Newspapers / The Kings Mountain Herald … / April 26, 2001, edition 1 / Page 3
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April 26, 2001 The Kings Mountain Herald City purchases Dr. Padgett’s office By GARY STEWART Editor of The Herald City Council Tuesday night approved paying $65,000 for the former Dr. Phillip Padgett office at 103 West King Street. City Manager Jimmy Maney said the property is valued at $85,000. He said the city would renovate it for use by the codes department and may eventually use it for expansion of Mauney Memorial Library. In another property matter, city resident Jane Martin asked City Council not to consider purchasing the Barrett property at the intersection of Gold St. and Battleground Avenue to be used as a parking lot. At last month's meeting, Bernice Chappell, who lives next door to the property and operates a business across the street from it, asked Council to consider purchasing the metal building which previously housed Kings Mountain Farm Center. Martin said it had been re- ported last month that the prop- erty was available for $150,000, but she said it would probably take another $50,000 to demol- ish it and landscape the site. “Kings Mountain doesn’t need another parking lot,” she said .” There is parking right be- hind Main Street. Taxpayer money is being handed out by the thousands in Kings Mountain. Re “This is one more example of spending money that doesn’t benefit every citizens,” she added. In another matter, Council heard a lengthy presentation by Grover Mayor Bill Favell asking that Grover’s water rate be the same as Kings Mountain's in- side city rate. He said Kings Mountain’s most recent increase of 43 percent and almost 100 percent increase over the past five years were too much to bear. “We would like to stay on the inside industrial rate,” Favell said. “There would still be an increase but not 43 percent.” Favell said Grover has only 378 water customers, and a population of 700 of which over 50% are 55 years of age and old- er. “We already have the third largest tax rate in Cleveland County behind Shelby and Kings Mountain, and we had an $11,000 loss in water/sewer last year,” he said. He said, unlike industry, Grover has to maintain water lines and meters and hire main- tenance workers which drives the cost of its water even higher. City Manager Jimmy Maney defended the new rate, saying “we can’t continue to sell Grover water cheaper than we sell it to our own citizens.” In a related matter, Council authorized a major “10 to 20- year” study of the water capital needs which Maney said could further impact water rates. “Our cost has skyrocketed,” he said, pointing to a 52% in- crease to the city by Gastonia for the Crowder’s Creek wastewater treatment facility. “We're not trying to balance our water /sewer budget on the backs of Grover. I would love for you to be selling me water at the same rate. This is not some- thing we just came out of the blue with.” Favell said Cleveland County paid for the water line to Grover and then “turned it over” to Kings Mountain, and that Kings Mountain benefits from selling water to Grover be- cause KM “doesn’t have to flush the line.” Maney said Cleveland County turned the line over to KM because Cleveland County “didn’t have the maintenance department to take care of it.” “Grover is small,” Favell said. “We're stuck with 700 people. We can’t go out and annex places like Eaton. If we could we'd have all kind of tax mon- ey.” Fy Utility Committee Chairman Carl DeVane said his committee agreed to move ahead with the new rate, which will take effect with the new fis- cal year budget on July 1. In other action Tuesday, Council. - Scheduled a public hearing on the 2001-02 FY budget May 14 at 6 p.m. Copies of the bud- get are on display at City Hall and Mauney Library. -Authorized the mayor to submit a Community Development Block Grant ap- plication in the amount of $700,000 to help renovate homes on West Gold Ext. be- tween Spring St. and Garrison St. Steve Austin of Benchmark said there are 43 house sin the area and over 90% of them are low to moderate income fami- lies. “The greatest need is in sew- er, because they have experi- enced a lot of problems with septic tanks and drain lines,” he said. “Most of the residents are elderly on fixed income.” Most of the housing needs are moderate, he said, with such needs as new roofs and wiring. : If the grant is approved, the city would have to match $200,000 plus waive tap fees, he said. Included in the area is the property the city recently pur- chased for a new fire depart- ment. It includes a mobile home that must be moved. -Adopted a resolution amending the original resolu- tion approving the preliminary plat for Indian Creek subdivi- sion on Margrace Rd., and ap- proved a resolution extending water, sewer and streets /drainage to the subdivi- sion. -Appointed Joe Champion, Dennis Patterson, Tim Plonk, Shirley Brutko, Rev. P. Kilgore Saunders, Steve Killian, and Ellis Noell to the Ad Hoc Gateway Community Committee. From 1A ; Contributions were received from 130 individuals, business- es and agencies, ranging from an individual's