First, the area in Kings Mountain along Margrace Road, around what would become the Midpines Recycling Center was called “Pine Ridge.” Then an old time, do what you can to make a living, An entrepreneur with an old wooden side panel truck began a business collecting rags and selling them to a paper company to make high-quality rag paper. Then the entrepreneur began to haul trash for the community and the place became known as “Trash Can Acres.” In 1991 the County built the Midpines Recycling Center where garbage, brush, leaves, tin cans, aluminum cans, plastic containers of all kinds, household garbage, old appliances, old bedding, and other throwaway stuff could be collected and either recycled or dumped into the new landfill. From 1991 until 2023, the Midpines Recycling Center served several tens of thousands as a place to dump their garbage and trash, instead of throwing the trash out on the side of the road. During this 32-year period, more homes and businesses were built and the traffic increased.
Also, not far away the Catawba Casino, with its projected large cash flow, became the “rage” for a new set of entrepreneurs. The new set of entrepreneurs, many on the shady side, who didn’t particularly care about “honest work” to make a living, like “cockroaches,” came out from the woodwork to form “unholy” (and likely illegal) partnerships with local government officials to tap into the Casino “cash flow” and contribute to the overall “government waste.” Government waste is more expense piled onto taxpayers for otherwise legitimate projects that ends up as MORE PROFIT for the cockroaches. Former Commissioner Eddie Holbrook and former County Manager David Dear’s “cockroach” like dealings with the Casino supplier, the Kings Mountain Equipment Supply Company, was recently well exposed by the Charlotte Observer. Which the Cleveland County District Attorney seemed to have somehow overlooked.
Gossip has it that some of the Casino cockroaches hit upon a planned scheme to build a remote valet parking and shuttle business for Casino customers. And, the County (Taxpayer) owned Midpines Recycling Center property was a piece of property best suited by its close proximity to the Casino. And, RIPE for the cockroaches’ picking.
So, when the news came out, on August 10, 2023, about the safety concern and closing of the Midpines Recycling Center, Robert A smelled a rat! As usual, the Commissioners provided little to no useful information about the hazard and what exactly was the problem. Except that some concrete driving surfaces were cracked. On August 14, 2023, Robert A published his first article about the Midpines Recycling Center and predicted that the only conceivable hazard was that the concrete had cracked because the underlying soil had been washed away over time by some sort of water flow that had occurred underneath the concrete surfaces. Actually, these are exactly Robert A’s words in that August 14, 2023 article:
Commissioner Chairman Kevin Gordon was quoted by Newsbreak as saying:
“The safety of our citizens is a top priority,” said Kevin Gordon, Chairman of the Board of Commissioners. “We understand the inconvenience this may cause; however, it was important that the county acted immediately to ensure the well-being of those visiting the site.”
Newsbreak also reported that county officials became concerned that the structural integrity of the Midpines concrete surfaces of the driving and dumping areas had become compromised. This is strange since Midpines has operated for years and years and the failure mode for concrete slabs is by cracking and settling over time. It would be unusual for cracked concrete to fail catastrophically like the Commissioners are implying unless major water flows under the concrete (surface) had significantly eroded the underlying soil and rocks. Such underground water flows would have normally been noticed years ago. Robert A smells a rat in what is going on here.
Later in that August 14, 2023 article, Robert A stated:
Now that “rat” Robert A has been smelling regarding the Commissioners closing the Midpines Recycling Center has been verified. A source report has already come in stating there are secret plans amongst the Cleveland County inside wheeling and dealing folks to build a direct privately owned shuttle service and private parking areas to the Kings Mountain Casino from a remote location not too far away along a private corridor mostly already owned by the wheelers and dealers. With the Midpines facility directly in the proposed route. The Wheelers and Dealers want that Midpines facilities cheap. And the so-called safety-related shutdown of Midpines, plus some lies and deceptions by the Wheelers and Dealers with the Commissioners could result in the Wheeling and Dealing folks picking up that Midpines parcel cheap.
