Newspapers / The Kings Mountain Herald … / May 13, 1982, edition 1 / Page 1
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C) •r-V.T) VOLUME 95. NUMBER 20 s § k i r;is THURSDAY. MAY 13. 1982 25« KINGS MOUNTAIN. NORTH C Ready, Aim, Fire! Mayor given authority to cut city’s work force 9 i • BY GARY STEWART Editor The City Board of Commis sioners Monday night approved a resolution submitted by the Cost-Efficiency Committee which will allow Mayor John Henry Moss to fire any employees and take any other actions he sees lit to enable the city to operate more efficiently. The resolution passed by a 4-2 vote with commissioners Nor man King and Jim Childers voting against it. Commissioners Humes Houston, who made the motion, Jim Dickey, who seconded it. Curt Gaffney and Corbet Nicholson voted in favor of it. All of those commissioners ex cept Gaffney serve on the Cost- Efficiency Committee, along with Mayor Moss. Childers and King said they both objected to the motion because they didn’t feel the city needed a reduction in the work force and that they knew nothing of the committee’s proposal prior to Monday’s meeting. The two also objected, they said, because the committee. without authorization of the full board, hired a personnel consul tant to advise the committee and mayor on which employees they could dismiss without facing possible action by the Equal Employment Opportunity Com mission. They also claimed the Cost- Efficiency Committee had not been approved by the board and that deling with city personnel is the responsibility of the Per sonnel Committee, and none other. Members of the Cost- Efficiency Committee said the Consultant-Employers E.O. Ser vices, Inc. of Charlotte and Winston-Salem-was hired on the advice of City Attorney George Thomasson and it was not their intent to take away any of the Personnel Committee’s respon sibility. “As chairman of the Person nel Committee, 1 don’t feel we are taking any of the Personnel Committee’s responsibility,” Houston said. “But because of the technical aspects of the reduction of forces, we felt it was to our advantage to have this ex pert knowledge.” “Why are we using these ser vices if they haven’t been ap proved by the board?” King ask ed. “As a respresentative of the people of the city, I feel like I have the right to know beforehand.” “I’m not questioning the ex pertise of these people,” Childers said. “But where it’s involving personnel, it should fall under the personnel policy and the per sonnel committee.” Nicholson told Childers he felt like the committee “has the authority” to hire a consultant, and said he felt that was no worse than the personnel com mittee granting one city employee a $5,000 a year raise. “Any time the personnel com mittee has brought a recommen dation to this board, it has been laid out in detail,” Childers said. ‘This recommendation is not laid out except in giving the mayor authority to hire and fire anyone he wants to. This board should be shown what reduc tions are going to be made.” King said Mayor Moss cir culated a memo several months Good Deal! Company sells property for $28,900, Buys it back for $13,002 The Kings Mountain Board of Commissioners Monday night unanimously approved the sale of a piece of Community Devdopmect pi^ppery located at the corner of Railroad Avenue and West Gold Street to Plonk Brothers Department Store. The property, known as parcel 3-S, is a store building previously owned by Plonk Brothers, which most recently housed Wright’s Barber Shop and the Kings Mountain Mirror. Plonk, the only bidder, paid S13,002-two dollars over the minimum fair market value-and agreed to bring the building up to City Codes standards within six months of delivery of deed. Plonk Brothers sold the property to the Kings Mountain Redevelopment Commission in 1974 for $28,900. The city acquired it in 1979 when the Redevelopment Conunission was phased out and all of its property and debts were taken over by the ci ty. Gene White, Community Development Director and former Director of the Redevelopment Com mission, said the city no longer had any use for the property and it was expensive to maintain. He said the original intent was to acquire the property so West Gold Street could be widened. However, since that time the city has decided to re-align Gold Street, using the old Roller Mill property instead. At the February board meeting. White suggested that the city either demolish the structure or sell it with the stipulation that tha buyer bring it to codes standards. That recommendation was approved. White said a certified appraiser valued the property at $13,000 and the City Codes Director inspected the building and made a list of imin-ovements that must be made by the buyer. Commissioner Jim Childers told White Monday night that it was his understanding that the market value had been lowered by $6,000 to cover what it would have cost the city to tear the building down. Childers said he felt like, if the building was not demolished, the minimum market value should have been $6,000 more, or $19,000. “When we depended on the appraiser to give a fair market value, we were talking about a clear lot,” Childers tdd White. “At that time, you said the building wasn’t worth saving.” “I’m not a certified appraiser,” White said, “but in this case I think the city made as good a deal as is appropriate at this time. It’s strictly a matter of opi nion.” White said he made every effort to recruit as many bids as possible. The property was advertised several times in the Herald, White sent letters to all realtors in town and said he also made telephone contacts. ago ordering a “freeze” on hiring because of the economy, but King claimed since that time Moss has hired three employees. Moss said his memo ordered a freeze on the hiring of perma nent employees. He claimed two of the three persons hired since were “seasonal employees” and the third was a woman who had recently been laid off and was promised the “first vacancy” after she appealed her layoff to the Equal Employment Oppor tunity Commission. As for the naming of the com mittee without board approval. Moss said he usually brings the appointment of committees before the board as a matter of courtesy, but as chief executive officer of the city, he has com plete authority to appoint com mittees without the board’s ap proval. Most of the authority given Moss in the resolution, the Mayor said, is already his by vir tue of his office. “But it has always been my intent to share it with other elected officials,” he said. City Attorney George Thomasson