V O L U M E 2 5J U L Y 2 0 1 9 I S S U E 4

N e w s l e t t e r

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F r o m T h eM ayo r

Hello All, I hope that you are enjoying this beautiful weather. The Spencer Cal Ripkin Baseball league is in full swing. It’s nice to hear the kids and their families having fun at the ballpark. Come by and watch a game, the kids and coaches will appreciate the support. Don’t forget the concession stand, they have great food.

I want to recognize the students and staff at North Rowan High School for their presentation of “The Lion King.” Every member of the cast played their parts extremely well. Thanks to all of you for your hard work and dedication. Your show will be remembered for many years. Great Job!

During the May Board of Alderman meeting, the board voted to employ John Sofley as the town’s interim Budget Officer. John has over thirty years of experience with the City of Salisbury working in their finance department. I want to thank John for his willingness to prepare the town’s budget. Also during the May meeting there was a vote for Rashid Mohammad to fill the empty seat on the board. Rashid was worn in at the regular June Board of alderman Meeting.Congratulations Rashid!

Another item that was discussed at the May meeting was the Fourth Street Storm Water Project. The Town of Spencer has completed all of our required construction to this point. The next step is for Salisbury Rowan Utilities to repair the water lines under the existing street. Obviously, SRU’s repair work has to be done before paving of the street. Spencer’s SRU representative informed the Board that the water line repair could go into late September. He said that the reason for the delay was that the bids for work had not gone out yet.

The Park Plaza project continues to move forward. There have been many obstacles to navigate, but now at this point things should begin to move faster. The board agreed for the architect to redesign the area of the park section of the project. This was decided on to accommodate easement requirements for property owners and tenants within the plaza.

The Board and town staff would like to form a Spencer Downtown Advisory Commission. An ideal commission will be made up of folks from the professional field such as merchants, real estate agents, bankers, attorneys, or anyone has a genuine passion to volunteer their time to make Spencer a better place to live and work. Spencer has tons of untapped potential. We need you to help us connect the dots. If you’re interested come by town hall and leave your name and contact information.

In closing, school will be out soon, so enjoy the warm weather and time with your family.

Jim GobbelMayor

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I n C a s e yo uM i s s e d i tSpencer has kicked off summer right with some amazing events in the town. On May 4th the Library hosted a “Celebrate Children Event” featuring many young talents including Jacob Klutz, Greg Luster, Mia Mason, and even our own North Rowan High School drama department with a preview of “The Lion King.”

May 31st the Town of Spencer hosted its first ever Food Truck Friday. We gathered in the Park Plaza parking lot with food, live music and fun for all ages. Mambo on Ruedas, Pelicans, Big Tasty, and Finger licking chicken all brought their food trucks to be enjoyed. Live music from Liam and the Nerdy Blues, Sophia Daniz, and Lucas Beam filled the air while kids enjoyed carnival style games and bounce houses.

June 1st Pops at the Post celebrated their 15th annual concert in Spencer at the Transportation Museum. Hundreds showed to enjoy the free concert from the orchestra, tailgating competition and other various vendors. The “Railway Edition” set included tons of train favorites and was a fun event for the entire family.

Top: the cast of North

Rowan’s “The Lion King”

Performing

Middle:Jacob Klutz at the

Celebrate Children Event

Bottom: The Ochestra from

the Pops at the Post

concerrt

Right: Citizens

enjoying food

from the

various trucks

at Food Truck

Friday

Brittany Skye AitkenTown Clerk

Above: Citizens outside Big

Tasty Food Truck during Food

Truck Friday (Photography by

Mark Perry)

Left: Children enjoying the

bounce castles at Food Truck

Friday (Photography by Mark

Perry)

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F r o m t h e P o l i c e D e pa r t m e n t

Investigator Michael File was honored by the Salisbury Lions Club on May 14, 2019 as the Officer of the Year for the Spencer Police Department. We are fortunate to have Investigator File within our ranks. Congratulations Investigator File!

Officer Wayne Comer continues to improve and I ask that you continue to keep him in your thoughts and prayers. Officer Comer is very grateful for the phone calls and cards he has received.