gift of $25 to a pledge of $50,000 from the City of Kings Mountain. Renovations to the theatre will occur during the summer, Champion said, and the first play by KMLT, “Fcrever Plaid,” will be in October. Champion said although the facility is still “similar” to what it was when it was the Joy Theatre, several changes are planned. One of the first orders of business Will be'téstoting’the old theatre marquee which was covered when the church bought the facility several years ago. The old stage has been ex- panded into an altar, and one of Holland's priorities will be to design a vaudeville stage, Champion said. Some electrical and lighting work will also be necessary. Champion said the building .seats about 300, and they are in their original condition but have been re-covered at some point. “But they are in very good working order and appear- ance,” he said. “There is not a bad seat in the house. There is a lot of room between the rows of seats.” The theatre originally seated over 700, he noted. He said some of the seats will be re- moved and it will eventually seat between 200 and 250. The old balcony has not been utilized in years and its seats have been removed, he said. The lobby is very similar to what it was when the theatre was in operation. The little theatre will hold four plays a year there, and be- tween plays and practice ses- sions will utilize the building about eight weeks a year, he said. At other times it will be available for public use for plays, dance recitals, music recitals, meetings, conferences, and other activities. “We hope civic groups and businesses will utilize it,” he said. “We hope to keep the rates for rental very affordable.” He said Saturday matinees for chil- dren are also a possibility. Champion said his group will attempt to find old pictures and other information about the Joy to be placed in the lobby along with pictures of old Little Theatre performances. “We have pictures from al- most all of our performances since we reorganized in 1969,” he said. “We actually have some photos from the Battle of Kings Mountain dramas that were produced by Kings Mountain Little Theatre in the 1950s.” KMLT was organized in 1941. In recent years it has operated out of Kings Mountain Woman's Club. In 1992 the group purchased the old Dixie Theatre for a nom- inal fee from the John O. Plonk Family, but Champion said the project bogged down. KMLT had discussed purchasing the Joy on two other occasions since then. “Finally, we came to an agree- ment this time,” Champion said. “We felt the price was something we could handle and the community would support. ~ Renovating the Dixie would have cost more money and it probably would have taken two to three years. So we've saved time and money by going with the Joy.” Champion said the little the- atre began negotiating with the church late last year but didn’t begin its fund-raising drive in earnest until January. “We had very good support from the community,” he said. “Forty volunteers worked hard on this project. It wasn’t one | person or-any ‘one individual that gave a sizable amount. It was a team effort.” Total expenses for the entire project will be $410,000. The group will now sell the old Dixie Theatre to help with the cost. The purchase price of the Joy was $230,000. Renovation costs will amount to $70,000, and oth- er miscellaneous fees and costs will amount to $110,000. The Joy Theatre actually traces back to 1942 when broth- ers Dave and Charlie Cash got the idea to buy a lot on Railroad Avenue. Blueprints were drawn in 1947 but were re-drawn when the old Mountain View Hotel property at the corner of Railroad Avenue and Mountain Kings Mountain Weather Report (Compiled by Kenneth Kitzmiller) April 18-24 Total precipitation ~~ .69 Max. one day .69 (24th) Month to date 1.41 Year to date 14.97 Min. temp. 34 (18th) High temp. 81 (24th) Avg. temp. 58.4 Year Ago 1.08 1.08 (24th) 4.68 17.22 40 (21st) 81 (20th) 62.0 PARROTT From 1A get through the interim time until she finds out what she will do. “If I didn’t have them to care for I'd guess I'd go crazy,” she said. The children have also kept her occupied; Parrott said she has lost 25 pounds. ; Parrott said she would like to move back to her previous ad- dress but doesn’t know when. People have been responsive to her needs. Parrott said she has received donations from area residents - and organizations. A burn fund has been set up - at First National Bank. To con- "tribute to the Thelma Parrott burn fund, go to any First - National Bank office. Donations may also be dropped off at the Kings Mountain YMCA's Mountaineer Room on Cleveland Avenue. ‘Herald Published every Thursday Periodicals postage at Kings Mountain, NC 28086 USPS 118-880 by Republic Newspapers, Inc. Postmaster, send address changes to: P. O. Box 769, Kings Mountain, NC 28086 Phone (704) 739-7496 Fax (704) 739-0611 Office: 824-1 East King Street ¢ Kings Mountain, NC 28086 E-mail: kmhnews@aol.com Gaston & Cleveland County Other NC Counties Outside NC NTS NATIONAL NEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION MIKE DIANE cs esisshes sues tarerivsfieruressnstunsontossssritsasiensisrsnissssntorn