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Ketel e Volume 124 o Issue 49 » Wednesday, December 5, 2012 0 T5¢
l/s the
Zoning text
amendment
sent back
to the table
== ELIZABETH STEWART
lib.kmherald @gmail.com
By 5-2, Kings Mountain City
Council Tuesday sent back to the city
planning and zoning board a zoning
ordinance text amendment to resolve
issues which surfaced during the No-
vember meeting.
Councilman Keith Miller made the
motion to table the vote until Dec. 11
on Hounds Campground developer
Mike Brown’s request for a text
amendment which regulates multiple
recreation uses in the city.
The 11-member planning and zon-
ing board, which is appointed by city
council, voted unanimously at last
month’s meeting to recommend ap-
proval of an amendment to the zoning
text pertaining to public commercial
multiple recreational and entertain-
ment uses facility.
Brown contends that setbacks
should be substantially lower than
what the planning board proposes.
Tuesday’s council meeting
evolved into charges by Attorney
Doug Arthurs that the agenda
See ZONING, 7A
Annexation
approved
The former Herman Cobb conven-
ience store/gas station at 721 Mar-
grace Road in the Midpines
Community will open as Mike’s Food
Store soon after the first of the new
year,
By a 6-1 vote Tuesday Kings
Mountain City Council approved
after public hearing the voluntary an-
nexation of 2.85 acres belonging to
Mike Heath. The board’s action paves
the way for the new business which is
in the city’s extraterritorial jurisdic-
tion. :
Councilman Keith Miller cast the
dissenting vote. Approving the annex-
ation were mayor pro tem Rodney
Gordon and councilmen Rick Moore,
Dean Spears, Howard Shipp, Mike
Butler and Tommy Hawkins.
Annexation means the business
will receive city services, including
See ANNEXATION, 7A
No gas increase
planned for KM
Kings Mountain natural gas cus-
tomers got an early Christmas present
from the city Monday.
Nick Hendricks, who heads up
both the gas and electric departments,
told city council at a Monday after-
noon work session that he is recom-
mending that gas users see ‘no
additional costs from the city with the
expected increase in transportation
costs to the city from its supplier,
Transco- Williams.
&,
“Tis the Season.
A crowd estimated at between
5,000 and 6,000 people lined Kings
Mountain streets
“Home for Christmas,” the 2012
Christmas Parade.
High-stepping bands, pretty girls,
floats, vintage cars, Girl Scouts cel-
ebrating Scouting’s 200th anniver-
sary; “Bam Bam” Byers, three-time
world medalist and Olympian who
carried the Olympic banner escorted
by the Kings Mountain High School
wrestling team (he is an alumnus of
the class of 1993), dance teams,
screaming sirens and Santa Claus.in
traditional red suit topped by a fire-
man’s hat.
Parade-watchers brought their
DANCE |
EFLES Fons n
METICNAL cHAMPIONS
Saturday for
Holiday
Season!
Bc
chairs with them in shirt-sleeve
weather, cheered all 100 plus units
and the kids had a ball, loading up
bags of candy thrown by excited pa-
raders walking or riding in the pa-
rade.
The weatherman smiled on this
year’s parade and people loved it.
Ellis Noell, the city of Kings
Mountain’s events coordinator, re-
members parades when the weather-
man didn’t smile. In past years
parades have had to be called off or
rescheduled because of King Winter.
“This was just a perfect time and
everything went well,” said Noell
who handled last minute changes
like he always does. “It’s the sea-
son,” he laughed.
Kings Mountain Christmas Parade ............18
Jingle Bell Rockin’ RUN. c.ccccceesesesecscsesescssesc 2B
Grover Christmas Parad@.ccccccecccsccscccccccscee 3B
Hawkins named chairman for
CC board of commissioners
Hackers
on the
ge ELIZABETH STEWART
lib.kmherald@gmail.com
If your credit/debit cards
haven’t been hacked be
thankful. Police Chief
Melvin Proctor says hackers
are on the move in this area.
“Hackers steal your per-
sonal information, put it out
on the Internet, people buy it
and make duplicate cards,”
says the Chief.
Proctor was himself one
of the victims of this type of *
theft.
A Kings Mountain
woman said the cards of 32
of her “friends” on Facebook
were hacked. Four incidents
of financial card fraud were
reported to Kings Mountain
Police this week.
Credit, debit card hacking
is happening more often and
you don’t even know its hap-
pening.
Hackers put a tiny device
on the card reader where you
swipe your card, so when
you scan it they get your per-
move
sonal
mation.
