Madison Park

Minutes of the November 10th, 2003 Meeting

Nov 25, 2003

President Ted Peters called the meeting to order at 7:35 PM
22 attendees and 3 officers present

The meeting was turned over to Officer J.D. Russell CMPD Baker II.
Officer Russell stated there were 4 incidents within the Baker II section of MP for the month of October. They were as follows: a threat, stolen bike on Farmbrook Road and a Stolen Auto on Londonderry RD. The vehicle was a Honda Accord stolen from the driveway of a resident. The vehicle turned up in the airport area later that night with some damage.

Officer Russell was asked if Baker II took calls for all of Tyvola Road. The response was that they did not. The road is split down the middle
with Adam 2 which is now the Westover Division taking their side of Tyvola Road. In the event of calls involving wrecks on Tyvola either
side might respond depending on cross streets mentioned in 911 calls.

Officer Russell said that Baker II goes from Park Road down to Sharon Road West, which he noted was a large area. Officer Russell introduced
Officer J.A. Monroe a new officer that will be helping with Baker II side of Madison Park. The officers are splitting the area.

Debra Campbell asked officer Russell if the Latino Community had a Home Owners Association or any type of groups. Officer Russell said No for
some reason they don't seem to participate in this type of activity.
However Officer Russell stated if we develop the need he could supply us with Hispanic speaking officers at our meetings. It was noted that
Latino businesses and citizens are often targets of crime. Radio and TV are used to try and reach the Spanish-speaking community.

Marty Doss asked if the officers were addressing gang-related Graffiti/tags on buildings and the answer was yes. Police try to get the
business cleaned up as quickly as possible. Pictures are taken of the graffiti and arrests are made or investigations conducted when evidence
can be collected to support an arrest. Bally's Gym on South Blvd recently was hit hard along the back of the building with Graffiti/tags.
Marty Doss noted that the old Kmart building was covered with tags, but was recently painted. He was wondering if the police helped get the
building repainted. Officer Russell said yes they contact the owners to paint as soon as possible.

There is now a gang Police Investigating unit consisting of 3 officers and a sergeant in Charlotte. They investigate and look for problems.
Officer Russell mentioned that he has been involved in getting some gang members out of York Town Apartments on Tyvola Road. It was noted that
immigration helps with round ups of illegal immigrants that are involved in gang activity and will deport those with criminal backgrounds and
gang-involvement histories.

Officer Hairston then took over and gave the stats for The West Over Division noting 19 incidents for Oct. 2003. Those that affected our
community directly were as follows.
1320 Abby Place domestic assault
750 Brockbank Road simple assault
5311 Furman Place Residential Burglary
5620 Murrayhill Road property damage to a vehicle
321 Seneca Place Child abuse involved severe spanking of a child
500 Seneca Place Auto Theft Attempt
815 Seneca Place Larceny from Truck -- a cell phone

Officer Hairston noted that the Holiday Season is when Robberies go up in our communities. When out shopping, safety reminders from the officers
were: park close to entrances and in well-lit areas. Females are encouraged to keep pocket books close to their person. Packages should
not be placed on seats and left in view. Always secure packages in a trunk when possible. Be aware of your surroundings when exiting and
entering buildings. Scott Andrews made a suggestion about putting items in your car while out shopping. If you are not leaving the store perhaps you should consider moving your vehicle to a new parking space in case anyone was watching you carry out your packages. This would make a possible thief think you were leaving.

New Member Tony Johnson from Murray Hill wanted to know about the trailer that was recently placed on his road. He asked if it recorded data of vehicles and was told yes it was use to check for speeders. Officer Hairston did not have the results of the latest traffic test.

The officers were thanked for attending the meeting and providing information on our community.

Vice President Scott Andrew said that he had found, when referring back to the earlier question regarding getting the Hispanic Community involved that Church-Based Groups did a better job reaching out to the Hispanic Community. It was suggested that the board poll churches in the
neighborhood for Spanish Outreach programs available in our area.