said he recommend ed the city hire a consultant because of the enormous amount of equal employment guidelines. Asked if the mayor or a committee can legally hire so meone without the full board’s approval, he said “legally, they probably can, but as matter of courtesy they probably should bring it before the entire board.” Mayor Moss, when asked the hourly rate of the equal employ ment consultants and how much they had worked thus far, said he did not know either, but would check and notify the Herald. At presstime Wednes day, the paper had not been notified. However, one city employee, who asked not to be identified, said the talk around town was that the rate is $75 per hour, plus expenses, and that the city had already been billed for $4,500. The city budgeted $12,5(K) lor professional services. According to one commissioner, $24,000 has already been spent but that item has never been amended. Moss said he plans two meetings of the Cost-Efficiency Committee this week, and he will seek the advice of the com mittee as well as the personnel consultants in carrying out the duties of reducing the work force. Moss said the committee was appointed in December and has been meeting since January. “We’ve been studying where cuts can be made and have been monitoring the effects of the economy on the city. This is not a spur of the moment thing. This is an ongoing problem on the na tional and state level and now it has come down to Kings Moun tain.” Commissioners Houston and Dickey are co<hairmen of the comittee. ‘There’s a lot of work invovl- ed in this,” Moss went on. “We’ll review all departments.” Hee Haw Show For Cancer Fund Drive, Black American Cancer Screen Saturday The Hee Haw Gang of Cleveland County will present a Junior Hee Haw Show Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Brown Auditorium on the campus of Shelby High School. All proceeds will go to the American Cancer Society’s fund drive, which is in progress through August 31. Tickets are $3 for adults and $1.30 for students. The gang will imitate country music stars such as Charlie Pride, Johnny Cash and Lulu of Hee Haw fame. A special treat will be an appearance by the Oak Ridge Girls. *** A Black American Health CORRECTION The Kings Mountain Herald inadvertently printed the name of Caveny Fabrics in the Cleveland County delinquent tax listings printed in last weeks edition. Caveny Fabrics has paid their taxes and we apologize for this error. Funeral Services Held For Wayne Wells, 88 Wayne Wells, 88, a resident of Route 4, Wells Road, Kings Mountain, died Wednesday night at Kings Mountain Hospital. A native of Cleveland Coun ty, he was the son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Aaron Wells. He was a veteran of World War I, a retired farmer, and was the oldest member of Dixon Presbyterian Church. Surviving are his wife, Leona McDaniel Wells; a son, Richard Carveth Wells of Kings Moun tain; two brothers. Hunter Wells of Kings Mountain and Harley Wells of Washington, D.C.; one sister, Mrs. Bryte W. Frances of Blacksburg, S.C.; three grand children and two great grandchildren. Services were conducted Saturday at 3 p.m. at Dbcon Presbyterian Church by the Rev. Graham Wood and the Rev. Oscar Stalcup Jr. Burial was in Wellsland Cemetery. Screening will be held Saturday from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. at the Cleveland County Health Department. ^rpose of the screening is to screen for cancer, high blood pressure and glaucoma, and to educate citizens on the seven warning signals of cancer. A number of doctors, nurses, dentists and others have volunteered their services. The screening is free and available to citizens ages 25 and over. e 'I / WAYNE WELLS REPAIRING ROJU) - City workars ora pic- turad abotra hara rapairing a pavamant on Fulton Straat Tuasdoy. A raaidant of tha atraat appaarad baiora tba City Boord Monday night at cm cisaawmant haaring and claimad tha povamant had gram growing in it and was Photo by Gory Stawart sinking whara it had racantly baan dug up for o sawaga lina rapair. Public Works Suparintandant Tad Hufiman sold that was tha only comploint from 25 rasidants in tha oraa and sant his craw out aorly Tuasdoy mor ning to corract tha problam. Assessments Approved The City Board of Commis sioners Monday night approved assessments rolls for im provements of three strees in the Ashbrook Park sub-division. Citizens of Fulton Street, Brice Street and Sterling Drive were assessed for recent paving improvements on their streets. During a public hearing, J.F. Chaffee of 315 Fulton Drive, said he was unhappy with the work. He said there was grass growing in the street and that the road had collapsed where the city had repaired a sewer line. “How can you assess something that is falling apart?” he asked. Thomas Limbaugh, who lives at the comer of Sterling Drive and Waco Road, said he con firmed Chaffee’s statement, and added that there was grass grow ing in the pavement at the en trance to Ashbrook Park. Ted Huffman, Pubic Works Superintendent, said he had driven the roads prior to the meeting and had not seen any grass growing in the pavements, but promised the men he would re-check the streets Tuesday morning. City crews were repair ing the street in front of Chaffee’s home Tuesday morn ing. Five residents of Fulton Street Extension were assessed $1,090.05, or $2.15 per foot; eight residents of Brice Street were assessed $1,916.32, or $2.03 per foot; and 12 residents of Sterling Drive were assessed $4,058.00, or $2.00 per foot. In other action Monday, the board: ♦Amended the Community Development Block Grant budget for 1978 to include $67,600 in increased revenues. Community Development Direc tor Gene White said the increase was due to revenues received from rental and sale of proper ties. •Approved passing a 5.49 cents per M.C.F. decrease in the cost of natural gas onto city customers. •Authorized Mayor John Henry Moss to negotiate Recreation Department concession con tracts specificatins with in terested parties. •Received a request from Crossroads Music Park for water and sewer services for a propos ed 160 town houses. The request was forwarded to the Water and Sewer Committee for review and recommendation. •Held a 35-minute executive session at the request of Com missioner Jim Childers. Mayor Moss said a “peisonnel matter was discussed and is continuing to be reviewed.”
The Kings Mountain Herald (Kings Mountain, N.C.)
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May 13, 1982, edition 1
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