kmherald.net
Supt. Boyles
announces
retirement
Supt.” Dr. Bruce
Boyles is retiring June
30 after 34 years in
the public schools as a
teacher, former band
director, administra-
tor, and since 2007 }
the leader of Cleve-
land County Schools.
He announced his
retirement to the board of education Mon-
day night.
“I have been privileged to work with
dedicated professionals and support staff
who give unselfishly in support of the chil-
dren we serve,” said Boyles, adding,
“while I will miss the daily interaction
with my colleagues, I believe it is time for
me to move in another direction and for
_ others to lead the important initiatives that
are ahead for our school district.”
Prior to returning to Cleveland County
he was superintendent of schools in
Mooresville for seven years.
Dr.Bruce Boyles
See BOYLES, 7A
Relay for
Life kick-off
Kings Mountain Relay for Life will
kick off the 2014 campaign at a meeting
Thursday night at 6 p.m. at Fire Station I
adjacent to Kings Mountain City Hall.
The meeting will include the election
of new officers and appointment of com-
mittees and teams to head up the new cam-
paign for funds.
“This is an organizational meeting and
we invited all volunteers and those inter
ested in forming teams and working in the
relay to come," said Fire Chief Frank
Burns, who has headed the campaign for
four years.
“We are looking for a chairman with
new ideas to lead us in the most successful
campaign ever," said Burns, who said he
will handle logistics in the 2014 effort.
City audit positive
City Council was expected to receive a
report from its auditors Tuesday night of a
perfect audit for the 15th straight year.
The audit report from Martin Starnes &
Associates also reported that the city’s
fund balance is 22% of last year’s expen-
ditures in the general fund. The LGC, the
watchdog for municipalities on finances,
only requires 8% of last year’s expendi-
tures in the general fund.
City Council was meeting at city hall
and was expected to recognize City Man-
ager Marilyn Sellers for 25 years with the
city.
Postage increase
A first class postage stamp will now
cost you 3 cents more- from 46 cents to 49
cents.
Kings Mountain Post Office had a brisk
business Monday as patrons were buying
the 3centers to add more postage to the let-
ters they were mailing.
“If you have forever stamps on your
letters there’s no additional 3 cent but
when you use all those up and buy new
stamps the cost is 49 cents for a first class
postage stamp,” a clerk said to a customer.
8 ll ll
Kings Mountam Herald
15¢
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Weathering
the cold snap
Residents asked to cut back |
thermostats to conserve energy
; ELIZABETH STEWART
lib.kmherald@gmail.com
Weathering this month’s
cold snap won’t be cheap for
Kings Mountain residents
who are likely to open:
sharply higher energy bills.
“We sent out alerts last
Wednesday in the form of
emails, text messages, and
messages on the city’s web-
site and requested industries
and residents to conserve
energy due to the extreme
cold and cut their thermo-
stats back by 2 degrees if
possible,” said city manager
What's in the Forecast?
Wednesday — 14/35
Thursday — 22/40
Friday — 31/48
Saturday — 43/61
Sunday — 33/58
National Weather Service
Sellers said the natural
gas usage is monitored 24-7
by the city’s SCADA system
as well as electrical usage
but neither Sellers or Mayor
Rick Murphrey could esti-
mate how much January
bills could go up.
page B1.
2
Marilyn Sellers.
See COLD, 7A
Storm water fee begins Feb. 1
gn ELIZABETH STEWART,
o lib.kmherald@gmail.com
Some call the new storm
water fee that residents will start
paying Feb. 1 a “rain tax.”
After a major rain event, the
phones start ringing at city hall
from citizens calling about storm
water problems.
When the water goes away
the public’s interest in fixing the
problem drops off considerably
Residential customers will
see a storm water fee of $2.50 on
their Feb. 1 bills from the City of
Kings Mountain. Commercial
customers and industrial cus-
tomers will see a storm water fee
of $2.50 per 2,000 square feet of
impervious surface which means
their bills will be more.
The fee doesn’t set well with
at least one city councilman —
Rick Moore of Ward 5.
Raeford White questions the
fee. “I know it’s mandated by the
government to set up a storm
water system and utility but I
have lived on the same property
for 61 years and I have seen
water in my back yard only
once,” he said this week.
Customers want services
such as power and water and are
willing to pay for them. On the
other hand, storm water ratepay-
ers say they are being asked to
pay for things they don’t want,
such as water pollution and
flooding.
