West Rowan News, Events, and Fun

The monthly Cleveland, NC town board meeting was by Zoom tonight. The signal was not good, so it was hard to get a connection, and then there was no audio until around 7:54. Pat Phifer said that there was no audio, because the commissioners were in closed session to discuss personnel.  Zoom visitors messaged about the lack of audio, but there was no response. I drove up to town hall to let them know about the audio problem, but they were not answering the door. When the audio was turned on, the commissioners were asked if they had any reports.  John Bradford did not have anything to report. Richard Taylor indicated that the ball will be rolling soon on the park. He gave some details which were not loud enough to make out. Travis Summitt gave the police report. There were 44 somethings, 3 arrests, 43 stops, and 68 citations. There was a question from someone about the number of stops. It seems like citations would be a lower number than stops. I'm not sure due to poor audio on ...

Town board members from Cleveland, NC met tonight 12-14-2020. The group opened with a public hearing on ordinances concerning alcohol sales in restaurants and food trucks in town.  The big ticket item for tonight was not on the agenda but was introduced during commissioner reports at the end of the meeting.  "We've been talking about getting a vehicle for Troy," said Commissioner Travis Summitt.  Summitt said that he'd priced out a Malibu at $16,535 and a Trax for $19,458. Summitt said he preferred the SUV for $19,458. He noted that the employee said that he did not need a pick up truck and that a SUV would work out. Summitt said the Trax could pull a trailer if needed.  The purchase was approved unanimously, and then funds had to be moved around. Mayor Pat Phifer said that it made sense to put the new SUV under the water fund, since there were already vehicles purchased under the sewer and maintenance funds.  Wall Sign for Board Room $1850 Mayor Pat Phifer su...

  A public hearing on amendments to zoning (related to alcohol sales and food trucks) held at the beginning of the Cleveland, NC town board meeting tonight Monday 12-14-2020 did not draw a crowd. In previous years, meetings that included decisions on alcohol drew more attention in the Cleveland, NC area. Two individuals signed up to speak to the issue of alcohol sales in town limits. Linda Dilliard (Frankie's Chicken & Ribs) said that she really needed the income from alcohol sales to stay in business. She is open only three days per week now due to Covid-19. Another restaurant, China Garden, which is across the parking lot, just closed shop due to the economic challenges with the coronavirus. The Asian restaurant featured a buffet (and shifted to by-the-plate for a period) which complicated seating, spacing, and limits on numbers of customers.  The second speaker was the brother of Dilliard, and he seconded the request and need for another sales revenue.  Changes in ...

  The Cleveland, NC town board held a "special meeting" today at 3 p.m. at town hall. All members of the board were present except Commissioner John Bradford who had forgotten about the meeting which was set up Monday at the Town Board monthly meeting. It was unclear what the topics of the special meeting might include. No agendas were provided. The time was used by Miller & Davis PR firm of Salisbury, NC to pitch for their company to build a web site for Cleveland, NC and for the firm to maintain the space.  The cost estimate from Miller/Davis is $31,150 for a year of web building and updates. The company thinks set up of a web site for Cleveland would run about $7,850 (one time) with a $450 yearly upkeep fee. Miller/Davis would anticipate needing to do four hours of work monthly on the web space at a cost of $250 and $350 to keep up social media. Part of the yearly cost would include a video which is planned and two or three others over time.  Per the representative...

  Cleveland, NC town commissioners covered a lot of ground Monday 11-9-2020 at the monthly meeting. Several items on the agenda involved wrapping up items for the year and/or shifting funds around due to some incoming coronavirus grant money previously.  Some items will become projects for the new year - 2021. Downtown Lights Project - Expand and Hurry   The decorative lights project which was approved during the last monthly meeting will be moving forward, since the board voted to invest in lighting at the last meeting. Commissioner Gerald Osborne said that he thought the town should commit to the entire project and not just with lights down to the bridge. His reasoning was that with changes over time and with different board members coming and going, the full project could never come together.  "If we're spending that much money, we need to do the whole thing," said Osborne.  Mayer Pat Phifer said that he agreed with Osborne but that the project had to b...

Last night the Cleveland, NC zoning/planning board met at the Cleveland town hall. The meeting was scheduled for last week, but the meeting room was needed for voting 2020. Zoning included no business; planning focused on alcohol sales for area restaurants and details for food truck guidelines. The planning board finalized some of the wordings on the rules/guidelines for alcohol sales in town limits. The information will go on to the town board and to an open meeting for residents to respond.  Food trucks took more time. Fees, rules, and bad behavior were the main concerns.  The town clerk had gathered some data about fees charged by local towns that allow food trucks. A board member asked about a "happy medium." The clerk said the $50 for an annual permit and/or $25 for a single event were common amounts.  Board member Jim Brown said that the fee should be at least $250 and that "fifty dollars is chump change."  Bryan Little (town board and zoning/planning) said: ...

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...