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HAUNEY MEMORIAL LIBRARY
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\ VTRGE MOUNTAIN NC 28086-3450
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Volume 125 e Issue 32 * Wednesday, August 7, 2013 75¢
OVER
90 YEARS
EXPERIENCE!
@
Grover votes
to continue
negotiations
with KM
: ELIZABETH STEWART
lib.kmherald@gmail.com
GROVER — Town Board
after a closed session Mon-
day night authorized W. K.
Engineering Company to
purstie funding in the form
of grants for upgrading of
the wastewater system and to
continue negotiations with
the City of Kings Mountain
as an alternative source for
Sewer service.
Town Attorney Mickey
Corry said the board adopted
a resolution to continue ne-
gotiations with Kings Moun-
tain and to investigate
further possibility of grants.
“It’s isn’t a done deal
yet,” said Corry.
Grover currently buys
water from the City of Kings
Mountain.
For some time now the
town board has faced diffi-
cult decisions concerning
sewer infrastructure. Engi-
neers with W. K. Dickson
Company have detailed sev-
eral options, some more
costly than others, over the
last several months. Engi-
neers were in Grover Mon-
day night to report progress.
The board went into ex-
ecutive session at 6:45 p.m.
for legal and professional
counsel with the attorney re-
garding real property.
Citizens were faced with
a 27% rate increase for utili-
ties July 1 to help make up-
grades to the infrastructure.
“If we take the Kings
Mountain option I think the
bills would go down,” said
councilwoman Jackie Ben-
nett. “I have mixed emotions
but I think going to Kings
Mountain would be the right
decision for our people,” she
added.
For several months now
Grover Board has been mak-
ing applications to fund the
major infrastructure project.
Prior to the city raising
utility bills to customers
Mayor J. D. Ledford wrote:
“In today’s economy I know
you do not want to see your
bills go up but we are at a
unique time in Grover’s his-
tory where something has to
be done. If we continue to
wait, the cost of building
materials will only continue
to rise and we are not guar-
anteed to receive any other
loans or grants in the future.”
Last year, Grover Indus-
tries and the Harry family
donated the Grover Indus-
tries Wastewater Treatment
Plant to the Town of Grover
in an effort to help the town
continue to meet current as
well as future needs. The
plant, when upgrades were
made, would triple the
town’s capacixty to process
wastewater, however, up-
grading of lift stations and
upgrading of the Linden
Street plant will be costly.
MOORE HIGHWAY?
— Rep. Tim Moore of Kings
Mountain, left, who is serv-
ing his 6th term in the House
of Representatives from
Cleveland County, receives a
framed proclamation from
Mayor Rick Murphrey and
KM City Council supporting
the naming of the portion of
98525700200
I-85 from just inside the
Cleveland County line to just
inside the North Carolina
border close to the South
Carolina border “The Repre-
sentative Tim Moore High-
way”. He was so honored
because, among other legis-
lation, his work helped pass
House Bill 219, the Jessica
Lunsford Act for protection
of children. He also intro-
duced House Bill 49, Laura’s
Law, to ensure that drunk
drivers are punished to the
fullest extent of the law.
Photo by ELLIS NOELL
Porrsitively the Best Care in Grooming
CALL FOR AN APPOINTMENT TODAY!
786 Bell Rd., Kings Mountain
e 704.473.4048
KM named ‘Purple Heart City’
The Military Order of Purple Hearts, Chapter 634, was presented with a proclamation from Mayor Rick Murphrey declaring
Kings Mountain as a “Purple Heart City” at the July 30 meeting of the Kings Mountain City Council. Members present included
(L-R) Stephen Jolley, Tom Farebrother, Mike Stubbs-Commander, Mayor Rick Murphrey, David Rick and Ronald Wade. The
new entryway signs will be posted at the various entryways into Kings Mountain. “We take great pride in recognizing those
brave soldiers who were wounded in battle defending our freedoms”, stated Murphrey.
See story on.page 7B.
Photo by ELLIS NOELL
No teacher cuts, say officials
w= DAVE BLANTON
dave.kmherald@gmail.com
No teachers will lose their jobs
going into the 2013-2014 school year,
despite a state budget that Cleveland
County Schools administrators say
forced officials to “look in other places
in the budget to save money,” according
to superintendent Bruce Boyles.