If you know of someone looking for a career in law enforcement, please ask them to visit Town Hall and complete an application. Our agency is seeking minority applicants and we are an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Normally as warm weather arrives, there is an uptick in crime since more people are moving around in vehicles or

on foot. If you see suspicious activity, dial 911 and an officer will respond and take appropriate action. KEEP DOORS LOCKED ON YOUR HOME AND CARS! REMOVE THE OPPORTUNITY FOR A CRIMINAL TO COMMIT A CRIME! Invest in a Ring doorbell or other camera to protect your property.Please take the time to see the Law Enforcement monument that is erected in front of the Rowan County Courthouse in honor of Rowan County Law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty. Please note the name of Spencer Officer Robert Clement who paid the ultimate sacrifice while working to protect others. Officer Clement’s photo

is proudly displayed in the lobby of Town Hall.

Chief James has taken over the golf cart inspection task since MPO Safrit left the department. Please contact Chief James to get your golf cart inspected. Please bring a copy of your liability policy.

Michael T. JamesChief of Police

Above: Rowan County Law Enforcement

monument outside the Rowan County

Courthouse

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With the hustle and bustle of summer vacations, pool parties, and outdoor events, it’s easy to lose track of what “apps” your children are using on their phones during road trips or times when they may be home alone while you are off working.

There are many excellent and even educational apps available, but there are also many unsavory ones that can expose your children to a multitude of non-age appropriate material and others that can even be dangerous.

While everyone is aware of SnapChat and the issues surrounding it at times, here are a few other popular apps that can expose your children to questionable content.

• Omegle: This app allows you to video chat with random people. While it does not specifically ask for your name or location, there is no way to filter the content that occurs among chat participants.

• Whisper: This app allows you to share your thoughts through text and even video. It also allows you to connect to others in a geographic location close to your own. Again, there is no way to filter what video or text your children are sending or receiving.

• TikTok: This video app allows your children to make what seems like harmless “funny” videos. The issue with this app is it still has a chat feature where unwanted individuals can approach your children.

• Spotafriend: This app allows communication between your children and “new” friends they are meeting through the app. These “friends” can be of any age group.

• WhatsApp: This app acts like a text and video messenger where your children can communicate with others or groups. While it sounds harmless, it is often harder to monitor what is occurring on your child’s phone when it is not through normal text messaging.

The Spencer Police Department hopes each of you has a wonderful and SAFE summer break. As always, should you notice any suspicious activity, please notify us immediately!

Investigator M.J File

Above: The app icons for Spot a friend,

Whisper, WhatsApp and Omegle.

P o l i c e D e pa r t m e n t

C o n t i n u e d

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F r o m T h eF i n a n c e D e pa r t m e n tGreetings Good People,

The finance office was established by former Town Manager, Terence Arrington.

Our charge was to develop transparent, effective and efficient work flows to keep purchases and expenses in line with the FY 2018-2019 adopted budget. as well as streamline account tracking.

We have made some great changes to get payroll done efficiently. All employees are now on the same bi-weekly process and turn in time sheets on same calendar date at the end of two weeks. The employees are all paid at the same time. We are currently in training for new software that will help us process account payables more accurately and quicker to meet invoice due dates.

Tatia SewardDirector of Finance

The budget preparations are now complete and the first draft of the budget was given to the board on May 28, 2019 for review. After some deliberation the budget was passed on June 27, 2019.

The FY 2018-2019 budget will closeout on June 30, 2019. Our new FY 2019-2020 budget will begin July 01, 2019 now that it has been adopted by our Board of Alderman.

Do you love our new Newsletter?Do you also love saving paper?

Email your name and address to the email below to switch your newsletter to digital!

Townclerk@ci.spencer.nc.us.

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F r o m T h e T o w n L i b r a ry

Saturday, May 4th, piano crescendos awakened Spencer residents as Jacob Kluttz practiced his trills and pounding chords before the Celebrate Children event, sponsored by Spencer Public Library, The Little Choo-Choo Shop, Mary Mae’s, Band Attic and Barnhardt Jewelers. The annual outdoor event focused on the talents of children of varied ages.

