SPORTS - 11
HOME OP RM SOM ING & A R D Guide AR ARD GARDEN 2 2016
INSIDE...
■ Golfer
Obituaries .......................... 2 Police Log ..................2 & 10 Opinion .............................. 4
Brad Wilson going into KM Sports Hall of Fame
See pages 8-9
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Moving tons of dirt
NTE site work on schedule ELIZABETH STEWART lib.kmherald@gmail.com
$22,760 worth of popcorn Caleb Sears’ true and tested sales pitch paid off as a super salesman for Boy Scout popcorn as he topped his own previous record last year with sales totaling more than $22,000 in eight weeks time.
Caleb Sears Super Salesman ELIZABETH STEWART lib.kmherald@gmail.com
Caleb Sears, 16-year-old Life Boy Scout in Troop 92, has an unbeatable record as a super salesman. The Kings Mountain High School student sold $22,760 worth of popcorn in eight weeks last year, topping his own record in Top 10 in the nation for the past five years. How did he do it? It all began with a simple question, “Would you
like to buy some popcorn and help the Boy Scouts of America? A whopping 97% of the people he asked did just that. If he had a sales motto it was to “keep going” and never give up. The ‘nos’’can be discouraging, but the “‘yes’s’’ are so rewarding – top prize rewarding. With that true and tested sales pitch, a sparkling confidence in his eyes, and a smile, Caleb went doorto-door with popcorn and See SEARS, Page 7
City moving forward City officials are moving forward with plans to spend the $96,107 in grant funding by the state's deadline of June 30. The downtown grants were given to several cities, including Kings Mountain and Shelby in Cleveland County, as revitalization grants to help transform Main Streets. Main Street Director Jan Harris said the city will be using its grant to pay for streetscaping, dealing with lights, parking and sidewalks as well as completing a bench project to provide additional benches in the downtown area.
The Main Street program has hosted several public meetings recently for input by downtown merchants to discuss possible uses of the funds and identify projects. Mayor Scott Neisler invited drafting students at Kings Mountain High School to provide a rendering of the public parking lot on S. Cherokee Street and their rendering showed how improvements could be made from 66 to 88 spaces. “I am real proud of what these students gave us, we got some really good ideas,'' said the mayor. The mayor has also suggested that some of the trees in the downtown area be trimmed and their bases lighted to add to the appearance of downtown Kings Mountain. See drawing on page 3
CK Contractors are moving tons of dirt at the NTE Energy site on Gage Road this week in preparation for grading 25 acres of the 290acre site which will become a $500 million power plant in the Fall of 2018. You can catch a glimpse of the construction driving I-85 North from Dixon School Road. It's “full blown construction,'' according to project developers and on schedule, according to NTE's Jim Medford . Riding with City Manager Marilyn Sellers, Assistant City Manager Nick Hendricks and Medford, it is an impressive and mammoth project and in a picture-perfect setting with the mountains in the background – a perfect
fit because it offers both the Williams Pipeline and Duke Energy's Transmission on this site and key water and the reliability of water in place. It's an impressive site for future development. “This project has been an amazing journey over the past three years working on the contract with NTE and I am excited to see this come to fruition,'' said City Manager Sellers, adding, “The magnitude of this project is unbelievable and I want to thank NTE for the incredible partnership. Not only will NTE be an integral part of our community but the revenues and savings generated by this facility will be remarkable.” Sellers said she is looking forward to the ribbon cutting and the first day of operation. Mayor Scott Neisler said he is looking forward to a bright Kings Mountain fu-
Assistant City Manager and Energy Director Nick Hendricks, NTE officials Mike Green, Garrett Weeks, and David Tippett, City Manager Marilyn Sellers, and NTE Site Manager Jim Medford, left to right, are pictured at NTE's temporary business office on Dixon School Road. Photo by LIB STEWART ture with NTE and what the completion of the project will mean for Kings Mountain. “This is a good public/private partnership with a good cooperative spirit between both parties,'' said Medford. Hendricks said that during
his 30-plus years with the city and being involved in many projects, none has proposed the value the NTE project will bring to the community, citizens and our customers. Hendricks said NTE will See NTE SITE, Page 3
Public gun range to open April 19 The 55-acre Cleveland County Foothills Public Shooting Range, the largest public shooting facility in the state and possibly in the Southeast, will open Tuesday, April 19 with ribbon-cutting at noon and range demonstrations and activities until 3 p.m. The shooting range is located off Cherryville Road near the Cleveland County Waste Management Facility. The shooting range is an estimated $3 million dollar project with $2 million from the North Carolina Wildlife Association and monies coming from donors. “North Carolina Wildlife made it happen,'' county commissioner Johnny Hutchins said recently and “it's a dream come true.” Hutchins, of Kings Mountain, has spearheaded the
NEW GUN RANGE – Cleveland Foothills Publich Shooting Range will open April 19. project for seven years. He said the county has stood out among others in
its drive to build a full-service range with a 3-D archery range with 20 stands
for archery, a 250 yard rifle range and three pistol target See GUN RANGE, Page 7
City audit ‘clean’ for 18th year: auditor The City of Kings Mountain has received a clean audit for the 18th year. Meg Blue, of the audit firm of Martin Starnes & Associates, presented the audit report for the period July 1, 2014-June 30, 2015 at last Tuesday’s meeting of Kings Mountain City Council. “It’s refreshing to me to see a good, stable audit,’’ said Mayor Scott Neisler, adding, “This was definitely a collaborative effort for many years to have gotten this way. Thanks to the staff for all their
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hard work in making this possible.’’ He added, “The future looks bright and it’s an exciting time to be a part of Kings Mountain government.” Revenue increased $1.1 million which includes additional property taxes of $467,845 – from $4,019,602 in 2014 to $4,487,447 in 2015 - which demonstrated positive growth within the city, said City Manager Marilyn Sellers. Fiscal year 2014-15 ended with the city only using $72,789 of the fund balance
and Sellers said she was very proud of this accomplishment which was possible due to an increase in projected revenue along with conservative measures taken by the staff. Blue also thanked a cooperative staff and called the audit process an “unmodified opinion.” She also commended the city for having an available 15.7 percent of expenditures ( fund balance) in the general fund and said the city has almost two times the amount of 8% that the Local Government Commission re-
quires or roughly one month. She said the audit reflects implementation of GASB statements 67 and 68 for pension accounting. The general fund expenditure break-down included public safety, 30%; general government 19%; economic and physical development, 15%; and 36% for other expenditures which included transportation, environmental protection, cultural and recreation and debt service. Public safety expenses were down, See CITY AUDIT, Page 7
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