Madison Park

Minutes from Madison Park 11/10/08 Monthly Meeting

Nov 12, 2008

Madison Park HOA 11/10/08 Minutes
www.neighborhoodlink 28210
Madison Park HOA

Welcome. Meeting called to order at 7:30. 31 people in attendance plus one speakers and one officer

Tim McCleod-
He ran for county commission this year, but did not win. He wanted to thank everyone who voted for him for the election.

Crime Stats given by Officer Hairston
?• 750 block of Montford- damage to property. The mirrors were broken off a vehicle
?• 5100 block of Wedgewood- burglary to house. The backdoor was kicked in
?• 930 block of Stanfield- damage to property. The person?’s yard was damaged, including political signs driven over
?• 1300 block of Seneca- theft from vehicle. Window was broken with GPS and computer stolen from the vehicle
?• 700 block of Rome Ct- robbery. The victim was in the car in the driveway when the suspect threatened with a gun. Items stolen from victim. The victim was probably followed home.
?• 5000 block of White Oak- robbery. Three suspects entered residence, threatened with a gun and stole property and a car
Officer Hairston says robberies tend to increase this time of the year. Some helpful tips:
?• If you think you are being followed home, do not go home. Drive to somewhere that is populated.
?• Do not leave your purse or bag in the car. If you are going to leave it in the car, put it in the trunk before you leave your house
?• Don?’t leave packages or presents in the car
?• Don?’t take packages or presents out to the car and then return to do more shopping. Someone could be watching you
?• Be aware of your surroundings
?• If someone seems suspicious, talk to them. This can throw them off, plus shows that are you are aware of your surroundings



Code Enforcement Officer Kirk Young
?• Since his last visit in Aug to our HOA meeting- he?’s received 75 calls from our area
?• He says conditions are overall pretty good in our neighborhood
?• 1813 Tyvola is still a problem- they are still unable to find the owners to the house, and the homeless people are still breaking in and vandalizing the house.
?• The majority of complaints now in Madison Park are dilapidated conditions while remodeling a house
?• For any questions or concerns- please email Kirk at kyoung@ci.charlotte.nc.us
?• He will try to return next quarter with an update about enforcements in our neighborhood.



Meet the Chief Rodney Monroe 10/14/08
President Doss attended the meet the Chief for the Westover Division along with Eudora Alston. News shared by the Chief was that Captain Pearsall will be promoted to Major and Sergeant Smith will become a new Captain. Congratulations on their upcoming promotions.

Tyvola Road Clean Up
Thanks to Jennifer and Joe DeLorm, Matt and April Mays, Lynn Todd, and Martin Doss for your help cleaning up Tyvola Road. The cleanup moved very quickly with 7 bags of trash being removed in just over ?½ hour. Also cleaned up were a handful of illegal signs and a couple of large items.

Street Lights Out Tyvola Road
Date/Time: 11/09/2008 11:29:13 AM DPEC-7L8MAD

A resident reports numerous street lights are out between Wedgewood Drive and Park Road along Tyvola Road. This was reported on 11/9/08 to Duke Energy via the direct link on our web site. We might need to mark the poles with a ribbon to ensure they are all repaired. This is especially dangerous due to deer that cross the road along Tyvola for both drivers and the deer.

Children?’s Play dates
A couple of families are looking for play dates through our discussion pages for their small children basically creating a moms group. If you are interested in working to put a group together or have small children you would like to find playmates for contact elizabethgfaulkner@yahoo.com Elizabeth Faulkner or Amber Simpson davenpal@hotmail.com to arrange.

Montclaire Pine needle Sale
Montclaire is extending its Pine Needle Sale until 11/12/08. Details and order form are on the Madison Park discussion page. Long Leaf Needles
Bales are approximately 15" x 28"
And will be delivered to your home at no extra charge.
Long Leaf Bale $4.65
Long Leaf Bale and Spread $6.00. Phone order to either
Nancy Moser 704/553-2894
Emory Smith 704/553-7399


