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FIALNE Y MEMORIAL LIBRARY
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Volume 125 © Issue 38 Wednesday, September 18,2013 « 75¢
County to sweeten the pot on development?
ELIZABETH STEWART
lib.kmherald@gmail.com
Cleveland County commission-
ers were expected to sweeten the pot
Tuesday night with incentives for a
new data center in Kings Mountain
and a new hotel in Shelby, expected
to bring 27 new jobs and an invest-
ment of $78 million to the county.
The Kings Mountain economic
development project — code named
Project Hawk — is located at 131
Riverside Court in what is known as
New fire
ELIZABETH STEWART
lib.kmherald@gmail.com
“No Man’s Land,” the common
label in south Kings Mountain for
the present Class 10 fire district,
may soon become no more with the
creation of the new Kings Moun-
tain Rural Fire District.
At the Herald's press time Tues-
day night the Cleveland County
board of commissioners was voting
on a new contract with the City of
Kings Mountain to provide fire
the TS Data Center Park, where
AT&T and Disney developments
are located.
The new data center intends to
create 10 new, permanent full time
jobs, including contracted services,
in five years with a total initial in-
vestment of $70 million, including
installations by tenants.
The company will start upfitting
the shell building and will begin op-
erations in half of the building the
first quarter of 2014.
The Shelby economic develop-
district
protection to over 100 in the com-
munity on York Road 161, Lake
Montonia Road, Alex Owens Road,
the old city lake area and Shepherd
Mountain.
The contract, if approved by the
county board, will be voted on by
Kings Mountain City Council next
Tuesday night and if inked by that
board will result in substantial in-
surance savings to those homeown-
ers.
“We live in an uncovered “no
See NEW FIRE DISTRICT, 4A
Meet the candidates
Kings Mountain Woman's Club
will sponsor “Meet the Candidates”
Monday night at 6 p.m.at the Woman's
Club on East Mountain Street.
Invitations have been extended to
© candidates for city council, county
school board and water board to at-
tend the meeting.
Each candidate will have three
minutes to state their platforms and af-
terward can talk with the public and
socialize with those attending during
a social hour.
The public is invited.
Redrawing ward lines
~ Redrawing of ward lines to in-
clude newly annexed areas of the city
is on the agenda for public hearing
Tuesday night at 6 p.m. by Kings
Mountain City Council.
Several areas of the city have been
annexed since the last elections. Those
annexed areas will be assigned voter
precincts and people living in those
areas would be prospective voters.
The proposed ordinance would
amend the city charter redrawing the
ward lines (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) and placing
newly annexed areas into voting
precincts for the City of Kings Moun-
tain.
Shelby job fair Sept. 25
The Cleveland Mall will host
the second annual Community Job
Fair to match job seekers with re-
gional employers hiring for sea-
sonal, part-time and full-time
positions. Sponsored by the N.C.
Department of Commerce Division
of Employment Service, the Shelby
Star and the Cleveland Mall, the
Community Job Fair will be held
on Wednesday, Sept. 25, from 10
a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Cleveland
Mall.
“There were many success sto-
ries from job seekers and partici-
pating employers following the
community job fair last year and
we are excited to make this an an-
nual event. With Marshalls opening
-
8798525700200
soon and other tenants and local
businesses seeking both seasonal
workers and full-time employees
for the new year, we are looking
forward to helping put our commu-
nity back to work this holiday sea-
son,” said Jennifer Dedmond,
Operations and Senior Marketing
Manager at Cleveland Mall. Mar-
shalls is set to open Oct. 24.
More than twenty local compa-
nies will participate in the job fair,
including Marshalls, KSM Cast-
ings NC, Inc., Army Recruiters,
Bath & Body Works, Belk, Mau-
rice’s, Shoe Dept., Helping Hands
Nursing Service, Inc., Bayada
Home Health Care, Staffmasters,
Fifth Third Bank, Boundless Home
Care, Inc., Manpower, Boundless
Miracles, and Boundless Trans-
portation.
The deadline for submitting an
employer registration form is Sept.
19. To learn more about the job fair,
contact jdedmond@hullstoreygib-
son.com.
ment project, Project Hampton,
would create 15 new full time per-
manent jobs over the next two years
and create a new investment of $8
million. The new structure, a 86
room facility, would go up on
Cleveland Mall property in the spot
previously occupied by a movie the-
ater. Construction is expected to
begin in two months.
