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Serving Belmont, Mount Holly, Stanley, Cramerton, and McAdenville
Volume 78 • Issue 42 • Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Hannah is SP Homecoming Queen!
8A
Fighting Yank ‘moving’ forward By Alan Hodge Alan.bannernews@gmail.com
Progress is being made in moving the Spirit of the Fighting Yank WWII memorial statue from the Belmont Middle School
campus to Stowe Park. This past summer the Belmont City Council approved placement of the bronze soldier in Stowe Park. The idea of moving the monument had been See FIGHTING YANK, 4A
Photo by Alan Hodge
This pile of trash gathered during Operation Big Sweep at the Catawba River boat launching area near US 29/74 represents only about half of the garbage that was lying around.
Trash a growing concern ALAN HODGE alan.bannernews@gmail.com
What if you built a fine new home and woke up every morning to see the vacant lot next door filled with garbage and shady characters lingering around? That’s similar to the scenario that’s often acted out on the banks of the Catawba River near US29/74 and adjacent to where the City of Belmont
plans to built the new Kevin Loftin River Park. The boat ramp and parking lot near the bridge is a popular spot for lawabiding fishermen and people launching watercraft, but there’s a perennial problem with the amount of trash that’s left there by less than respectable persons, and some folks are concerned that when the new park is built the nastiness will become a problem there as
well. The recent Keep Belmont Beautiful Big Sweep citywide cleanup brought the situation into focus when a group of over 40 students from the South Point High Navy JROTC attacked the garbage at the boat landing and, after two hours of picking up all types of horrible stuff, had collected a huge heap of trash- and that amounted to See TRASH, 4A
Thompsons granted rezoning request By Alan Hodge Alan.bannernews@gmail.com
At its Oct. 7 meeting the Belmont City Council approved a rezoning request by Jeffrey and Blythe Thompson for their 1.1 acres and house located at 123 N. Main St. from General Residential (G-R) to Neighborhood Center Commercial Conditional District (NCC/CD). The vote was 4-1 with councilmember Martha Stowe casting the nay vote. But the balloting was just
part of the brouhaha that has taken place over the last several weeks that saw opponents of the rezoning, led by David and Wendy Hostetler, argue that changing the Thompson property’s status and allowing a business to operate there would be detrimental to Belmont’s “charm� and could even create a “domino effect� that might lead to other downtown area houses following suit. The Hostetlers live five houses further up at 215 N. Main St. from the Thompson property.
The Thompson’s bought the house in 1996, but currently reside in Hillsborough. City planning staff recommended the rezoning. However, the Planning and Zoning Board deadlocked 44 in the matter at a meeting held on Sept. 19. The council meeting brought proponents and opponents of the rezoning together and packed city hall. During the public hearing prior to the vote, around 30 people took the opportunity to speak for or against the
rezoning. Opinions were about evenly divided for or against approval. Monroe Whitesides, who resides with his family next door to the Thompson property, supported the rezoning. “When you live on Main St. you live in a different type of neighborhood,� he said. “The Thompson’s will not change the house, only its occupants and that’s OK with us.� The new occupant of the Thompson property will be Allison Love’s Fine Jewelry. See REZONING, 4A
Belgians in Belmont By Alan Hodge Alan.bannernews.com
Belmont was a stopover on Friday morning for a group of sports car enthusiasts from Belgium. The group of 60 or so folks had their cars loaded up in the port of Antwerp and brought to New York City. From the docks there, they hopped in and headed for Miami via
every back road they could find–and Belmont just happened to fall along that route. While they were in Belmont, the group had coffee at Cherubs while folks outside eyed the vintage European and British autos that included MG, Austin-Healy, Mercedes, Porsche, and Jaguar brands. “We do this every week in Belgium,� said driver Michel Sels. “This year we decided to come to the USA.� The official name of the motorcade is “Antwerp, New York, Miami Americal.�
Photo by Alan Hodge
Driver Reis Oostlander and his wife from Schilde, Belgium were part of the vintage car motorcade from that nation that stopped in Belmont as they were traveling from New York to Miami. The car is a 1957 Mercedes 220S.
Photo by Alan Hodge
Plans are moving forward to relocate the Spirit of the Fighting Yank statue from Belmont Middle School to Stowe Park. A landscape architectural design for the pavilion where the bronze soldier will be placed has been completed.
Parks & Rec gets ok for $37M improvement plan By Alan Hodge Alan.Bannernews@gmail.com
The Belmont Parks and Recreation 2012/2013 Capital Improvement Plan received unanimous approval by the city council last week. The plan lists 18 Parks and Recreation projects slated for construction, expansion, or improvement, and assigns them a priority. It also lists the cost and financing arrangements for the projects. The entire package, including financing costs, is just over $37 million. Options for financing include bonds, loans, general fund, and grants. The following are the projects ranked in priority order and their 2012 costs excluding financing and inflation adjustments. Topping the list is the Brook St. Soccer Complex at $950,000. Next on the list is the Kevin Loftin River Park with a cost of $1,778,000. The Rail Trail is third on the priority list at $1,335,000. Stow Park upgrades are slated number four with a cost of $460,000. Number five on the list is upgrades to Reid Park at a cost of $410,000. Sixth on the list are Crescent Park upgrades at a cost of $201,000. That’s followed by Davis Park combined improvements with a tab of $920,000. Number eight on the roster are upgrades to Rodden Field. Coming in at number nine is the Recreation Center and Gym Phase 1 project at a cool $2,000,000. Rounding out the top 10 Parks and Recreation projects is the Skate Park slated for construction next door to the Belmont Police Department. Number eleven on the priority list is the Perfection Park Athletic Field with a cost of $538,000. The twelfth project on the Park and Recreation plate is the Abbey Creek Greenway with a bill of $755,000. The Rocky Branch Park bike and hike facility was done initially mostly with volunteer labor but it is still listed as thirteenth on the priority list at a cost of $105,000 that will pay for a parking lot and dog park. Mini Parks in southwest and southeast Belmont are slated at fourteenth and fifteenth on the list at a cost of $367,000 each. A major Sports Complex comes in as the sixteenth Park and Recreation priority with a 2012 dollars tab of $5,838,000. Rocky Branch Park Phase II picnic shelters and restroom is slated seventeenth at a cost of $306,000. Rounding out the list is a Recreation Center and Gym with a bill of $6,684,000.
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