meetings in
which citizens and some county
commissioners objected to
county dollars financing the
project.
Since that time three new
commissioners have been seat-
ed on the seven-member board.
"I hope that we can move
forward for the whole county,"
said Crawley, the new chair-
man.
Budget amendments, a re-
quest for a grant endorsement,
public hearing on the
Creekview Glen project, and a
pawnbrokers ordinance are also
on the agenda for the first meet-
ing of the board of the new
year.
The board is expected to
draft a code of ethics and to
hear a policy regarding educa-
tional incentives for law en-
forcement officers. Board ap-
pointments will also be made.
The commission meets in the
County Administrative Offices
alc
doctors.
City officials have not yet re-
ceived any plans but have
heard rumors that Bojangles is
eyeing the Fulton property for a
new Kings Mountain restau-
rant.
White Oak Manor will be
submitting revised plans for an
expansion to the Planning
Board on January 21.
Meantime, adjoining property
owners are meeting with White
Oak officials to share concerns.
City Council will hear a recom-
mendation from the Planning
Board at the January 28 7:30
p-m. meeting at City Hall.
City planners were still wait-
Since 1889
Kings Mountain, N.C. « 28086 * 50¢
'97 could be a big year in KI
ing this week for a site plan
from Ingles for a proposed new
supermarket targeted for the
Oak Grove area. Ingles has an
option to buy property at Oak
Grove and Scism Roads.
What may be the city's
biggest annexation in recent
years will become effective June
30, 1997 - unless held up in the
courts. The city is taking into
the city limits major industries
in the Canterbury Road-I-85
area along with properties on
Second Street.
Killian said that the city made
specific requests for projects to
See Building, 7-A
City Manager sees no
major increases in 1997
No major increases in gas and
electricity are projected in 1997
but Kings Mountain water and
sewer customers could see an
inflationary increase in water
and sewer, predicts City
Manager Jimmy Maney.
Maney said that both neigh-
boring cities of Shelby and
Gastonia have upped their elec-
trical rates dramatically but
Kings Mountain will continue
to hold the line.
"We have positioned our-
selves with a new Duke Power
contract and with the new Peak
Flatbed trucks were deliver-
ing engines to the North Gaston
Street Substation site Monday
morning. The engines were be-
ing set on the foundation. The
$1.8 million project is about 30
percent complete, according to
Maney.
Maney said that he and his
staff will be putting together a
new budget format in the early
days of 1997 to give City
Council plenty of time to priori-
tize major capital needs before
the annual spring retreat and
work session.
The new city manager sees
and in encouraging the en-
top priorities as a new police
station, a new fire truck, sanita-
tion trucks and more equip-
ment, the list is a long one.
Maney said the city wants to
see a new industry on the I-85
corridor next to Firestone so
that utility revenue can be gen-
erated for the city and that's one
of his goals for the new year.
"The wet industry days of
dyeing and finishing have gone
south of the border and Kings
Mountain's direction in the fu-
ture will be toward high tech
"This is not to say that wi
won't welcome any indust
and are constantly getting
quiries and responding to th
and working closely w
Cleveland County Economic
Development Director Steve
Nigh," he said.
Maney said the city will be
looking at more computerized
billing at City Hall and update
its present billing system to in-
crease efficiency. He is still in-
terviewing for the position of
Finance Director and also look-
See City, 7-A
PLANT GOING UP - Workmen for McDaniel Construction
Company hoist the equipment for a $1.8 million Peak
Generation Plant going up at the city's Gaston Street Substation.
The engines were being set on the foundation Monday.
KINGS MOUNTAIN
PEOPLE
Belle Ruff Barker, 90, celebrat-
ed her birthday Sunday, greet-
ing guests at Kings Mountain
Baptist Church and reminiscing
about "the good ole days."
Mrs. Barker, a Kings
Mountain resident for 24 years,
who underwent a total knee
and hip replacement, remained
in her easy chair for most of the
two-hour reception hosted by
her daughter and son-in-law,
Tom and Barbara Tindall.
She wore a two-piece candle-
light dress with a corsage of red
roses. Nearby were albums of
KM's Belle Ruff Barker
celebrates 90th birthday
family pictures which included
pictures of D. W. and Belle
Barker's 50th wedding anniver-
sary celebration in 1974.
Although she has continued
to maintain her own residence
on Shelby Road, Mrs. Barker
makes her home with her
daughter and family and at-
tends Kings Mountain Baptist
Church.
Although she confesses that
her memory is "a little fragile"
she loves to talk about life in
Troutman where she and her
See Barker, 8-A
MRS. D.W. BARKER
MRS. CARL MAUNEY
Catherine Herman Mauney
celebrates her 90th birthday
At the age of 90 Catherine
Herman Mauney drives her car,
walks up to three miles a day,
never misses a Sunday at
church and still has a green
thumb.
Known by many Kings
Mountain people as the woman
who grew the beautiful roses at
the rock house on East King
Street, Mrs. Mauney shared the
bounty of her gardens and her
knowledge of horticulture for
over 60 years before she retired
three years ago to Covenant
Village in Gastonia.
Now, instead of tending
gardens in her yard, she is care-
taker of the flowers which
adorn the beautiful facility.
"This is my new home now
and I love it here and have so
many friends," she said this
week as she talked about life in
Kings Mountain and the occa-
sion of her 90th birthday.
December 14, 1996 was a spe-
cial day for Catherine Mauney.
She celebrated her birthday sur-
rounded by all 36 members of
her family who traveled from
See Mauney, 8-A