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…
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New Small Business Center In Kings Mountain
Steve Padgett and Cleveland Community College have launched a new Small Business Center in Kings Mountain at 700 W King St (the old SunTrust building). The Small Business Center is a community-based provider of education, confidential counseling and information for residents who are looking to start or grow their small businesses. This is a tremendous resource for our community, and the extension of CCC into Kings Mountain is a wonderful thing to see. Mr. Padgett welcomes all entrepreneurs and small businesses and looks forward to serving as a resource.
>> Find more information at https://clevelandcc.edu/continuing-education/small-business-center/
Moss Lake Water Quality Study
It’s no secret that Kings Mountain water has had a … funky … taste for quite some time. The City has now set aside funding received via grant to establish a sediment remediation and water quality study to get to the bottom of it. This funding comes from an American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) grant in the amount of $400K that the City received and accepted in August 2023.
Citizen Feedback On New Brush Pick Up Policy
Recently, the City enacted a new policy that would see citizens charged for having a pile of leaves/limbs larger than 5’ x 5’ picked up by the City. There has been some criticism of this new policy on social media, and that criticism surfaced in Tuesday’s Council meeting as well. From our perspective, this is the type of feedback that our City needs to continually improve! We continue to urge citizens to get involved in local government and make their voices heard.
Recognitions and Honors
Several KM residents were recognized and honored at Tuesday’s meeting. KM’s 911 operators were recognized for processing more than 34K calls per year. Heather Pasour, the volleyball coach at KMHS, was awarded the Celebrate-a-Citizen award after leading her team to a State Championship this season. And Lt. Tyler Laughridge was honored for completing his firefighter training at Gaston College.
Rezoning and Development Issues
Several of these items were before the City Council on Tuesday night. First, the Council voted to rezone property at the corner of Battleground Ave and Kings Mountain Blvd to create 8.5 acres of new commercial space off I-85 near the Casino district. This area is certain to undergo commercial growth as the casino project develops, and this rezoning will ensure that there are ample, suitable land use options in the area.
There was no action taken on Lacey Orchard – a 99 acre proposed development on Business 74. More details will be released in coming weeks and the Planning and Zoning Board will meet on April 9th. Lacey Orchard would bring 8 new acres of commercial space, 204 townhomes and 210 single family homes to the community.
As development continues to progress in KM, the City is taking action to ensure that developers are the ones paying for the increased burdens placed on City infrastructure. On Tuesday, Council passed six separate policies and agreement templates which will be used to pass the cost of system infrastructure improvements (natural gas and electric) on to the developers of residential, commercial and industrial developments. The City Manager has preached a policy of “growth paying for growth,” and this is that policy in action.
Potential Job Growth Opportunities
Kings Mountain is partnering with the Cleveland County Economic Development Partnership to potentially recruit a new manufacturing partner to Kings Mountain. This confidential project (Project Ball) would see an investment by the manufacturer greater than $9M and would lead to the creation of 84 new, full-time jobs with an average annual salary greater than $63K. The manufacturer is seriously considering Kings Mountain (an existing vacant facility on S Railroad Avenue), as well as a location in Tennessee. In other words, this project presents a wonderful opportunity to not only make a large economic impact on our community, but also make use of a currently vacant property.
Kings Mountain is considering an economic development incentives grant to help entice the manufacturer to make this sizable investment and create these jobs in our town. These grants come in the form of property tax credits for the manufacturer, but only after favorable conditions for the City have been met. The incentive grant would be equal to roughly $21K over three years, assuming these conditions are met by the company.