Merry Oaks Neighborhood Association

Greenway, Parks, updated Mar.19, 2006

Hands On Cleanup and Plant at School

3/19/06 So successful that school would like to do it again next Spring! On Saturday, 3/18 we had about a dozen MONA hardy volunteers with this project that benefits both recreation in our community and the school. Northern parking lot and outdoor classroom were cleared and a lovely butterfly garden planted in the school courtyard.

High energy brownie scouts and at least 25 parents, teachers and students definitely made a difference in the southern parking lot, courtyard and basketball court area. Mr. Frazier, school principal was also there with broom in hand.

Neighbors have been generous with plants and we will be continuing to get these in the ground and watering our new Kousa dogwood tree. Try visiting on a Saturday, day or early evening and you'll most likely find a pickup basketball game in progress.
If you walk there, please bring a milk jug or container of water to dump on the new tree or the azaleas at immmediate front of school along the basketball court -- it has been very dry recently. Feel free to continue planting hardy plants along the wooden fence at parking lot or other appropriate spot--just be careful digging to avoid underground utility lines.
Many, many thanks to everyone who contributed. If you would like to see the courtyard, Mr. Frazier invites neighbors to come have lunch at school or just visit for a few minutes. Check in at the office and go have a look at how kids are learning lifelong skills in growing vegetables and flowers in the courtyard.


2/11/06 New asphalt was placed on the trail and the concrete plaza has been poured. Soon it will be suitable for bicycles, skating as well as walkers.

12/12/2004
Work should begin as soon as we have a few dry days on the Arnold Drive side of the creek. Earth moving equipment is already in place.

Go to Logie Avenue and check it out!
Heavy construction on the choker lane (one lane for vehicles) connecting Roland Street in Plaza Midwood to Logie Avenue, and on the pedestrian/bike path connecting Masonic Drive to Logie Avenue, will all be completed by mid-November. However vehicles will not be permitted on the choker lane until landscaping is completed early in 2005. Both the choker lane and ped/bike path will be landscaped with trees, shrubs and native grasses. The City will turn over maintenance of the ped/bike path to the County Parks Department, who will maintain it along with the greenway.

July 12, 2004
A connection road with planting strips and sidewalk will be constructed between Roland Street and Logie Avenue and a bicycle/pedestrain trail with landscaping will be constructed between Logie Avenue and Masonic Drive. Work is underway by the County on Briar Creek Greenway and progress can be viewed from Masonic Drive. When the bridge is put down across the creek, the two projects will create bicycle/pedestrian connectivity between Merry Oaks and Plaza Midwood. Project Inspector for the Connectivity Project only (NOT the greenway trail) is Eric Lockamy, 704 336 7033, elockamy@ci.charlotte.nc.us
Source: Nancy Pierce Shaver

July 1, 2004
Work on the Plaza-Midwood connection which goes from Masonic Dr. to Logie Ave. is scheduled to begin July 13.

June 11, 2004
If you have comments or questions about the Greenway, you can post them in the "Talk About It" section of our webpage.
Greenway progress 6/11/04
550 steps – that is approximately the distance from one end of the trail to the other end. Mr. Martin is running a bulldozer to smooth and pack the trail. Rough rock was laid as a base, then a finer gravel, concrete dust base which forms a good foundation for the 10’ wide trail which will eventually be asphalt. Some drainage piping has been laid. Next steps are more debris removal before they begin work on the Arnold side of the Greenway. Mr. Martin says they see a lot of birds, including the heron once and that there are some fish in the creek. They continue to work on getting rid of poison ivy that keeps on cropping up in places.

