Newspapers / The Kings Mountain Herald … / June 25, 1981, edition 1 / Page 1
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THURSDAY S^/ 20' VOLUME 94 NUMBER 48 KINGS MOUNTAIN. NORTH CAROLINA THURSDAY. lUNE 25. 1981 Dl I# Record $12 Million Budget Approved By City Board BY ELIZABETH STEWART Co-Editor The board of city commis sioners Monday night adopted a record budget for 1981-82 of $12,320,200.00 but maintained the ad valorem tax rate of 50 cents per $100 valuation. The budget increase is 11 per cent. Prior to revaluation, the same tax rate applied for IS years. The budget provides for salary and wage increases for perma nent city employees of seven per cent effective Sept. 1. Mayor John Henry Moss termed the new budget a “cost efficient budget” and said major increases are reflected in city ser vices, water, sewer and utilities. The city estimates an increase in power receipts to $3,598,268, water and sewer receipts to $1,126,891 and gas receipts to $5,616,743. A very high percen tage of the budget is covered in operation of the utility system. Debt service will require $330,283 for bond amortization and $60,942.50 for interest on notes tunounting to $2,435,000. “We are quite proud of the fact that the city owes only $2,435,000 which covers only revenue-producing activities,” said Mayor John Henry Moss in his budget message. The Mayor said that “the gas picture is not quite as bleak as we had an ticipated.” Biggest items for capital im provements are in the Gas Department where cathodic pro tection and a transmission line will cost $250,000, Phase 1 delivery of the No. 2 12 KV substation is expected to cost $200,000 and floculators for the T. J. Ellison Water Treatment Plant will run $30,000. A trash truck and trailer for the Sanita tion deparmtent is expected to cost $2^500. Paving, curb and gutter of streets is expected to run $78,000 ard renovation of the old City Hall for a Kings Moun tain Law Enforcement Center is expected to be $30,000. The city expects to purchase four patrol cars at cost of $34,000 for the Police Department and a $32,000 mini-truck for the Fire Department. Swimming pool improvements at Deal Street complex are ex pected to amount to $7,000 and bleachers for the baseball p>ark at Davidson Park are expected to cost $3,000. A Day Care Center is planned for the Community Center and Mountain Rest Cemetery beautification monies are included in the budget. Mrs. Betty Clark, of El Bethel Road, Administrative Assistant in the Codes Department at the Citizens Service Center, asked if engineering was being eliminated from the Codes and Inspection Department where she works. She also asked the Mayor why that department budget had in creased when two of four jobs have been eliminated. “I haven’t received a big raise”, she told the board. The proposed expen ditures are $27,000, up from $26,568.00. Mrs. Clark said su[- plies run only about $200. “Is the Department a Codes and Inspection and Engineering Department or is it Engineering,” she asked Mayor Moss. Mrs. Clark said engineer ing is still used on the depart ment door and on letterheads and tht letters go out daily. Mayor Moss said that when former Codes Director A1 Moretz resigned last year the engineering function was turned over to the city's consulting engineer, W.K. Dickson Co. of Charlotte. In other actions; The Board adopted the same privilege license schedule as last year. A request from the Board of Adjustment was approved and authorizes a sign be required on property when the owner re quests a variance to the zoning ordinance. The sign will be made by the city’s sign shop. The Board approved a request from Luther Anderson to transfer one taxicab franchise to Paul H. Roberts, Jr. The Board received four bids for gas system transmission tines. The apparent low bidder was P and M Utilities of Shelby with an alternate of $218,248.32. Continued to page 2 Hiring Policy Questioned BY ELIZABETH STEWART Co-Editor Who does the hiring, the Mayor and Board of Commis sioners or the city personnel commit tee? The question was posed by ^ Rev. M. L. Campbell at Monday night’s city board meeting. The prominent Black leader question ed why the city hires employees from outside Kings Mountain at what he termed was “expense of qualified workers within.” Complaining about hiring methods in the Public Works Department specifically, Camp bell said he had been told that A some City Hall employees are not getting pay raises like out of town workers. “I’m quite disturbed