Marty Doss suggested that the Association contact County Commissioner Dan Ramirez, who is the Vice Chairman at-Large for his suggestions on how to
involve the Hispanic community with our group. His information is Dan Ramirez, 10417 Sundance Court, Charlotte, NC 28277. (W) 704-889-5816.
Dabranurezbia@aol.com. He might be willing to assist us or give us someone that we could work with regarding reaching out to our entire
community/neighborhood specifically Hispanics.

[After-Meeting Note: Georgia Lewis, a MP resident and elections board member, is very active with the Hispanic community on a city-wide basis.
Georgia might also be a good reference for initial discussions.]

Dee McCandlish was given the floor next and stated that the 2004 Dues are now due. The amount is only $10.00 and is good for all of 2004. Forms were passed out to attending members. The bills are all paid and the
association has $659.45 in the bank. Marty Doss suggested that the form passed out at the meeting for signing up and paying your membership dues
be added to our website. Members could print the form and pay their dues via check to the following address. Madison Park Homeowners Association, 5718 Wedgewood Drive, Charlotte, NC 28210.

Scott Andrew then gave us an update on the crime watch program. The neighborhood must have 51% participation in order to get the Neighborhood
Crime Watch signs put up throughout our neighborhood. At present time we have only 4 or 5 streets that are in good shape. Other streets have small clusters of homes. We need everyone to help us reach our goal of 51% participation. Lamar Gunter suggested that this form be added to our website. Those neighbors willing to help can print the form and collect as many names and address as they can get from neighbors. The forms can then be turned back in at the next meeting or mailed to the address provided on the form. Debra Campbell ask member Sara Lewis from
Kentland Lane if she could help with collecting names in her area. Sara noted that there were only two houses on her Road and that she has York
Town Apartments for neighbors and most of the residents were Hispanic.
Sara said she would deliver the flyers if we could get them printed in Spanish for the Hispanic community. Ted Peters noted that BabbleFish.Com could convert the language for us for free.

Scott Andrew also noted how with 80% participation you could get streetlights added to our roads.

[Our website is http://Neighborhoodlink.com/charlotte/MadisonPk. This is the link for our Neighborhood Madison Park. Members are encouraged to visit the site regularly to obtain updates and valuable information on our community.]

Ted Peters then gave an update on Problem Houses within the neighborhood.
He noted that the City Codes inspector was waiting to hear back from us regarding 1043 Keystone Court. This home needs repairs to the exterior.
It is thought that the home is a rental. If this were the case the landlord would be responsible for making repairs. However it is not known if the landlord is living in the area or not. One member said she was certain the son of the owner was aware the home needed repairs. The city codes inspector can initiate a top to bottom building inspection of any home based on a visual inspection of exterior problems. The family
renting the home was noted to have several children and is liked by the neighbors. The Association does not wish to cause a hardship on this family. It was noted that perhaps if the outside is in such poor condition that for the safety of the family perhaps an inside inspection
would not be a bad idea. Ted Peters was awaiting feedback from a member regarding whether the property was a rental or not. This will determine Ted's suggestion to the codes inspector. However the Codes inspector,
Charles Hodges, does not need our approval to begin an inspection at once on the property. He is only doing this as a courtesy after members
voiced concerns at the October 2003 meeting. The city can inspect and require all repairs be made within 60 days. Ted then noted that 5201
Londonderry Road deserved recognition for cleaning up their premises.
It was noted that the collapsed above ground pool with trees growing out of it had been removed along with paint cans that lined the fence for
years. The association is pleased with the efforts that were made by the residents, particularly so because the homeowners acted without direct prompting from city inspectors and responded favorably (with a lag) to
suggestions made by a board member to address the state of their property for the sake of their neighbors.

Yellow Ribbon Campaign continues to show support for our troops. Ribbon was available at the meeting for those that requested it.

Ted Peters then updated us on Shut-In Awareness / Fix-Up Crew. Sign up sheets were once again available. Anyone willing to assist should
contact the board. If anyone needs help or knows of someone needing help please contact the board for assistance. The association will provide
light maintenance such a yard work, hedges and other light services for those in need.

