City Council Nominates Historical Board; Other Topics Discussed

6:30 AM EST |February 29, 2024|Wise News Network|Government, History, News Articles

The Cherryville City Council bench. Tuesday, February 27, 2024, by Mason Beam (WNN).

By: Grace Smith – Wise News Network

CHERRYVILLE, NC (WNN) – The Cherryville City Council reached a conclusion regarding the new members of the Cherryville Historical Association. The council approved the members during the work session held on Tuesday, February 27, 2024. Other topics were also discussed.

Closed Session

Tuesday’s work session commenced with the city attorney, Yansea Taylor, recommending that the council meet in a closed session to discuss closing a portion of Vernon Street.

The council discussed this closure in a closed session for approximately 20 minutes. When they returned Mayor H.L. Beam said that no action was taken during the closed session.

The Cherryville City Council and other members of the city’s staff at the work session from Tuesday, February 27, 2024. Pictured left to right: Gary Freeman, Jon Abernethy, Mayor H.L. Beam, Jill Puett, Janice Hovis, Paige Green, the city clerk, Yansea Taylor, Brian Dalton. Tuesday, February 27, 2024, by Mason Beam (WNN).

Venue Change for Budget Work Session

The city council discussed the location for the upcoming budgeting session. The budgeting session can take more than five hours. This is a meeting where the city council meets with City Manager Brian Dalton, Financial Director Dixie Wall and all the department supervisors to determine the annual budget.

In previous years the meeting was held at the Cherryville Fire Department, however it changed due to convenience for the fire fighters.

The initial discussion of the meeting location stemmed from the fact that the city pays to heat City Hall.There is a conference room in City Hall that could potentially be used for the budget session.

However, Mayor Beam mentioned that the conference room might be too small. The Mayor is concerned about the conference room size due to past media presence. The Wise News Network (WNN) attended last year’s meeting and filmed a portion of the discussions.

“It is sort of confined to try to have our work session there, but I thought I would just bring it up for discussion to see how the council members thought about changing our venue from here to our City Hall,” said Mayor Beam.

The mayor asked Rusty Wise, founder of WNN, if the conference room was too small for filming. Wise agreed that it might be, but WNN was only there a few minutes last year.

The city council ultimately decided against moving the venue of the budgeting session, and it will be held in the chamber.

Cleveland County Water Interconnect

The City of Cherryville is a part of a water interconnect agreement with Cleveland County. The city was granted $3 million for the construction of this project.

The interconnect will make it possible for Cherryville to purchase water from Cleveland County if necessary.

Cleveland County Water received four bids for the construction of this project. The lowest bid was from Hyatt Pipeline, LLC, asking for $2,340,855. The highest bid was from Piedmont Utility Group, Inc., asking for $3,597,396.

“Cleveland County has handled the engineering and putting the project out for bid,” said Brian Dalton, Cherryville’s city manager.

The other bids include Two Brothers Utilities, LLC, bidding $2,670,701, and Fuller & Company Construction, bidding $2,933,606.

The Cherryville City Council had to vote to adopt Cleveland County’s water interconnect resolution to approve a construction bid. The consulting engineers on this project recommended awarding Hyatt Pipeline the bid.

The city council adopted Cleveland County’s resolutions unanimously.

Since Hyatt Pipeline’s bid was lower than the $3 million grant, the City of Cherryville gets to keep the remaining money. The remainder amounts to nearly $700,000 that will go towards Cherryville’s water.

“We should get the remainder of that, but it would be strictly allocated for water,” said Dalton.

Cherryville Historical Association

After receiving 16 applications for the Historical Association, the city council elected new members to the board. The new board comes after the resignation of Al Putnam, the former president, and Lori Pruitt, the former secretary.

Mayor Beam noted that this is the highest number of board applicants during his tenure. The city council members had a little over two weeks to review the applicants and choose their top five.

City Manager Dalton compiled the top five nominees for council approval during the work session, and they were unanimously approved.

The new members of the Historical Association are John “Pete” Craft, Diana White, Timothy “Clay”Henley, Malcolm Parker and Judy Bingham. Once the new board meets the members will decide amongst themselves who will serve in officer positions.

“I just would encourage everybody that applied. Please consider volunteering for our museum because we need every member we can get.” said Mayor Beam.

Mayor Beam also made it clear that the city will be hands-off regarding the Historical Association. It will be up to the new board to ensure the Cherryville Historical Museum is running smoothly. However, the city is still financially responsible for the museum.

“The city really doesn’t want to be part of the running of the museum or the administration of the artifacts or anything else.” said Mayor Beam.

Stay tuned to WNN for an upcoming article on the new Historical Association members.

Inter-local Agreement with Cleveland County

The city council voted to enter an inter-local agreement with Cleveland County. This agreement will allow Cherryville and Cleveland County to manage grant funds.

Entering into this agreement will help fund various organizations in Cherryville, such as the C. Grier Beam Truck Museum and the Cherryville Little Theater.

“The Grier Beam Truck Museum is going to receive $5000, the Little Theater is going to receive $100,000, the City of Cherryville receives $125,000, the YMCA is receiving $25,000, Preserve Gaston Inc., is receiving $100,000, Cherryville Area Ministries is receiving $50,000.” Dalton listed several organizations that will benefit.

Cherryville had to adopt a budget amendment to manage the remaining $300,005 in the grant fund. Upon the amendment being adopted Cleveland County will transfer the funds to Cherryville. The city will then allocate the funds to the aforementioned organizations.

The city council unanimously approved the inter-local agreement budget amendment.

The newly painted basket ball courts at Aaron B. Moss Municipal Park. Image from the City of Cherryville Facebook page.

Recreation

The basketball courts at Aaron B. Moss Municipal Park were recently painted. City Manager Dalton said there were at least 40 kids playing basketball at the courts this weekend.

“It was great to see that many kids out playing in the new basketball courts,” said Dalton.

Similarly, the Cherryville YMCA is holding a ribbon cutting on Thursday, February 29, 2024, to celebrate the unveiling of its new pickleball courts.

Pickleball is a recent craze and many Cherryville residents have expressed interest in a local pickleball league.

As the weather warms up it might be more common to see Cherryville residents utilizing sporting facilities.

As the city council oversees these changes, community engagement becomes an important aspect in ensuring the success of implemented initiatives. For example, volunteering at the museum and joining local organizations supports the council’s efforts.

The next city council meeting is Monday, March 11, 2024. In the meantime, stay tuned to WNN for local news updates.

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