Madison Park

Madison Park HOA 8/11/08 Meeting Minutes

Aug 13, 2008

Madison Park HOA 8/11/08
www.neighborhoodlink.com
28210 Madison Park
AGENDA

Welcome. Meeting called to order at 7:30pm. 27 people in attendance plus 1 officer and 1 speaker.

Westover Police Division Crime Stats- given by Officer Lim.
?• 5300 block of Glenham- breaking and entering. Items stolen from garden shed
?• 200 block of Cooper- residential breaking and entering. Items stolen from home
?• 200 block of Cooper- stolen vehicle dumped
?• 4800 block of Murrayhill- hit and run, damage to vehicle
Officer Lim is looking into possibly having a self-defense class offered for women. More details later.
A resident asked how the new police department re-organization will affect our community officers. Officer Lim said he has been told that everything is good for now- there will be about 6 officers added to Westover for patrol. If anything changes, Officer Lin will let us know.

Kirkham Young, Code Enforcement Officer, Speaker
?• Kirk Young took over as our Code Enforcement Officer earlier this summer
?• Last month, he received 107 code calls for Madison Park and Montclaire
?• Common complaints are parking on lawns, weeds and grass overgrown and rollouts (people leaving their trashcans at the curb after trash day)
?• Call 311 to make a complaint. If you leave your name and number, Kirk will be happy to call you back with an update on your complaint.
?• The problem house 1813 Tyvola between Londonderry and Seacroft- the house is now boarded up. The previous residents continue to break into the house, but codes cannot find the owner (the owners are the only one who can have someone arrested for trespassing in the house). If you see anyone around the house, call 911.
?• A resident asked how many cars are allowed a one house. You are allowed to have one ?“junk?” car parked in the backyard. You are allowed 2-3 cars parked on the street, but they must have current tags. The cars in the driveway should at least run.
?• A resident asked for an update 900 Dent Ct- neighbors have been reporting this house to codes since earlier this year- the house is an eyesore according to residents that have petitioned the City for correction. Kirk said the person living there has now put the trashcans back from the street and has cut the grass. The building materials that have been piled up are allowed for now for remodeling. Code enforcement only goes by the minimum standards, so some of the problems at the house don?’t fall under code enforcement.
?• A resident asked about what to do when neighbor?’s weeds are overgrowing her fence. Kirk said he could try to talk to the neighbor, but may not be able to enforce this, depending on the situation.
?• A resident asked what to do about dead tree limb hanging over the street. Call 311 to report this.


National Night Out
The 4th Annual Madison Park National Night Out Street Party was a huge success bringing out hundreds again this year, even with the heat. Captain Pearsall emailed the next morning to say ?“Thanks Marty, I really enjoyed myself yesterday.?”
Special Thanks to all the Volunteers this year.
We had great support again this year.
Target Pineville provided us with a gift card for 249.00 dollars. Thanks to Pineville store management Michael Brown for his help and support.
Super Target Rivergate provided us with a 2nd gift card for 249.00 dollars. Michael Graham Management from the Rivergate Super Target Store helped arrange this gift card for us.
Thanks to the Target Associates that came to help staff our event.
Targets also provided safety booklets and flashing Target Pins for attendees.

Thanks to all the board members and other Madison Park volunteers that helped staff and set up for the NNO Street Party. Our board members gave out lemonade(s), ice cream(s), hot dogs, watermelon and cotton candy. We also Thank all the neighbors along Fairbanks Road that allowed us to close down their street from noon until 10 PM. President Doss returned the following morning to make sure all the trash was picked up along the street.

Thanks to Showmars for the hot dog holders.

Thanks to Giant Genie Pharmacy for the Hand Fans. We passed out hundreds of these at the event.

Thanks to Park and Recreation (Candy Bridges) for arranging the giant slide and cotton candy. P & R also provided us with the trash boxes for the event. We also wish Candy Bridges a speedy recovery from her illness!

