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14-yea
If toughness and attitude
makes a difference, 14-year-old
Stephen Effler will win his bat-
tle against a rare cancer.
Diagnosed with lep-
tomeningeal lymphoma in
April 1996, the nephew of
Patricia Webb of Kings
Mountain will be the star and
benefit from a big yard sale
Saturday from 7 a.m.-3 p.m. at
Webb's home at 309 West Gold
Street.
The Lenoir teenager, son of
Rebecca and Earl Effler Sr., is
r-old
schecluled to undergo massive
chemotherapy treatments at
Duke University Medical
Center this summer. The treat-
ments call for the removal of
Effler's bone marrow, the ad-
ministration of the chemothera-
py and the replacement of the
bone marrow. Because he will
have no immune system, the
boy rnust remain in isolation.
Prpceeds from the yard sale
will Be used by the parents for
See Effler, 11-A
STEPHEN EFFLER
Ingles amendment
For about 10 minutes
Tuesday night at the close of a
lengthy budget public hearing
it appeared that City Council
was about to decide the debate
over trees in Ingles Markets Inc.
Proposed grocery store parking
ot.
Planning Director Steve
Killian presented Ingles’ site
plan and a proposed limited
amendment to the city's new
zoning ordinance and suggest-
ed that the materials included
in the council members’ pack-
ets of information could be
used as a basis for a "fast track"
decision at Council's pleasure.
Killian said the supplemental
information upgrades previous
information submitted last
Former city employee
‘Jeanette Ross, 60, is alleging
that the City of Kings Mountain
discriminated against her be-
cause of her age in a complaint
filed with the N.C. Employee
Equal Opportunity Commission
in Charlotte.
The city's Human Resources
director Bud Rhea acknowl-
edged that the city had received
a copy of the complaint and
that City Attorney Mickey
Corry would file a response
within 30 days.
"I wanted to apply for the
full time position of receptionist
and the city manager told me I
was a temporary and I wasn't
needed anymore," she said.
Rhea confirmed that Ross
had worked at City Hall since
May 1995 and was paid to work
20 hours a week by the city
with the remainder of her
salary paid paid by Title V, a
training program offered by
Isothermal Community College.
Mrs. Ross said she started
work in the Title V program for
the city at the Parks and
Recreation Department in the
spring of 1994 and moved to
‘City Hall in the spring of 1995
and was a roving employee,
working also part time as a re-
ceptionist and part time in the
finance office.
See Complaint, 11-A
KINGS MOUNTAIN
As an eighth grader in Bob
Hussey's class at Central
School, Thomas F. Goforth
made a decision to follow in
Hussey's footsteps and teach
school. That was in 1963.
"Mr. Hussey was my role
model and coached basketball
at KMHS and now is the new
head coach at Virginia Tech,"
said Goforth, who assumes his
new duties July 1 as principal of
Blacksburg, SC High School.
Goforth succeeds Kings
Mountain native Jim Leigh in
the job which Leigh held for 30
“years. Goforth has been assis-
Decernber and included a sig-
nificant number of trees around
the proposed site and inside the
parking lot.
"This is a vast improvement
and close to what our new ordi-
nance requires,” he said in re-
sponsi to Mayor Scott Neisler's
question about changes. Ingles
proposed in the new site plan a
60,000) square feet building, in-
stead iof 56,000 square feet, and
additipnal parking spaces
Killian also told the board
that Ingles had signed an agree-
ment with the city on April 30
saying the company would pay
for sewer to the property and to
any out parcels.
Neislier questioned if the mat-
ter should not go first to the
goes back to P&Z
planning board since Council
voted several months ago to re-
turn the amendment request to
the board. He said the board
could discuss the matter at its
Tuesday meeting and Council
could act on the request at the
June 24 meeting. Councilman
Phil Hager agreed.
"I have heard enough about
trees," said Councilman Jerry
Mullinax who made the motion,
seconded by both Councilmen
Ralph Grindstaff and Dean
Spears, that the board approve
the amendment and give Ingles
the green light to start building
on Oak Grove Road.
But Hager's substitute motion
to send the matter back to the
planning board for a recom:
mendation was seconded by
Dean Spears and passed 3-2.
Voting to return the site plan
and amendment to the planning
board, in addition to Hager and
Spears, was Councilwoman
Norma Bridges. Mullinax and
Grindstaff - voted against.
Councilmen Rick Murphrey
and Jerry White were absent.
About the time the mayor
called for the vote on the substi-
tute. motion, former
Councilman Jim Guyton, a
member of the planning board,
interrupted from the audience
that he had something to add to
the discussion. The mayor al-
lowed the discussion.
"This amendment has never
. See Ingles, 11-A
SPRINCi SCENE - Brandon Ware, 3, son of Lisa and Larry Ware, takes a ride with his grandfather,
Bill Worlhen, and gets a lesson in the art of grass cutting.
PEOPI E
tant principal for 13 years and
before that taught elementary
school for five years in Gaffney
and was assistant principal at
Cherokee High in Gaffney for
seven year.
With 25 years in education,
Goforth is no stranger to the
classroom; In his new job he
won't be teaching but he will
serving as \a role model for 650
students in grades 7-12 and
ages 12 to 18.
Two year’s from now. the cam-
pus will clhange at Blacksburg
High. A néw Middle School is
going up as an addition to an
elementary school and grades
6-8 will be housed in the com-
plex.
