Madison Park

May 9th 2005 Madison Park Homeowner's/Neighborhood Meeting

May 16, 2005

MINUTES OF MADISON PARK HOMEOWNERS
NEIGHBORHOOD
ASSOCIATION

May 9, 2005
www.neighbo
rhoodlink.com

Madison Park

28210

Meetings always the 2nd Monday of each month.

Martin Doss, President, called the meeting to
order at 7:30 p.m. (Remember doors always open at 7:00 p.m. for 1/2 of social time)

46 attendees and 3 police officers were in attendance


CRIME STATISTICS AND ISSUES:

Westover Division - Officer Hairston (From March,
2005)

1. 4922 Vincent Ln. - Residential Breaking &
Entering
2. 501 Inwood Dr. - Residential Breaking &
Entering (forced entry)
3. 4419 Halstead Dr. - Larceny (lawnmower was
taken)
4. 1000 Seneca Pl. - Hit and Run
5. 5119 Glenham Dr. - Damage to property; Rear
auto window was shot with BB gun
6. 5110 Glenham Dr. - Theft from vehicle
7. 5745 Wedgewood Dr. - Drug violation; found
crack cocaine
8. 5001 Murrayhill Rd. - Theft from vehicle
9. 5048 Murrayhill Rd. - Larceny
10. 4926 White Oak Rd. - Damage to property
11. 5000 White Oak Rd. - Damage to property

South Division - Officer Monroe was unable to attend! Officer Russell Presented (From April, 2005)

1. 5333 Farmbrook Dr. - Non-aggravated Assault;
communicating threats at Smith Middle School
2. 5401 Farmbrook Dr. - Residential Breaking and
Entering; victim left wallet & money on coffee
table, windows open & unlocked
3. 4535 Wedgewood Dr. - Residential Breaking and
Entering; back door forced open, victim not home.
Took computers, TVs, credit cards.
4. 4619 Wedgewood Dr. - Attempted suicide, victim
is now under doctor's care
5. 1833 Wensley Dr. - Harassing phone calls

Ted Peters made us aware that Ann's Alteration
shop was robbed during April.

Martin Doss said that bicycles are being left in
yards of homeowners who don't know where these
bicycles are coming from. He found 1 next to a
stop sign. The police came & picked it up. This
was after getting a call from a homeowner on
Seacroft that reported 4 young males had been
leaving different bikes in a neighbor's yard and
she suspected they were stolen but the children
did not want to take them home! The homeowner where
the bikes were left did not know who left them or
the young males.

Officer Hairston reminded us that it is important
to keep blinds closed, secure items on carports &
outside, lock your home and car, park in your
driveway & not on the street if possible, and keep
your eyes open for anything or anyone suspicious
looking. Call 911 if you see any problems or
anything unusual going on.

NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH PROGRAM
Debra Campbell is still in need of people to
collect names (signatures) for our Neighborhood
Watch petition. Call her at 704.523.6163 or
e-mail her debracampbell@juno.com if you can help
on this project.

TRAFFIC CONCERNS
CDOT has removed the school crossing light at
Smith Middle School but put up extra signs along
the school area. There was also a problem with
speed limit signs at the end of the school zone.
They indicated End School Zone, begin 45 mph, when
they should have said 35 mph.

CDOT did traffic counts for traffic calming
measures on both Seacroft Rd. & Baker.
Unfortunately the counts did not reach the
required 1000 vehicles in a 24 hour period. Baker
had over 800 and Seacroft had over 700 vehicles on
the days they were checked. CDOT did say that we
can privately purchase "Children at Play" signs
but they cannot be placed in the Right of Way.
CDOT reports that they can not help with calming
issues unless we reach 1000 vehicles and roads
with less than 1000 vehicles must be handled by
the police department.

Montford will not get stop signs but will get more
speed humps.

A member asked since we could not get a four way
stop at Cooper and Baker if we could not just have
the Cooper stops switched to Baker to slow the cut
through traffic. Marty will check on this and report back
at a future meeting.

No feedback yet on if Londonderry Rd. or Seacroft
will be able to get a Stop light with a crosswalk.
According to Candy, our Parks and Rec
representative, there will be some kind of
crossover and traffic light installed from the Queens Sports
Complex to get to the other side (south side) of Tyvola.

CDOT will be installing crosswalks at the current light at Tyvola
and Wedgewood Drive. This process will take months due
to reprogramming of lights and electrical work needed in
order to add the lights.

GARDEN CLUB
The next meeting will be Monday, May 16th, at the
home of Debra Campbell, 5718 Wedgewood Dr. The
topic will be "Tips about Saving Water". Contact
Candace Armstrong at 704-523-3868 or Debra
Campbell at 704-523-6163 with any questions. Time
for the meeting is always 7:00 p.m.

STORM DRAINAGE IMPROVEMENT PROJECT
Public Meeting on Thursday, May 19th, 2005 at
7p.m. at St. Andrews United Methodist Church, 1900
Emerywood Dr.
The map for this project shows the impact area
from Old Pineville Rd. and Tyvola down to Seacroft
Rd. The meeting is to go over details of the
project and to initiate easement acquisitions.
Martin Doss will give us an update on this next
month.

