Commissioners Vote 5-0 to POISON City of Shelby’s Water Supply???   And, Pay Project Power to do it!!??  Only Robert A says NO!!   $100 Award offered!!!

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Editor’s Note: A few years ago, Robert A dropped off a Kayak fisherman at Cleveland County’s Broad River Greenway for a day trip down the “Big” Broad River to the Dravo Dam down in South Carolina. As Robert A was helping the fisherman drag his Kayak and various equipment down to the water’s edge, a large number of small and young catfish were dead in the water and floating downriver.

When Robert A returned home, he called the County Manager’s Office to report the fish kill. Nobody seemed interested. A few days later, larger fish were found to be dead in the water in that area of the Big Broad River. Nothing was ever said and nothing was ever done in regard to that fish kill that Robert A was ever made aware of. Robert A’s review of area maps indicated to Robert A that the Duke Power Company’s Cliffside Power Station, not very far upriver, was the likely culprit. Robert A also thought to himself, “if the City of Shelby drew their water supply from the Big Broad instead of the First Broad, they would have been “hopping mad” before the sun went down that very day.

Now folks, fast-forward to the November 7, 2023, Cleveland County Commissioners Meeting with Commissioner Chairman Kevin Gordon presiding. Project Power, whatever that is, was on the agenda and Robert A and others had signed up to speak under the Legally required “Public Hearing” section of the Commissioners Meeting agenda. Note that this is all recorded on the Video of that Commissioner’s meeting. The link to that video is about 32 minutes into the meeting. Note that the meeting room is full of citizens attending this meeting.

However, for your convenience, we have condensed this Project Power part of the Public Hearings at the November 7, 2023 Commissioner’s Meeting down to the following link! THIS IS A NEW FEATURE that we have added to improve our providing Cleveland County government’s coverage in a more understandable format.  Folks, be prepared to see more specific information in a shorter period of time and as much as possible in our reporting. Political News in Cleveland County has been going downhill for a long time now. We have decided to step up our game. Especially in time for the 2024 Elections. There will be NO REPEAT of the 2020 Elections when the Commissioners as well as the CC School Board candidates all lied their way into office. All claiming transparency and then doing everything to hide their corrupt purposes.

 

The Project Power presentation was all about the old Cleveland Mills (an old cotton mill) property in Lawndale that has been vacant for around 20 years. Some unnamed entity, perhaps another “Commie” crowd out of Communist China, has proposed to renovate the old Cleveland Mills building and do “something” regarding “renewable energy.”

During the Public Hearing, the presentation put on by the Assistant Economic Development Director for Cleveland County mentioned absolutely nothing about what, if anything, would be produced or manufactured in this old Cotton Mill building. All the Commissioners were interested in were apparently how many jobs would be brought in and what was the average pay. The Number of employees anticipated was 34, over three years, and the average pay would be around $51,000 per year. The County’s proposed incentive payments would be around $182,000 over five years. All this was presented and absolutely NONE of the Commissioners had any intelligent questions. Nobody from the Project Power folks presented any information and none were likely in the building.

During the Public Hearing, only two persons had signed up to speak.

The first speaker was the Mayor of Lawndale.

The Mayor of Lawndale stated he was glad something was about to be done with the Old Cleveland Mills building and for the jobs and pay the new business would bring.

The second speaker was Robert A.

Robert A opened by saying that he had recently attended a local music presentation in Fallston where the singer stated he had written a song about the old Cleveland Mills cotton mill. The song was about a Cotton Mill town, now without a Mill. Robert A went on to say that, in his younger days, he had actually worked at the Cleveland Mills plant in Lawndale (in the summer of 1969 as a summer job while he was attending NC State. And the pay was $1.65 per hour.) That job at Cleveland Mills was in the Dye House that was adjacent to the First Broad River, just downstream of the Cleveland County Water Plant,

Robert A was also remembering that the Cleveland Mills Dye House, in those days, just dumped their “spent” dye chemicals into a ditch that dumped the wastewater straight into the First Broad River, A few miles UPSTREAM of the City of Shelby’s water supply intake pipes.

Robert A also stated that it sounded like a good idea to improve the economic development in Upper Cleveland County and in Lawndale. HOWEVER, Robert A had not heard one word in the Project Power presentation about what kind of renewable energy these unnamed people were going to produce (and whether or not there were any TOXIC, HARMFUL, or HAZARDOUS byproducts that would be produced there right alongside  the First Broad River, which provides ALL the drinking water for the City of Shelby.)

Robert A was shocked that these five Cleveland County Commissioners, even when reminded and prompted by Robert A’s statement he was not concerned by what he had heard in the presentation, but by “what he had NOT heard.” What Robert A had not heard was “that NO toxic, harmful or hazardous materials would be produced by Project Power.”

Robert A was also concerned that ALL of the Commissioners, Led by Chairman Kevin Gordon, especially, had conveniently “dis-remembered” that the first and ultimate duty of a Cleveland County Commissioner is to ensure the health and safety of the CITIZENS of Cleveland County. The Commissioners voted 5-0 to accept Project Power and pay them $182,000+ in incentives (taxpayer dollar$) without asking one question about what Project Power would produce and whether was it safe.

 

Folks, Robert A has no immediate “proof” that the Cleveland County Commissioners and Kevin Gordon are complicit in poisoning the water supply used by the City of Shelby. However, Robert A has absolutely no confidence or reason to believe that Project Power WILL NOT poison the city of Shelby’s water supply. Wouldn’t it have been prudent, appropriate, and responsible for the CC Commissioners to have even considered this? Or at least ask the appropriate questions? That is exactly what Robert A would do when HE becomes a Cleveland County Commissioner in 2024.

Editor’s Note: Folks, to prove this point, Robert A is offering a $100 reward to the FIRST Citizen who can show where the Cleveland County Commissioners, any of them, were told (or asked questions) in that November 7, 2023 CC Commissioner’s meeting that Project Power would NOT poison Shelby’s water supply. Much less cause a fish kill.

 Also, note that Robert A has NEVER had to pay off on any of his offers of rewards. Not ONCE in all these years. Perhaps most of you citizens should consider “retiring” Kevin Gordon, et. al. in the 2024 Republican Primary Commissioner’s Election. If not sooner!!!