Residents Raise Concerns Over $3.8 Million in Surplus at Cherryville City Council Meeting
By: Wise News Network Staff
Cherryville, NC (WNN)— The Cherryville City Council held its monthly meeting on Monday, June 9th, 2025. During this meeting, concerned citizens expressed their doubts regarding the city’s infrastructure, how codes are enforced, and the impact new housing developments will have on the community.
The meeting began with an invocation from Pastor Scott Homesley of St. John’s Lutheran Church, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. After that, Council members unanimously approved the agenda and the minutes from their meeting on May 12th and the work session on May 27th.
Mayor Gives Updates on City Projects
Cherryville Mayor H.L. Beam gave several updates regarding ongoing city projects. Work has continued on the Cherryville Historical Museum, and painting continues inside and outside the building. Sid Stroupe mentioned outside of the meeting that the new exterior color had been determined by scraping to have the original paint color identified. Once all work is complete, the building will have a new roof, HVAC system, and new lighting. Beam thanked all the individuals who have been making these updates a reality.
Mayor Beam announced the city received plats to sign off on the Howell Stroup property located on W Hwy 150. With True Homes as the developer, Phase One of the property is expected to contain around 100 new homes. Beam also reminded citizens that “No Parking” signs have been installed on South Dixie Street and are being monitored by the Cherryville police department.
Recreation Updates
The community building also currently has work in progress. Beam noted that the exterior painting has been completed, along with removing several trees in front of the building to make room for landscaping, lights, and new mulch. Beam also mentioned that a fence has been installed around the playground equipment at the Larry and Carolyn Summer Recreation Center.
However, there have been issues with the Gym basketball floor buckling around one of the goals due to a problem with the HVAC system. The HVAC repair is completed, although the floor remains a work in progress. Beam also mentioned that the Little League All-Star tournament for 9 and 10-year-olds kicks off on June 21st, and how popular the pickleball courts at Westgate Park and Ben Black Park and the city’s splash pad at 101 S Rudisill Ave have been. The splash pad hours are from 10 AM to 8 PM daily. The YMCA pool opened last week for the season.
Citizen Voice Concerns
During “Citizens to be Heard,” Dawn Whitworth commended the City’s efforts to revitalize Main Street and make it more appealing. However, she pointed out that there are other areas needing attention, many of which are on major highways coming into town. These include overgrown yards and lots, abandoned buildings with vegetation growing over them, tall weeds growing in city streets, clogged city storm drains, and poor conditions of city roads.
Whitworth mentioned property near the police department, which is often overgrown with tall grass and weeds, and the building that used to house Papa John’s Pizza across from the city pool as examples. She asked city council members, “Are these overgrown and neglected areas the impression of Cherryville we want visitors to take away?”
More Citizen Concerns
Whitworth believes it would be helpful for the citizens of Cherryville if all council members had a city of Cherryville email address. This would help conduct city business, and she pushed for hiring a full-time planning and zoning director. Currently, the only elected official with an official city email address is Mayor H.L. Beam.
While Whitworth was glad to hear that more money has been allocated for repairing eight roads in the 2025-2026 budget, she wants to know what can be done about the disrepair of our remaining streets. She also worries about new projects, such as the 120-apartment complex on Academy Street and a 185-home development at Calico Creek. She questions how the city plans to deal with the growth, especially regarding schools and infrastructure.
Another citizen, Rick Jenks, spoke during “Citizens to be Heard”. He thanked City staff for addressing an issue about a stump on Oak Street and Academy after two years. Jenks mentioned that the Baptist Association came and pushed the stump onto the sidewalk. After some negotiation, City Manager Brian Dalton consented to letting Jenks haul off the stump.
He noted that he has heard of other citizens receiving payment from the city for this, with the money coming from a FEMA fund. Jenks asked how FEMA works, saying he had to pay to remove storm debris while others got help. Jenks also wondered if the city has enough equipment and workers to remove debris. The next citizen to be heard, Sid Stroupe, also voiced concerns over this. When Stroupe asked if FEMA paid for the debris removal, City Manager Brian Dalton claimed this was false.
Museum Project Updates
Sid Stroupe thanked the city for having someone to code enforce, saying it helps ensure that everyone is taking care of Cherryville and keeping it beautiful. As the acting project manager for the Cherryville Historical Museum, Sid Stroupe also shared news about the museum project that started in January. He says there were two parts to it: one was wanting to clean up the museum building, preserve and rehab it, and get it back in shape; the second part is to reimagine the exhibits that were there, mentioning that there are a lot of other stories to tell.
According to Stroupe, the museum is almost complete. The last thing that needs to be done is to vacuum the floors, mop, and oil the floors. He says everything has gone so great; they have had 15 volunteers help. The next part of the project will take a while, according to Stroupe because they are trying to reevaluate the exhibits. This is to make sure that each exhibit has a story about how those objects relate to Cherryville and its history.
ABC Board Reports Record Revenue, Presents Funds
ABC store Manager Allen Fraley and Board Chairman James Beam were proud to announce they are on pace to have another year of record sales. The ABC Board voted and decided to hand out an initial profit check of $35,000 to the city. With $6,000 for law enforcement donated earlier, making $41,000 in total for this year.