Ted Peters then made a motion to cancel the December Meeting. After discussion, the motion was not seconded and did not reach the floor for a
vote.

Debra Campbell suggested that a Social for the Holidays take the place of our regular meeting. This was voted on and accepted unanimously. Marty
Doss and Debra Campbell will be working on the event. The Holiday Social will be held on Monday, December 8th at 7:30pm.

Attendees will be asked to bring desserts, cookies, nuts, and chips. Details will be forthcoming. If you would like to be involved in the planning please email either Marty Doss at Martydoss@aol.com or Debra Campbell at debracampbell@juno.com. Please put Holiday Social in the Subject line and provide us with your name address and phone numbers.
The Christmas Social was a big success last year with lots of food, music and fun. It was right after the Ice Storm and provided many with a warm
place since many residents were still without power. We will pass out flyers alerting neighbors to this event and need volunteers to help get the word out. If you can help pass out flyers in your area please contact either Marty or Debra with how many you need and your address and phone number. We will see that you get them in time to distribute them for the event.

The floor was open for new business.
The association has a few utensils that belong to some of our neighbors.
If you have left any utensils contact the board.

There is a fall festival on Saturday, November 15th at the Madison Park Church of the Nazarene on Seneca Place near the intersection with
Wedgewood Drive from 1:00 to 3:00pm.

A member wanted to know if the stop light cameras were working and the answer is yes they are at Tyvola Road and Wedgewood Drive. Ted noted
that speed cameras were going to be coming soon to Charlotte. The police also have stationary cameras that they can move to problem neighborhoods to watch for crime now in Charlotte.

Marty Doss noted that the city council passed the ordinance that prevents large commercial trucks from parking over night in neighborhoods.
Commercial vehicles cannot park on streets in residential areas and must be parked in driveways. All large trucks are banned and only one small vehicle can be parked off street in a private driveway. This Ordinance goes in affect Jan. 1, 2004.

New Members were then recognized. Tony Johnson from Murray Hill said he learned of the association through the neighborhood link from the
city/county website link.

Gayrie Case was also recognized for being a first time attendee. She lives on Gentry place. Her property backs up to the Pinewood Elementary
School Construction zone. She had received two calls alerting her to the meeting. (Members without emails are called to alert them to the
monthly meetings). Gayrie noted the new school was to be about triple the size of the old school. It was noted as previous that the old school will be torn down. There should be a playground and sports area that can be used by the neighborhood after school as a neighborhood park.

Tony Johnson then stated he felt that we needed more signs advertising our monthly meetings. He stated he felt there was a large untapped
section of Madison Park that is not participating in our meetings. He noted he rarely drives down Seneca Place where one of two of our banners
is displayed. Debra Campbell then noted even though the attendance at the meeting did not appear to be large that we have a large list of
members that keep up by means of our website. There are over 150 emails that go out each month with the minutes and so forth and announcements of
upcoming meetings. Anyone wishing to get on the email list for the neighborhood should send his or her information to Debracambell@juno.com.
She can then add your name to the email list. (This list is not sold and is only used to alert members and neighbors to our events). The list of
emails is not distributed to all members and is kept confidential. The website provides neighbors with valuable information such as the minutes of each meeting, various links and specific topics such as links regarding the Murray Hill sidewalks. Members can also reach the
city/county website from a link on our pages. Ted Peters then stated that the meeting announcement yard signs were coming soon. The board approved the signs last spring. Tony Johnson volunteered to place a sign on his property advertising the meetings each month. These signs should help get the word out to more neighbors!

Another member wanted to know if there were any playgroups for young children in our neighborhood. Debra Campbell told the member she had a couple of contacts for him.

Debra Campbell then stated she heard there was a garden club for Madison Park. None of the current members in attendance had any knowledge of the club. Debra was going to try and attend one of their meetings and get more details.

The meeting was adjourned.

Respectfully submitted: Martin Doss