West Rowan News, Events, and Fun

  Tonight was the monthly board meeting for Cleveland, NC. Various budget issues took up the bulk of the meeting including a review of the new investment strategy. Last year, the town made $7,300 in interest for the entire year. Last month, with the new investment plan adopted earlier, the interest was $21,000 for just the single month. All board members voted to roll investments back into treasury bills as they mature and to continue with the current investment strategy. Ice Machine for Town Hall The board had voted previously to rent an ice machine for town hall and to pay maintenance. The board decided to go with a hotel type dispenser for sanitary reasons. Instead of digging into the ice, it would have a feed to dispense the ice. This type of machine had not been available, however, so the company put in a different ice machine.  The current concern is that the requested machine can now be put in [around August]  but at a cost of $325 quarterly as opposed to $160 quar...

  The town of Cleveland, NC monthly town board meeting was tonight Monday 3-13-2023.  Parade to Honor WR High School Women for State Basketball Championship Win Mayor Pat Phifer said that he had met with local pastors earlier in the day, and that the pastors requested that the town have a parade to honor the West Rowan High School women's basketball team. The team just won the state championship in Raleigh and had a 31-0 season under coach Ashley Poole.   Phifer suggested that the parade be held immediately following the 5K run to generate funds for the West Rowan Bible teacher on April 1. The run would end around 11 am, and the parade could go at noon with a stop at the square for a town proclamation and certificates for the team.  The board unanimously voted to have the parade.  Board Members Report on Current Projects Commissioner Travis Summitt said that the auger came in today. It will be used for the poles for the new town signs. Police Chief Jon Jess...

Cleveland town board met tonight 2-13-2023 for the regular monthly meeting. All board members and the mayor were present and had new white town shirts with embroidered logos. The town finance officer made photos with the white shirts after the meeting.  Nineteen residents showed up for the meeting. Usually there are only a couple of people. Most of the attendees came in support of John and Mary Beth Babcock who signed up to address the board. The Babcocks were upset about the new code enforcement which was recently approved by the board. They had been notified that they were not allowed to have goats in town limits and that they had to get rid of the goats or pay daily fines.   John Babcock Mary Beth Babcock   Mrs. Babcock read from a prepared statement. She said that the goats had not been an issue for five years but that the family had been notified that they needed to get rid of the goats or face fines. She said that the goats were her 11-year-old daughter's pets and h...

Cleveland NC town board met tonight 1-9-2023 for the first meeting of 2023. The mayor, board members (except for Commissioner Danny Gabriel), police chief, and town clerks/finance officer were all in attendance.  Rowan County Tax Assessor Chip Main came to the meeting to let town leaders know that valuations will be higher this year. This, in turn, means that residents and businesses will be paying higher taxes in 2023. In fact, taxes could rise quite a bit this year.  Main gave a very general example of a $300,000 house in the county being valued at $220,000 during the previous valuation cycle. Increases could be similar, higher, or lower in Cleveland.  Reappraisals on properties in Cleveland will put land/houses at market value as of 1-1-2023. A number of things are taken into consideration like actual locations and how the market is doing locally. So, it is not possible right now to say how much values will go up (and taxes). But, it is certain that they will go up in ...

  Cleveland, NC town board met tonight 12-12-2022. The mayor and all commissioners were present. Town Audit Eddie Currick was on hand tonight to go over the town audit. He said that the town books look fine and that the new financial officer Rebekah Brown has done a good job. The auditor noted that our numbers this year are a bit different from previous years. The big difference is that the town was minus $388,000 for the year. The town had been saving to do projects, and commissioners had, in fact, set aside quite a bit more money than actually spent. Of course, the board does plan to continue with street lighting and signs for this upcoming year, so the surplus will likely be spent with the next phase of decorative lights. Some of the budget did go to new police vehicles (and outfitting the vehicles), but most of the money spent for 2022 was for the streetlights. Water Tower Refurbishment Begins Commissioner Gerald Osborne said that the town water tower is out of ...