City Council Recap – 3/26/24

Tuesday marked the Regular Meeting of the City Council for the month of March, and there were several important items on the agenda. Check out our recap below… We’re interested in feedback on how we provide this information to citizens.  Please leave a comment if you find these recaps helpful or if you’d prefer to … Continued

Cleveland County Commissioners Sold Part Of Our Gateway Trail For $2.5 Million – Will That Money Make It Back To KM?

For over a decade, the Gateway Trail has been one of our greatest community assets.  Through the tireless efforts of local citizens and leaders, this trail and park were established, expanded, and have been well-maintained.  To date, Albemarle Lithium, Martin Marietta, and the Weir Family have donated easements for the trail, and the County and … Continued

Kings Mtn vs. Cleveland County – A One-Sided Relationship

For all administrative purposes, Kings Mountain plays a pivotal role in the County’s ecosystem.  As its second largest population center, Kings Mountain contributes to the County’s statistics, reporting frameworks, and qualifies for state funding as an integral part of Cleveland County. But… does Cleveland County reciprocate this relationship with Kings Mountain? Is it a two-way … Continued

City Council Recap – Jan 11, 2024 (Dixon Ridge Development Agreement)

IMPORTANT > Make your voice heard regarding what you want to see for our parks and recreations in Kings Mountain! The City is currently conducting a citizen survey to help form the upcoming Park and Recreation Master Plan. Take the survey here >> https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/KingsMtnRecSurvey The January 11th City Council was action-packed, with most of the discussion … Continued

City Council Recap – Nov 9, 2023

Thursday evening, the Kings Mountain City Council met for its monthly workshop session.  It was a packed house, as one of the topics of discussion was the Dixon Ridge development.  Before we get to the meeting recap, we would like to say how refreshing it is to see a large turnout for a Council meeting.  … Continued
kings mountain etj

A Crash Course On Kings Mountain’s ETJ

Regardless of where you live in Kings Mountain, you’ve probably heard folks talk about the ETJ – the Extraterritorial Jurisdiction that extends the City’s authority in certain matters to two miles outside of the City Limits.  People who live in the ETJ live under a special circumstance, where they’re subject to many of the planning … Continued

The Lithium Mine And The City Council

This week, it was announced that the Department of Defense has awarded Albemarle Corporation a $90 million grant to restart their lithium mining operation in Kings Mountain – along perhaps the only source of hard rock lithium in the United States.  Our new City Manager Jim Palenick said that “we’re definitely going to look out … Continued

City Council Recap – August 10, 2023

There was a central theme in the first City Council meeting of August… transparency. The new City Manager has ushered in an era of transparency and open discussion, much to the discussion of several long-term Council members and the Mayor. The professionalism of City staff and management is clearly on the rise – and a … Continued

What’s Going On With Power Bills In KM?

Have you noticed that your power bills keep going up in Kings Mountain?  Keep seeing that “Fuel Surcharge Rider” on your bill and wondering what it is?  Would it surprise you to find out that negligence and mismanagement on the part of the City Council and former City Administration played a role?   Well, here’s the … Continued

City Council Recap – July 25

On Tuesday, the City Council had their Regular Session for the month of July.  It was a packed agenda, but there was a lot of unanimous agreement on issues that came to a vote, some important discussion about how building owners should be held accountable and business owners should be treated (and accommodated) when it … Continued

City Council Recap – July 13

With the arrival of new City Manager Jim Palenick, the management and transparency of City business has taken a dramatic turn in a professional direction. Beginning with the establishment of a regular public session for Council workshops – rather than behind closed doors – Mr. Palenick is showing the Council and the community a new … Continued

City Council Report Card – June 8 Meeting

After each meeting of the Kings Mountain City Council, we are going to create a report card to share with the community what went on in the meeting and how your elected representatives are performing. This week’s meeting, on June 8th, was a Work Session – a meeting recently implemented by our new City Manager … Continued

Mayor and City Council – What Makes a Good One

We’ve spent a lot of time recently talking about our current Mayor and City Council and what they have done (or, in many cases, failed to do). Some of you have asked – what should we look for in a Mayor and a City Council representative? Here are a few things that Mountaineers For A … Continued

The Role Of The City Council

Recently, we did an educational piece on how Kings Mountain is managed in the Council-Manager form of government. Since then, we’ve had a few people ask the question: so what exactly is the Council responsible for overseeing? The simple answer: apart from the day-to-day operations of City government, quite a bit. Our Council-Manager form of … Continued