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Ingles request sent b
City Council passed the buck to the Planning
Board Tuesday night in what Councilman Ralph
Grindstaff termed "a last ditch effort" to negotiate
with Ingles Markets the proper placement of trees
In its proposed new market on Oak Grove Road.
An almost-full Council Chambers applauded
Anvil Knitwear executive Ernest Rome who said
Ingles proposed amendment to exempt them in
the new ordinance from new projects requiring
trees in parking lots was not unreasonable.
Rome urged Council to approve the amend-
ment and not let 17 trees stand in the way of a $3
million investment that would bring 90 new jobs
to the community and $10 million in revenue that
KM Police
begin fund
for Tessneers
Kings Mountain Police have
opened a special fund at First
Union National Bank to help
defray medical costs for co-
worker, Ptl. Jerry Tessneer, at
the death of Tessneer's 14-year-
old son.
The boy died April 26 at
home after undergoing open
heart surgery April 10. He had
undergone an operation to re-
pair a valve in his heart.
Chief Bob Hayes says citizens
who want to donate to the fund
may forward their checks to the
Jerry Tessneer Fund, c/o First
Union National Bank, PO Box
459, Kings Mountain, 28086.
"Jerry Jr. was doing well after
hearta valve repair and took a
turn for the worse," said
Hayes.
See Fund, 9-A
Monday's heavy rains over-
flowed streets and telephones
started ringing at City Hall.
"I had a deluge of calls," said
Councilman Ralph Grindstaff at
Tuesday's Council meeting
where he volunteered to serve
with Councilmen Jerry White,
Jerry Mullinax and Clayvon
Kelly on an ad hoc committee to
study the drainage problems
with an eye to fixing them.
City Manager Jimmy Maney
said the ground was still satu-
rated Tuesday and that streets
heavily flooded were in the
Linwood section, including
Catherine and Henry Streets.
City workers unplugged
ditches and checked culverts
and drains but Maney said the
city has serious problems be-
cause it has insufficient equip-
ment.
Maney asked for the ad hoc
committee to prioritize a list of
drainage problems for inclusion
in the Powell Bill budget if the
drainage projects are eligible for
funding from Powell Bill funds.
Maney said the city needs a
five to 10 year plan on paving,
Council wants
road finished
City Council authorized City
Manager Jimmy Maney to
push the Department of
Transportation to clean up the
mess at the Business 74 intersec-
tion at The Armory.
"That is an ugly mess and
something needs to be done
about it,"said Councilwoman
Norma Bridges of the orange
barrels that dot the area.
Councilman Jerry White
agreed. It's a crying shame that
D. O. T. has left the area that
way."
Mayor Scott Neisler said he
had talked with D. O. T. offi-
cials and said the improve-
ments are in what he called a
holding pattern. He said the
state plans to install overlay
and asphalt to make a new right
turn lane on eastbound 74 for
school traffic and to do some
other areas of improvements.
"We'll stay on top of it," he
said. :
would generate tax dollars for the city.
"Send a message to future business and indus-
try that we are a job and area friendly town," he
told the board.
Earlier in the public hearing, Ingles attorney
Craig Colburn said the time line on the project
had extended over two years. He presented
packets of information to Council detailing Ingles
permit application process which he said started
on November 6, 1996. He said architects stopped
work on the site plans after Ingles President Bob
Ingle heard the city had changed its course with a
new ordinance that included the placement of
trees in the parking lots.
the property.
said.
Kings Mountain."
PRECINCT CHANGE HEARING - David Teddy, standing i i
; - . , , questions proposed change
precinct lines. A large number of Kings Mountain, Grover and Rother: re oh
changes which were put on hold by the elections board Tuesday.
City experiences drainage problems
sidewalk repair and drainage
and Council will take a look at
steps to remedy some of the
problems at the next work ses-
sion on the budget.
The Mayor also appointed an
ad hoc pay plan committee in-
cluding Councilwoman Norma
Bridges, Mayor Pro tem Phil
Hager, and himself to study a
proposed pay plan.
In other actions, Council:
Approved an increase in
funding from $2,000 to $2,500
for the Cleveland County Arts
Council after a presentation by
Director Shearra Miller. She
said the Arts Council is an um-
brella organization for 22 arts
agencies and is celebrating its
10th anniversary. Additional
funds would support Arts in
Education in the Schools and
renovation of the former Shelby
Post Office, home of the Arts
Council.
Rezoned property of Olin
Love on Shelby Road to General
Business. Attorney Scott
Cloninger said Love wants to
See Council, 3-A
City Council inks contract
for county to run elections
City Council inked a contract with the Cleveland County
Board of Elections Tuesday night to run the city elections and to
provide for absentee voting in the municipal elections beginning
in November.
Monthly maintenance to be billed to the city over a two year
period will run $3,785 based on 4,275 registered voters. Cost to
conduct the election every two years will run $3,000.
Mayor Scott Neisler said the contract calls for the city to be re-
imbursed $4700 for two voting machines. Filing fees would be
also reimbursed to the city but those filing for city offices would
file in Shelby at the Cleveland County Board of Elections Office
during working hours.
The board voted: to set filing fees the same as has applied in
former elections. Filing fee for commissioner is $35. Filing fee for
mayor is $60.
Elections Supervisor Debra Blanton called it a "pleasure” to
serve and work with city officials.
The mayor said he had visited the four sites which could be
the polling places if the elections board expands the polling
places from two to four. The mayor said the sites would be
Second Baptist Church, No. 1; Community Center, No. 2; The
Armory, No. 3 and The American Legion, No. 4.
But Blanton said citizens attending a public hearing Tuesday
afternoon objected to a change in voter precincts. She said the
elections board is meeting again next week.
