West Rowan News, Events, and Fun

  Tonight 5-10-2021 marked the monthly town board meeting for Cleveland, NC. The meeting was open to the public with masks and social distancing (with two non-town-employees in attendance). Zoom attendance was also available, and all board members had microphones.  The biggest issues dealt with water/sewer which Commissioner Gerald Osborne has said would need to be addressed soon. He has been working with a twenty plus year timeline in mind so that money invested now will have public services working for years to come.  Osborn requested that $101,500 be spent for engineering which is needed to lay out upgrades for water/sewer in town. Town board members Travis Summitt, Richard Taylor, and John Bradford voted yes to the proposal along with Osborne.  Cleveland has had violations at the WWTP (water waste treatment plant) for the last six months with chloroform levels off. This was due to the bypass valve not being closed all the way. To remedy this situation now, the to...

One of the biggest decisions at the monthly Cleveland, NC meeting for October 2020 was to spend $128,000 on street lights. The lighting issue was not on the meeting agenda and was introduced by Mayor Patrick Phifer.  The lights discussed would be a lamp style similar to the lighting in Faith, NC. The lights would have an option to hang decorative flags. Phifer said that he had seen flags in other towns featuring military heroes and notable community members. He noted that the county would help pay for flags in an effort to help in "branding" across the county.  The cost of new lighting could be spread out over ten years, but it would be more costly to make monthly payments. Per Commissioner Richard Taylor, the payment plan option would cost the town $75,000 more than paying up front.  In addition to the purchase cost of the street lamps, monthly power costs would increase from $830 currently to $1377.  In a unanimous vote, town board approved the new lighting. Phifer...

  Commissioners discussed the use of Covid-19 funds at the September monthly Cleveland, NC town board meeting. Possible expenditures with the government funds include a $25,000 walk up window at town hall or an $80,000 drive up window. The amount of funds in total granted to Cleveland is $61,619. Town employees have purchased laptop computers with some of the Covid-19 relief monies. The town plans to apply the rest of the funds to payroll pending decisions about how to spend the money. Board members indicated that they needed another meeting to make decisions and iron out details.  Car Canopy at Town Hall Commissioner Richard Taylor brought estimates and drawings of awnings for a carport area behind town hall. The lower estimate was for 28 feet of covered parking while 32 feet of parking coverage would cost twice as much coming in at $7000. Taylor said that Mayor Pat Phifer prefers the more expensive option. Phifer was not present at the meeting. The initial reason for purchas...

The Cleveland, NC monthly town board meeting was held as scheduled and was inside for July. Board members and residents in attendance did wear masks due to coronavirus concerns. Cleveland has had a number of open town positions which is rather unusual in a town of this size. Openings were filled in maintenance and the police department. More details will be available tomorrow, so be sure to check back. Changes were made to current job descriptions. The major change was an addition to include "equivalent law enforcement supervisory experience." This was added to the portion that addresses educational requirements. It would balance education with experience on the job. The big ticket item on the agenda for the month was a lift truck. The truck would be used to put up flags at the 4th of July (and Christmas decorations etc). There were safety concerns about the current way of putting up town decorations. Cost of the truck which was approved was $25,500 for a used truck which was...

The Cleveland Town Board met tonight 5-11-2020 for the regularly scheduled town board meeting. The meeting last month (April 2020) was cancelled due to coronavirus concerns. The meeting tonight was closed to the public but broadcast over a loudspeaker due to coronavirus. Residents of Cleveland, NC (or other interested parties) are allowed by law to attend town board meetings, and those wishing to attend tonight could park in the parking lot at town hall and listen to the meeting over a loudspeaker at the front door of the building. There were four people who attended the meeting - three in cars and one on foot. Three stayed for the duration with the meeting ending around 8:19 p.m. with a temperature of 55 degrees outside.  Someone checked the speaker about 7:28 p.m. and raised the volume for the 7:30 meeting. The sound did not carry to the parking lot. It was possible to hear Mayor Pat Phifer if standing or sitting on the sidewalk, and it was possible to hear the town clerk most of...

Cleveland, NC town board members voted last night to send a request to the zoning committee for beer and food trucks within town limits. Current zoning laws in Cleveland disallow the sale of alcohol at restaurants and also for having food trucks in for events. As Mayor Patrick Phifer pointed out, the old ice cream trucks with the loud, clanging bells that senior members of the community may recall were not legal. Of course, things were much different years ago. Linda Dillard, on behalf of Frankie's (new Cleveland chicken restaurant), asked the board to go over the process for getting the sale of beer in town. She noted that patrons of Frankie's would like to have a Michelob with chicken. She said that food sales would remain the bulk of sales and that the restaurant planned to limit beers to "one or two." This may sound odd to people outside the area, but another restaurant in the zip code area does have a policy of not more than two beers per patron which has...

Tonight was a busy night at the Town Board Cleveland, NC with a large number of issues addressed and voted on. New Mayor Pro Tem Travis Summitt was nominated and approved as Mayor Pro Tem of Cleveland. Light Around Town Cleveland will be getting signage and decorative lights soon as well as LED lights in town buildings. Signage in Cleveland will be paid for by the county and will have a Rowan County theme. Signs specific to the West Rowan or Cleveland area will be unique and may be color coded with Cleveland having a light blue  color like the West Rowan High School color and signage. The project is in progress through the county, so it may take some time to get specifics. The town of Cleveland will be paying for decorative lighting for the key business areas or areas with sidewalks. The lights will be put in by Duke Power, and it is expected that Duke Power will include more lights on poles than are currently installed. The town is planning to do the lights in two...