West Rowan News, Events, and Fun

  Town board of Cleveland, NC had a special called meeting today 8-27-2021 to vote on a barn quilt trail and for cube barn quilts to mark stops on the trail.  Mayor Pat Phifer said that the meeting was at 3:30 on a Friday, because Commissioner John Bradfrad was only available at that time. This did exclude Commissioner Bryan Little who was at work during the time of the meeting.  Phifer brought a map of the proposed walking trail which included mostly churches and old schools. Here are the locations on the map from 1 to 10 (which are not marked on the map). 1. Cleveland Town Hall 2. Old West Rowan Middle School/Old West Rowan YMCA 3. Old Rosenwald School 4. Third Creek AME Zion Church 5. Allen Temple Presbyterian Church 6. Cleveland Barn Quilt at Cleveland Post Office Bld 7.. Cleveland Presbyterian Church 8. Cleveland First Baptist Church 9. Park on School Street or West Branch Rowan Public Library (Old Cleveland Elementary School) 10. Library/Cleveland Community Fire Dep...

    Town board members unanimously approved getting started on sewer and water projects that have been on the table for months at the monthly board meeting for August 2021.    Board member Gerald Osborne has been the lead in looking at current needs and building a multiyear plan for the future.  Doug Chapman of McGill Associates was at the meeting to discuss the overall project which includes repairs/improvements as well as major upgrades. The major rehab, he said, would be cost effective (versus starting from scratch in a new location) and based on the old Brevard St. Station which was built 39 years ago. There would be a riser and new pumps added where the current pumps are located and a second chlorine contact basin. A new splitter box would allow the town to close off a basin and work on the extra one as needed.  Chapman said that the town needs to look at and consider capacities at this point. For example, Daimler (used to be Freightliner) has a capaci...

  A special called meeting took place at town hall in Cleveland, NC at 4 p.m. today Wednesday June, 30, 2021. The first order of business at the special meeting was to approve contracts for two bands for summer concerts - Dancing on Depot. The contracts just specified the summer dates and pay at $2500 per band.  The two bands contracted were: The Chocolate Chip and Company Dirty Grass Souls The vote was unanimous to approve the band contracts. After a closed session to discuss hiring, the board named Frank Nolen to work for Cleveland maintenance. This is pending the standard health and drug checks. This closes out hiring for maintenance for the town.

Town Board in Cleveland, NC June 14, 2021 involved confirming no tax increase this year as well as some increases in town fees. Other items of business mostly involved changes coming during or expected for the upcoming fiscal year which starts next month.  Water and sewer rates go up by 5% each as outlined in the earlier special town board budget meeting. Also, cemetery prices will go up. The town is now hiring mowing at the cemetery, so the costs are higher to keep the cemetery up. Also, Mayor Pat Phifer said, "We're still half price of anybody else." He joked that someone could "buy four plots and put up a house." All voted to increase fees.  Increased fees for the park include for non-residents: half day shelter rental goes from $30 to $50 for nonresidents full day shelter rental goes from $50 to $75 nonresidents And park related fees: security deposit from $30 to $40 line the ball field from $30 to $40 Cleveland to Welcome Two New Police Officers After a clo...

    Commissioner Gerald Osborne said he was not in favor of a tax increase for Cleveland, "not in any way, shape, or form." He said that the past year had been rough on residents and that many were living on tight or fixed incomes.  The town has accumulated $743,680 between 2009 and 2020, and Osborne said that he thought the town should tap into that rainy day fund. With the spending approved by the town board, the shortfall on the budget would be about $156,000.  All board members ultimately agreed to keep taxes at the current rate of 28 cents.  Some expenditures for the year were not on the table for discussion. Residents need water/sewer, and those are self funding. In other words, the charges cover the costs. With some big ticket costs coming up, the rate for water and for sewer will go up each by 5 percent this year.  Town Clerk Cathy Payne said that looking at a typical family and considering usage of 4000 gallons for a month for each service that the...

Cleveland, NC town board had a special called meeting tonight Tuesday May 18, 2021. The purpose of the meeting was to hammer out budget details for the upcoming year.  Residents of Cleveland should expect to see a 5.5% tax increase and 5% increases in water and 5% increases in sewer when the final budget is passed.  For property, the rate goes from 28 cents to 33.5 cents. Mayor Pat Phifer said that the average property in town was probably valued at around $150,000 so that taxes of $35 a month would increase to $41 month. Under that scenario, yearly taxes would increase for the average individual by $72/year. Town clerk Cathy Payne said that the typical water user would see the water bill increase $1.48 month and that the last water rate increase was in 2015. Water and Sewer in Cleveland Commissioner Gerald Osborne discussed the town's need to address water/sewer issues. The infrastructure is aging, and the town is at the point where a new water tower will be needed soon. An e...

  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...