But storm drains enipty di-
rectly into creeks and storm
water management facilities re-
quire maintenance. By October
2014 the city must “harvest” or
capture 1.2 to 1.5 inches of
runoff and every year thereafter
and meet six minimum measures
on existing programs.
The state is not involved in a
+ local government’s plan design
but a representative of DEMLR
has given the city high praise for
the implementation of its re-
cently enacted Soil Erosion Sed-
imentation Control and Storm
Water Ordinance.
The first year cost of the pro-
gram is $417,493.60. Over 1/3
of the cost or $170,393.60 is for
an additional four people to run
it. Other budgeted items are
$8,000 for, administrative sup-
plies, $140,000 for capital out-
lay, including bio-retention beds,
mapping, retro-fit of wash pit,
$30,000 for inventory, including
pipes, junction boxes; $3,000 for
educational/public outreach sup-
plies and public training materi-
als; $30,000 for gas and oil;
$30,000 for repair and mainte-
nance of vehicles and $2500 for
repair and maintenance of equip-
ment.
City officials say the city’s
storm water system is 100 years
old and it has deteriorated and
will require significant and
costly reconstruction. “State and
federal mandates say we fix it,”
says. Public Works Director
Rickey Putnam who will hea
up the program. 2
Tax-exempt organizations,
including churches, are not ex-
empt from paying a utility fee
but there can be credits.
The ordinance adopted by
city council, Section 16-86 “Ex-
emptions and Credits” reads:
Only undeveloped land shall be
exempt from storm water service
fees.” It continues, “Properties
subject to storm water service
fees may be granted credits
against the fees in accordance
with a credit policy manual de-
veloped by the city manager and
referenced in the City of Kings
Mountain Fee Schedule. Any
non-single-family residential use
that provides measures to miti-
gate the impacts of runoff on the
storm water system shall be eli-
gible for a maximum credit of
40% of the service fee. The
amount of the credit shall be pro-
portional to the extent the meas-
ures address the impacts on peak
discharge, total runoff volume
and water quality as compared to
the applicable city, state and fed-
eral standards. Water quantity
See FEE, 7A
Helping
the hungry
The Cleveland County Potato Project,
founded five years ago by Bill Horn and
Doug Sharp to help the hungry, has produced
435,000 pounds of white and sweet potatoes
. in five years. But Sharp, of Kings Mountain,
says the need is just as great today. :
"Cleveland County provides an excellent
environment for growing fresh vegetables to
meet hunger needs," said Sharp, who invites
any congregation, club, business or individ-
ual interested in growing potatoes or other
crops for this purpose to attend Sunday
night's meeting at 6 pm. in the chapel of
Shelby First Baptist Church.
Charles Reed, Director of Missions for the
Greater Cleveland County Baptist Associa-
tion, along with Horn and Sharp, will lead a
discussion of humanitarian needs in the
county and how the Potato Project helps meet
those needs. :
Burns High School and North Shelby
-School have grown potatoes for the project,
PPG, Carolina Farm Credit, and Glenn
Williams Constructions are county businesses
that have produced a large amount of pota-
toes in the past four years.
The public is invited.
Lunch program gets an $8k
boost from Duke Energy
gu ELIZABETH STEWART
g lib.kmherald @gmail.com
The expanded lunch pro-
gram at the H. Lawrence
Patrick Senior Life & Con-
ference Center will benefit
from Duke Energy’s contri-
bution of $8,000 Monday to
Kings Mountain’s “Building
the Future” campaign for
funds for expansion.
The lunch program, now
prepared in-house one day
per week on Friday, will ex-
pand to five days per week
in-house as part of the build-
ing campaign now under-
way.
Duke Energy District
Manager Craig DeBrew pre-
sented the check specifically
for the lunch program to
Mayor: Rick Murphrey at
City Hall Monday morning.
Other co-chairs of the
fund-raising, steering com-
Duke Energy District Manager Craig DeBrew presents a
check for $8,000 to Kings Mountain Mayor Rick Murphrey for
the H. Lawrence Patrick Senior Life & Conference Center's
"Building the Future" campaign. They are joined by Mary
Neisler, co-chair of the fundraising steering committee, at
left, and Monty Thornburg, the senior center's director.
mittee are Jim Pridgen, pres-
ident of Firestone Fibers &
Textiles Company, and Alex
Bell, Kings Mountain Hos-
pital Administrator.
Photo by ELLIS NOELL
The expanded lunch pro-
gram will include special
diet meals for seniors with
special dietary needs, such
See PATRICK CENTER, 7A
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