Thursday, January 11, 2001
Vol. 113 No. 02
a
Since 1889
50 Cents
iB
Group
fighting
to save
KM lakes
BY ALAN HODGE
Staff Writer
Even though final approval
could come at the January 30
Kings Mountain city council
meeting for sale of Davidson
and City lakes to Sea Island
Land Corp., a group calling it-
self Friends of the Lakes is try-
ing a last ditch effort to get that
idea reconsidered.
Consisting of Shirley Brutko,
Carl DeVane, Dennis Patterson,
Tim Plonk, and Mike Smith, the
group feels that the lakes
should not be used for commer-
cial or housing development,
but rather kept as a natural re-
source area to benefit citizens
now and future generations to
come. :
“The city has been designat-
ed a gateway to Crowders
Mountain State Park and Kings
Mountain National Military
Park and State Park,” Brutko
said. “With that in mind, we
need to be looking at preserving
our pristine areas such as the
lakes. The city wants a green-
way and the lakes are in a logi-
cal place for this.”
Brutko says she’s for the city
council taking more time before
deciding to sell the lakes to Sea
Island. The price that they have
offered is $630,000. Brutko
wants her group to have time to
check out the possibility of get-
ting grant money. The lakes are
located within one-half mile of
the new land corridor that will
connect the three parks.
Another Friends of the Lakes
member is Tim Plonk. He thinks
the lakes offer too many recre-
ational opportunities to be sold
for development.
“Kings Mountain needs a
place like the Broad River
Greenway,” said Plonk. “A
place where people can go fish-
ing, hiking, and biking. I would
be bad if the city sells the lakes
then later on wishes they had
them batk.”
Councilman Carl DeVane
said he felt that chances were
good the vote to sell the lakes
could be delayed at this point.
Like Brutko and Plonk, he said
the proximity of the lakes to the
parks was a crucial matter.
“The lakes are a gorgeous
piece of property close to where
the new trails will go,” DeVane
said. “I think they will be of
more use to the city for recre-
See Lakes, 5A
BY ALAN HODGE
Staff Writer
Though Christmas has come
and gone, it’s spirit is lingering
around City Hall in Kings
Mountain.
This time, instead of their be-
ing brightly wrapped presents
under a tree, folks who get their
home heating natural gas from
the Kings Mountain utility de-
partment will get a gift of sorts
when they open their bills at the
beginning of February.
City freezes
“Even though our natural
gas suppliers have increased
our wholesale rate 34 percent,
we will not pass this on to our
customers for the gas they use
in January,” said mayor Rick
Murphrey. “The price cus-
tomers will pay will be based
on the December wholesale
rate.” :
Murphrey said that the deci-
sion to “eat $100,000” as he put
it, came after review of the
city’s 2000-2001 budget and
overall financial condition.
“The rising costs of heating
are causing a hardship on ev-
eryone, especially our citizens
who are on a fixed budget,”
said Murphrey.
The cost of heating by natural
gas has skyrocketed this winter
in all parts of the nation. In
some states in the Midwest, the
cost of heating with gas has
risen over 100 percent. A special
Gas suppliers blame low re-
serves and increased demand
due to below average tempera-
tures for the rise in prices.
“Even though we are going to
hold the line this month on gas
prices, we want to urge every-
one to do an energy audit of
their homes,” said Murphrey.
gas rate for mon
“The rising
ing are a
hardship on
pecially our
citizens who
costs of heat-
everyone, €s-
fund set up by the Department
of Energy in Washington to
help folks pay their gas bills has
already started running dry.
GARY STEWART / THE HERALD
Rev. Robert Eng speaks out against video poker establishments at Tuesday’s
meeting of the Kings Mountain Board of Adjustments at City Hall.
Merger lawyers’ fees
already over $300,000
~ BY ALAN HODGE
Staff Writer
Besides the tariff extracted in frayed
nerves, lost sleep, and general upset,
til his resignation last month.
Fighting merger has also had its cost.
According to Kings Mountain District
Schools superintendent Dr. Bob McRae,
the law firm of Schwartz and Shaw in
how much has it cost to wage the war
over school merger in Cleveland
County? Since the struggle first flared
up in December, 1999 until the present,
quite a chunk of change.
Like him or loath him, the guy that
the former set of commissioners hired to
mastermind the merger of all three
Cleveland County school systems-
Charlotte attorney Gil Middlebrooks-
received $135,465 for his services from
December, 1999 when he was hired un-
Raleigh that they hired has so far been
paid $202,484 for their services. Added
together, this comes to a grand total of
$337,949. That's just $61,000 short of the
amount of money it will take to do all
the plumbing and piping on the new
grades 5-6 school to be built in Kings
Mountain.