Thanks to CMPD for all their support. We had both our Community Officers present Officer Hairston and Officer Lim. We also had Major Blydenburgh and Captain Pearsall from the Westover Division. Other officers also dropped in on our event. Special Thanks to our community officers for helping with escorting our mini parade on the eve of National Night Out. Thanks to Officer Allen in CMPD communications for the event reminder calls. Thanks to Officer Hairston for obtaining McGruff the Crime Dog for the parade. City Council Member Susan Burgess also stopped by. Officer Lim stated that the Madison Park National Night Out is one of the Best if not the Best in the city.

Sue Valentine-Plyler Prudential Reality. The 75 dollar Home Depot gift card Sue provided was won by Tracy Greene.
UPDATE: Message received 8/13/08
Marty and Sue,

I'd like to thank you both again for all of your hard work and the fun that city staff had at Madison Park's National Night Out. Regarding the $75.00 gift certificate, it was determined by City Legal department that my keeping the gift certificate would be in violation of the City's Ethics Policy. Therefore, I am returning it to you.

Please let me know if I can drop it off to you Marty or if you would like to come to Old City Hall. I do apologize for any misunderstanding, however, as a city employee; I must adhere to the guidelines.

Thanks again for your work in Madison Park and the city.

Sincerely,

Tracy Greene
Neighborhood Services Specialist
Neighborhood Development

Based on this news we will be announcing soon a new winner of the 75 Dollar Gift Card. The winner we be announced in next months minutes and posted on our web site after they are notified. .

Thanks to City of Charlotte Neighborhood Development for approving our Grant.
Our Grant was approved in the amount of 2451.36. This went toward the YES rentals, tents, and promotional materials. The HOA had to match this with volunteers?’ hours, cash, and donations from businesses and individuals. We far exceeded our required contribution in Volunteer Labor Match toward the grant on this project.

Thanks to all our entertainers. They were all great.

Yasmine & The Magic Hips Dancers and their musicians. There are located at 540 Griffith Road. Charlotte NC 28217. MoonSister Belly Dance. There is a free class September 8th @ 6 PM if anyone wants to give Belly Dancing a try. More info contact jenlibs@yahoo.com. www.potbellyats.com

Jeff Brown Musician contact him at http://www.brownaroundtown.com/playing_schedule.htm or email at Jeff@BrownAroundTown.com

Stratford Richardson YMCA Queen City Thunder Marching Band

The three different types of entertainment acts provided something fun and entertaining for all.

Thanks to all the Neighborhood Development Staff that showed up at our event.

We received great feedback from the City, CMPD, and residents on our event.
National Night Out is in part an effort to get people out meeting each other and meeting their community police. We succeeded with this effort by having hundreds of residents of all ages coming out and having a fun evening. If you would like to know more about National Night Out you can check out the What is National Night Out information on our discussion page. You can also visit NATW.org.


Matching Grant Close Out
President Doss has requested our Matching Grant be closed out after final payment. He submitted the last monthly report on 8/7/08.
Cynthia Woods responded the following on 8/7/08 to his request.

Thanks, Marty. When we receive your receipts and final report, we will submit a request for payment as usual. We will also draft a close out report that will summarize all of the grant expenditures and neighborhood match. The close out report will be ready for your signature at the time you pick up your final check. I appreciate your diligence in reporting and otherwise keeping us informed throughout this process.
Cynthia Woods
City of Charlotte
Neighborhood Development
Ph. 704-336-2646
Fax 704-336-3959
Tracy Greene our Grant contact sent the following email on 8/7/08
Hello Marty,

I really enjoyed Madison Park's NNO Block Party. The food and entertainment were wonderful. You did a wonderful job of coordinating the event and following through with completing a successful NMGF project.

I look forward to seeing you today and working with you and Madison Park again.

Sincerely,

Tracy Greene
Neighborhood Services Specialist
Neighborhood Development
(704) 336-3955

PS
Thanks for the pictures, also. They look good.

Queens University Sports Complex Plans
President Doss heard from one member that was concerned with the field house plans that were revealed in the Charlotte Observer on 8/6/08. The resident was correct in his comments to him. ?“The construction of the field house was never mentioned to the Madison Park committee.. and it looks like it is taking over an area that was to be left undeveloped in the original plan. The access road on that side of the soccer field was marked as temporary.. for construction only.?” He also mentioned about the article saying it was for everyone. As we have reported in the past that one all purpose field is fenced and locked down. P & R responded years ago this was to prevent damage to the expensive field and was the one area the community could not use.

