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Serving Belmont, Mount Holly, Stanley, Cramerton, and McAdenville
Volume 78 • Issue 49 • Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Abbey back in court
Zoning request
By Alan Hodge alan.bannernews@gmail.com
Mount Holly – Plans include luxury apartments and a restaurant By Alan Hodge alan.bannernews@gmail.com
Mount Holly could soon be getting a $16 million building project at Tailrace Marina on the Catawba River across from the Whitewater Center pending city council approval of a rezoning request by the developer the Arnold Companies of Columbia, S.C. The rezoning request is
for 10.9 acres at 1000 Marina Village Drive. The Arnold Companies want the property rezoned from Conditional District Multifamily Commercial first approved on April 12, 2010 to Conditional District Multifamily Commercial based on a new development plan. The main features that the Arnold Companies are
Photo by Alan Hodge
McAdenville held its tree lighting event Monday night. Jerri Tatham (left) and Georgia Andrews were in the holiday spirit. See more photos on page 6A.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas...lights! Belmont Council See ZONING, 2A
reaches water, sewer deal By Alan Hodge alan.bannernews@gmail.com
The Belmont City Council got together last week and approved a development agreement with NW Lake Wylie LLC regarding the construction and cost of water and sewer infrastructure to the firm's planned development near the intersection of NC279 (New Hope Rd.) and NC273 (Lower Armstrong Rd). The company intends to develop nine parcels of land totaling about 642 acres in that area with homes, retail, a park and other uses. Following a request by the owners/developers, the property was granted a noncontiguous annexation in the Belmont at the Nov. 4, 2013 council meeting. Belmont assistant city manager Adrian Miller says the deal will work like this. “The developer will pay for the cost of the water and sewer lines and pump stations,” Miller said. “The City will reimburse the developer for a portion of those costs. The reimbursement money comes from the fees that the developer pays in addition to the cost of the infrastructure. This arrangement allows the current city utility fund money received from people paying their water and sewer bills to pay for operations, maintenance, and capital improvements to
the existing system. The fees from the new development will pay a portion of the cost of the new development.” Particulars of the infrastructure engineering will include a a regional pump station on the developers land, three sub-regional pump stations, a ten-inch water line extension, and an eight-inch force main extension. Getting the water/sewer pipes across the South Fork River will be interesting. When a similar job was needed to get Belmont utilities to the Reflection Pointe development off of South Point Road, the challenge was the Allen Steam Station canal and bridge. The pipes were put in a tunnel bored under the canal. Part of the agreement the council reached with NW Lake Wylie LLC also includes property for a park. The developer will donate about ten acres of property to the City of Belmont. The park will be adjacent to South New Hope Road. “The City and NW Lake Wylie have agreed to partner on a new 10 acre park on South New Hope Road, between the intersection of Lower Armstrong Road and the state line,” said Miller. “Over the next 6 months, the city and developer will work on a conceptual design plan for the park and a construction timetable. The city and developer have agreed to on two scenarios for the park construction. In one scenario, the city pay for the construction of the park out of the property taxes See DEAL, 2A
Kerby facing new charges Robert Kerby, 56, the Stanley day care worker arrested Nov. 6 and charged with child sex crimes including indecent liberties with a minor, sex offense first degree, assault on a female, and crime against nature, has had a number of other charges added to his sheet after at least half a dozen other victims have come forward citing alleged similar acts. Kerby worked at his wife's day care Caron's Care Daycare in Stanley where most of the incidents were alleged to have taken place over a four or five year stretch. The day care's license was suspended Nov. 6 by the NC Div. Of Child Development and Early Education. One of the juvenile victims in the case alleged that Kerby touched her inappropriately while they were having dinner at a restaurant in Mount Holly. The victim stated that the incident oc-
Photo by Bill Ward
This house at 320 E. Chestnut St. in Stanley is the site of Caron's Daycare where Robert Kerby worked with his wife. He is currently facing 37 sex crime charges with more likely to come. The day care had its license suspended effective Nov. 6. curred around Halloween in 2011. The victim stated this during an interview associated with other allegations related to charges brought against Kerby by the Stanley Police Department. This case was assigned to Mount Holly police detectives, and warrants were obtained and served on Kerby. The Gaston County Jail
website listed 25 new charges against Kerby as of Nov. 25, bringing the total to 37 counts. Kerby could face more charges pending the outcome of analysis of computer data found at the home. Kerby's bond now stands at $8.5 million. He has been assigned a public defender.
‘Like’ the Belmont police facebook page? By Alan Hodge alan.bannernews@gmail.com
The Belmont Police Department has a Facebook page at https://www.facebook. com/BelmontNCPolice and its getting alot of looks. The department worked together to create the page. “It wasn’t just one person who had the idea,” said Lt. Basil Marett. “We have been talking about it as a group for a while now and we came together and made a decision to move forward with it.” The recent CVS shootout and hostage situation spurred the idea on. “We have been talking about the idea for quite some time but what helped make our decision was the critical incident that occurred at CVS on Oct. 25,” said Marett. “We want to be able to communicate information to Belmont residents, not just during
an emergency or critical incident, but we also want to be able to share information on a regular basis. We know that people are always on the go and social media is a valuable tool that can update the public and get information out to many people at once.” The page has a lot of input from officers and staff. “The posts can be suggested from anyone in the department,” Marett said. “Records Specialist Karen Wardwell has been doing most of the posts. The page is updated when there are alerts of info that we feel needs to be shared or is of value to our citizens. We can also choose to share other public agencies posts with our followers.” The Facebook page is a treasure trove of information about the Belmont police are doing as well as other information that citizens will find useful. The page has up to the minute reports of See BELMONT POLICE, 2A
Belmont Abbey College is back in court against the portion of the Affordable Care Act requiring it to provide insurance coverage for contraceptive drugs, sterilization, and abortion inducing drugs for its employees. The Abbey is seeking an exemption from the law based on religious belief and first filed suit in that regard on Nov. 10. 2011. That suit was dismissed by Washington, D.C. District Judge James Boasberg who said the timing wasn't right or ripe because the government was still in the process of developing the finer details of the ACA. The nonprofit Becket Fund for Religious Liberty legal firm represented the Abbey in that action against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and also filed the latest suit on Nov. 20 against DHHS as well as the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the U.S. Department of Labor. “Religious liberty, a fundamental right of all American citizens, has enabled our Benedictine community to found and operate our College according to the principles of our Catholic faith for one hundred and thirtyseven years. We cannot abandon these principles at the whim of the government without destroying the distinct mission of the school as well as the fundamental rights we enjoy in this country,” said Abbot Placid Solari, Chancellor of the College and Abbot of Belmont Abbey in a statement posted on the Becket's Fund website. Belmont Abbey College now faces hefty IRS fines unless it complies with the mandate’s requirement to provide its employees with contraception, sterilization, and abortion-inducing drugs that violate its Catholic beliefs. The Becket Fund is defending Belmont Abbey College’s right to continue providing its employees with health benefits that are consistent with its Catholic faith. Though the government allows “religious employer” exemptions from the mandate for churches and certain related entities, that exemption excludes most religious colleges, hospitals, and nursing homes. “Belmont Abbey is yet another religious organization that the government has classified as ‘not religious enough’ for a mandate exemption,” Mark Rienzi, Senior Counsel for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and lead counsel for Belmont Abbey College said See BELMONT ABBEY, 2A
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