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The Kings Mountain Herald | www.kmherald.com
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
Council approves $900,000+ in capital projects
« ELIZABETH STEWART
lib.kmherald@gmail.com
City Council approved
spending over $900,000 for
capital projects, made appli-
cation to the Local Govern-
ment Commission to
approve $599,980 for the
Moss Lake Spillway reha-
bilitation project and ap-
proved $85,000 for storm
water improvements for a
grand total of over $1.5 mil-
lion last Tuesday.
In a related action, the
board awarded bid to Strick-
land Waterproofing in the
amount of $520,140 for the
spillway project pending ap-
proval of the LGC.
City taxpayers will be
paying for the $34 million
borrowed from the state re-
White fears grouting
pipes could be grave error
Retired city planning and economic development
director Gene White asked city council to delay, even
if the state approves, the grouting of pipes under the
dam at Moss Lake because “it could be the gravest
error committed since the dam was constructed in
1968-72."
He made the remarks during the citizen recognition
portion of the Tuesday night meeting.
White said that if the pipe is grouted it would rule
out forever any possible low level drawdown of the
city-owned lake. Engineers have told city officials that
the main source of a leak under the dam at Moss Lake
is a valve in the end plate in the front toe of the dam
and under 80 feet of water.
City council has approved $175,000 to fix the leak
by grouting the pipe full to eliminate the potential for
water flow. White said the 60” pipe was lined and
grouted in January 1983 due to damage in the original
building of the dam. “The 560’ pipe is in perfect
See MOSS LAKE, 8A
volving fund to fund major
water system improvements,
some of which are under
way. A 7 1/2% water and
sewer increase to utility cus-
tomers began in 2013-14
and will continue for two
more years.
Paving of streets that
were impacted by the con-
struction of new waterlines
is under way and those
funds come from the city's
general fund, not from the
water and sewer project
funds.
The total cost of spillway
repairs at city-owned Moss
Lake is $599,980, which in-
cludes construction repair
and the engineering cost.
The bid award was to
BB&T Governmental Fi-
nancing with an interest rate
of 2.59%, contingent upon
LGC approval. Sun Trust
Equipment Financing &
Leasing Corp., with a low
bid of 1.64%, was awarded
the bid for $307,846.68, the
cost of equipment for the
electric department and
storm water department.
City Manager Marilyn
Sellers said that many proj-
ects in the storm water fund
can be completed in-house
at a lower cost with the
proper equipment. The
$85,000 appropriated in-
cluded $47,520 for a dump
truck purchase, $25,000 for
upgrading the shed at Public
Works for equipment to be
stored and $12,480 added to
the Sharon Drive project. A
55-foot hydraulic articulat-
ing device will be purchased
at cost of $230,467 for the
Electric department from
Altec Industries, the low
bidder.
In other actions, city
council:
+ Recognized electric
employees Dean Causby
and Chris Welch for com-
pleting all four levels of the
lineman career development
program and successfully
passing their final exam to
See COUNCIL, 8A
Debate continues on benefits,
detriments of possible casino
w+ ELIZABETH STEWART
o lib.kmherald@gmail.com
A standing-room-only
crowd listened to 10 people,
six who asked city council
to. withdraw support of a
proposed Catawba Indian
Nation resort/casino, two
who stated support of the
casino project, a former city
department head who ques-
tioned how the city plans to
stop a leak at Moss Lake
dam, and a: woman who
wants support for bringing a
Math Academy to Kings
Mountain.
Each had three minutes
on the agenda during the cit-
izen recognition of the Sept.
30 regular meeting at city
hall.
David Dear, former
county manager and a leader
in the Cleveland County De-
velopment Partnership,
thanked council for its vi-
sion and support of the
Catawba Indian project. He
told the board a substantial
majority ~ of Cleveland
County citizens are in sup-
port of jobs this project will
bring. “The decision is not
yours, not locally or state,
but rests with the Bureau of
Internal Affairs in Washing-
ton, DC," he said. “Some are
criticizing this project but
we can't let it hamper us be-
cause of economic develop-
ment that could bring to our
area, not just money but po-
tential businesses that could
make Cleveland County
home," he added.
Dear read excerpts from
a Shelby Star editorial under
date of Aug. 16,2013,
Order your commemorative license plate today!
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“Casino, Hotel would create
jobs, businesses” in which
the Star editor voiced
wholehearted support of ef-
forts to land the project. He
asked that the full text of the
editorial be included in the
minutes of the meeting.
The casino project could.
be a very significant source
of tax revenue for all of
Cleveland County, said Don
Peeler, Shelby realtor who
spoke in support of a com-
mercial resort that would
bring 4,000 jobs and a pay-
roll invested in the local
economy.
Naomi Toberson, 107
Sellars Road, Marie Jack-
son, 565 Lake Montonia
Rd., Beauford Burton, 322
Margrace Road, all of Kings
Mountain, Tim Stalcup,
145-1 Hicks Road, Grover,
Karen and Noah Clarke, 35
Drewery St., Shelby, pre-
sented concerns they have
about a casino coming to
Kings Mountain.
Toberson said the city
council has held 74 regular
council meetings from July
2008 to August 2014, ad-
dressed 112 times by citi-
zens, of which 36 citizens
spoke about liquor license
issues, another four were
concerned about crime and
drugs, and 34 have been
concerned about the coun-
cil's position on inviting a
gambling casino to come to
this area.
"In the course of the last
six years, more than 66% of
the times that citizens have
addressed the council for
any reason they have come
to express their concern re-
garding businesses which
make a profit by preying on
citizens," she said.
“I believe it is a mockery
for this council to proclaim
our proud heritage as we
celebrate the 234th anniver-
sary of the Battle of Kings
Mountain on one hand,
while refusing to factually
represent our citizens on the
other hand.” She continued,
“You enthusiastically and
emphatically express your
strong support of the casino,
please enthusiastically and
emphatically express your
strong support of the citi-
zens of this community,
rather than for an outside or-
ganization whose business
model can only wreak havoc
on the life, liberty and hap-
piness of the citizens of this
community.”
Burton began his re-
marks by apologizing to
council for previously ques-
tioning their Christianity.
"T do still question your
understanding of what God
expects from us when it
comes to standing against
evil in its many forms and
particularly the proposed
casino," he said, adding, “I
have told you before that
I've seen the damage casinos
do and the way they do it,
their methods are uncaring
about downfall of the people
they lure into addiction. A
casino acquires money like
a parasite lives by sucking
value from an unwilling or
unknowing host."
Stalcup said that all costs
and profits are from the
losses of other people.
"Even when someone wins
it doesn’t create profit, it
creates even more losses
from the community. We are
See CASINO, 8A