June 6, 2004
Most tree/brush removal is done and trails are under construction. Take a walk!
April 26, 2004
Greenway: if you drive to end of Masonic (near the tributary bridge across Masonic) you can see that some progress has been made clearing underbrush and dead trees. This time of year watch for snakes if you take a walk but it is another place to walk your dog. The Arnold Drive access point has a trail of sorts all the way to the Merry Oaks side of the creek and it is easily walkable.
Parks and Rec is doing the work in-house rather than contracting it out which means we may get our Greenway faster. There is a woodpecker tree with residents that we hope doesn't get cut down. The shopping cart on sidewalk has been reported and will probably be gone by the time you read this.
Mar 12, 2004
The trees are going in! Finally after all these years they are planting our street trees, the final phase of our Neighborhood Improvement Project. The trees are going in the City right-of-way and will be taken are of by the City for one year. After that they are the responsibility of the property owner. However everything that is being planted is very hardy and should not require any work once they are established. As always if you are physically unable to take care of your yard (this includes the trees) notify a MONA Board member and we will find someone to help you. If you see anyone moving the flags where the trees should go or doing damage to the trees, take note. This is illegal.

Traffic circle. They will be putting raised asphalt-and-rock islands at the traffic circle where the white lines are now. This should look better. They will also be installing the center tree and landscaping on two corners. Neighbors on the south two corners declined landscaping.

Central streetscape. The trees will be planted along Central Avenue from Eastway to Morningside in October.

Jan 1, 2004
The greenway and connectivity to Plaza Midwood)are both right on track. A meeting is planned for late January so we can review the plans, and they should begin construction in the spring.

-By Nancy Pierce Shaver



11/17/2003 PARK MEETING
Five MONA Neighbors attended the Park District 2 meeting early this week and voted to prioritize our projects, Briar Creek Greenway and Merry Oaks Campus Park, for additions in the next 10 year Capital Needs Assessment. We also heard reports that Merry Oaks School Park is ready to move ahead with design as soon as they get a go-ahead from CMS. We are also very close to having a community comment meeting on the design (design is more than 50% complete) for Briar Creek Greenway.

Briar Creek Greenway Project

8/2004
The stone trail base has been installed on the Masonic Drive side of the creek. There are two remaining parcels on the Arnold Drive side for which acquisition approval is expected at the September 4 Board of County Commissioners meeting. Any day now, the construction team, headed by Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation Department's Ron Gentry, will be moving into the Arnold Drive side to clear some underbrush and lay down the stone trail, basically along the sewer line easement. They expect to have it down by mid-October. The asphalt surface will not be put in until after the bridge is set so that the heavy equipment required to dig and pour the bridge footings does not damage the asphalt trail.
They are getting bids on bridge installation now. Digging and pouring the footings should take about two weeks after the bid is approved. The work will be done by a contractor, but the actual bridge will be fabricated out-of-state, shipped in already assembled, then dropped into place. We will try to find out exactly when that is happening so we can watch and take pictures of it.
The 60-foot long bridge will be steel with a red rusty patina. This type of surface is intended to have a rusty-looking surface, but the metal itself will not deteriorate. The walking/cycling surface will be treated wood.
The Park and Recreation Department has done a lot of work to remove invasive species and clear undesirable underbrush from the areas surrounding the trail. No mature trees have been removed. They have sprayed for poison ivy. In the spring, they will remove invasive species as they emerge. Then, the area will be put onto the County's regular mowing schedule.
A 15-20 foot vegetative buffer on the creek bank has been left undisturbed to help protect the creek. However there are a lot of invasive plants in this buffer and they do not do a very good job of protecting the creek since sediment can flow right under the matted masses of invasives. City-County Storm Water Services Department is in charge of this buffer area. Countywide, they are just beginning to experiment with different ways to manage invasive plants in the 300-400 miles of creek-side buffers in the county. This section of Briar Creek is not currently on their project list so for the time being, the creek banks will remain as they are. If you have questions about this you can contact Eric Bulman, Operations Manager for Mecklenburg County Storm Water Services, at 704 336-3751 or bulmael@co.mecklenburg.nc.us

Harbinger

8/28/04
Two flood-prone houses on Harbinger Court were purchased by the County Park and Recreation Department as part of this greenway project. These will be assessed in the next few weeks for hazardous materials. If any hazardous materials are detected, they will require removal before demolition of the structures. This entire process is expected to be completed by the end of the year or possibly sooner. The area will then be managed and mowed by the Park and Recreation Department along with the rest of the greenway. Passage of the park bonds in November as well as continued advocacy by the neighborhood will result in future phases of greenway development, including more trail mileage and installation of park amenities.