Folks, also note that since problems at the Midpines Recycling Center were noticed and the Center was closed indefinitely, not one peep was put out by the Cleveland County Commissioners to the public that actually described the real cause of the problem nor the future plans for the Center’s repair or relocation. Neither has the Cleveland County Commissioners taken a vote during their Commissioner’s meetings regarding Midpines. Also, remember that all public business of the Cleveland County Commissioners is, by NC Law, supposed to be conducted in sessions OPEN to the public and ALL special meetings are to be properly noticed to the public so that members of the public who chose to attend, may attend. A TOTAL lack of good and legal leadership by the entire Board of Cleveland County Commissioners AND their lawyers. AND, ESPECIALLY, the new Cleveland County Manager, David Cotton.
Also note that Robert A had submitted, in writing, a request for permission to personally inspect the Midpines site, but that written request was never acknowledged.
Now, fast forward to the September 19, 2023 Commissioners meeting where a Midpines “update” report was provided by the Director of the CC Landfill, Josh Davis.
In that update, pictures were shown that, along with previous pictures provided in a Shelby Star article showed that indeed water running under the Midpines concrete surfaces had dangerously washed away the soil under the concrete, creating large and dangerous voids. Pictures of the concrete pads that had been removed for inspection were thin in many places. Davis’s presentation also stated that the concrete itself was low in PSI (Pounds per square inch) strength.
Other pictures showed the concrete that had been removed for inspection and much of the other “old” concrete had been broken up into much smaller pieces and dumped into the voids caused by running water under the concrete surface in such a manner as to fill up all the voids to provide a proper underlying and compacted surface for installing new concrete, of the proper strength and thickness, back onto the surface in such a manner as to bring Midpines back into a safe and full operational condition as it was before the shutdown. Just a proper repair and is much cheaper than a complete demolition and new construction.
But, somebody, somewhere decided to stop that cheap solution and do a modification in another location, within Midpines, to pour a concrete pad and place several modified compactors onto that pad, and just allow household bagged garbage only. And not allow trucks or trailers. Only the Cleveland County Commissioners had the authority to make that decision., The Commissioners could NOT have legally made that decision except in an open meeting that was open to the public and with a majority vote.
Instead, at this September 19, 2023 Commissioners Meeting, no vote was taken to do anything about Midpines, except for Commissioner Johnny Hutchins to comment that he had received a phone call from a person he did not name, offering land nearby for a new full-sized Recycling Center. And all the Commissioners thought everything was on the right track.
Also note:
- The Agenda for the Commissioner’s September 19, 2023 meeting had no items for public participation or a public hearing. No chance for any member of the public to have any say in this matter at that meeting.
- The Press Release on the Cleveland County Website, Facebook, and the Shelby Star Press Release article is clearly titled: MIDPINES CONVENIENCE CENTER TEMPORARY Clearly indicating this reduced capacity public convenience center will soon be declared surplus. Just as soon as the Millions of dollars required for a new site is spent. On top of all the Hundred$ of Million$ required for the New Justice Center and the consolidated Fire Departments for Kevin Gordon to retire to.
Editor’s Note: Folks, no matter what the Cleveland County public and taxpayers want, the cockroaches are the only ones the Commissions pay any attention to. One has to wonder, if, like Ex-Commissioner Eddie Holbrook and Ex-County Manager David Dear, the present Commissioners headed up by Chairman Kevin Gordon, are cockroaches too.
Also note that if Robert A was elected to the Cleveland County Board of Commissioners, he would vote for the Midpines Convenience Center’s unfinished repair be completed and the Midpines Recycling Center to be made fully functional again. At least until a Masterplan for all Cleveland County buildings (including CCS and CCC) and structures are listed, service status determined, all repairs needed are determined, new construction determined with proper cost estimates, and all properly figured into the Cleveland County Budget before Midpines or anything else is properly determined for replacement. This is only a good and proper business-like thing to do. Yet, the Commissioners, School Board, and others have not even started on such an obviously proper list of things taxpayers expect their leaders to do.
Vote for Robert A for Commissioners is all that needs to be said here! Except for this one thing. Where did all the water come from that washed away Midpines??? Robert A asked that question at the September 19, 2023 Commissioner’s Meeting and did NOT receive a definite answer.