at what I hear is going on,” he said. “We need to provide first for the citizens of Kings Mountain,” he added. Commissioner Childers, a member of the three-member Personnel Committee, asked Campbell if he was referring to the Codes Department. “There has been some criticism of that area”, Campbell replied. Commissioner King, a member of the four-year-old Per sonnel Committee, explained that Department heads hire their own employees with the excep tion of the new officers for the Police Department. Department heads are hired by the full board of commissioners. Personnel Chairman Humes Houston concurred and said that his committee interviews depart ment heads and brings its recom mendations to the board. Comm. King promised Rev. Campbell a copy of the city’s personnel policy tmd percentages of outside city employees. Campbell contended that Departm-nt heads should be told to consider qualified people in Kings Mountain first. “Going TINY MISS CAROLINA PHOTOGENIC-Ioim* SharMn PortM, iiT*-y«<iT-old daughter oi D«nnte and Wanda Porter of Sholby and granddaughter oi Mr. and Mr8.Wllllam A Suggi and groat-granddaughter oi Mrs. I. Morrln Wright, oil oi Kings Mountain, rocoivod a bannor, crown, and trophy rocontly os Tiny Miss Carolina Photogsnic. laim# has won throo contosts ond reconly was crownod Littlo Miss Sunshlno Photogonic. Sh# now odvancos to state compotitlon. out of town and hiring anyone they want to is unfair,” he charg ed. Campbell contended that “ a lot of trouble and confusion resulted in formation of the per sonnel committee and new per sonnel policy.” Former Electrical Supt. Dutch Wilson reminded that 15-20 years ago an employee of the ci ty was required to live within the city limits. Commissioner Childers pointed out that the personnel policy gives the department head the authority to employ and dismiss. “Where was the authority to hire and dismiss before that?” asked Campbell. Comm. King said the authori ty was the city board of commis sioners. Former City Commissioner Paul Ledford said a department head was quoted as saying that “people in Kings Mountain Margrace May Reopen? The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States, which is handling the sale of the old Margrace Mill on Margrace Road, has notified Kings Moun tain Mayor John Henry Moss that two prospects are “very in terested in exploring the possibility of acquiring the facili ty and adapating the plant to their uses with regards to manufacturing. ” The Mayor confirmed that he has been working with represen tatives of the company. Mayor Moss said “there is a very good chance that ar rangements can be worked out with one of these companies in a reasonable period of time which would mean the reactivation of this existing facility, a landmark in Kings Mountain.” The Mayor noted that “Margrace and Pauline plants are landmarks for citizens with longtime attachments to the in dustrial community.” SUNDAY NIGHT SING The Providers of Shelby will be featured in a Sunday night gospel sing at Penley’s Chapel Methodist Church at 7 p.m. The public is invited to attend. didn’t have enough sense to run a job. ” Clyde Blackwell asked At torney George Thomasson if the three-man personnel committee was legal. “Why can’t all six commissioners serve on it”, he asked. Thomasson said the board could appoint any number to the committee it wanted. Public Works Department Head Ted Huffman, who was not present for the discussion, refuted the statements made earlier. He said 13 of his 55 employees live outside Kings Mountain. Four are from Shelby, three from Gastonia, and two each from Bessemer Ci ty, Grover and Blacksburg, S.C. “We try to get the best qualified people for the job,” said Huffman. “We review every ap- Continued to page 2 Kiwanis Sets Ladies Night Kings Mountain Kiwanis club will observe Ladies’ Night Thursday night at 6:45 p.m. at the Woman’s Club. Mrs. Cline Hamrick will give her popular rendition of ‘The Farmer’s Wife” as the program entertainment for the banquet. New officers of the civic club will be installed. Legion Dance Saturday At 9 American Legion Post 155 has booked ‘The Southbound” for Saturday night’s dance at the American Legion Building. Dancing will be from 9 to mid night and tickets are $8 per cou ple at the door. “The Southbound” is noted for Top 40, beach music, coun try and western, jazz blues, disco, rock and roll, country rock and original numbers. Several of Southbounds’ members have played with enter tainers like Jackie Wilson, The