Madison Park

Madison Park Homeowners/Neighborhood March 14, 2004 Meeting

Mar 18, 2005

MINUTES OF MADISON PARK HOMEOWNERS
NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION
March 14, 2005
www.neighborhoodlink.com
Madison Park
28210

The meeting was called to order at 7:30 PM by President Martin Doss

We meet the 2nd Monday of each month.

CRIME ISSUES:

Westover Division - Officer Hariston (From January, 2005)

1. 2225 Tyvola Rd. - Damage to property
2. 4625 Murrayhill Rd. - Damage to property
3. 5045 Murrayhill Rd. - Damage to property
4. 5016 Wedgewood Dr. - Damage to Property
5. 4908 Wedgewood Dr. - Damage to Property
6. 5008 Wedgewood Dr. - Damage to Property
4, 5 & 6 are related - Vehicle windows were shot out with a BB gun.
Eggs were also thrown at vehicles.
7. 600 Inwood Dr. - Breaking or Entering
8. 911 E. Woodlawn Rd., - Breaking or Entering
9. 519 Cooper Dr. - Breaking or Entering
10. 800 Cooper Dr. - Larceny
11. 4723 Old Woods Rd. - Vehicle Theft
12. 518 Seneca Place - Vehicle Theft

South Division - Officer Monroe (From February, 2005)

1. 1509 Emerywood Dr. - Missing Person (Over 15)
2. 5801 Farmbrook Dr. - Burglary - At Montclaire Elementary, breaking &
entering in black SUV
3. 1701 Wensley Dr. - Auto Theft - Stolen White 1996 Honda, no signs of
forced entry, recovered on 2/22
4. 5632 Seacroft Rd. - Burglary - Forcible Entry, no suspect
5. 5309 Londonderry Rd. - Fraud - victim paid for landscaping but it was
not done. The money was paid up front.

PRESENTATION BY:
Detective Jennifer Lafortune

IDENTITY THEFT

Identity theft is someone, a con artist, using your name in conjunction with
personal identifying information to obtain something, such as making
purchases, taking out loans or committing fraud in the name of you, the
innocent victim. The burden is on the victim to fix the problem once it
occurs and it can take a very long time (even years) to repair the damage.
This is a fairly new crime in NC. Only since 1999 has it been considered a
crime. Personal identifying information that thieves are looking for:
* Social Security #
* Driver License #
* Checking account #
* Savings Account #
* Debit/Cash card #
* Electronic ID #

A GROWING PROBLEM -- because of technology and convenience. Thieves get
your information by:
- theft of wallet or purse
- Mail theft - (Using the blue boxes at the post office is a better choice
than putting mail in you mailbox & putting the "steal me" flag up). The
thief can steal someone's check, use the "Versa Check" software program &
print genuine checks with that person's back draft number on them. The thief
is also looking for pre-approved credit card applications.
- Trash - dumpster divers go through your trash & piece together your
important information
- Diverting you mail - the thief files a change of address form to change
you address to his P.O. box.
- Vehicle or home break-ins
- Employees with access to your info who sell it
- By asking for it - Some pose as an employee for VISA & want to verify your
info.

MINIMIZE YOUR RISK:
1. CHECK YOUR CREDIT ONCE A YEAR! This allows you to catch any errors. As
of Sept. 2005, all credit reports will be free. Until then, you can order
them from Equifax (1-800-685-1111), Experian (1-888-397-3742) or Trans Union
(1-800-916-8800) and they cost $9 each. Also, you can put a Consumer
statement on you credit so when credit is requested, they need to call you
at home to verify the request. You can't get instant credit with this.

2. Check bank and credit card statements when you receive them. Make sure
the purchases and transactions are correct.

3. SHRED documents with identifying information on them. As of July 15,
2004, businesses can only show the last 5 digits of you credit card # on
cash register receipts.

