Fieldhouse dedicated.
I] Hasek Funeral Home
9; Locally Owned
& Operated Since 1947
A Family Tradition of Dignity,
Service & Understanding
108 S. Piedmont Ave. NN
Kings Mountain, NC \
139:2591
Kings Mountain Herald
15¢
kmherald.net Volume 126 ¢ Issue 19 ¢ Wednesday, May 7, 2014
Council news
ELIZABETH STEWART
lib.kmherald @gmail.com
SOM bid approved
- Adopted the NCDOT/
Kings Mountain Compre-
hensive Pedestrian Plan
after a public hearing, the
plan described as a DNA of
all night Friday
ISH iad
Relay for Life is
DAVE BLANTON
© dave.kmherald@gmail.com
The ARP church team,
whose theme is “Fishing for a
Cure,” has raised funds through
a silent auction, an April bake
sale and by soliciting donations
for Relay for Life luminarias,
which will be on display Friday
night. They’ve raised more than
$1,400 so far. Come Friday
night, they’ll be raising more
Organizers and survivors
are putting the finishing <4
touches on Friday’s Relay
for Life all-night fundraising
event, which last year raised
more than $10,000 in just
one 24-hour period.
The 16th annual
Bids for the new 36-inch
water transmission line to
run from Moss Lake to the
city were approved Tuesday
night by Kings Mountain
*v
RELAY
FOR Li
ry
8
E
cancer
City Council with a notice
of tentative award to State
Utility Contractors for
$8,141,432.50 and a
$880,016.00 award to
Sanders Utility Construction
for a total of over 9 million
dollars.
The bids were let in April
and the awards must be ap-
proved by North Carolina
Department Environmental
and Natural Resources (NC-
DENR).
Thirty firms bid in three
divisions of the major proj-
ect.
In other business, Council:
how the city grows and out-
lines needed pedestrian im-
provements in the city with
more than 150 improve-
ments projects included as
far as Ingles in West Kings
Mountain. Some of the im-
provements targeted in the
study are new sidewalks,
crosswalks, lighting and
changes to roadways and
railroad crossings. The bicy-
cle plan was adopted in
2011. Planning Director
Steve Killian said that 80%
of the cost of the pedestrian
plan was funded by the
North Carolina Department
See WATERLINE BID, 7A
Rezoning request denied
“Not in my back yard,”
property owners told city
council last Tuesday on Carl
Logan’s request for rezoning
of property on Latham Drive
for a proposed 72-unit apart-
ment complex, charging
during a standing-room-only
crowd that they were misled
by the developer that The
Lofts would be built with
low-income tax credits.
By 5-1 vote city council
denied the request for condi-
tional zoning and killed
plans of The Lofts at Kings
Mountain LLC for an apart-
ment complex which Mar-
vin Wilroth, Senior
Developer for the Ohio-
based Miller-Valentine
Group, said was a $10 mil-
lion investment.
Wilroth said the Miller-
Valentine Group, founded in
1963, is one of the largest
affordable housing develop-
ers in the United States.
Architect Mark Fishero
of Charlotte, Rep. Tim
Moore, attorney. represent-
ing the developers, and Gina
Collias, attorney represent-
ing Logan, spoke in favor of
the project, all quoting mar-
ket studies that Kings
Mountain has a vacancy rate
of zero percent and multi-
family housing is much
needed in the area.
By Council’s vote, with
Howard Shipp voting ‘no’
and Rick Moore (father of
Tim Moore excused by 5-1
vote with Curtis Pressley in
opposition) the board over-
turned in a 5-1 vote a deci-
sion of its planning board,
which had originally voted
See REZONING, 7A
Casino opponents urge
council to rescind support
Casino opponents packed
City Hall last Tuesday night
and their message to city
council was: rescind your
letter of support to the
Catawba Indian Nation for a
casino.
The seven city council
members made no comment
after five representatives of
the Kings Mountain Aware-
ness Group spoke during the
citizen recognition portion
of the agenda at the begin-
ning of a city council meet-
ing that took nearly three
hours to pay
TN
98525700200
Some 50 people in the
audience in Council Cham-
bers wore identifying name
tags as members of the
Kings Mountain Awareness
Group. The other 20-25 in
the standing room only
crowd were citizens op-
posed to the building of
“Lofts at Kings Mountain”
in the KM Boulevard area of
the city.
