4 officers honored as Employees of the Year

Correspondent

Four Matthews police officers were recognized Monday by Matthews commissioners as the 2012 Employees of the Year.

The award, which is voted on by town employees and usually goes to one person, was presented to Officers Bill Abernethy, James Flack, Kevin Osuch and Steve Roznia.

Last fall, longtime Matthews resident Harvey Boyd was severely assaulted; he was in the hospital, then in rehabilitation for several months.

During that time, the officers discovered that Boyd’s refrigerator had stopped working and spoiled food had leaked into his kitchen.

The four officers cleaned up the mess and worked to get a new refrigerator donated from Lowe’s. When Boyd returned home, the new refrigerator was installed and the kitchen clean.

Boyd was on hand at the Monday ceremony to personally thank those officers, as well as those who responded to the original call for help.

Adopt-A-Spot

At the request of Matthews Park and Recreation Department, commissioners added sections of Four Mile Creek Greenway in Matthews to the town’s Adopt-A-Spot program. The program is already in place in other parts of town and allows residents to choose a particular area to keep clean and possibly enhance with mulch and plantings.

Now residents can Adopt-A-Spot along the greenway.

For more information on the program, contact Matthews Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Department at 704-321-7275.

Historic properties

Commissioners also received a report from planner Jay Camp detailing the historic properties in town.

Camp said that of the 10,000 structures in town, only about 100 of them predate World War II.

The list included more than 150 structures and places that could have historical significance.

While Camp stressed that the list is not a preservation plan, Matthews Mayor Jim Taylor says it’s a good start to helping preserve the town’s past.

“This will allow us to keep track of what we have in the town and what we don’t want to lose,” said Taylor.