Madison Park

Minutes of the March 8th, 2004 MPHOA monthly meeting

Apr 25, 2004

Minutes of Madison Park
Association
March 8, 2004

Ted Peters President called the meeting to order promptly at 7:30 PM. There were 17 residents in attendance 5 police officers and 1 animal control officer along with 2 guest speakers.

Officer Monroe spoke first and gave reports for the South Division. He noted that a couple of months ago that he had mentioned a fraud case on Londonderry Rd. It turns out this was where a resident had paid a contractor up front in full for work. The contractor took the money, began the job but left and did not complete the work. The resident called police and the contractor did eventually return and completed the work. The Feb. 04 reports were not ready but Officer Monroe stated that the South Side of Tyvola Road (South Division) had five incidents:

1. Emerywood Rd Auto stolen from yard, 2. Kentland Ln vandalism auto window smashed, 3. Seacroft Rd threatening phone call during the Super Bowl promising death, 4. Tamworth Burglary and assault. Suspect caught kicking in back porch door. At this rental property, the suspect who was intoxicated thought he knew a current resident. The suspect communicated threats to police and was arrested.

Officer Monroe then updated the association on Gang Activity and what the Police have been doing. The problem according to the officer is mainly along South Blvd. There are 3 gangs DEI, MS13, and 42LC. DEI is mostly school age taggers basically not dangerous. The officer said most of the individual students have been identified and the problem has subsided somewhat for now. MS13 is a Salvadoran Gang. 13 is Southern California-Mexican connection. The railroad tracks alongside Old Pineville Road form a dividing line and, basically, is a no-mans zone. If you see the ?“La?” prefix this means that girls are doing the tagging. The officers are trying to ID and talk to the gang members and their families to curtail this activity. Charlotte has a number of officers and school officials who have come from California and can give police information on gangs and what the tags mean. Officer Monroe noted that violence occurs most often between rival gang members and rarely spills over to attacks on the general public. Tagging that has appeared in Madison Park has been the result of mistaken identity.

Officer Hairston from Westover Division stated his Feb. 04 reports were also not available. He had two handouts for the members. The first was Where is Your Property? The Charlotte Police dept. is asking that residents join the effort to prevent the next crime. The best way to battle this crime is to document the serial numbers of your electronics, power tools, appliances and firearms. Recording this information makes it readily available in the event of a break-in crime for both the police reports and insurance claims.

The other handout was on Crime Prevention Tips. Help Prevent Larceny of Auto.
Steps were to lock car, close the windows, never leave car unattended with engine running this is a $50.00 fine if caught and does not matter if vehicle is locked, invest in alarm or deterrent device, have your VIN (vehicle identification number) etched on all windows of car, do not leave valuables in plain view, and never leave registration/insurance card in vehicle. Officer Hairston noted that this last suggestion might be a bit of a nuisance to follow because you need this information for state inspections and if you become involved in an accident. He then suggested that you never leave the title of your car in your car.

Parking Tips were as follows. Always park in lighted areas. If parked on street, turn wheels sharply to the curb. Avoid leaving your vehicle in public parking lots for extended periods of time. Always use your emergency brake and leave the transmission in park; if manual, in gear. If your vehicle is front wheel drive, pull forward into your driveway, if it is rear wheel drive back into your driveway.

One resident asked the officer if he new when the Marion Diehl Center would be opening its basketball court back up to the public. A fight had occurred on the courts a few months ago resulting in a stabbing. The officer stated that such a determination was up to Parks and Recreation and he was unaware of that particular incident.

Another resident wanted to know if the homeless begging problems at Tyvola Road and South Blvd. were being addressed. The officer stated if the beggars were coming onto the street that residents should call 911 and officers would fine or make arrest if necessary.

Sergeant Freda Lester then identified herself as a community service officer in the Westover Division. She said that she served as a backup for officer Hairston and could help with questions or concerns for residents or the board.

