Madison Park

July 10, 06 Meeting Minutes

Jul 12, 2006

NATIONAL NIGHT OUT STREET PARTY ?– Tuesday, August 1st 2006
New Location Chedworth Drive?…between Seacroft Road and Londonderry Road. Nice shady block with three street lights?…Plenty of close Parking. You can Park anywhere along Chedworth Drive, Seacroft Road or Londonderry Road. If the roads are lined with vehicles you can park at the bus parking lot at Smith Language Academy on Tyvola and walk the short block down Londonderry to the Street Party! Bring chairs if you like?…?…ice cream, Band, watermelon, snow cones and lemonade. We will also have things for the children to do including a giant inflatable to play on. Starting at 6:30 PM until 9:00 PM invite your neighbors! Volunteers arrive as soon as possible to help with set up and man event tables. Set up will begin no later than 4:00 PM. Volunteers can arrive as their schedules allow. AS President of Madison Park I request that all members of Madison Park Please personally invite at least 5 of your neighbors to attend this event! Thanks for you efforts in advance, Martin Doss. Invite more if you like. The event last 2 ?½ hours, but just drop by and say hello if you can?’t stay the evening. Children are encouraged to decorate their bicycles or wagons for a short Parade through the street party at 7:30 PM. Line up at the corner of Seacroft and Chedworth if you would like to participate at 7:15 PM in the Children?’s bike parade!

GARDEN CLUB MEETING
Next Monday, July 17th at the home of Debra Campbell, 5718 Wedgewood Dr.
The topic: To Separate or Not to Separate. 7045235397



MINUTES OF MADISON PARK HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION

July 10, 2006
www.neighborhoodlink.com
Madison Park 28210

Meetings are 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 hour of social time)

Meeting called to order 7:30 PM

50 attendees
3 police officers
City Councilmen Andy Dulin
1 guest speaker


CRIME STATISTICS AND ISSUES:

WESTOVER DIVISION - Officer Patrick Hairston
No updates were available for June. Officer Hairston did say that Breaking & Entering crimes are up this year. They happen usually when people are at work. Get to know your neighbors! Exchange phone #s with them. Trim shrubs and keep shades closed at night.
Car break-ins are also up. Don?’t leave DVD players, laptops or cameras in your car. Try the club device, especially if you have a Honda Accord. Park in a lighted area and be sure to ALWAYS lock your car, even in your own driveway.
Never walk around by yourself at night. Criminals are looking for opportunities. Most crimes are not planned. Don?’t give them opportunities!

A neighbor mentioned recent commotion on Woodlawn. Officer Hairston said there was a robbery in the 2000 block of Woodlawn at the Longwood intersection. Two people were caught.

SOUTH DIVISION ?– Officer Ginny Woodlief (from June, 2006)
(Officer Scott Del Duca was also present.)
1. 5400 block of Seacroft ?– harassing phone calls
2. 1600 block of Wensley Dr. ?– Larceny from auto ?– car was unlocked. ALWAYS lock your car.

Officer Woodlief mentioned that there has been more crime occurring in the Yorktown Apts. Also, there will be a change in the police districts at the beginning of next year. Westover Division will encompass our entire neighborhood.


PRESENTATION:
REVEREND K. FRANCIS COOK ?– GANG OF ONE

Charlotte wants to become a world-class city and with big cities come gangs. Gang activity and the crime that goes with it have been increasing here. The 1st assessment was done in 2000 and approximately 900 gang members were counted and recorded. Close to 1/3 were juveniles (under 18). Currently there are approximately 1300 recorded members.

In August of 2003 a shoot-out occurred in McDowell Park and a homicide resulted. It was discovered that the MS 13 gang was responsible and the fight was among gang members within this one gang. After researching this shoot-out it was also discovered that 16 other previous homicides were related to gangs. This lead to the formation of a Police Gang Unit which is currently known as the Gang of One. They work with all Charlotte-Mecklenburg precincts.

Since the McDowell Park shoot-out, the MS 13 gang has not been as visible because approximately 60 people were arrested and deported. Other gangs include the Bloods & the Crips which are street-based Los Angeles gangs. The People Nation & the Folk Nation are prison-based gangs from Chicago. These gangs are well known but don?’t have direct connections to what we have in Charlotte. Similar to these large gangs, those in Charlotte do have structure, hierarchy & discipline ?– think of the Mob. They target our youth to recruit new members.

The Gang of One is a prevention and intervention program to help our youth say NO to gangs and get help if they are participating in a gang. The focus is middle school (11 ?– 13 years old) when kids are deciding to join a gang. At this age they are influenced by the prospect of an exciting lifestyle, by the prospect of getting money, and mostly by the sense of belonging to a group that offers structure and discipline. This is a type of ?“love?” that attracts them.

The Gang of One phone line is: (704) 432 ?– GANG (4264) and it is staffed by bi-lingual people ready to help. Their goal is divert kids to athletic programs, after school programs, part-time jobs and church activities. September through May is the busiest time.

Madison Park has not dealt directly with gang activity. But South Blvd. & Archdale areas have had graffiti which the police associate with gangs. We need to be aware this is going on close to us & know that our youth are at risk of being influenced.

TIP HOTLINE
Westover also now has a number to call to report Drug Dealing? Prostitution? Gang activity? Neighborhood problems? You can give a tip without revealing your identity.
Call 704-432-TALK or 704-432-8255.
IMPORTANT - in an emergency call 911.

ANDY DULIN ?– our City Council representative (District 6) introduced himself to our group. He wanted us to know that he is trying to be proactive on our specific neighborhood issues such as traffic calming. We do appreciate his attendance and time he took to speak to us.