Marty suggested to the resident that contacted him that he should contact County Commission Jennifer Roberts with these concerns. Marty also sent an email to WSOC with the concerns. Queens University responded to Ben Thompson with WSOC that they communicate with the community regularly. This is true as we often provide updates to the community at our HOA meetings that come directly from Queens. Even though this was true Queens has never told us they were going to build this field house, and change items from the initial plans presented and agreed upon by the community.

When residents alerted us many months ago that the gravel temporary road was paved we were told by Park & Recreation this was done at their request due to mud running into Tyvola Road when it rained. It was again stated it would have limited use to just reach the field. Queens replied to WSOC they would be happy to look at any emails on the topics. The spokesperson from Queens went on to say she did not have all the plans going back to the beginning of the project, and was somewhat new in her position. Some of these past conversations from these emails have been documented in our minutes over the years.

President Doss ran into County Chair Jennifer Roberts over the weekend and she said she had received the email from our resident and would look at the plans and history on the project to make sure Queens got back on track. She noted the project has over 1 million dollars in county funding attached to it.

Street Lights
Sandy Wise Streetlight Coordinator Charlotte Department of Transportation contacted President Doss to say that Oleen McLeod had petitioned for street lights on two streets in Madison Park. The petition area is for Baylor Drive and Grice Court. She had the first petition completed with 60% in favor of the lights. Mr. Wise was contacting President Doss in an effort to eliminate the second part of the petitioning process. CDOT has adopted a new policy which can be found on our web site in full on our home page.. Since the HOA has publicly stated in the past that we support street lights, and Ms. McLeod had already obtained 60% in favor on the first petition, we did support the installation of the street lights. Residents should see the installation of these lights in the future. Any updates that we received on the project will be shared at a future HOA meeting. The new process in part is as follows:

Neighborhood Approval Process
The installation of streetlights requires the support of the neighborhood. Support can be obtained by one of two methods:

1) A letter of endorsement from the neighborhood association. The neighborhood association will be required to notify affected property owners (as defined by CDOT) of the impending street lights, and no petition will be required, or

2) If the neighborhood association does not support the proposed installation of street lights, the resident can petition. The petition requires signature of at least 60% of property owners. Properties owned jointly must be represented by signature from both owners. Properties owned by corporations must be represented by a signature from a corporate officer / agent. Tenants cannot sign for property owners. Vacant properties must be represented. For the convenience of resident owners, a petition form is printed on the actual design map. We look to the lead petitioner to deal openly with the property owners with regard to the location of adjacent streetlights. Involving the neighborhood association is an excellent way to minimize confusion and expedite the process.

Murrayhill Sidewalk Project with Wedgewood Connections
No new information has come forward since the Public Meeting was held in July. As we get information on the project status, and the side of the street is chosen we will alert the community. CDOT has stated there are still residents on Murrayhill making efforts to stop the sidewalks or change the plans. Residents are encouraged to provide feedback on this project directly to CDOT. vcoleman@ci.charlotte.nc.us Vivian Coleman is the Pedestrian Program Manager
Charlotte Department of Transportation

Name Change on area 196 on Neighborhood Statistical Area Study
An article on the 2008 NSA studies was in the paper last month. It stated that a couple of areas improved outside the center city core. One was our area 196 now called Montclaire / Madison Park. This is the south side of Tyvola. President Doss said he expected to see the area go stable based on the new construction at the corner of Fairview Road and Park Road. This is in the area 196 study area. The area is still divided as it was prior to the name change. Madison Park still goes over to about Chedworth on all streets except Londonderry where it goes down slightly past Kentland. Montclaire picks up from Chedworth South. You can see our boundaries by visiting our web site and looking at the area Map for the neighborhood. Madison Park is so large that we are currently on two different study areas. 197 called Madison Park and this renamed area now called Montclaire/Madison Park. It is still our hopes in 2010 to have the 250 homes on area 196 added to the study area 197 so all our homes would be on one map and study area. There are about 2,225 homes in Madison Park.


