Madison Park

Madison Park HOA 10/13/08 Minutes

Oct 15, 2008

Madison Park HOA 10/13/08 Meeting
www.neighborhoodlink.com 28210


Welcome. Meeting called to order at 7:30pm. 31 people in attendance plus 4 speakers

***Please join us this Saturday 10/18 at 9:00am for our Tyvola Adopt a Street Clean Up. Meet at the Marion Deihl Center. More details below****

Two people who are running for district court judges spoke briefly- Kimberly Best and Charlotte Brown-Williams. For more information on their campaigns, you can visit www.best4judge.com and www.charlottebrowndforjudge.com


Guest Speaker John McClelland for the Park and Recreations spoke on Park Bonds.
?• There is a $250mm bond referendum on the Nov 4 ballot.
?• This bond money, if passed, would fund more neighborhood parks, conservation, recreation centers across Mecklenburg County.
?• Some improvements that would affect Madison Park: improvements to Park Rd Park, improvements to Marion Deihl Center, funding for the Greenway expansion
?• For more details, and to see the plans, visit www.parkandrec.com

A resident asked what would be improved at the Marion Deihl Center if the bond passes? The plan calls for improved lighting, addition rooms and a new fitness center.
Another resident asked about the Queens sports complex- he lives behind the area and has problems with runoff. John McClelland said the runoff problems are being fixed. He also said the stadium is property of Queens, but the other fields are for public use. The access road that was originally just gravel, John McClelland had that paved to avoid runoff problems. He also offered to hold group meetings with concerned neighbors about the Queens complex.



Guest Speaker, My Community Bonds Campaign 2008 Poo Alexander
?• There are 4 bonds on the Nov 4 ballot:
o Parks and Rec bond at $250mm. This bond is the largest cost, but will affect the most people. This bond is being voted by the entire county.
o Affordable Housing at $10mm. In our area typically police officers, firefighters and teachers don?’t make enough money to afford the median house price in Charlotte. Voted by city residents only.
o Roads improvements at $107mm. Voted by city residents only.
o Neighborhood Improvements at 47mm. Voted by city residents only.
?• A resident asked, if the bonds are approved, could the money be used for something else (for example, a new stadium)? No, the plans for the money are already known and the money will be used for the plans.
?• Another resident asked, what happens to a project if the costs exceed what was budgeted? They will try to cut costs, perhaps get money from another project that ran under budget, or do the project in phases.
?• Another resident asked, with older Parks and Rec master plans, how much was accomplished from the plans? John McClelland was not sure from years past. The older Master Plans should be on-line.



Westover Police Stats. Officer Lim was not able to attend the meeting, but he emailed the items:
?• Vandalism
o 9/05/08 5100 block of Wedgewood. The victim reported scratched paint on his vehicle parked in the driveway (no suspects)
o 9/22 2000 block of Tyvola. The victim?’s vehicle was keyed
?• Breaking and Entering
o 9/12 5400 block of Valley Forge. This was an attempt only. The suspect(s) apparently were scared off by the audible alarm, no suspect information
o 9/23 5300 block of Glenham. Backdoor kicked in, computer equipment taken
o 10/04 500 block of Inwood- known suspect took stereo equipment
?• There were no larcenies from vehicles this month


Queens University Sports Complex Tour 9/18/08
Queen Vice President, Bill Nichols, of facilities planning and Campus Services & Community Relations Director Jennifer Matz. A tour of the grounds along with President Doss and a couple of the immediate residents living around the property that had concerns with the Field House, ground erosion and so forth.

Mr. Nichols explained how the field house changes came about. He also said the University was still interested in moving the Marion Diehl entrance down to meet up with Farmbrook, and working to get a traffic light as we suggested a few years ago. He said most of the teams they play come in from I-77 and they can not turn into the complex. He agrees this would solve the problem for them and give our community a traffic light on busy Tyvola.

Future plans are to build a Mini Greenway along the edge of the property along Seneca Place. The plan would call for connections via the community. This will allow residents to reach the larger Greenway, Park/Sports Complex, (including future tennis courts which will be directly behind the woods buffer behind the stream on Seneca Place). This Greenway is also part of the bonds on the 11/4/08 ballot. Queens, VP Mr. Nichols, said they would probably match any bond money raised to help get the mini Greenway with connections via our neighborhood done sooner.

