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Cherryville, NC (WNN) - The March 31, 2026, City of Cherryville work session opened with a closed session between Andrew Fusco, the Chief Strategy Officer of Electricities. Once the council returned, the meeting continued with a discussion of adopting an ordinance involving what Fusco had discussed privately with the Cherryville City Council.
Fusco explained that the two original contract terms with the NC Municipal Power Agency Number One are nearing their end. The council was presented with the option to renew, and the economics for the council chose to approve the agreements and pass an associated ordinance. This was formed in the 1970’s when 19 NC municipalities took an ownership stake in the Catawba Nuclear Station Unit #2. Currently, the two contracts are a power sales agreement and one is a supplemental power sales agreement, with the first ending in 2033 and the second expiring in 2028. The renewed contracts will now both extend until 2043. It was also mentioned later in the meeting that there will be a 3% increase in the wholesale rate. This is a rise in the amount the city pays for electricity before the customer purchases it from them.
Brian Dalton, the Cherryville City Manager, led the discussion on several planned updates to the city's water and sewer infrastructure. The first is an update on the award of the bid to Willis Contracting for the work on the new force main at the Ballard Pump Station. Their bid was for $614729. This main will start at the pump station and cross under Old Post Road, with the infrastructure stretching to Paul H. Beam Road. The expenses for this project will be funded by the Cleveland County water interconnect grant, with the remaining $239,000 to be spent on other water and sewer projects in the city. This was brought up because a budget amendment would be needed to use the money for these projects, and the funds must be used this year, as is the case with most grants.
The other large project underway with the city’s water is cleaning the interior of the water tower on the west side of Cherryville on Academy St. This process usually occurs approximately every 10-15 years, with the eastern water tower across from Wal-Mart cleaned in 2025. While this shouldn’t affect anything, if you notice a drop in water pressure, that's why, and it will be remedied shortly once work on the tower is completed.
Despite assuming the road had been closed at the last council meeting, Grove Road, a gravel road closed by the NCDOT nearly 20 years ago, the road remains “open”. The reason this road’s closure is so important is that the property it runs through is being put up for sale. However, to prevent any odd occurrences in the future, the seller wants to take due diligence to ensure the road cannot be reopened. Cherryville has received formal permission from the NCDOT to close the road and has set a public hearing for May 11, 2026, to finally see this road done away with.
However, this isn’t the only road scheduled to discuss closure on May 11th. A portion of Public Works Way, extending from the fence at the public works department, is under scrutiny for several reasons. The road's main use is for the public works department, with no houses having driveways facing that direction. City of Cherryville employees have found that beside the public works department has become a popular spot for illegal dumping. The road is also home to Bill Edwards Park, but this portion would remain open for public parking. If passed, this road closure would see the fence extended across the road, with a gate on the Edwards Park side. This would become employee parking for public works employees.
ABC Board Committee: Jon Abernethy serves as the ABC Board's liaison. The most recent development here is that the board wants to set aside $ 1,000 per month for 36 months to repave the parking lot at the Cherryville ABC Store.
Appearance and Village Garden Club Committee: Council Member Jill Puett stated that the next project with this committee will be redecorating the flower pots on Cherryville’s Main Street.
Audit Committee: Abernethy spoke for this board, which hasn’t met actively since Butler and Stowe began doing the annual audits and may be dissolved at the next city budget meeting.
Cemetery Committee: Puett went over the most recent cemetery clean-off, which was successful and caused less strife than previous attempts. It was also brought up that the cemetery will need to be expanded soon, but it already occupies all the property owned by the city, so a purchase will be required.
Chamber of Commerce: Council Member Gary Freeman represented this committee and mentioned the recent dinner hosted by the Chamber of Commerce. Several Cherryville citizens were honored for their contributions to the city here.
Museum Committee: Council Member Janice Hovis serves as the museum liaison. She said that the board has had one meeting since Pete Craft updated the council on the Cherryville Historical Museum Progress, which she was unable to attend. This meeting discussed the lease agreement with the City of Cherryville, and the matter will be revisited at a later time. The Cherryville Train Depot doesn't communicate with the city often, but recently contacted the city to have work done on the building's brick walls.
Electrcities Rate Committee: Dalton spoke on the newest update outside of the agreement earlier in the meeting. It is expected that the wholesale electric rate will rise by 3%, and it will be discussed at a future council meeting whether the city will absorb this or pass the Cherryville customers.
Fire Department Relief Fund: Freeman and Abernethy both had notes for this committee. This fund provides a $85 monthly supplementary retirement benefit to Cherryville firefighters. However, it also stands as an emergency fund when firefighters need financial help, which was used last year to help with needed home repairs.
Gaston-Cleveland-Lincoln Transportation Advisory Committee: The most pressing issue was discussed by Mayor Stroupe. The intersection at Fergusons Hardware has seen more traffic and accidents lately. The state engineers are reviewing this to see what can be done.
Recreation Advisory Committee: Freeman spoke about the most recent development, the decision to switch from Little League to Diamond Baseball. This was done because the closest Little League program to Cherryville was in Forest City. This will see a 13-14-year-old team added in the future and rulesets more in line with Legion and high school baseball. Dalton also brought up that registration for volleyball can now be filled out online.
YMCA Liaison: Hovis said there aren’t many updates on the city’s involvement with the local YMCA. Although they are currently doing a fundraiser.
Main Street Program: Since David Day's retirement, Emily Delligner has been appointed as the director. One of the focuses here is to get everything ready for the 250th anniversary of our nation, which they hope to make special. The Main Street convention will be held in Morganton this year.
Under other business, council member Abernethy noted that March 31st was the last day before the city begins removing signs from the right-of-way in Cherryville. This will mean our code enforcement officer will begin removing those not located on private property. This does not mean signs on private property don’t need to be removed, but the owners must be given advance notice before the city can remove them.
City of Cherryville work sessions are always open to the public and are held on the last Tuesday of each month at 5:30 PM. Sessions are held at the Community Building located at 108 S Jacob St, Cherryville, NC. No general public input is allowed at work sessions. The public can speak at the regular Council Meetings, which are held on the second Monday of each month at 6 PM, held at the same location.
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