Council killed the apart-
ment complex proposal by
5-1 vote, denying the prop-
erty owner’s request for re-
zoning.
Rev. Scott Whitney, pas-
tor of East Gold Street Wes-
leyan Church, Rev. Reg
Alexander, Cynthia and
Adam Forcade, and Beau-
ford Burton all shared their
views and data research
See CASINO, 3A
awareness and fundraiser at the
Kings Mountain walking track will fea-
ture live music, trivia, karaoke, fire-
works, a luminaria display and plenty
of good food and fun games. Relay for
Life starts at 6 p.m. with a Survivors
\\
2
Lap kicking off the evening’s main &
events.
A team representing Boyce Memo-
HT
money through the sale of Chex
Party Mix, Gummi Worms and cus-
rial ARP
Church joined
dozens of teams
this year who
have used so
much of their free
tom-made “Fishing for a Cure” T-
shirts.
“We’ve had a lot of cancer sur-
vivors in our church,” ARP team mem-
ber Tammy Gelot said, adding that she
See RELAY, 10A
Crews near end of waterline work
: DAVE BLANTON
| dave.kmherald@gmail.com
Downtown neighbor-
hoods have been a little
noisy this winter and spring.
Not to mention the busted
sidewalks and muddy, tem-
porarily closed streets that
have dotted some of the
city’s main arteries.
But workers are getting
close to the finish line of a
$5.2 million waterline reha-
bilitation project that affects
pipes from Battleground
Ave. to Phifer Rd., and engi-
neers say they expect to fin-
ish the project by mid-July.
Monroe-based State Util-
ities’s workers used heavy
equipment Monday to pierce
huge sections of pavement
and concrete to find a water
line at the intersection of
Gold St. and Battleground.
Part of the infrastructure
project includes installing
See WATERLINE, 7A
A crew of workers from State Utilities uses a track-hoe and shovels to try to locate a buried
waterline Monday at the corner of Gold and Battleground streets. The city is installing shut-
off valves along several miles of waterline in the downtown area and looks to finish the $5.2
million project by mid-summer.
Photo by DAVE BLANTON
Town gears up for 15th annual triathlon
Kings Mountain will play
hosts to hundreds of elite
athletes on Saturday, May
17, as the 15th annual Over
the Mountain Triathlon is
held on Moss Lake and
roads stretching through
Cleveland County and parts
of South Carolina.
The big race is part of the
North Carolina Triathlon Se-
ries and sanctioned by the
USA Triathlon. The Interna-
tional/Olympic length com-
petition will feature some of
North Carolinas’ top triath-
letes as well as regional race
teams, this year including
Team JJF, a triathlon team
that raises monies for the
Jimmie Johnson Foundation.
NASCAR Champion John-
son is scheduled to race in
the Over the Mountain
Triathlon this year.
Celebrating its 15th year,
the race will follow a famil-
iar route, a 1 mile open water
swim across Moss Lake, a
30 mile bike ride (through
four counties, three area
parks and two states) and
finish with the recently re-
designed 10K run through
the West Side Historic Dis-
trict of Kings Mountain.
The race has received many
accolades from the triath-
letes including being voted
best bike portion in the 16
race series in the NCTS and
the best triathlon overall in
the Charlotte Metro area.
“It amazes me with all
the changes in people’s atti-
tude toward a healthy
lifestyle and the increased
awareness about the sport
that has happened over the
last 15 years of producing
this race,” said Ellis Noell,
Kings Mountain’s Event Di-
rector. “Fifteen years ago,
many of our residents were
uncertain what a triathlon
was about. Now we have
teams originating here in our
hometown and other com-
munities throughout the
Cleveland County. And, we
continue to draw competi-
tors from around the U.S.
and around the world,”
added Noell.
The Dover Foundation
YMCA has partnered with
the race by providing a 10-
week session on triathlon
swim training for individuals
See TRIATHLON, 7A
A pair of athletes race to the finish at the 2013 OTM
Triathlon.
Photo City of KM
a in
ENE ;
Creating Dazzling Smiles that Brighten Your Life!
Preventative, Restorative & Cosmetic Dentistry
To schedule an appointment contact Baker Dental Care today! Call 704-739-4461
703 E. Kings St., Suite 9, Kings Mountain * www.BakerDentalCare.com
Now
Open on
Fridays!
a
Se
o
Fe