Brandi Williams then addressed the group. She is from the City of Charlotte and is a Public Information Officer with Solid Waste Services. Her topic was Bulky Item pickup and Yard Waste. Marty Doss had worked with her over the last month with properties where the permanent residents had recently died. In two of these cases the children of the deceased assumed ownership of the properties with the intention of converting them to rental properties. Unfortunately, in both cases, the new owners, for whatever reasons, failed to follow proper procedures for disposing of bulky items. 5229 Seacroft Road has had trash and bulky items in front of that home since Mid December. 5200 Londonderry finally cleaned up the yard and brought in a construction dumpster to contain further trash. Inspector C.T. Hodges (of code enforcement) also had alerted Marty Doss that he had left warnings on both of the above locations for violations.

Brandi Williams passed out Get ready and Curb it hand books that detailed Garbage, recycling, yard waste, and bulky items procedures do?’s and don?’ts. She also handed out Curb it quick view sheets. For Bulky item collection the definition of Bulky items encompasses items such as household furnishings, household appliances, mattresses, box springs, lawn equipment and similar household items too large to fit in rollout garbage. The Bulky item division is an on-call, scheduled service as opposed to regular weekly service. In order to schedule the pick up of a bulky item, call (704) 336-2673,
fax (704) 336-7808 or schedule online at curbit.charmeck.org, or email at curbit@ci.charlotte.nc.us. Allow 24 hours for confirmation of pickup and the scheduled date. Residents should not put bulky items out until 24 hours prior to pick up. Contractors working on properties are responsible for the removal of any debris they take out of a property. Bulky is for residential use only!

Nathanial Morgan then gave a presentation on the Neighborhood Symposium coming up March 27th. Invitations were passed out and this symposium is available to any resident. Topics covered will be how to Maximize your Neighborhood Association?’s influence, How to Market your Neighborhood As a Great Place to Live, How to raise funds for your neighborhood organization or event. There will also be a power hour session. This one hour session will allow participants the opportunity to address specific questions regarding City Services related to the following topics, organizing neighborhood clean-up, new city ordinances (such the upcoming ban on parking vehicles on front lawns), and neighborhood traffic safety, signs of graffiti and Landlords & tenants rights. For additional information or to register for the Neighborhood Symposium, you can Call Nathaniel Morgan at (704) 336-4594 or visit Neighborhoods.charmeck.org.

Brandi Williams then asked if there were any concerns. Marty Doss pointed out that the 5229 Seacroft Road home continued to be a problem week after week. Brandi was to look to see if this home had scheduled another pick up. Most of the time Bulky items will be picked up within one week of requesting on your regular trash/recycling/yard waste pickup day. Bulky item appliances are recycled. All other items go to landfills. Lamar Gunter stated that one could haul anything to the county compost site on Byrum Road out near airport for free. Brandi Williams stated that there is a trial process in one neighborhood where a board member of the Homeowners Association checks for items needing pickups and makes one list to submit. Brandi stated that bulky items had to get calls in order to do pickups because residents have accidentally left things such as wheel barrows out on curb and they have been picked up and then the resident demands that the item be replaced.

The meeting was then turned over to resident Dave Thompson for the discussion of a special issue. Text beneath a recent photo pullbox in the Charlotte Observer (March 1, 2004 edition) MoneyWise article that debated evidence of a ?“Housing Bubble?” ?“Charlotte-Area Snapshot?” described Madison Park as a ?“West Charlotte enclave.?” Dave Thompson and other members at the meeting expressed their concern regarding this inaccuracy. With reference to any map of Charlotte, Madison Park is not geographically situated in West Charlotte. And, further, the perception of West Charlotte is not a favorable label for the neighborhood. Dave Thompson had contacted The Observer?’s reporter. But, the response he had received was that the reporter and assistant business editor were standing by the story?’s ?“West Charlotte enclave?” description. Lamar Gunter is going to follow up with his contact at The Observer, he stated he feels that his contact will not want the writers making mistakes such as this in the paper. This will be the next step to try and get this mistake corrected. Members stated that we are East of South Blvd and have always been listed as South Charlotte. Most members feel South Tryon is a more traditional east-west dividing line. Other members suggested that perhaps a letter to the editor might help (which residents are free to do on their own anyway). Another member suggested residents stop their subscriptions to the paper in protest. The Board of Madison Park does not want to cause ill will with The Observer but does agree this matter needs to be corrected as a matter of correctness and fairness to our community. Emails between Dave Thompson and The Observer reporter and assistant editor were turned over to Lamar Gunter for his discussions with his contact. [A correction did appear in the March 10th Business Section (lower right corner of the first page).]

