By Mark Wineka
mwineka@salisburypost.com
GRANITE QUARRY — Aldermen will consider the possibility of putting a liquor-by-the-drink referendum on the November ballot.
The request for a liquor vote came to the town board Monday night from Jeff Stogner of the El Acapulco Mexican Restaurant off North Salisbury Avenue.
Mayor Pro Tem Bill Feather suggested that the board discuss the request and its implications for the town and county at its June 4 meeting and also ask a representative of the Rowan-Kannapolis ABC Board to make a presentation.
Granite Quarry residents voted down a liquor-by-the-drink proposal several years ago.
Stogner prompted laughter in the meeting room Monday night, as he walked to the podium immediately after state Rep. Harry Warren and state Sen. Andrew Brock presented Mayor Mary S. Ponds with the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, the state’s highest civilian award coming from the governor’s office.
Ponds made a heartfelt acceptance speech in which she said there was nothing she did for herself, but rather for the glory of God.
Stogner noted the difficulty of his following the Order of the Long Leaf Pine presentation.
“You’re talking about God, and here I am asking about alcohol,” Stogner said.
(The Post will have a photograph and story later this week about Ponds’ receiving the award.)
In another matter, aldermen approved the town’s sponsorship of a five-week summer program aimed at providing fitness and nutritional counseling for kids. Clarissa Best, a personal trainer, will be running the program, which will be offered free to residents.
Granite Quarry will contract with Best for $750. She will have classes three times a week at the Legion Hut, with sessions designed for children 6 to 10 and 11 to 16.
Town Manager Dan Peters said money will come out of the community events fund. He and Ponds recommended establishment of the program and suggested that it start the week of July 9.
Best said she could serve up to 30 children, possibly more, although session times would then have to be reduced with larger numbers. Noting the country’s obesity epidemic among children, Best said it’s better to teach a child good habits now than trying to correct or change them later in life.
Bob Voelker, a member of the town’s recycling committee, said 156 of the 1,095 residences and businesses where garbage is collected in Granite Quarry are recycling, making the participation rate 14.2 percent.
Some 57 tons of materials were recycled from the Granite Quarry participants last year, he said, and the 730-pound average per participant is way over the state average of 200 pounds per recycling household.
Granite Quarry residents who recycle do so on a subscription basis. The recycling committee, which is headed by Beth Calhoun, recommends, however, that the town some day go to curbside, rollout recycling because participation would become much higher.
It’s predicted that recycling on the current subscription basis will top out at a 20 percent participation rate, Voelker said.
In other business Monday night:
• The board approved holding a public hearing on the proposed 2012-13 budget at 7 p.m. June 4. The budget being considered would keep the town’s property tax rate at 40 cents per $100 valuation.
• Maintenance director Kim Cress said a large tree will be removed this morning at Granite Lake Park. A section of the park will be closed during the work.
• The N.C. Department of Transportation recently has mowed state rights of way and picked up trash along state-maintained roads. Cress said the state mows three times a summer.
• New Town Clerk Lydia Morrow, who also handles human resource duties for the town, said performance reviews are being conducted for all town employees.
• Greg Philpot, head of the Parks, Events and Recreation Commission, said the Easter egg hunt and the Plants in the Park events were huge successes in April. More high schools were involved this year in the Plants in the Park sale.
• The town will sponsor its Kids Fish For Fun Day from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. May 19 at Granite Lake Park. The fishing, supervised by the N.C. Wildlife Commission, is for elementary and middle school students. Participants must sign up by calling the town office at 704-279-5596, extension 201.
• Plans are in the works for “Music in the Park.” Those interested in sharing their music with the community are being asked to call the town at 704-279-5596, extension 201.
Contact Mark Wineka at 704-797-4263.