Kings Mountain mayor talks about expectations for 2022
When it comes to being mayor of Kings Mountain, Scott Neisler said his main objective is improving the quality of life for all residents.
He is thinking outside the box in 2022, going as far as using better technology to ensure the lives of all residents flow with ease.
That starts with adding a second station that will complete the natural gas loop, preventing customers from losing access to an entire system if the main line is impacted.
“When you think about it, it is important because if you have a break on one side of town and delivery is only in one place, it would be difficult to replace,” Neisler said. “You get up in the morning and you take for granted that the water is coming out. But without someone in the background making sure it’s reliable, that gets overlooked. We are trying to think outside the box and what expansion is going to be.”
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Neisler wants to take care of other areas of Cleveland County as well. The town of Grover gets water from Kings Mountain. As part of the nearly $40 million awarded to Cleveland County, the city plans to use some of those funds to get Grover out of an at-risk situation.
“I feel good because from the money that we got out of the state budget, that gave us priority to take care of that problem,” Neisler said. “Their sewer system is in bad shape. It is a priority for us to fix that problem.”
As he reflects on 2021, Neisler said he enjoyed seeing people gather together again. Yet, quite a few events were cancelled, and he is hopeful they will be able to resume some of the well-anticipated acts that were to set to perform in Patriots Park.
“People had been shut up so much with COVID,” Neisler said. “There were 3,000-5,000 people in Patriots Park. I think barring anything crazy, I’m hoping this spike with Omicron won’t be crazy so we can have them come back. You know when you walk in a place and it feels good to be there? That is Patriots Park.”
The influx of folks from Charlotte looking for less hustle and bustle has added to the growth of the town, according to Neisler who said they are prepared to handle it.
“We got the utility system that’s going to be able to handle the number of people coming from Charlotte,” Neisler said. “We are having developers come, both industrial and residential wise. We don’t have to build speculation buildings. We have people coming in and investing in that. We positioned ourselves to be able to service these things.”
The town continues to progress with major projects, including the streetscape, an economic policy to attract new industries, and staff is looking into new residential developments. With so many things on his plate, Neisler says he knows it will take time to see everything come to completion.
“The amphitheater was put on hold at one point and now look at it,” Neisler said. “Good things are worth waiting for.”
Latrice Williams can be reached at 704-669-3339 and lwilliams6@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on The Shelby Star: Kings Mountain mayor talks about expectations for 2022