Neighborhoodlink.com 28210 Madison Park
If you have trouble finding our listing at Neighborhoodlink.com You must now do one additional step to see our listing. On the neighborhood finder you must now click see all neighborhoods in the 28210 zip. If that does not work for you then simply enter our direct link at http://www.neighborhoodlink.com/charlotte/madisonpk/ once you do that save it under favorites and you will not have to look for it again. Neighborhoodlink was unaware this zip code problem occurred when they added census information to the zip code page. They are going to work to get all the communities back on one page without having to click see all neighborhoods in zip.

Woodlawn Road Rezoning Meeting and Concerns of Ashbrook Neighborhood
Ashbrook Neighborhood has some concerns with the following project.

Community Meeting on Rezoning request Woodlawn Road
When: 9-4-2008, 7:00 PM
Where: Park Road Baptist Church Chapel
3900 Park Road
Contact: Fairfield Development LP 7043315784 Laura Simmons

Seeking to rezone 6.4 acres between E. Woodlawn Road Between Park Road and Halstead Drive from 4-43 MF, $-6MFH(CD) and R-4 zoninging to UR-3(CD) and $-4 zoning to accommodate the redevelopment of Woodlawn House and Melrose Place.

Jerry Jones and Carla Weyrick both with the Ashbrook Neighborhood stated that their main concerns are the increase in density - they want to increase the number of units permitted from a current total of 247 to 325. This will impact the traffic and a number of other services such as our already overcrowded schools. A possible driveway to Drexel Place which would dump a large flow of traffic into our neighborhood. The location of entrances for service vehicles (garbage, movers, delivery, etc.) The lack of sufficient buffers for Drexel neighbors.


Treasury Report Sue Valentine-Plyler- we have 64 paid members with $812 in the account. Please pay your 2008 dues!! It is $20 a year. You can mail a check to Madison Park HOA, 5026 Currituck Dr, Charlotte, 28210

Open Discussion / Concerns / Issues

One resident wanted to remind everyone to keep the storms drains clean at the street. If there is a lot of debris down in the drain, you can call 311 and they can send someone to vacuum out the debris. Whenever we do start to get rain again, the drains can become clogged quickly.

Another resident mentioned an article recently in the paper about how you can check on the walkability rating of your street/neighborhood. Check www.walkscore.com It shows you places near you that you can reach by walking such as schools, parks, shopping, and restaurants.

A resident asked what was the importance of the Neighborhood Statistical Area Study, (the 2008 study came out recently in the paper). This study labels neighborhoods as stable, transitioning or challenged based on 20 different variables. It impacts what services neighborhoods receive from the city to some degree. It is also used by real estate agents. Having an area stable can result in higher home values. Madison Park, area 197, has been stable for a while. The newly re-named area, Montclaire/Madison Park, area 196, was increased to stable this year. UNCC compiles the studies.

Find out more on the Quality of Life Study at
http://www.charmeck.org/Departments/Neighborhood+Dev/Sustain+Neighborhoods/Quality+of+Life/Home.htm

2008 Neighborhood Quality of Life Study

The Neighborhood Quality of Life Study evaluates social, crime, physical and economic conditions in Charlotte's neighborhoods. Beginning in 1993 with the City Within a City area, the City of Charlotte has monitored the quality of life in its neighborhoods and produced a bi-annual study. The study has been expanded to include all Charlotte neighborhoods and is used by local government to evaluate neighborhood conditions and make changes to improve neighborhood vitality.

The Neighborhood Quality of Life Study divides the City and its future annexation areas into 173 Neighborhood Statistical Areas (NSA). Each NSA contains one or more neighborhoods or subdivisions. The study examines 20 neighborhood variables in each NSA mostly collected from local databases maintained by the City of Charlotte, Mecklenburg County and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. The research converts the individual statistical values into NSA neighborhood-ranking categories ?– stable, transitioning and challenged.

Adjournment