Since 1982, the ABC system has given $1,119,799 to the city and $220,000 to local law enforcement. The total revenue hitting over $1,420,299. With beer and wine sales included, this number reaches $2,150,599. Fraley says that with this month’s revenue, the annual revenue will go above $1.7 million. The proposed budget presented at their May meeting is projecting revenues to exceed over 1.8 million for the upcoming year.
He believes the store could cross $2 million in a few years. A big part of this increase comes from customers who aren’t from Cherryville but are coming in for special products. Fraley is able to procure items such as a 25-year-old bottle of Wellerman costing $7500 for one such customer.
Animal Rescue Founder Advocates for Stronger Laws
Ashley Carpenter, founder of Take a Chance Animal Rescue, addressed the council about animal welfare. She shared that she is working to build Cherryville’s first dedicated rescue facility on her 64-acre property to provide care and refuge to animals in need.
Carpenter shared the story of a kitten, Sir Crispin Fireball, born in Cherryville at Home Folks Cafe, who faced terrible cruelty. One day, a Cherryville native threw him into a fire pit and poured his body into hot candle wax. Most veterinarians said euthanasia was the only option due to the extent of his injuries. Allison Still, president of the Association of Animal Welfare, took swift action, contacting Carpenter, determined to save the kitten. Still, and AWA coordinated the kitten’s rescue, funded his treatment, and gave him a fighting chance.
AWA fiercely advocated for justice and, with their efforts, secured their very first felony animal cruelty charge in 2024 for this case. The perpetrator was arrested by the Cherryville Police, and the kitten survived. Carpenter urged the council to strengthen cruelty laws and collaborate with groups like AWA. Carpenter will have a more detailed presentation at the work session meeting on June 24th.
Main Street Committee Appointments Approved
The council considered appointments to the Cherryville Main Street Committee. Downtown Director David Day presented a list of team members who had previously served. Their terms are up, and they are asking for reappointment, which the Main Street program’s board had previously approved of directors. The council unanimously approved these appointments.
Council Considers Zoning and Special Use Permit
The council then moved to consider setting public hearings for July 14, 2025. This is regarding a request to amend the city’s zoning map for property at 363 Anthony Grove Road (Gaston County parcel ID159109).
The request is to change the zoning from “rural residential” (R40) to “conditional zoning/single-family residential” (CZ/R-15). Planning and Zoning Director Richard Elam explained that the Planning and Zoning Board had requested more time to consider the matter and would revisit it the following Monday. However, due to time constraints related to the zoning ordinance, the matter needed to proceed to the City Council. The council unanimously approved setting the public hearing for July 14.
A second public hearing was also set for July 14, 2025, concerning a special use permit for 363 Anthony Grove Road to allow for a 125-residential lot development. This is required by the city’s cluster development ordinance. Elam explained that cluster housing involves smaller lots with specific requirements like sidewalks and curb cuts. The planning board also reconsidered this plan. The council unanimously approved setting the public hearing for this matter as well.
Council Approves 2025-2026 Budget
City Manager Brian Dalton presented the proposed fiscal year 2025-2026 annual budget, totaling $18,777,275. Key highlights included a 10% cost-of-living adjustment for all full-time city employees to remain competitive with neighboring towns. Dalton noted that health insurance costs had been negotiated down to a 10% increase from 28%. There were also increases in local government retirement contributions from 13.66% to 14.35%. The budget adds one position to the fire department, aiming to have three firefighters per shift. The remaining budget needed for more positions could be achieved through a Safer Grant if the grant is awarded to the city.
Capital projects include buying a new boom truck, a new lawnmower for the recreation department, and potentially a new dump truck. The budget represents a 5.5% increase over the previous year.
Powell Bill and Plans for Road Improvements
The budget also prioritizes road paving, with all Powell Bill funds now dedicated to that purpose. The proposed funds in the 2025-26 Cherryville budget totaling $397,350. This year the money is expected to pave eight roads in Cherryville. Currently, which roads will be paved have not been selected.
Dalton projected a budget surplus and an increase in the city’s fund balance, which was around 36-37% after last year’s audit. This is around $3,800,000 from the general fund. This is money meant to deal with emergencies such as major wind events.
During a public hearing on the budget, Sid Stroupe asked why so much money was sitting in the fund and thought it should be used to fix the streets, as there have been many complaints about how the roads currently look. He cited that while working in Durham County, NC, the Board had a fund balance of 10-20%, which was considered healthy.
City officials explained the complexities of street repairs, including unexpected costs due to underground pipe collapses, and the city’s plan to pave eight streets this year, with the potential for more. Stroupe also mentioned the impact of Ripple Fiber’s work on city roads. City officials stated that Ripple Fiber would be paying for repairs to those cuts.
Audit Contract Approved
The city council reviewed the audit contract for 2025. City Manager Dalton suggested going with Butler and Stowe again since they’ve been doing the City’s annual audit for a few years now. He noted he appreciates how detailed and on time they are. The audit will cost no more than $58,320, though there might be more to pay because of some extra single audit rules. In the end, everyone on the council agreed to approve the contract.
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