Front Porch

The picture files were inadvertantly deleted after an editorial board meeting this AM (’round here, we call that a cup of coffee).

We will repost them by this evening. Sorry for any inconvenience.

(Lower Tennis Courts at Davis Park) 

Last night, well, late last night, we were sitting on The Front Porch, and some of kid’s friends were talking about the Belmont Skatepark that was discussed more than a couple of years ago. Yes, in the 77 degree, 11:30 PM nighttime heat.

Anyway, the teens were asking about what happened. We explained to them that the city council had approved a bond referendum to designate funds for the skatepark construction. One young man, said, “in my lifetime?”, “yes” was the response. The original location was supposed to be the lower tennis courts at Davis Park, who knows now what the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee will do…

$115,000 of the proposed $12 million dollar Parks and Recreation Bond package will be directed to this project. Not in time for one of the best skaters in Belmont though, Phillip Nguyen.

The space is a great place to put a park such as this. We hope that it will be dedicated to Phillip.

Tuesday night, the Gaston County Commissioners passed the formal resolution to hold a School Bond Referendum on November 6.

The amount the school system is asking to raise is $175 million for new construction, renovation, and school land acquisition.

This is a critical need in the eastern portion of Gaston County, both East Gaston HS and South Point HS are over capacity with hundreds of students literally living in trailers on both campuses.

With all of the exploding residential growth in the area, this bond is critical and in our opinion, needs passage in November.