Ted Peters then noted that St. Luke?’s Village has informed the association that it is seeking a conditional rezoning for the property located near Marsh and Park Roads. Currently age-restricted to residents 55 and older, the conditional zoning change seeks a no-age restriction conditional zoning. Ted Peters noted that only when there is a zoning change do we get notifications. He sighted the case of the construction of a new Pinewood Elementary school and the development of the proposed Queens University Sports Complex at Marion Diehl Park as examples where current zoning was not required to be changed and, therefore, notifications to the association were not required. [In both cases, the extent of notification resolved to property owners adjacent to the proposed projects being invited to information meetings.]

Dee McCandlish, Treasurer, was not present but had reported to Ted Peters that the current balance was 678.00 dollars. All bills paid. Dee had noted that 3 members paid their 2004 dues since the last meeting.

Ted Peters then ask Marty Doss to go over the storm drain marking program. Marty noted he had marked 69 drains -- all the Madison Park neighborhood drains south of Tyvola Road. Another Resident, Rich Horton, had completed marking 30 drains and had requested more markers from the city. Anyone that would like to mark drains can contact Martydoss@aol.com for information or Call 704-336-RAIN to volunteer. Kits are available at 704-336-5500. You can mark as many drains as you like. Volunteers are to label drain with ?“Do Not Dump?”-?“Drains To Creek?” markers and note any signs of dumping in drains. The city will then send out a vacuum truck to clean the drains on an as needed basis. The process is very easy and fast to complete. Kits were available at the meeting.

Lamar Gunter stated that a tentative meeting was scheduled with Queens University on 4/27/04 at 5:30 or 6:00 most likely as the Marion Diehl Senior Center. This would be a meeting of the advisory council where representatives of several neighborhoods have been invited to attend. Madison Park has been allotted one neighborhood representative seat on the council.

The yellow ribbon was available to anyone requesting it to show support for our troops.

The Shut-in Awareness/Fix up crew sign in sheets were available as always at the front entrance.

We recognized one first-time attendee Sue Valentine-Plyler from Currituck Drive. We were glad to have her as our newest member originating from the ?“Show Me State.?”

Ted Peters then recognized Alan Beaver from Parks and Recreation who restated his intention to attend at least one meeting each quarter of our Home Owners Association. He noted that the Queens University Sports Complex now has architects; engineers hired and are now working in the initial phases of the complex. Development fund raising for the project continues. He mentioned that the tennis courts are most likely going to move to behind the building at Marion Diehl.

Alan also noted that an appropriate amount of time has now passed since the incident occurred that closed the basketball courts (mentioned earlier). [See minutes, above.] The courts should be opening back up soon. He too noted that Parks and Recreation considers Madison Park South Charlotte. He stated that Parks and Recreation website has updated information on their dept. and information updates on the Little Sugar Creek Greenway Project. Alan Beaver was unaware of the tentative meeting (mentioned earlier) regarding the Queens University Sports Complex.

Marty Doss then noted that the association is still unable to get announcement yard signs for the meeting. The printer ran in to a problem with the format we used and the information was blurred. We must get the information in Corel draw, Illustrator, or Illustrator EPS. Once we get this, Marty Doss will be able to forward to his contact at Kinko?’s the information to complete the order. If Ted Peters can get the files done in the next week we should be able to have the signs at the April meeting. Marty Doss had also contacted a couple of people that might be able to format the information correctly in the above formats.

The meeting was adjourned