4. Use a locked mailbox or post office box.

5. Limit the amount of information you carry. DO NO CARRY YOUR SS CARD
WITH YOU.

6. Know who you're giving your information to. Unless you initiate the
phone call, don' give anyone info over the phone.

IF YOU'RE A VICTIM
- Put a fraud alert of you credit file
- File a police report

OTHER NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS:

CRIME WATCH PROGRAM
We need 51% participation for our neighborhood to get more crime watch
signs. If you would like to represent your street as a Block Captain and
collect names of other residents on your street, contact Debra Campbell
(debracampbell@juno.com). Signs will not stop crime so CALL 911 if you see
suspicious activities occurring.

NEIGHBORHOOD SYMPOSIUM
Attended by Martin Doss and Ingrid Lachner
They attended the Power Hour Session on Neighborhood Watches since that
topic was on the agenda for tonight's meeting. The Crime Watch program will
only give enough signs for entrances into our neighborhood. We are required
to have quotas for neighborhood participation so 3 or 4 people in a
community don't just say they want signs displayed when most residents have
not agreed to participate. Don't be afraid to call 911. You don't have to
ID yourself or have an officer show up at your home. Tell them what you see
and give as much detail as possible such as descriptions of suspects
(personal & vehicles).
Marty checked the website for the Crime Watch program:
(http://www.charmeck.org/Departments/Police/Crime+Info/Citizen+Watch+Program
s/Home.htm). The original plans require that the signs be removed if a
neighborhood doesn't at least conduct annual meetings. Our monthly HOA
meetings are adequate since we do have crime reports and officers present.
Marty and Ingrid also attended two morning sessions, one called Lead From
Where You Are, about helping to find leaders in our community, and another
called Communication Methods for the neighborhood. We are already
communicating pretty well.
This was the 10th Symposium Neighborhoods Development held in Charlotte.
500 people pre pre registered for this free event. A large number of Youth
attended special sessions during the day.

SOIL TESTING KITS are available so you can have your soil tested for free.
Information is on our neighborhood website.

PARK ROAD SHOPPING CENTER will eventually have a new owner. According to
info learned from Selwyn HOA behind Park Road S/C, the elderly current owner
has willed this property to Duke University. This HOA is concerned that the
property could be redeveloped or parking decks built so that more of the
current parking pads can become retail.

QUEENS UNIVERSITY has honored the Madison Park Neighborhood Association with
a nice looking wall plaque. We have no more news as to an exact start date
for the construction of the Sports Complex.

GARDEN CLUB NEWS
The March meeting has been canceled. The garden club does plan to meet
April 18th, tentatively at Judy Bratton's home. This will be a PLANT SWAP.
The date of the meeting has moved to Monday. The 3rd Monday of each month,
if agreeable with the Garden Club Membership, will become the new regular
meeting day. The reason for the change is because our HOA meets on the 2nd
Monday of each month and then just 2 days later the Garden Club would meet.
The change would space out these meetings.
If you have questions or need information about the Garden Club, contact
Candace Armstrong at 704-523-3868.

TREASURY REPORT
57 paid members, $312.57 in the treasury. Dee McCandlish is still
collecting dues for 2005 - $10.00 per person/family. You can also sign up
on our neighborhood website and mail your $10 dollars to Dee at the address on our site www.neighborhoodlink.com Madison Park 28210.

CHEMICAL SPILL - It was reported that the vegetable oil manufacturer on
South Blvd. has dumped chemicals into the tributary that feeds off Little
Hope Creek.

2 CATS NEED HOME - An elderly lady needs to find a nice home for her 2
cats. If anyone is interested, call Sue Valentine-Plyler at 704-227-3264;
e-mail - sue.valentine-plyler@prudentialcarolinas.com

WELCOME TO OUR NEW ATTENDEES AND NEW MEMBERS!

Debbie Olsakovsky our Vice Presidents John's wife displayed her stamping work at the HOA meeting. If anyone is interested in having a stamp party you can contact Debbie at Dolsakovsky@carolina.rr.com.

For updates & new discussions on many of these neighborhood issues, refer to
our website:
www.neighborhoodlink.com Madison Park 28210


Our March meeting was adjourned.