Jennifer Matz will be providing updates to the communities from Queens going forward. Mallory Benz Assistant Director for Media and Public Relations Queens University of Charlotte has left her position with Queens.

John McClelland responded to concerns that directly regarded the Park property landscape. On 10/2/08 he emailed the following
FYI, we have placed some sod, hope it takes, doesn't look good now, but if it doesn't we will replace with better quality, and seeded the area mentioned below, placed the bollards back up and locked.
Staff training to insure that no one goes around back in a vehicle is ongoing.
Hope this helps.
We will keep on this till we get it right

Meet the Chief Of Police Westover Community Meeting
10/14/08 Meet Chief Rodney Monroe
6PM ?– 7:30 PM
Marie G. Davis Academy
3343 Griffith Street

CDOT Items Worked On Over the Month
CMPD requested President Doss put in a street light repair for a light out at 301 Seneca Place
Date/Time: 10/01/2008 11:39:51 AM
Remember there is a link on our website that allows you to make reports directly to Duke Energy. Duke Request that you tie a bright ribbon to any light pole that you are making a repair request. This allows repair crews to find it more easily.

Stop Sign Request or Speed Humps for Wedgewood
Resident requested all stop for Wedgewood at Murrayhill. This intersection currently stops only on Murrayhill.

Chip Gallup with CDOT reported on 9/17/08 that they are already looking and counting the road for possible future speed humps or all stops. This was done at request of more than one person complaining about speeding along Wedgewood Drive from Seneca Place to Seneca Place.

Sidewalk Murrayhill with Connections via Wedgewood
Marty has been told off the record a decision has been reached on the project and the scope of the project. To his knowledge this information has not been released to residents. He would expect that it will be in the near future.

Tyvola Adopt A Street Clean Up 10/18/08 @ 9:00 am
Tyvola Road Adopt A Street Clean Up 10/18/08.
Join your neighbors on Saturday 10/18/08 at 9:00 am to help clean up one of our Adopt a Streets Tyvola Road.
We will meet at the Marion Diehl Senior Center Parking Lot. If you drive, park on the Tyvola Side of the lot.
The clean up, based on number of participants, takes from 45 minutes to 1 hour.
We will be removing any illegally placed signs, and picking up trash from Farmbrook Road to Park Road.
Wear longs sleeves, gloves, and long pants. Boots are recommended. Trash bags will be furnished. We have a limited number of orange safety vests so wear bright clothes. We will make sure at least one person per team has the vest.
Help us keep our neighborhood and busy Tyvola looking its best.


Free Rabies Clinics
FREE RABIES AND SPAY/NEUTER CLINIC
For Dogs and Cats of Mecklenburg County!!!!!

These clinics are paid for with grants and private donations. Unfortunately, the clinics can continue only as long as the funds are available. Once the funds are expended, the clinics will be discontinued.

Where: Animal Shelter 8315 Byrum Dr.
Spay/Neuter Clinic Check in: 7:00am-8:00am

Rabies Clinic: 8:00am - 11:00am

Remaining 2008 dates
November 8
December 13

although no appointment is required for a rabies vaccination; you must have an appointment for surgery.

Due to the high volume of requests for surgeries, we currently have a waiting list for services.

All dates and times are subject to change

Dead Animals
Departments / Animal Care & Control / Programs & Services / Dead Animals

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Dead Animals
Charlotte residents may request collection of either pets which have died or animals which have been killed on city streets. The solid waste special services division is ready to assist you. Please remember these few helpful points:
?• Collection is made by request only; do not place any animals in your roll out container.
?• Help us to serve you better: for animals which have been killed on the roads - please have a specific location for us to respond to. An address, intersection or block number is needed.
?• City ordinance places requirements on any animal collected from homes or businesses. The animal must not weigh more than 100 pounds and MUST be placed at the curb. It is also helpful that the animal be placed in a trash bag if possible.
?• City Ordinance forbids City personnel from entering any private property to remove animals.
If your pet has passed away and you wish to bury it, you may do so as long as it is buried at least 3 feet beneath the surface of the ground and not closer than 300 feet to any flowing stream or public body of water. Large animals may also be buried, but they must be at least 4 feet below the ground surface. An owner must bury a pet within 24 hours of learning of its death.



Zoning Violations Illegally Operating Home Businesses
1427 Tyvola appears to have shut down the travel agency.