According to McRae, the money for
Kings Mountain's attorney fees comes
from their fund balance- a type of sav-
Good news! County, KM
get extra doses of flu shots
BY ALAN HODGE
Staff Writer
The past few weeks have
seen colds and flu slice through
offices and homes in the area
like-a horde of Mongol in-
vaders. Just about everyone it
seems has either been sick or ,
knows someone who has also
felt under the weather.
Just in time for the season, flu
shots are once again available in
Kings Mountain. Places where
the vaccine can be had include:
Kings Mountain Medical
Center, 711 W. Mountain Street,
call for appointment, 739-5456;
Dr. Pam Shergill’s office, 103 S.
Watterson Street, 739-3681, walk
in; Caromont Medical Center,
214 N. Cleveland Avenue, 730-
1226, established patients only.
Cleveland County Health
Department director Denese
« Stallings was contacted earlier
this week by the State
Immunization Branch with
news that they had an extra
supply of flu vaccine and were
making it available to health de-
partments. Cleveland County’s
ration of 250 doses was, accord-
ing to the Immunization
Branch, shipped on Tuesday
and was set to arrive in Shelby
on Wednesday.
Since the vaccine was sup-
plied by the state, the Health
Department is not charging for
the shots. They will be available
~ at the Health Department office
at 315 Grover Street during
their hours of 8 a.m. until 4:30
p-m. Monday through Friday.
You can just walk in and get
your shot.
If you start getting that
chilled, feverish, and congested
feeling, the first plan of action is
_ to determine if it’s a cold or the
flu.
The flu is caused by three dif-
ferent kinds of viruses. They
usually appear in the fall and
linger until spring. Flu is spread
through virus particles that are
coughed or sneezed into the air.
Once the germ gets into your
body, look for symptoms within
two days. Fever associated with
the flu will last three or four
days, but the coughing and
tiredness can linger for a week
or more.
Sure-fire symptoms of the flu
include fever, muscle aches,
headache, chills, sore throat and
cough. Colds usually have one
or more of these symptoms but
. See Flu, 5A
FIRST NATIONAL BANK Kings Mountain
Celebrating 127 Years
300 W. Mountain St.
704-739-4782
See Merger, 10A
and windows.”
“This includes checking items
such as insulation thickness and
weatherstripping around doors
SS ate on a
M i
rey fixed bud-
Murphrey get.”
Video arcade
owners want
rules waived
By GARY STEWART
Editor of The Herald
‘Timing is apparently running out on
Kings Mountain gaming establish-
ments.
Hoping to get a waiver from the
January 31 deadline to come into com-
pliance with city codes or cease opera-
tion, owners of nine establishments ap-
peared before the City’s Board of
Adjustment Tuesday morning.
With a large number of citizens
showing up to protest conditional use
permits for the establishments, it
wasn't possible for the Board to wade
through all the applications and the
public hearing was continued until
January 22 at 9 a.m.
Between now and then, Ken Davies
of Charlotte, attorney for arcade own-
ers Mike Heath and Don Johnson, must
obtain floor and site plans and other in-
formation on businesses owned by
Johnson, specifically in the North
Piedmont area.
The arcade owners were previously
- denied conditional use permits from
City Council, and they appealed to the
Board of Adjustments as a last effort
before taking the matter to court. Both
Johnson and Heath have sued the city
over its new gaming ordinance which
went into effect in October.
Johnson and Heath asked that their
businesses be “grandfathered” in the
new ordinance because they were in
operation prior to the adoption of new
zoning codes.
Davies said prior to Tuesday’s meet-
ing that if the Board of Adjustments
approves their request to be grandfa-
thered, his clients will no longer be at
issue with the city but will continue to
seek relief from similar state statues.
GARY STEWART / THE HERALD
Libby Blanton speaks out against
video arcades at Tuesday’s meeting
of the Board of Adjustments.
If their request is denied, they have
the option of filing suit against the
Board of Adjustments in Superior
Court.
Bob Myers, chairman of the Board of
Adjustments, said it doesn’t look “too
promising” that the Board will make a
decision at its January 22 meeting.
“There's a lot of things that have to
be verified,” he said. “After we get all
the facts we'll do what we've got to
do.”
See Arcade, 5A
GARY STEWART / THE HERALD
Attorney Ken Davies, left, talks with client Mike Heath at Tuesday's meeting of the Kings
Mountain Board of Adjustments.
Gastonia
529 New Hope Road
704-865-1233
Shelby
106 S. Lafayette St.
704-484-6200
Bessemer City
1225 Gastonia Hwy.
704-629-3906
Member FDIC
—E——