Win °50 Each Week URN Mc’'Donalds to build near I-85 Page 2A Mountaineer KMHS students LHL RYT conference 1B differenc _ 7 Bd STE ur P| Rent > 2 £2 oA PY ¥ oF Br S$ AF 5 "By lS & —- —, =, =~... J . \ on / — = c eX ZF F 78", oN WY 3 = 3 == re Zs ZL od a rf sr AR Ss X= —_— e——— = —-— NN ” nr -~ 1 { 3 =a i 4 y [2 Rd (NEERTT- AE OPAL - ol ~~ i = e Bis) Cd LJ | < ] J Vol. 109 No. 44 19 seek office in KM Will Kings Mountain voters return the six incumbent City Council members and the may- or to City Hall or will the Council have more than one new face next year? The voters will make that de- cision at the polls Tuesday. Only in Ward 4 where former city planner Gene White and businesswoman Pat Childers faceoff for the retiring Jerry White's seat is there is a sure change. Mayor Scott Neisler is being challenged by Kings Mountain businessman Gary Joy. In Ward I, Councilman Phil Hager is challenged by Joe King, a former county deputy and city policeman, and Rev. Howard Shipp, a local minister. In Ward II, the race is on be- tween first-term Councilman Jerry Mullinax who is being challenged by former council- man Jim Guyton whom Mullinax beat by one vote two years ago. In Ward III, Councilman ~ Ralph Grindstaff is being chal- lenged by Clavon Kelly and Gilbert Hamrick. In Ward V, Councilman Rick See City, 3A Murphrey is being challenged Thursday, October 30, 1997 : | Kip OE ES ES TT FOR KINGS MOUNTAIN CITY COUNCIL MAYOR NEISLER JOY WARD II MULLINAX GUYTON WARD IV WARD I > AT LARGE KING WARD III SHIPP BRIDGES GRINDSTAFF KELLY WARD V HAMRICK FOR KM SCHOOL BOARD ALLEN GUY BALLARD ROLLINS FAVELL HIGGINBOTHAM of the children. among a field of six newcomers. for the three seats up for grabs. on the ballot. Kings Mountain mortician and current board chairman Ronnie Hawkins is the only incumbent All five candidates are political newcomers. They are Martha Allen, W. D. "Bill" Favell, Adam Green, John Higginbotham and Max D. Rollins. A sixth candidate, Robert Roper, has withdrawn from the race but his name appears make a 7 “ eSince 1889 +50¢ SEER ES [ocal _lections set for Tuesday Polls open 6:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m. Kings Mountain citizens will go to the polls Tuesday to elect a mayor and seven ward com- missioners and three school board members. Polls open at 6:30 a.m. and close at 7:30 p.m. at the East Kings Mountain Precinct at the American Legion Building, West Kings Mountain precinct at the National Guard Armory, Grover precinct at Grover Town Hall, Bethware precinct at David Baptist Church fellow- ship building and Waco precinct at Waco Town Hall. Director of Elections Debra Blanton is predicting that 40 percent of the registered voters of 4,966 in Kings Mountain will vote in the mayor's and city council races and 40 percent or more of the 11,735 registered voters in the Kings Mountain School District will vote for can- didates for the three school board seats. Blanton says she anticipates that vote totals will be posted quickly, the only holdup may be in the school board race ‘counted so it may take a little more time to get the results in "Dee" Byers. the school board race posted," she said. : One stop absentee voting will be occurring until 5 p.m. Friday. Monday, Nov. 3, at 5 p.m. is the last time that ballots may be sent to persons who are dis- abled. All absentee ballots must be in the Board of Elections of- fice by 5 p.m. November 3 in or- der to be counted on election day. Absentee ballots can only be returned to the Board of ~ Elections Office by the voter or by a near relative of the voter or by the postal service. Absentee : ballots will begin to be counted : at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 4. Results of that count will not be disclosed wuntil 7:30 p.m. November 4 following the poll closings. As of Tuesday about 75 per- cent of the absentee ballots had come to the Board of Elections office in Shelby from Kings Mountain residents. "This tells us that Kings Mountain voters are finding it beneficial to the county to conduct the city elec- tions which gives them absen- ise piviieg See Election, 3A 3 seats available in School Board race The seven Kings Mountain citizens running for three school board seats in Tuesday's general election say they are running because they con- sider a child's education a priority. Of the group, the candidates represent a diver- sity of occupations and talents but all have pledged that they will represent the best interests Running for public office for the first time are ; retired Associate Superintendent Larry Allen; as- : sistant principal Ed Guy who is retiring in : December from Parker Street School; Gene C. : Ballard Jr., Melony Clark Bolin and Denorris : Ballard and Bolin are running for the at-large seat open on the board. Allen, Byers, Guy and Hawkins are running for two outside seats open on the board. See School, 2A All newcomers eye 3 seats in Grover GROVER - Three new faces will join the five- member Town Board after voters make their deci- sion Tuesday from a candidate list of five vying Town Hall between 6:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. in the