"We also have a Primary
school that's new and a new
gymnasium is going up at the
high school," said Goforth who
is quite proud of all his stu-
dents.
Blacksburg High recently
graduated its smallest senior
class in recent history, a total of
66. Goforth remembers when
the graduating class topped
100. He has a faculty of 44
teachers.
Goforth is already at work
To TR Se
preparing for next school's crop
of students and looking for-
ward to the challenge. He said
the nine-member Cherokee
County Board of Education has-
n't made a decision on block
scheduling and he isn't sold on
the idea. He says he's proud of
the Blacksburg faculty and the
students who graduate and
then go on to college or jobs in
the community.
A 1967 graduate of Kings
Mountain High School, he
earned his undergraduate and
graduate degrees from
Appalachian State University.
Cie a Fi a de BR TTR TR,
City gets good
financial report
The city had cash on hand at
May 31 of $4.9 million, the city's
auditor Darrell Keller reported
to City Council Tuesday night.
"This is the best cash position
of the city in the last 10 years,"
said Keller in presenting the fi-
nancial statement during a
public hearing on the budget
conducted by City Manager
Jimmy Maney.
Keller said the report com-
pared past years' statistics and
noted that the city moved from
a cash flow of $2.5 million a
year ago.
The analysis chart showed
Kings Mountain's cash flow on
June 30, 1995 at $1.5 million; on
June 39, 1994 at $16,376; on June
30, 1993 at $170,441; on June 30),
1992 at $380,986; on June 30,
1991 at $265,150; on June 30,
1989 at $547,059; and on June
30, 1988 at $1.1 million.
Keller also reported that the
city's undesignated fund bal-
ance at May 31 is 28.7 percent
and said that if Powell Funds
had been included in that
amount that the fund balance
would rise even more and com-
pares favorably with the
statewide average of 31.74 per-
cent in fund balances for a city
with an electric system.
"At June 30 we will be at the
state required level," he told the
board.
Maney predicted that by this
time next year the city would
regain its high bond rating it
‘presente
get Tuesday night and most of
their remarks were complimen-
tary.
Maney and the city's depart-
ment heads and other staff had
lined the Council Chamber
walls with pictures and other
displays of ongoing and antici-
pated projects for the new year
and the small crowd from the
public were mum as the budget
talk unfolded.
Maney said the priorities in
the budget included the build-
ing of a law enforcement center
for which he anticipates can be
paid in full by the next budget
year; repair and maintenance of
existing public buildings, in-
cluding the Community Center;
an updated capital improve-
ment program; a long-range
plan for Moss Lake and contin-
uation of expansion of utilities.
Maney said the city expects
to break ground in early spring
of 1998 on the $1 million law
enforcement center.
Changes in residential sanita-
tion pickup are proposed- from
backyard to roadside- with the
city furnishing the rollout con-
tainers. Maney said the savings
would offset the capital expen-
ditures and he said the sanita-
tion department would be re-
named Solid = Waste
Management. -
The Powell Bill will address
KM's Goforth new principal at Blacksburg High
His son, Sloan, a recent KMHS
graduate, plans to major in
English at ASU and follow his
parents in the education busi-
ness. An older son, T. G., gradu-
ated from UNC at Chapel Hill
this spring and majored in
recreation administration.
Goforth is married to the for-,
mer Kathy Plonk who has
taught for 25 years at Kings
Mountain High School and
teaches keyboarding and com-
puter applications. He is the son
of Edith Goforth of Kings
See Goforth, 11-A
lost several years ago.
Councilman Jerry Mullinax
asked why the big difference.
Keller said that the April fi-
nancial statement showed that
revenues were $18.8 million
compared to expenditures of
$17.3 million. "You made a $1.4
million profit this year," said the
auditor.
Councilman Ralph Grindstaff
recommended that a policy be
established to collect bad debts.
He said the city was losing
about $80,000 a year because
bad debts were uncollectable.
He also asked that a finance di-
rector's position be budgeted
and asked about the qualifica-
tions for the job.
Keller said the criteria was
spelled out in the
accounting manual and referred
questions to the city manager.
Maney took the occasion to
praise the people who work in
finance and particularly the act-
ing finance director. He said
cuts had been made in some de-
partments but said that two
new positions have been added
in finance, an administrative as-
sistant has been added in
Human Resources, two school
crossing guards have been
hired to work part time, a full
time administrative assistant
has been hired in the water and
sewer department, one person
has been hired in the electric de-
See Audit, 11-A
A
ing on repat
of streets. New p.
about $100,000.
Major capital improvements ;
are budgeted for the wat-
er/sewer fund. The largest of
these is the Northside 30 inch
project which will allow the city
to fill its storage tanks during
off peak hours and use water
from the tanks during the peak
hours. Maney said this policy
will save the city money. .
He said the new Peak
Generation Facility is on line
generating savings that offset
the expenditures with the antic-
ipated pay back of four years or
less. The Electric Department
will also transfer to the
water/sewer fund monies that
will be appropriated for major
capital projects. Continued in-
novations and state of the art
equipment allows the city to be
ready if retail wheeling occurs
in the state. The concentration
in the gas department will be
for expansion to the Oak Grove
and Country Creek areas.
Maney said the adjustment of
the pay plan addresses pay in-
creases that range from 3 to 10
percent across-the-board for all
personnel. The city budgeted
funds to pay fringe benefits, in-
cluding 30 percent of depen-
dent insurance coverage after a
recommendation of the city's ad
See Budget, 11-A
The