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Labor Day festival
Ranlo will hold a Labor Day festival on Friday Aug. 26, 6-10 p.m. and Sat. 3 to 10 p.m. The admission is free but there is a $10 charge for an unlimited ride armband. Advance purchase will be from Aug. 15-28 at Ranlo Town Hall (1624 Spencer Mtn. Rd) from 9 a.m to 4 p.m. At the fair, armbands will be $15. Entertainment on Friday is The Sonshyne Boyz and Sat.’s band is Firecreek. The town is also looking for more arts and crafts vendors for their festival. Charges for a space of 16ft x 12ft is $20 for two days. Forms may be picked up from Ranlo Town Hall or by calling (704)824-3461 for more information.
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Council approves greenways plan
By THOMAS LARK
- Thu, Feb 14, 2008
MOUNT HOLLY—Plans for Mount Holly’s green transformation just got a step nearer to fruition.
By a resolution at its Monday regular meeting, the Mount Holly City Council officially and unanimously endorsed the final design plans for the Catawba River Corridor and Mount Holly Greenprint projects—plans that will bring walking trails and other recreational amenities to an 11-mile stretch where the river edges the city.
Councilmen Jerry Bishop and David Moore made the respective motion and second.
Before the vote, council heard from Bob Suttenfield, chairman of the Friends of the Greenways or FROGS, one of five committees of the Mount Holly Community Development Foundation. Suttenfield extolled the work of Chuck Flink and his Durham-based company, Greenways, Inc., for their final designs for the projects, presented at a Jan. 17 foundation meeting. Just as council would do, the foundation’s members likewise unanimously accepted the plans of Greenways, Inc.
“We’re committed to making this a cost-effective project for the city of Mount Holly,” said Suttenfield.
Following the vote, the audience of Mount Holly citizens rose as one and erupted in applause—an enthusiastic show of support for the worthy, environmentally-conscious plan.
In other news, council heard from Finance Officer Jamie Guffey. In his middle-of-the-fiscal-year report, Guffey said the city is in great shape financially.
The city is well above its target numbers of 50 percent, particularly in its collection of property taxes. The city has also collected 61 percent of its money budgeted for mid-year.
“So that’s pretty good,” said Guffey.
In fact, he added, had the fiscal year ended Dec. 31, the city would have added $1.6 million to its fund balance.
But the city must also look to its overtime expenses incurred due to vacancies, he warned, and the city needs to watch its fuel consumption. Even with the discounts available to municipalities, gasoline at more than $3 a gallon still adversely affects Mount Holly, especially in such necessities as the city’s police department and other mandatory vehicular use.
And in the meeting’s public comments portion, council heard from Anthony Oliva, former councilwoman Pat Hubbard, Ann Danzi and Jefferson Fortner, all of Mount Holly.
Oliva said he resides in Dutchman’s Meadow. He asked council to further investigate placing guard rails on Sandy Ford Road—a very twisty-turny route, he said.
“It’s very dangerous,” he said.
A retired law enforcement officer excellent at estimating vehicular speed, Oliva said the residents of the 26 homes in the area are regularly endangered by speeding motorists routinely flouting the 45-mile-per-hour limit.
“It’s pretty scary,” he said. “You can hear their wheels squealing.”
Addressing Oliva, Mayor Robert Whitt acknowledged that the road is under the purview of the North Carolina Department of Transportation. Whitt said he would direct the NCDOT to look into the possibility of needed guard rails.
Hubbard extolled the recently-held Main Street Conference in Rocky Mount for its useful information.
Danzi lauded Chief David Belk and the Mount Holly Police Department for its recently acquired new communications system—all with grant money and no local taxpayer dollars involved.
“Thank you, Chief,” she said.
And Fortner said he was concerned about deteriorating street and infrastructure conditions on East Catawba Avenue, including potholes and bundled, hanging power lines. Between Highland Avenue and Main Street (“quite a cut-through,” he said), there are no posted speed limit signs in the 20-MPH zone.
The Mount Holly City Council meets again Feb. 25 at 7 p.m. for its regularly scheduled work session.
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