Liquid is on the minds of China Grove residents and candidates - both water and liquor.
Residents will have a chance to approve liquor-by-the-drink sales on Nov. 6.
John Polilli, owner of Mimosa Italian Restaurant on Main Street, said liquor sales would be a boon for the town.
“It would be a good thing for the town,” he said.
China Grove already allows beer and wine sales, but does not allow liquor-by-the-drink. There isn’t a liquor store in the town, either.
Terry Osborne, general manager of Rowan/Kannapolis Alcoholic Beverage Control, said he would wait until the results of the election before plans are made to build a liquor store near China Grove.
“There has been a lot of interest in southern Rowan County,” Osborne said. “But the board has other items to worry about right now.”
Mimosa has been open since December, and Polilli said he doesn’t sell beer or wine.
“We wanted to be known for our food first,” Polilli said, “but we’re in the process of getting a beer and wine license.”
Customers at Mimosa have expressed a variety of opinions about liquor sales in the town, Polilli said.
“Some of our customers have said, for reasons of faith, they would not patron businesses that sell liquor,” Polilli said. “We’ve heard it all here.”
Polilli said he is also concerned about water and sewer rates in the town.
China Grove purchases water from the City of Salisbury, and in July, Town Council voted to increase water and sewer rates to reflect rate increases from Salisbury, from $14.10 to $15.15 per 1,000 gallons for water and sewer service.
China Grove pays Salisbury $3.92 per 1,000 gallons for water and $5.19 per 1,000 gallons for sewer. Interim Town Manager Bill Pless said that was a 7.45 percent increase from last year’s rates.
Residents and business owners have been complaining about high water and sewer rates.
Polilli said he ran a restaurant in Charlotte and his water bill was no more than $40 a month.
“Here, it is about $200 a month,” Polilli said.
Charles Seaford, a candidate for Town Council, said something has to be done about water and sewer rates in the town.
“I want to look at the contract we have with Salisbury to provide us with water,” Seaford said in July. “I want to know if it is the best for the people of China Grove.”
Town Council candidates also want to change the way the town does business.
With the departure of former town manager Eric Davis to Mount Holly in September, Town Council chose to wait after the election to hire a new town manager. Jim Whitley, owner of Whitley’s Auto and Lube, said, if elected, he would push to abolish the town manager’s position and cut wasteful spending out of the town’s budget.
But Ron Overcash said a town manager is needed to oversee town operations. Overcash served on Town Council from 1994-2000, before there was a town manager.
Each council member had a town department to oversee. It was an inefficient system, Overcash said, because council members could not devote their full attention to the department.
“I was not fully involved,” Overcash said. “And it was very difficult to see what’s really going on in a department when your only interaction is at a monthly meeting.”
-Ben McNeely