"For a long time the city has understood what
we wanted to do and Ingles complied according
to the ordinance in effect at the time," Colburn
"Let's do what is fair and right. We are commit-
ted to building in Kings Mountain and you have
told us you are committed to our building in
CITY MANAGERS GET TOGETHER - Area city managers got together to share common con-
cerns Thursday morning at the Kings Mountain City Hall.
\/
parking lot.
ack to Flanning Board
Colburn said that Ingles had applied for and
got annexation of the property owned by Judy
and Paul Scism and the city council rezoned the
property. He said Ingles holds an option to buy
need to do," he said.
City staffer Jeff Putnam said the only differ-
ence for Ingles in the new and old ordinance was
one driveway entrance and 14 or 17 trees in the
"Those changes may not seem significant but
they are to Mr. Ingle," said the lawyer.
Mayor Pro Tem Phil Hager said if the city
bends the rules for Ingles it will be expected to do
town.
BE Area precincts
to remain same
Voting places and precinct
| lines will remain the same in
he Kings Mountain, Grover
and Bethware area.
But Board of Elections
Secretary Ruth Wilson of Kings
Mountain said Tuesday after-
noon after a lengthy public
{ hearing in Shelby that she
would propose at a meeting
an administrative
change for the large Rippy
i precinct in Upper Cleveland
1 since no one from that area stat-
ed opposition at the hearing at-
tended by about 50 people.
Major opposition came from
{ Kings Mountain in No. 4
Township and Holly Springs in
4 No.1 ownship.
The proposed precinct line
changes by the Cleveland
County Board of Elections
wauld have reduced the size of
both the Grover and Bethware
precincts and meant that Kings
Mountain voters would vote at
“~ur polling places, instead of
two, in the November elections.
David Teddy, chairman of the
Cleveland County Democratic
Party, and Dean Westmoreland,
former chairman, were joined
by Larry Hamrick Sr., former
city elections chairman Becky
Cook, West Kings Mountain
precinct judge Hilda Dixon and
Charlie Carpenter in question-
ing the changes.
"Don't change for change
sake,” said Hamrick.
"You're considering a change
in precinct lines without a sci-
entific study of the problem,”
said Teddy, who cautioned the
board about moving too quick-
ly. He recommended the board
take a less drastic measure by
buying more voting machines
and hiring more assistants at
the polls.
Teddy said complaints about
long lines had come from only a
handful of people but agreed
with board member Wilson
that it was difficult to hire
workers because of the long
hours at the polls and the low
pay. :
"Go to the county commis-
sioners and ask for more money
and more workers," said
Westmoreland who said that
election workers and those on
jury duty are the lowest paid
people in Cleveland County.
Hamrick said he had voted at
the West Kings Mountain box at
the Armory for 30 years and
had never experienced long
lines at the polls. He said he
considered the matter a a per-
sonnel and efficiency problem
and said a change would be
very confusing to the voters.
Tedder said lines should be
shorter with the new "no ex-
cuse” absentee voting in which
voters can go to the elections
board office and vote.
Chairman Rob Deaton, a
Shelby lawyer, said another
plus for the new bill is that
nothing would keep a candi-
date from busing people to the
elections board office to vote.
Deaton said he was especially
sensitive to Holly Springs con-
cerns where the voters would
have had to drive to Boiling
Springs to vote if the new
precinct lines were put in place.
"We don't want to have to
the same for other new businesses that come to
See Ingles, 2-A
drive to Boiling Springs to
vote," said Hoyle Potter.
"Holly Springs is the red
headed stepchild of Cleveland
County," said John Mosteller.
"Use that money you paid
Isothermal Commission to do
the study and give it to the elec-
tion workers."
Deaton said the purpose of
the proposed change was to
keep precincts down to 2,500 in
size but Teddy and Charlie
Carpenter said the board was
looking at population figures
and not at actual voter turnout
at the polls.
Elections Board Supervisor
Debra Blanton said there is no
state directive to make changes
but that the state board had
suggested that the ideal size of
a precinct is 1,500 voters. She
said that if the board followed
that suggestion, however, it
would mean more polling
places and precincts and con-
siderable expense.
Blanton said she had received
about 20 calls from people com-
plaining of long lines with the
bulk of the calls coming from
the East Kings Mountain voters
who cast ballots at the
Community Center.
Deaton said the opposition
to the changes was overwhelm-
ing and he recommended the
board put the matter on hold. —
No one from the surrounding
areas spoke in favor of the
changes.
Wilson said precinct lines
should be looked at least every
two years and it's easier to
piece-meal election changes
than changing all the lines
county wide at the same time.
Deaton said that it was un-
fair to single out two areas of
Cleveland County for change.
He said several Shelby precincts
had also exceeded the 3,000 reg-
istered voter figure. ;
Wilson said that the board
could have made the decisions
to make the change without a
public hearing but didn't opt
for that because of public out-
cry 10 years ago when the lines
were redrawn.
"People became used to the
new ideas after about a year but
it takes awhile to adjust to
change,'’ she said. She said
4,000 people were voting at the
time in Shelby Precinct I and
the election officials had to bite
the bullet and make the change.
Member James Hoskins said
that the board didn't want the
public to get the wrong percep-
tion. He said equalizing
precincts would take time. He
said with increased population
that more study would be re-
quired.
Blanton said that mail-in
votes would be accepted under
the "no excuse" absentee bill ap-
proved by the N. C. Legislature
but that the person who re-
quested vote by mail would
have to fill out an application.
Deaton said after the public
meeting that the remarks by the
public came because the people
were speaking up for their com-
munities.
"We're getting away from
communities and these folks
were opposed to a change in
their polling places. We need to
listen to them," he said.