JOHN MCCLELLAND, our new South District Parks and Recreation General Manager was introduced. We welcome him to our area and look forward to working with him. Candy Bridges will continue to attend our meetings from Parks and Recreation.

UPDATES ON PAST ISSUES AND BUSINESS
Follow-up to a question last month?’s to traffic officer. From Officer Hairston - In reference to your question about Park It issuing parking citations on Tremont Ave., Sgt. Lester informed me that Park It has an agreement with the Southend District which gives them the authority to issue parking citations in that area. This agreement is through the Center City Organization.
Traffic Calming Update: Doreen Szymanski with CDOT e-mailed Marty on 6/15 and said that the review for 3-way stops will take place in August to the Transportation Committee, and she will also include 4-way stops at Marty?’s reminder to her. She reports that the Chief Traffic Engineer and she both support their use for helping calm streets with less than 1000 vpd (vehicles per day). She said she thinks if they accept 3-ways, then 4-way should also be included. Once the committee decides it will go before City Council for approval most likely in September. Councilmen Dulin said when it gets to Council he will help to try and push it through.
Seneca Place one of our members pointed out a few weeks ago that coming in from South Blvd. there was no sign preventing trucks from using Seneca Place as a cut through to Park Road. Chip Gallup with CDOT had NO Trucks Allowed signs added coming in from South Blvd. at our request.
Glenham Sidewalks are part of the Light Rail infrastructure work. Marty had a couple of inquiries about if the sidewalks were planned anywhere else. Generally streets just within ?½ mile of a station will have sidewalks. There are also cross walks signals planned for South Blvd. and Seneca Place. Part of the installation ground work has been completed.
Tyvola Drive Storm Drain Work has started. However this project is running into some problems with the current light rail work so it will be completed in various sections as the two different projects work out some duplicate work zones.
Starclaire Swim Club?’s Vice President Scott White?…?…asked that we HOT LINK them on our web site. They invite Madison Park to check out their club. Today 7/10/06 Starclaire requested that they be allowed to set up a table at our National Night Out Street Party. They would like to let our neighborhood know about events at their pool and info on joining their swim club. (7/12/06 Starmount President e-mailed and said their board met on the evening of the 11th and they would like to help with our Street Party if we would like. They are not having their own event this year, and said they would like to see how we do our event. They said next year they might joining in with us or do something on their own). Montclaire was invited since we have paid members from that community, but we have not heard from them.
TREASURY REPORT by Dee McCandlish
We have $433.41 in the bank and 86 paid members. $15 for membership dues is a very good deal! Pay your dues. This is per household! These Dues are all used for supplies and to cover the cost of our events. Upcoming events take cash. The planned events are The Street Party, the fall picnic, and the Holiday Christmas Party/Social. Please send in your dues at once or bring them to the Street Party. We have 300 members on our e-mail list that have joined or attended meetings that your director Debra Campbell sends our Minutes, Alerts, Reminders and Warnings as needed directly. None of your board members or officer is PAID anything for their volunteer work to our Community. The payment comes in the form for us all by insuring a nice place to live and keeping our property values up! Send Dues to Dee McCandlish at 812 Fairbanks Drive, Charlotte, NC 28210. You may also drop them off in her mailbox if you choose or pay at an upcoming meeting.

WELCOME to our new members & attendees!

SUE VALENTINE-PLYLER is our newest Real Estate Professional on our web site. Sue has been an active member of our neighborhood organization for several years and has provided us with information on the history of Madison Park in 3 newsletters. Her website is linked to ours. All this interesting info on Madison Park will all be appearing online in the near future at her site. We have been fortunate that the sponsors of our web page have all been realtors living in our community. The Geyer Group was our previous site Realtor.

YARD SIGNS NEED TO GO OUT EARLY
Please remember to put your yard signs out around Thursday prior to the meeting on Monday. The more signs that are out the more Hits we have on our web site and the more neighbors we reach! Marty said some signs he can always count on being out, unfortunately this period many signs were still not up even on Sunday evening prior to the Monday Meeting. They can go out anytime after the final Monday prior to the Monday Meeting Date. Debra Campbell, Director, does a good job of trying to remind our e-mail list of the upcoming meetings, and those of you with signs to get them out. IF you are not getting e-mails drop Debra an e-mail at Debracampbell@juno.com. Remember if you change e-mails let her know so you stay in the know! If you have a sign try and remember the meeting dates and put your signs out if you don?’t hear from Debra.


OPEN DISCUSSION/ISSUES/CONCERNS

SWAT-A-LITTERBUG PROGRAM to crack down on Litterbugs. If you spot someone throwing trash out of their car, you can report them ?– get their NC License Plate # and report this online to: www.ncdot.org/~beautification
All the info on this program is on our web site at www.neighborhoodlink.com 28210 Madison Park HOA. Member Lamar Gunter reported that there will be a local version of this program in the near future. Lamar brought post cards on the program to our meeting.

GARBAGE SPILL
Marty had a garbage spill near him. 311 was called and they cleaned it up very quickly. Marty provided information on ?“Garbage Juice?” and properly preparing your garbage to prevent this type of mishap. It includes ways to recycle solid waste, paint & motor oil. This information is on the Madison Park website. The info was provided to Marty from Waste Management and was distributed at their request. Waste Management said summer is the worse time for them with this type problem.

Lamar Gunter said he would take motor oil to the recycling center if anyone has any.


Our meeting was adjourned.

Respectfully Submitted,
Cheryl Furr