5200 Milford requested permission from the HOA through our zoning inspector to have a 30 day extension on their closure of their illegally running business. Mr. Andrew Guion the owner admitted he was in violation and said it would take 60 days to shut down and reopen in a commercial zone. He even offered to meet with the association if we requested it. President Doss said our goal was just to get these type businesses out of the community. President Doss told zoning as long as they leave (which should be within the next 30 days that would be fine). This news was delivered 9/11/08. President Doss also alerted the residents that reported the violation to make them aware that the problem should correct itself shortly.

Councilmen Dulin reported on 9/11/08 that he was in agreement with President Doss that the 50 dollar starting fines were to lenient to prevent this type of problem with these illegally running businesses. He said he would work to change the fines to something higher.

New Traffic Coordinator for Westover Division
I am/was part of the city wide traffic unit(HITS). I helped Westover pick the next traffic officer after Officer Collins was promoted. When the department reorganized they sent the people in our unit to the districts to deal with traffic situations and fatalities. I look forward to working with you and you community.
Officer Jesse Wood

Officer Wood was on the panel that interviewed the Traffic Officers at the Westover Division. President Doss also was on the panel that interviewed the officers applying to be Traffic Coordinator at the time a few years ago.

President Doss learned of the changes in Traffic Coordinators after some residents inquired as to the traffic pads on Murrayhill. These pads as we reported in the past are small flat squares that bolt to the pavement. Apparently CDOT is using a version of the pads now. These pads were first purchased for CMPD Traffic Coordinators to monitor speeding, and traffic counts. The monitor?’s collect data which is later downloaded where it can tell officers when speeding is happening down to the time. This allows CMPD to use their resources at the proper time to combat speeding. It is also a little more accurate than a speed trailer that tips off the drivers that the data is being collected.

National Night Out 2009
National Night Out Coordinators:

Greetings everyone! Congratulations on helping us to make NNO's 25th Anniversary an overwhelming success. Once the Texas numbers are in, we will most certainly set all kinds of records this year!!

As many of you know, we explored the possibility of a date change for next year. The end result was that 82% of coordinators opposed the date change ideas and the majority said "just leave it where it has been for twenty-five years." .. ?“It works.?” .. ?“Everyone is used to it.?”

Therefore, to assist you with your calendars and planning activities, we provide you with the following information:

National Night Out 2009 will culminate on August 4th.

Madison Park was hoping to have the fall alternative date for 2009. It appears by the message sent 9/9/08 that option was yanked even before Texas celebrated there test of an Oct. 2008 date.

Election Time for Madison Park HOA Board and Officers
Now is time to submit names of interested individuals to the Nomination Committee for our 2009 Board and Officers.

As President of Madison Park, President Doss, said he has enjoyed working on things for our community over the last 4 years with the goals of trying to keep our community looking its best, while gaining name recognition for Madison Park.

He is in his 6 ?½ year as an officer of the community. He has decided not to run again as your President. He said he feels good with the current support we get from City Officials, Media, and Code and Zoning Enforcement that the person stepping in will have great support. He will automatically move to serve in a director roll on the board.

The position of secretary will also be open, as April Mays will not able to continue next year.

You can submit names of people that are interested with their contact info, or your own name to April Mays at amays@carolina.rr.com. All interested potential candidates will be reviewed by the nominating committee. Remember any resident can participate in our HOA, but only Homeowners can serve on the board. The final decision of candidates recommended being accepted will be set by the nominating committee on 11/05/08. We will vote on the approved candidates at the 11/10/08 HOA meeting. Those elected will begin serving 1/1/09 with officers running 1 year terms and directors 2 years terms.

Treasury Report Sue Valentine-Plyler.
We currently have $926.50 in the account. We finally received the last check from the matching grant for the National Night Out. We will be paying the church $75 for the use of the meeting room for the year. All dues paid now go towards the 2009 dues. You can send a check to: Madison Park HOA, 5026 Currituck Dr, Charlotte NC 28210 .

Open Discussion/Concerns/Issues
A resident wanted to remind everyone that early voting starts this week, Thursday 10/17/08. You can vote early at any library and at the Marion Deihl Center. You can even register and vote the same day during early voting. The actual election day, Nov 4, is expected to be record turnout- avoid the crowds and vote early! You can view a sample ballot on line at www.meckboe.org

Adjournment