municipal election. Council members are elected for a term of four years. Members of the board whose terms do not expire this year are Jack Herndon and Elizabeth Throop. The term of Mayor Ronald Queen does not expire this year. Councilmen Robbie Sides, Noel Spivey and Tim Rowland. Voters at the Grover precinct who reside in the Kings Mountain School District will also receive a A total of 429 persons are registered to vote at See Grover, 2A - Council hopeful says city should save police department Pat Childers, candidate for Ward IV commissioner in Tuesday's municipal election, is circulating petitions in town "to save the former City Hall, po- lice station building" from being axed. After the meeting retired city planner Gene White, who also seeks the Ward 1V seat, said his opponent shouldn't have wait- ed until the week before the election to voice her concerns. City Council voted unani- mously on April 21 to accept the recommendation of a police department building committee to build a new $1 million law enforcement center on the exist- ing site on Piedmont Avenue and demolish the current build- ing with temporary headquar- ters to be set up in back of the building. Ken Newell of Stewart-Cooper Architects pre- sented the preliminary sketches at that meeting. But Childers said at Tuesday _ night's Council meeting that she and other citizens hope that Council will reconsider its deci- sion to destroy the current po- lice station because it is one of the older remaining municipal buildings with a history and should be preserved. Childers told Council that she agrees there is a need for a new police station but she disagrees with the site selection, saying that the 60-year old police sta- tion could be used by various civic organizations or sold to a private buyer with an agree- ment that the outside would re- tain its original appearance. "Piedmont Avenue is a very grand and beautiful street with Mauney Memorial Library at the end of the block, two churches and the historical home occupied by Harris Funeral Home. Please don't put a modern building on this street,” she urged. While commending the ad hoc committee for its diligence to the project, Childers said that she understood it would cost the city additional money to re- locate the police station at the city hall complex. "How much actual additional money would it be once you deducted the cost of the demolition of the build- ing and preparation of the site for construction?" she asked. "The cost may not be all that great to the overall cost of the project.” ; Childers showed the original site plan for City Hall and Fire Department built 18 years ago and detailing a former marsh area and pond site. "Everyone I have talked to wants to save the police build- See Police, 2A Sprint Communications wants to erect tower on Margrace Road A new 175 foot cellular tower could be built by Sprint Communications on John Bullard property at the Margrace by the first of the year but first City Council says it must spell out the details in a zoning ordinance that now does not spell out the height limita- tions or particulars for a multi- ple use tower. City Planning Director Steve Killian said the company wants THE HERALD - YOUR BEST SOURCE FOR KINGS MOUNTAIN NEWS to erect a mono pole design. Currently a mono pole design is included in one of two towers now located on Marie and Floyd Streets in the city. Council last month banned cellular towers in the city for 120 days until an ordinance could be worked up but Bullard said he had been talking with city officials before Council agreed on a moratorium and said it was only fair that the city permit the tower under a grandfather clause. Tuesday night Councilman Jerry Mullinax made the motion that the board rescind its former action and reduce the moratori- um to 60 days. Councilman Jerry White seconded the mo- tion. But City Attorney Mickey Corry said the moratorium was issued to give the Planning Board and Council time to ad- dress multi use, height, close- ness to residences and impact on neighbors. Councilman Phil Hager agreed with Corry that it ‘would take the full 120 days to get guidelines in order. Planning Director Steve Killian said the city had re- ceived a set of plans from Sprint on Friday prior to the last city board meeting but that no per- mit had been issued. "This is standard procedure,” he said, responding to Councilman Dean Spears who said he was unaware when he voted on a moratorium that an application had been made. Representatives of Sprint say the company is ready to start construction as son as the nec- essary permits are in order . But they also said they could wait until the first of the year until the city's zoning is in place. Bullock said he started talk- ing with Sprint officials last July about his Margrace Road site and had since regraveled the road, conducted a soil test and discussed with city officials the codes that call for towers to be located 100 feet away from ad- joining property. Bullock said the propgsed tower would be located over 200 feet from resi- dences located across the street See Tower, 2A RE ET “election is the location of the SSI