Between Jan. 1 and March 31
each year of the 10 year grant, the
county will make an incentive grant
payment to the data center in annual
amounts equal to 65% of the county
general ad valorem taxes (with the
current rate being $0.57 per $100
valuation) on real and personal
property paid by the company to the
county during the preceding calen-
dar year.
Both grants include stipulation
that prior year taxes have been paid
to the county.
Between Jan. 1 and March 31 of
each of the first three years of the
grant term the county would make
an incentive grant payment to the
hotel management in annual amount
equal to 90% of the county ad val-
orem taxes (the current rate being
.72 cents per $100 valuation) on real
and personal property. Between Jan.
1 and March 31 of each of the last
five years of the grant term, the
county would make an incentive
grant payment annually of 50 per-
cent of the county ad valorem taxes
on real and personal property paid
on the project by the company to the
county during the preceding calen-
dar year.
SS SRP SE Re
PATRIOT DAY REMEMBRANCE: Shana Adams sings the National Anthem at a downtown observance of Pa-
triot Day last Wednesday as Kings Mountain Mayor Rick Murphrey (not pictured) and members of the police
and fire departments look on. See the complete story on page 6B of today’s paper.
I SR
Photo by DAVE BLANTON |
KM business leaders
voice support for casino
wy DAVE BLANTON
dave.kmherald@gmail.com
A group of Kings Mountain cit-
izens and business advocates is
publicly supporting a potential
Catawba Indian gaming and resort
facility, saying that such an addi-
tion to the community would add
not only jobs but also economic di-
versity to the area.
The Kings Mountain Advisory
Council to the Cleveland County
Chamber of Commerce voted last
week to support a casino and hotel
complex that could open its doors
as early as 2015.
“It’s a show of support,” said
Gina Collias, the council’s chair-
person. “It means jobs and people
and homes ... and an increased tax
base.”
The public support from the
local group came just days after the
Catawba Indian Nation filed an ap-
plication with federal authorities to
buy 16 acres of land where Dixon
School Road and Interstate 85 in-
tersect, just a few miles south of
downtown.
The Cleveland County Cham-
ber of Commerce, which the coun-
cil reports to, has also publicly
voiced its support for the develop-
ment.
“For more than a decade,
Cleveland County has faced high
unemployment and economic chal-
lenges, given the loss of our man-
ufacturing infrastructure,” said
Chamber President Michael Chri-
sawn. “While many North
See CASINO, 4A
Harris to lead Y diabetes program
Ashley Harris of Kings Moun-
tain is the new Director of the Y
Diabetes Prevention Program.
Cameron Corder, CEO of the
Cleveland County YMCA, made
the announcement this week and
said, “I’m very excited about wel-
coming Ashley to our team and am
looking forward to her leadership
around this important issue.’
Harris has most recently
worked as an emergency room
nurse with Cleveland County Hos-
pital System. She has also worked
for the hospital system as a nurse
educator at the Diabetes Center.
“As a nurse and as a parent of a
child who was diagnosed with
Type I diabetes at the age of 2, I
have seen the devastation that dia-
betes, both Type I and 2 ‘can
cause,” said Harris. “What impas-
sions me [FN
the most is |
that so |
many of |
the com-
plications, |
and type 2 |
diabetes it- |
self can be
preventa-
ble. It is
exciting
for me to be a part of a prevention
program. So much of what I have
seen in my nursing career is di-
rectly related to the havoc that this
disease can cause.”
Corder added, “Ashley is
highly regarded within our
YMCA. She has been a wonderful
Ashley Harris
advocate for the Y and with her
passion and enthusiasm she will
take our diabetes program to a new
level.”
The YMCA’s Diabetes Preven-
tion Program is an innovative
model to help reduce the burden of
chronic disease. The Cleveland
County YMCA finds itself at a per-
fect juncture with access to a
proven program and a pressing
community need. The Y will be as-
sisted by the Centers for Disease
Control and YMCA of the USA.
The program is being partially sup-
ported by a grant from the Kate B.
Reynolds Foundation.
Mrs. Harris is wife of John O.
Harris III of Kings Mountain. They
have three children: John, 13, and
twins Abby and Layla, 11. Mrs.
Harris is the daughter of Mal and
Shirley Brutko of Kings Mountain
and the late Roy Gossett.
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