The youngest talents started with a fourth and fifth grader from Koontz who sang beautiful pop songs. The next oldest, an eighth grader from Knox, Mia Mason, belted out the song” I will do a New Thing in You.” Three middle-school brothers, otherwise known as the Bulla Boys, performed behind a puppet stage as the main characters in two short puppet skits. One skit, called the Big, Bad Bully warned students of the evils of bullying others.

When a North Rowan High School bus arrived and twenty or more students from the Lion King Cast spilled out onto the lawn, everyone anticipated their performance in the gazebo. We were amazed at the clear voices of the young students as they sang three hit songs from the play, “Circle of Life,” “Be Prepared and “Can You Feel the Love Tonite?”

The professional musicians who were our featured guests, Jacob Kluttz, young self-taught pianist, Greg Luster, young rapper from Kannapolis, both portrayed different styles. However, as one listened closely to the message in the songs delivered by each, they had a similar uplifting and encouraging tone.

Melissa Summers of Thelma Smith Foundation added much to our program by painting faces of young ones and giving away prizes and free

coupons for local restaurants.

We would like to thank the art students of NRHS for the beautification of the park with their mosaic tiles and birdhouses. Thank you for the support of our Mayor and the Spencer Board of Aldermen by their attendance at this event which spotlighted the talent of our local students. Thank you to drama teacher, Leigh Alexander and art teacher, Mrs. Grey, both of NRHS for their involvement. We would also like to thank our local businesses who financially gave so that Jacob Kluttz could come and be our featured artist.

On June first from 2-4 pm we will welcome to Library Park the Society for Creative Anachronism from Charlotte area who will reenact the skills of knights and ladies of the Middle Ages. In the park, young people will experience what a jousting event would have been like and swordplay. There will be a display of archery, also. Women will cook over an open fire and inside the library a woman will teach the art of weaving. Our puppet show which features a dragon, king, knight, troll and princess will be held inside due to the heat. Each child who has a parent register them for our summer reading program will receive a snack and a craft to take home. The following page will give details of each storytime and what to expect at each one. The child who reads the most books for the summer will be eligible for a grand prize and children who read the next highest amounts may pick from a prize box.

If anyone missed our Celebrate Children event, they may visit our FB page which is named Spencer Public Library with a picture of the library as cover photo and there are several live videos of the music. Please like and follow so that you will not miss anything. Our Summer hours will begin the Friday after Memorial Day and will be posted on the Town Website.

Beverly MccawTown Librarian

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F r o m P u b l i cW o r ksBrush and Yard Waste Pick-Up Public Works wants to remind all citizens that all loose leaves, grass clippings and small debris will need to be bagged for pick-up throughout the summer until the leaf vacs start up again in October. Please limit weight of bags to 50lbs or less per bag. We also want to remind everyone to cut all debris into 6’ lengths no thicker than 4” in diameter and place them on the curb with the butt ends facing the street. Our Brush pick up service runs Monday through Friday on predetermined routes. We begin our week on the north end of Town and work our way South. If anyone needs additional or bulk brush pick-up they will need to call Town Hall for the issuance of a work order. Thank you all for the cooperation and attentiveness to our Town’s ordinances.

Curb Edging Just a reminder that in Spring, grass and weeds begin to grow in the curb and it is essential to storm water maintenance that we keep the curbs clear. We will maintain curb and gutter by hand spraying. If you have your yard clearly edged, then it is easier for us to notice, and we skip your yard. In any event, we do our best not to spray more than needed to get us through the season.

Garbage Collection Public Works would like to remind citizens to place bulk items at the curb on your normal trash day. Please do not block sidewalks with items that need to be picked up. If the crew determines they

have room on the truck, it will be picked up that day. Larger items will be picked up on Thursday.

Please do not place any type of construction material at the curb for pick up. The landfill has mandated that we do not mix this type of material with normal household garbage in our trucks. Please call Public Works or Town Hall to make arrangements for pickup of this type of material for a fee.

Reminder: TV’s, electronic devices, appliances, paint cans, and tires will not be picked up. These items have been banned from the landfill and need to be taken to the Rowan County Recycling Center located at 1102 North Long Street Extension, East Spencer NC 28039.

If you have any questions feel free to contact Public Works at 704-633-5331 or pwddir@ci.spencer.nc.us.

Joel TaylorDirector of Public Works