Staple Singers, Rick Nelson, Bil ly Joe Royal, and Percy Sledge. Members of the ^nd are Gene Black, bass, vocals; Bubby Clark, guitar, vocals; Doug Hartley, drums, vocals; Jerry Owens, guitar, vocals; and Mike Roof, saxophone, vocals. “Southbound” is billed as a group of dedicated musicians who present top quality music and are a professional group. DR. PAUL HENDRICKS, SR. Dr. Hendrick's Rites Conducted Dr. Paul E. Hendricks, Sr., 68, well-known Kings Mountain physician, died Tuesday morn ing on a vacation trip at Pawley’s Island, S.C. He suc cumbed to an apparent heart at tack. Graveside services were con ducted Wednesday afternoon at 5 p.m. from Mountain Rest Cemetery by Rev. Clyde Bearden, pastor of First Baptist Church, and Rev. Ivan Stephens, pastor of Central United Methodist Church. In lieu of flowers the famiy has designated memorials to the Kings Mountain Hospital Building Fund. A native of Bixby in Davie County, he was a 1935 graduate of Wake Forest College and im mediately after he and his wife, Helen Crosland Hendricks, came to Kings Mountain and Dr. Hen dricks organized the first band at Kings Mountain High School and Mrs. Hendricks taught in the science department. Dr. Hendricks had remarked that “1 had never seriously considered music as a profession. My students could all play better than 1 could. But 1 knew how it was supposed to sound.” Paul Hendricks came to Kings Mountain during the Depression days and the entire school was in the old Central School building.“We had trouble getting instruments. The first uniforms were handmade but the kids were good and we went to the Nationals four or five times after winning at the state level,” he recalled recently. After eight years of teaching. Dr. Hendricks returned to medical school at Bowman Gray University. He had commented, “It was during the war years when 1 went back to school 1 had been exempt from the draft because 1 was a science teacher and teachers were exempt. And also I was 4F because 1 had a bum ear. 1 guess it was kind of unusual to be a band director with a bum ear. But 1 volunteered for the Army and they accepted me. So 1 was in the Army while 1 was in Med School.” Dr. Hendricks also served two and one half years active duty in Korea. Dr. Hendricks said that he was never sorry that he returned to Kings Mountain in the 40’s to practice medicine. “When 1 started practicing medicine there were not many roads paved around here”, he said, “but my 40 Ford had a high axle that would get over the bumps. It was a real doctor’s C2U'. 1 never got stuck.” During those days Dr. Hendricks made housecalls and delivered babies for $25. It was not unusu2d for him to have 10 or 15 house calls before going to the office in the morning. And often 10 or 12 after leaving the office in the evening. Dr. Hendricks had expressed his pride in Kings Mountain Hospital on numerous occasions and though he was semi-retired worked at his office during mor ning hours. “1 like small towns. And small people. 1 like knowing the families here and 1 don’t have to do all the medical histories and all because I’d just know if somebody had a history of heart disease in the family or diabetes or allergies. It’s just a part of my recognition of that fellow”,he had said. “My idea was to give people the best medical care they could afford. Every person can’t afford a high-class workup. But there’s nothing wrong in treating a virus and getting a guy back to work at a price he can afford”, he said. Dr. Hendricks enjoyed his 130 acre farm and since retirement had enjoyed cattle raising. Founder of Hendricks, Durham, Lee, Crowley Clinic in Kings Mountain, he was semi- retired. He was son of the late Ernest Grover and Beulah Mer rill Hendricks and was a member of First Baptist church. He serv ed as a Captain in the U. S. Ar my during the Korean War, was a director of Home Savings and Loan Association and active in civic and community life for over 40 years. Surviving are his wife, Mrs. Helen C. Hendricks; their son. Dr. Paul E. Hendricks,.Jr., Kings Mountain dentist; their daughter, Dr. Sara H. Sinai, Winston Salem pediatrician; his brother. Gray Hendricks of Mocksville; two sisters, Mrs. Roy Colette and Mrs. Gertrude Madison, both of Mocksville, and five grandchildren. Harris Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.
The Kings Mountain Herald (Kings Mountain, N.C.)
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June 25, 1981, edition 1
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