Scary?
*You bet iit
is,” says
Proctor.
$3 T hey
can put a
phony thing
over the part
where you
swipe your card. You think
you're swiping your card
through a memory reader
and what you’re really doing
is swiping your card through
a device the hacker has cre-
ated,” says a local merchant
whose business was flooded
by hackers over the past sev-
eral weeks.
Says the merchant,
“There’s a lot of Internet
fraud in fiber thefts, it’s
called a worm and it gets in
the servers. Many businesses
in our two counties have
been targeted by this cyber
thief who duplicates your
See HACKERS, 7A
infor-
Police chief
Melvin
Proctor
City awards
bid to BB&T
“Kings Mountain is on
the cutting -edge of fiber
technology,” City Manager
Marilyn Sellers told city
council Monday afternoon
before city fathers awarded
the low bid of $495,722 to
BB&T with an interest rate
of 1.51% to finance the five
year fiber optics project.
Sellers said the first an-
nual payment of $90,000 is
included in the 2012-13 city.
budget.
In related motions, coun-
cil awarded a contract to
OFS for ADSS cable and
hardware for the project in
the amount of $131,127.45
and to Katalyst for Cisco
computer products in the
amount of $121,294.10,
By the first of the year all
fiber lines are expected to be
completed with cable to be
installed early in the new
year, the city’s utilities direc-
tor Nick Hendricks said, ina
progress report at a council
work session in the Public
Works Conference Room on
N. Piedmont Avenue.
The “brains” of the so-
phisticated fiber operation
will be located at two main
stations: Public Works and
KM City Hall. Once opera-
ble, the communications sys-
tem linking all city buildings
is expected to save the city
up to $65,000 a year. The
outside cable, according to
Hendricks, has a lifespan of
40-50 years. “This will re-
duce a lot of telephone costs
for us,” he said.
Hendricks estimated that
over the life of the cable the
savings to the city could run
$2.5 to $3 million.
The service may be avail-
able in the future to business
and industry but not residen-
tial. The current project is a
cost savings plan to link all
city facilities.
“We have two customers
eager to lease dark fiber
from the city,” said Mayor
Rick Murphrey.
A “path to Internet serv-
ice, a ring around the city
and dark fiber—a way of the
future” is how Hendricks il-
lustrated the fiber project up-
date.
Council = members at
Monday’s work session also
received notebooks contain-
ing the city’s storm water
management plan by Holly
Black, who gave an update
See BID, 7A
photo by LIB STEWART
Kings Mountain’s Ronnie Hawkins takes the oath of office, as chairman of the county
hoard of commissioners, from NC Rep. Tim Moore. County Manager Eddie Bailes
“Based on projections our fund
balance in the gas department should
take care of any proposed increases,”
YING — .
wld
he said in response to a question from
city councilman Tommy Hawkins.
Hendricks said Transco has ap-
plied for a rate increase and after a
public hearing in late January 2013
the city will learn if its increased rate,
as expected, is 28%. “We won’t rec-
ommend that our increase be passed
on to customers,” he reiterated.
8 ll 00200
1
looks on.
Kings Mountain mortician Ronnie
Hawkins was elected chairman of the
Cleveland County board of commis-
sioners Monday morning as Republi-
cans took majority on the five member
board.
Jason Falls, Kings Mountain auc-
tioneer, was elected vice-chairman. He
has served on the board two years and
is active on a number of committees.
A third Republican and newcomer to
politics, Susan Allen of Shelby, was
also sworn in by NC Rep. Tim Moore
(R) of Kings Mountain during an oath-
taking ceremony at the Charlie F. Harry
Administrative Offices in Shelby.
Hawkins begins his 13th year and
fourth term on the county board. He has
served twice previously as vice chair-
man and chairman.
Eddie Holcomb, Democrat, and
Johnny Hutchins, (R), former chairman
for two years, round out the board.
“We will continue to work as a
team,” said Hawkins. He thanked mem-
bers of the board for their confidence,
county manager Eddie Bailes and
county staff for their support.
See HAWKINS, 7A
:
3
mas season classic.
—— NOW PLA
Beth (Josie Gold) and Charlie (Dominic Cline) discussing
how the Herdmans never go to church in a scene from "The
Best Christmas Pageant Ever" which plays Friday and Sat-
urday nights at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m.
at Joy Theatre. Sell-out crowds have been attending the
Kings Mountain Little Theatre performances of the Christ-
Baan
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