Thursday, October 1, 2026
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Cherryville, NC (WNN) - The Regular Cherryville City Council Meeting held on May 11th, 2026, was called to order by Mayor Pro Tem Janice Hovis, in the absence of Mayor Wade Stroupe. After an invocation by Pastor Tom Rippen of First Presbyterian Church of Cherryville, the meeting shortly came underway. In honor of the month of May being National Military Appreciation Month, Hovis read a veteran's prayer before moving on to the night’s agenda.
Dell Garren returned to speak as he did at last month's city council meeting. He spoke on his belief that the Cherryville Police Department is guilty of police misconduct. Garren’s first point was that the information he requested should be available according to his reading of NCGS 160A-168(b). He feels that the Police Chiefs' response that employee records are confidential violates the statute. He brought up the 1963 court case Brady Vs. Maryland states that police are obligated to give that information to a magistrate when seeking a warrant. He feels that he has been targeted by the Cherryville Police Department. City Attorney Taylor asked Garren to submit a formal written request for the information.
Those who watched the budget session may know that Brian Sciba, an Assistant Gaston County Manager, spoke with the Cherryville council during the previous work session about zoning. Richard Elam, the Planning and Zoning Director for the city of Cherryville, announced his retirement, leaving the city to seek a new candidate for the role. This will offload duties like checking plat sizes and rezoning to Gaston County. Cherryville will continue to have its own ordinances and zoning regulations, but will adopt Gaston County's fee schedule. All fees collected will go to Gaston County, in lieu of compensation from the City of Cherryville. The council voted to adopt the interlocal agreement.
In a similar vein to the Interlocal Agreement, Cherryville has spoken several times about the closure of two roads in the municipality. The first is Grove Road, which is located off of Paul H. Beam Road, and while technically “open”, no road structures exist in its current condition. Second is a portion of Public Works Way, which was to be closed to add expanded parking within a gate for city employees at the Public Works Department. Both roads individually entered public hearings, with no public response, and were voted to be closed.
The Cherryville budget session was completed on April 28, 2026, and a few changes had been made since that update. The first major change is that, instead of spending $100k upfront on a truck for the water department, it will be leased, reducing that cost to roughly $6,500 in the upcoming year. Sanitation rates will be raised by $2.00 per customer as discussed at the budget session. A bonus plan was also brought up for city employees, in addition to a cost-of-living allowance that everyone will receive. This will be $ 40,000 total to give city employees bonuses for exemplary efforts. During two separate evaluation periods, twenty $1,000 bonuses will be distributed among city staff. This would happen twice yearly. Council Member Jon Abernethy was worried this sort of bonus would cause dissension. The other council members echo this sentiment. City Manager Brian Dalton feels this is a way to encourage employees who are showing up and completing everything expected, and more when they can. He believes this will help the city retain employees. Actions such as poor attendance will disqualify them from the pool for a bonus. While the council reaches a consensus on this, the budget, as it is, would include it. One of the main concerns was roads, and the city expects to dedicate over $500,000 to roads this year. This does not include the square holes around town, which Ripple Fiber will repair. The public hearing will be on June 8, 2026, at 6 PM, as voted on by the city council.
To start the City Manager Report, Dalton noted that the interior tank maintenance has been completed on both Cherryville water towers. He expects the remodeling of City Hall to begin soon, with paint and flooring colors currently under review. The city received an update on the situation with Blue Cross Blue Shield, which wants to raise the rate by 43% for the same service. The current budget anticipates a 15% increase, but Cherryville has received an offer from another company for an 11% increase over the previous budget year.
Dalton then brought the next update on Cherryville's sports. Cherryville will now host a volleyball league, potentially the first time the city has hosted one. Coach Kiser, who recently retired from Cherryville High School, is also planning to coach a two-week summer camp in June. Softball's end-of-season tournament is on Sunday, May 17, 2026, at 1:30 PM, and baseball wraps up its season on Thursday, May 21, 2026. Allstar leagues will begin in June.
Council Member Gary Freeman brought up a tendency for the public to jump to conclusions. During last week’s softball game, the lights were out. The city was blamed for letting the bulbs burn out. However, this was not the case, and someone had switched off the breaker. Freeman hopes more people will contact the city to resolve issues and prevent matters like this. Council Member Jill Puett complimented the beautification volunteers who recently “knocked out” the seasonal swap out of flowers on Main Street. Abernethy also brought up that Cox Fleet is looking to support a community action project, which can be submitted by contacting them. Mayor Pro Tem Hovis wrapped up the meeting by speaking on the current information on closing W.B. Beam Intermediate, which you can read about here.
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