Publisher Gary Stewart Editor Alan Hodge . Staff Writer Stacy Godfrey Kale... sucresheesniiorssuesmesmersosniss Advertising Manager Shelley Campbell.......i..siemisrisimeonrisssionss Composition Manager Mail Subscription Rates Payable in Advance. All Prices include 6% NC State Sales Tax. Republic 8 Newspapers, Inc. LL ZL > Nor Cain Press Astcaion 1 Year 6 Months $24.25 $15.75 $25.50 $17.00 $30.00 $19.00 Street became available. They purchased it from DuCourt Mills, Inc. in November 1947 and razed it. Champion said KMLT will continue to solicit contributions that will be used to expand the building and purchase equip- ment and other amenities for the Performing Arts Center. Those wishing to contribute may mail checks to Kings Mountain Little Theatre, P.O. Box 1022, Kings Mountain, NC 28086. Ls Saturday, April 28 8am - 3pm Paul's Small Engine & Repair Factory Reps will be on hand. Special Pricing for open house on all commercial and residential mowers. $500 Rebate - purchase of a Paul's Page 3A Grounds Cruiser” Day of Sale with the Grounds Cruiser! CHILD CARE From Page 1A City Staff was up front with the citizens from the beginning of last year’s block rezoning pro- cess. “All of these zones were clearly stated,” he said. “The city went the extra mile to make sure everyone's request was considered. As a result of the original application the proper- ty was rezoned exactly as re- quested by the property own- ers. All information was available to everyone. The city in on way misled anyone.” City Attorney Mickey Corry said since day care centers are permitted in the zone and a per- mit for the center has already been issued, there is little the city can do legally to revoke it. The property owner would have to voluntarily surrender the permit. That's not likely. Faunce said he is currently following state guidelines for getting the prop- erty ready for a center, and that he expects it to be open in June. “It’s true it will serve up to 45 children, but they won't be there at the same time and they won't necessarily be coming in when school is taking up,” he said. “They'll already be there because momma and daddy will already be at work. “This is a great site for a day care,” he added. “We only want what is best for the communi- ty.” City Planner Steve Killian said amending the R8 zoning text may be a way to prevent day care centers in residential neighborhoods in the future. Councilman Carl DeVane said he worked with West Mountain " property owners in their rezon- ing effort last year. “No one ev- er considered that this item would ever come up and they'd always have single-family dwellings. We thought we were doing them a favor by taking it as a block request, but evidently we overlooked some things.” In other action, Council ap- proved a request from Rajendra H. Gandhi to rezone property at 507 E. King St. (Silver Express) from Neighborhood Business to General Business. Part of the pen House Drawing for 6HP Walk Behind ° Snapper at 3pm! FREE HOT DOGS 704-739-6089 4 Miles South of Kings Mtn. on Hwy. 161 With the purchase of a rider mower = receive a FREE Utility Cart. (Day of Open House Only.) Small Engine & Repair 1600 York Road land where the shopping center is located has been zoned GB, and part NB since 1967. Killian said GB is more appropriate zoning for the property since it traditionally sees more traffic, stores, and business develop- ment and is not necessarily as- sociated with a residential area. Rezoning requests from Tommy E. and Tina Hall to re- zone property at 204 Cansler St. from RS-6 to Conditional Use R- 6, and from Cynthia Falls to re- zone property at 112 Tact Court from Residential R-10 to Light Industry, were continued until the May 29 meeting. The Halls are planing to build three con- dominiums. A cell phone tower is located on Falls’ property and she wants it rezoned so it can be rebuilt in case of a disaster. She said the cell tower supplements her income and that there are other property owners in the same area that have been grant- ed LI permits in a residential zone. Public hearings were sched- uled for May 29 for the follow- ing rezoning requests: Albert Perkins, to rezone property at Margrace and Crocker Roads from R-20 to R- 10. CJ Holland, to rezone proper- ty at 706 E. King St. from Residential R-8 to General Business. Charles Scism, to rezone part of his property at 2027 Shelby Road from R-10 to GB to accom- modate an auto paint shop. Barbara Bigger, to rezone property at 115 Perch Dr. from R-10 to R-20. Paul Medford, to rezone property at 809 E. King St. from R-8 to GB. Nome Manivong, to rezone property at 920 S. Battleground from Residential to Neighborhood Business. Council also approved a bud- get amendment to transfer funds in the Davidson and Jake Early capital project fund to the Special Events budget ($30,572 for bathroom /concession stands at Davidson and Deal St. and $6,000 for professional ser- vices relating to the playground project. -
The Kings Mountain Herald (Kings Mountain, N.C.)
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April 26, 2001, edition 1
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