TREASURY REPORT
We have 66 paid members in 2005 and a balance of
$386.74. Remember dues are only $10.00 per family
per calendar year. You can sign up on our
neighborhood website and mail your $10 dollars to
Dee McCandlish at the address on our site
www.neighborhoodlink.com Madison Park 28210.

NEIGHBORHOOD MATCHING GRANTS PROGRAM
The deadline for this period is June 15, 2005.
In order to get a grant we must attend one of the
meetings at Old City Hall, 600 East Trade Street.
Sue Valentine-Plyler agreed to attend the May 14th
meeting for our neighborhood. If anyone else is
interested in attending, the meetings are: May 10,
2005 6:15p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
May 14, 2005 9:15 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
May 17, 2005 6:15 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
This program helps to improve neighborhoods and
the lives of the people who live in them! We
could match the grant with either dollars or labor
to improve our neighborhood. Possible uses of the
money could include entrance signage such as the
metal type signs displayed throughout Dilworth
which say DC Dilworth Community. Ours could say
MP Madison Park Community.
There was a suggestion for a Clean-Up on Tyvola.
Marty will check with Keep Charlotte Beautiful
(our area's Keep America Beautiful affiliate) to
see if they can attend 1 of our meetings.

UPDATE ON QUEENS GRADING AT MARION DIEHL
Tom Miller brought in detailed maps of Phase 1 of
the Sports Complex given to him by Pat McDowell at
Queens. Also, Martin Doss received some
information from David Nelson, our South Region
Park Planner, who attended our last meeting.
--They will wait to clear the woods directly
behind the Marion Diehl pool until a later date.
--The retention pond or catch basin they are
currently building is temporary.
--The cross-country trail will be built in another
phase and its design has not been finalized.
Update after the meeting it was learned that the
trail will be natural and not paved and stay as close
to the current paths already in the woods!
--The retaining walls will be built in phase 2 or
3.
Queens University has updates on their website
now at www.queens.edu/sportscomplex

MOSQUITO-PROOF YOUR PROPERTY
Mecklenburg County Health Dept. is warning
residents to Mosquito-proof your property NOW!
Simple prevention can curb mosquitoes in the area.
It is expected to be a moderate season in our
county for mosquitoes. Residents should eliminate
standing water sources that might become breeding
grounds.
Remove buckets, old tires, keep gutters clean of
debris, bird baths should have water changed
out every few days even standing water in flower
pot saucers can be sources of breeding grounds.
Those with ponds should put fish in their ponds.
They will keep the mosquito larva out. Put
chlorine tablets in a pond that has no fish in it.
The best personal protection against West Nile
and other mosquito-borne illnesses is to prevent
bites. Do this by keeping windows and door
screens closed and bug tight. Try to remain
inside around dawn or dusk when mosquitoes are
most active. Use repellents containing DEET
(follow directions). Wearing long sleeves and
long pants when out doors will also help.
If you have mosquitoes around your home, do a
quick check of you property for standing water.
If it is not coming from your own property, then
most likely it will be a home directly next to
yours or across from you property.
If you have a bad problem and you know the source
is on your neighbor's property, you can contact
Mecklenburg County's Health Dept. and they will
come and do a check of the property.


UNUSUAL NEIGHBORHOOD STORY
Martin Doss was contacted about helping with a
custody hearing. It seems the mother of a child
who lives with her father in Madison Park was
claiming our neighborhood was unsafe. After
talking with Officer Hairston and Sgt. Lester,
they agreed that our neighborhood is far from
being unsafe. Martin advised the resident to
refer to our meeting minutes which include the
crime reports each month and to use the
Charlotte/Meck website where you can map out any
crime stats for the area and do comparisons. The
mother's argument did not hold up and the father
was able to retain custody.


LITTLE SUGAR CREEK GREENWAY
Saturday, June 4, 2005 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. is the
2nd Annual Ray's Rotary Duck Derby on the Little
Sugar Creek Greenway. The Duck Derby is in
conjunction with the Little Sugar Creek Greenway
Dedication and A National Trails Day Event
featuring Entertainment and Vendors at the Little
Sugar Creek Greenway - Brandywine & Westfield Rd.
(behind Park Rd. Shopping Center).
Adoption fee: $10.00 per duck
Tickets are available at the Great Outdoor
Provision Co. in Park Rd. Shopping Center or from
Mecklenburg County-South Rotary Club (704)
846-8018.
More information at www.partnersforparks.org


OTHER BUSINESS
- Candace Armstrong suggested giving the Principal
at Pinewood Elementary a gift for receiving the
Principal of the Year award. It was discussed. Then
a motion was made and agreed upon to give a plant
to the Principal for the school.

- Another motion was made and agreed upon to give
Wedgewood Baptist $75.00 two times each year. It
is now time to make this donation. Wedgewood provides
us with our meeting place and this will be for use of
their facilities and to cover any cost we might add to their
utilities!

-WELCOME to our new members! Thank you for
Attending and participating.


Our meeting was adjourned.