Administrators instead will hold off
on filling some positions and teacher
assistants will see a slight reduction in
their hours, Boyles said. He added that
the school system will dip into its sav-
ings so that resources and staffing can
be maintained at the desired levels.
Still, what the budget going forward
means for students and teachers on a
day-to-day basis is larger class sizes.
“We’ll have fewer adults working with
children in the classroom,” Boyles said.
A lean budget for schools will mean
that officials must scrutinize every po-
sition that for a variety of reasons —
someone retiring or resigning, for in-
stance — becomes open. “We’ll be look-
ing at every time we have a vacancy —
is that a position we have to fill?”
Boyles said, adding that some positions
will have to be cut over time, just not in
the coming school year.
“We’ll be reviewing our staffing for-
mulas and work into the year,”
said
See NO CUTS, 6A
City begins condemnation action
Properties needed for water line project
w= ELIZABETH STEWART
lib.kmherald@gmail.com
By a 6-1 vote Kings
Mountain City Council last
Tuesday night started legal
proceedings to acquire ease-
ments from nine property
owners tantamount to begin-
ning construction of a 36-
inch water line from the T. J.
Ellison Water Treatment Fa-
cility at Moss Lake to the
city’s water distribution sys-
tem.
Specifically, the board,
through its attorney Mickey
Corry, is instituting eminent
domain (condemnation) ac-
tion against nine of 51
parcels of properties where
easements are required and
for which property owners
would be paid fair market
values or face court action.
City councilman Mike
Butler voted against the ac-
tion.
Councilmen = Howard
Shipp,’ Tommy Hawkins,
Firestone an Environmental Steward
Bridgestone Americas,
Inc. Tuesday announced that
its Firestone Fibers & Textile
Company, LLC plant in
Kings Mountain was named
an Environmental Steward,
the highest level of environ-
mental achievement in the
state’s Environmental Stew-
ardship Initiative.
The program, led by the
North Carolina Department
of Environment and Natural
Resources, recognizes or-
ganizations that are commit-
ted to reducing their
environmental impact be-
yond regulatory require-
ments.
“We are incredibly hon-
ored to be selected as an En-
vironmental Steward for the
State of North Carolina,”
said Tim Bent, Director of
Environmental Affairs for
Bridgestone Americas, Inc.
FSET’s parent company.
“This award for environ-
Kings Mountain’s Firestone Fibers & Textiles is exploring a
community partnership that would feature its three-acre
Kings Mountain wildlife habitat and pollinator garden (pic-
tured) as a learning center in the Gaston County Schools cur-
riculum.
mental excellence is testa-
ment to the exceptional team
we have in our Kings Moun-
tain facility. Each teammate
works to ensure we are al-
ways operating in the most
sustainable and efficient
manner.”
DENR Secretary John
Skvarla presented the presti-
gious Environmental Stew-
Photo JULIE McCRACKEN
ard award during the 11:30
a.m. ceremony at the Kings
Mountain plant August 6.
City, county and state leaders
were on hand for the celebra-
tion.
To achieve the Environ-
mental Steward distinction,
organizations must undergo
See FIRESTONE, 6A
Rodney Gordon, Rick
Moore, Dean Spears and
Keith Miller approved.
“We don’t need to take a
risk and delay this project,”
said Miller who made the
motion to proceed. He ex-
plained that if the city “falls
out of place in borrowing for
funds we will move back to
the bottom of the list and
See CITY, 6A
Urgent Care
eyeing KM
facility site
Carolinas Health Care
System is eyeing construc-
tion of an Urgent Care facil-
ity on 3.263 acres on US 74
business near Vestibule
Church Road, and is in the
final stages of project plan-
ning.
City Council last Tuesday
approved application for vol-
untary annexation by David
W. Royster III, manager of
Morgan Place Company,
LLC:
Planning Director Steve
Killian said the new facility
is expected to go up at the
upper end of the Ingles loca-
tion on Shelby Road closest
to the BP Service Station.
The new business citizen
will be purchasing utilities
from the City of Kings
Mountain.
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