Murrayhill Sidewalk
Sidewalk along Murrayhill, CDOT has decided the sidewalk will be built along the North side of Murrayhill hill from Woodlawn and end at Lamont. It will go on the West side of Wedgewood Drive from Murrayhill to Seneca Place.
There will also be a fill in section in front of the school along Seneca Place.
The last block of Murrayhill from Lamont to Wedgewood will not have a sidewalk.
Those of you in the immediate area should have received precise information on the process. Below is what to expect next for those of you that did not get the information.
* Late October 2008 -
Planning and Designing Phase begins
(6 months)
* Real Estate Phase (6 months process)
* Bid Phase (5 month process)
* Construction Phase -
Completed in summer of 2010 (6 months process)
Anyway I learned the following when I inquired how this played out. The source was a transportation committee member. Marty, I gave it to the CDOT staff for caving on this yesterday at Transportation Comm. meeting. I told them we supported them, the Neighborhood Association strongly supported the sidewalk, and then the staff gave in to a handful of vocal people. They said it wasn't worth the fight.
Basically, Danny Pleasants and Vivian Coleman did it, maybe Norm Steinman.
Danny said we could add it back in 18 months when it comes up for a budget allocation. Barnes told them to drop dead. (That would be Councilmen Barnes).
President Doss said he personally gave the City an earful over their flip flopping. He said since they announced the project and asked for support from him directly they changed their mind four times in 2008. They also appear to be willing to change it again for a 5th time in the not so distance future. First the entire route with both Wedgewood connections was presented to the community, then the entire route - but forcing the last block from Lamont to Wedgewood to petition as a tier 4, then deciding that was wrong. Next CDOT sought feedback from the transportation committee which backed CDOT where CDOT said they supported the entire route as presented originally, and then lastly dropping the last block again deciding it was not ?“worth the fight.?”
There are some great people at CDOT for instance Terry Von Cannon and Chip Gallup which are two you see mentioned in our minutes monthly that work hard for us. That said my opinion is that other parts of CDOT are screwed up and need to be examined closely by the city leaders!
Resident Judy Bratton mentioned that the minutes from the transportation committee meeting are online. You can read the meeting summary that mentions some of what President Doss learned at http://www.charmeck.org/NR/rdonlyres/et2ggg36hbe3txfwu3l4jg2vjy2kz74w4zhthblwz62yigpgogbeuwyfho2kj7ijb36u3jwbs4yhkqsykjhu5cn4qwg/TransportationCommitteeSummary102708.pdf
Councilmen Dulin had told President Doss when he bumped into him on the Lynx on 9/29/08 of the decision to leave off the last block. President Doss decided to wait until it was publicly announced before alerting residents in the community. Councilmen Dulin told President Doss this same day that he had gone back to Judy Bratton and requested she allow the last block to be included but she refused! Councilmen Dulin supported the 29 houses on the last block in their fight against the project going down their block, even though he later said it would be better if the entire route was done. The sidewalk would have resulted in 14 homes on that block having a sidewalk in front of them, that would have matched the rest of the streets planned sidewalk. We did not learn Councilmen Dulin had supported this final block from him, but at a city council meeting during a public forum, when one of those fighting the project told the chamber he supported them.
Basically CDOT, the CITY, and Councilmen Dulin failed to follow written policy on this project by not following policy adopted in the spring of 2005 after some residents on the same block protested the same project in 2004. That protest then resulted in a citywide review and changes of the sidewalk policy. It also resulted in a 4 year delay in the project coming back up. Madison Park residents Judy Bratton, who was against the project, and Carole Clark, for the project, served on the stakeholders group that worked on the adopted 2005 current policy.

Election of the Madison Park 2009 Board of Officers and Directors
Director Matt Magnasco is mid term on his 2nd two year term.
Director Lars Hedenborg is in the middle of his 1st two year term; however he will not be able to continue due to moving to SC. We thank him for his service this year. He will still be a property owner of several rentals in the community and said he will still stay involved with the HOA.
Eudora Alston is ending her two year term.
Richard Aker is ending his two year term.
Thanks to both Richard and Eudora for their service the last two years.
Ted Peters is ending his 2nd two year term. He had a job conflict with meetings and offered to resign last fall since he could not participate as he had in the past. We Thank him for his service over the last several years.
President Doss is choosing to step down after 4 terms as President and will start a 2 year term as Director. President terms automatically roll over from President to Director.

Nominations for your 2009 Board are as follows.
President Ken Davis
Vice President Dee McCandlish
Secretary OPEN Please step forward and accept this important position. Since December is the Holiday Social there is NO Business meeting. We need to have this filled by 1/1/09. Current Secretary April Mays has offered to continue to email out the minutes and meeting alerts. This will take some of the work out of being secretary for the person that takes over.
Back up Secretaries April Mays and Cheryl Furr (that said there must be a secretary for them to back up)
Treasurer Sue Valintine-Plyler
Director Matt Magnasco ?½ term left
Director Martin Doss
Director April Mays
Director John Olsakovsky
Motion to vote on the board were voiced and seconded. The vote accepted the nominations as listed for our 2009 board of officers and directors.

Treasury Report Sue Valentine-Plyler- we currently have $948.82 in the bank. We recently paid $75 to the Wedgewood Church for use of the meeting room. We currently have no outstanding bills due. Please pay your 2009 member dues!!! You can mail the $20 to Madison Park HOA, 5026 Currituck Dr, Charlotte 28210.

Holiday Social
12/8/08 at 7:00 PM will be our annual Holiday Social. We will start the Social at 7:00 PM. Who is invited? Everyone living in Madison Park! Invite your neighbors and come out for the evening. Bring your favorite party food dish to share and join in the fun. You can bring (Desserts, chips & dips, or any other finger type foods that you love). Drinks will be furnished by the HOA.
If you would like to help with set up for the party which includes decorating the room let us know. You can contact Martin Doss Martydoss@aol.com or amays@carolina.rr.com April Mays. Diane Gunter is going to head up the volunteers again this year. Thanks Diane for stepping up to do this task.

We would like to thank Marty Doss for all of the hard work he has put into our neighborhood for so many years. He has been a very tireless and dedicated president!

Open Discussion / Issues- there were no new issues brought up.
Adjournment