Madison Park

Meeting Minutes for August 11th, 2003

Sep 02, 2003

President Ted Peters called the meeting to order at 7:35pm
> 30 members were present
>
> Brett Hannaford provided an update of the construction beginning at the
> Pinewood Elementary School campus that fronts Seneca Place. Brett showed
> members site plans for the 800-student replacement facility. The new
> school will be 90,000 square feet and 1-story. Grading of the site is
> scheduled to begin by August 15th. Project to be completed by end of 04.
> Brett spoke about storm water issues and said that runoff will be kept
> to a minimum by the construction of a catch basin on site. Brett stated
> that 800-student capacity buildings were the standard for elementary
> school buildings in the county. The facility is being built at a cost of
> $9.5 million. Dirt is to be staged on the site. A construction
> entrance will be off Seneca Place. There will be some trees removed but
> the majority will be left untouched. The present school is around 40
> years old. The rose garden will be saved and relocated sometime next
> year next to the new school building.
>
> Officer Patrick Hairston CMPD gave the crime report for the Adam response
> area of Madison Park. [The officer who normally reports crime within the
> Baker response area of Madison Park did not attend tonight's meeting.]
> There were 26 offenses reported to the police for his side of Madison
> Park. Officer Hairston stated that the outer lanes on Seneca Place
> appeared to be for car parking on the street. Officer Hairston stated he
> had warned 10 homeowners about parking cars on the sidewalks and stated
> that officers had begun writing tickets to violators. The Police
> Division will have a open house at 1540 West Blvd on Wednesday, August13
> from 11-1:30. Officer Hairston passed out his crime reports, which broke
> down the addresses and offenses.
>
> Lamar Gunter gave a brief update on the Queens University Sports Complex.
> The Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners will meet at the Senior
> Center on Tuesday 8/12/03 at noon. Lamar requested as many neighbors as
> possible attend and stated that public feedback was to be accepted by the
> commissioners. Lamar wanted to insure that the recommendation on the
> land purchase was upheld at the meeting and that the neighborhood does
> not lose anything that the Park Commission has recommended regarding the
> project. Information according to Lamar of the planned site is still
> available for viewing at the senior center.
>
> Ted gave an update on the Wedgewood problem house at 5200 and noted that
> the tree and siding problems have been addressed. Dee McCandlish stated
> that, on the south side of Tyvola, on Wedgewood, there was another
> problem property. A member raised a question about cars parked on lawns
> and Ted responded that there was nothing we could do about that at
> present as far as code violations with the city. He noted that Marty
> Doss had emailed him regarding the city and the chance of the ordnance
> being passed with regard to preventing the cars being parked on lawns.
> Marty Doss noted that the City Counsel was to vote on the matter this
> Sept. and if passed the ordinance will go in affect Jan. 1, 2004. Ted
> asked if there were any other property concerns and attendees noted none.
>
> Ted then gave and update on the Light Rail - South Corridor
> Infrastructure. An open house had been held on 7/28/03. The land near
> South Blvd and Tyvola could possibly be rezoned to R12 (or higher) and
> will become more pedestrian and bike friendly to encourage potential
> Light Rail riders to cross South. As a part of the infrastructure
> proposal, Glenham Drive is scheduled for sidewalks.
>
> A member then noted to Ted Peters that he knew two members that quit
> attending the meetings because they could not hear the speakers. It was
> suggested that a microphone be purchased for the meetings.
>
> Ted Peters provided an update on Yard signs. 10 signs will be purchased
> and the members again voted for a new logo. It was noted that the logo
> chosen was the same one chosen last year. The members selected Madison
> Park logo #3 on the ballot. It features a large tree in the background.
> The yard signs will help advertise the association meetings to the
> neighbors. A member asked what the boundaries on the South Side were and
> Martin Doss noted that Chedworth Dr was the boundary line for the most
> part with an exception of Londonderry Rd where Flagstaff and the half
> circle on Londonderry is the cut off between Madison Park and Montclair.
>
> Flyers will be distributed in the next couple of weeks to advertise the
> picnic and the Sept. meeting to the neighborhood. Volunteers are needed
> to pass them out. The picnic will be held Sunday, Sept. 21st on the
> grounds of the Wedgewood Baptist church. It will be held from 3-5pm and
> the association will provide watermelon, drinks, cups and ice. Members
> are to bring whatever they like to eat. Please bring a little extra for
> guest police officers and firemen.
>
> The city of Charlotte has a Matching Grants Program available for
> associations. A new member and first-time attendee, Kevin Geyer,
> volunteered to attend the orientation meeting on 8/19/03 from 6-8:30pm
> for the association.
>
> The striping on Seneca Place for traffic was discussed again at this
> time. Ted Peters stated he had made phone calls but had no answers at
> the moment. Neighbors commented that the stripes were confusing and
> questioned whether the city would put up curbs on the outer lanes of the
> bike lanes as they have on other roads recently in Charlotte such as Park
> Road in Dilworth. It was agreed as the road stands now the markings on
> the road are confusing if not dangerous. Martin Doss noted that the
> narrow bike lanes in other parts of the city are marked by logos that
> show they are bike lanes.
>
> The association still is seeking a Vice President.
>
> Dee McCandlish was recognized and she gave a brief recap of the Treasury
> Report. Starting balance was 640.00 one check for 7.50 written leaving
> an ending balance of 632.50 dollars.
>
> Candance Armstrong then gave us an update on the Crime Watch signature
> campaign. She thanked Debra Campbell for sending out the email for
> neighbors requesting they adopt a street or section of a street for
> signatures. Candace said that the program was for the most part just
> watching out for neighbors and reporting or questioning strangers. The
> following roads had been covered for the most part Wedgewood, Valley
> Forge, Keystone, Milford, Fairbanks, Ebb Place and Barkley. Anyone that
> would like to do their streets please contact Candace Armstrong for sign
> up sheets. Londonderry Rd already has the crime prevention signs up from
> previous years. The program has been revamped according to Candace and
> officer Hairston.
>
> The association purchased material for the yellow ribbon campaign.
> Member Susan Cooper spoke and said that she and her husband had used
> plastic ribbon but had trouble with the bow blowing off during
> thunderstorms. Ribbon had been purchased from Garden Ridge which was
> water proof but not plastic. This ribbon was divided up among several
> members at the meeting. One member asked what the yellow ribbon campaign
> was for and Ted Peters stated it was to show support for our troops.
> Another member stated it was a good idea since soldiers have been killed
> daily in Iraq. The ribbon will be available at the picnic for those that
> would like to have it. It was suggested that perhaps a few of the
> members could meet one evening and make bows for the ribbons however
> Susan Cooper noted it was very easy to make a simple bow stating it was
> similar to tying one's shoes.
>
> Ted then opened the meeting up to any concerns of attendees. One member
> suggested that speakers stand in order to be heard well. Member Earl Cox
> suggested that the association see if the church had a microphone system
> the association could use for the meetings. Earl Cox requested that
> Baker 2 have an officer available for the meetings. Another member spoke
> again about the Seneca Place bike lanes and the road humps. This member
> had contacted the city about the road humps being damaged by the paving
> company. This member reported that the city would have the humps
> resurfaced now.
>
> There were 3 new members recognized at the meeting.
>
> Ted Peters adjourned the meeting