Merry Oaks Neighborhood Association

April 2003 Newsletter

Neighborhood News

April 2003 Newsletter
Newsletter Contents
City Phone Numbers 1
Co-President’s Message 2
Neighborhood News/Updates 3-4
Neighbor’s Corner 5
Feature 6
Neighborhood Advocacy 7
Merry Oaks Memories 8
City Phone Numbers 8
MONA Day 9
Upcoming Events 10
MONA Board 11
Membership Form 11
Mark Your Calendars Now!
MONA Day - June 7, 2003
Neighborhood Yard Sale 8 a.m. - Noon
Neighborhood Block Party 6 p.m. Details on page 8
2003 General meeting schedule May 15, Sept. 18
2003 Board meeting schedule Aug. 28
2003 Newsletter deadline Aug. 26
Message

A Note from Cate

Spring has sprung in Merry Oaks! One sure sign of this is the constantly over crowded parking lot of Home Depot. This is the time of year when I start obsessing about my grass, throwing down mulch as fast as I can haul it, planting hydrangeas and other mysterious bushes, and just hoping and praying that this effort yields something worthwhile. And, so it is with Merry Oaks. This is a place that each one of us can impact with a little effort and a lot of hope.

This time of year also makes me feel especially grateful for our neighborhood. Thank you for allowing me to serve as your co-President. One of my goals is to get to know more people in our neighborhood. You are all invited to Sundays at Cate’s. Every 4th Sunday join your neighbors for Happy Hour. Bring your kids, bring your beverage and bring your lawn chair.

Another goal is to create a sense of community and many opportunities for your involvement. Join “Hands On Merry Oaks,” a series of projects including the Creek Walk, storm drain stenciling to preserve the fish, tree banding for cankerworms and cleaning up Merry Oaks Road. Pick a project, pitch in, meet your neighbors and let yourself feel a sense of contribution. As in life, you get what you put into your neighborhood. With hard work and involvement, each of us can shape the future of Merry Oaks. So clear your calendars and forget about all that silly stuff you call “life” and let’s get busy!
Cate Martin
Co-president
Congratulations
and Thank You
To Jasper Parham
On April 15 MONA was awarded a plaque from the Board of County Commissioners for its stewardship of a quarter mile of Briar Creek from Central Avenue to the Charlotte Country Club. For six years, neighbors have walked the creek twice per year to clear it of trash, monitor water quality, record flora and fauna, and monitor water quality issues.
In recent years, all of the credit goes to MONA Board member and Creek Steward Jasper Parham, who cleans the creek whether he has help from other neighbors or not. He has also taken it upon himself, to monitor the tributary near the Hillcrest Apartments, which is a dumping area for residents of the apartments. Jasper has contacted the county several times about violations in that area, and has personally hauled tons of trash from the tributary and the main Briar Creek.
Jasper received the award from the BOCC on behalf of Merry Oaks. “We are committed to the quality of Briar Creek,” he said. “It is one of our neighborhood’s most valued assets, but it is also one of the most polluted creeks in the county. We can do our share of changing that.”
Plans are underway for a greenway along the creek with a bridge over the creek connecting Merry Oaks by bike/pedestrian trail to the Plaza Midwood neighborhood.
Neighborhood News & Updates 5/2003
Merry Oaks Signs
Our realtor friend Lexie Longstreet has put her enthusiasm for the Merry Oaks neighborhood into action with a $250 donation for the neighborhood signs!
The original plan would have put six signs outside of the city right-of-way on the edge of people’s front yards. Instead, the signs will be in planting strips or city right-of-way. This will look much better, but now they must be 7’ off the ground. This will cost an additional $500 (added to the original grant amount of $3100 plus $700 from MONA). The City agreed to give us $250 more if we could raise $250. An email appeal to the neighborhood on April 25 resulted in Lexie’s immediate offer to give us the entire amount! “I thank the neighborhood for supporting me in my real estate and I’m happy to support the neighborhood,” she wrote.
Current locations (approved by CDOT) are at the four neighborhood entrances (ends of Arnold, Merry Oaks and Flynnwood) as well as at the round-about and near the Graybark/Draper intersection.
Thanks to Bruce Clodfelter and Tom Poston for their work on this project. If you volunteered to help with landscaping around the signs you will be contacted after the signs are installed. If you want more details on this process, call Nancy at 704 535 7409.
Nancy Pierce Shaver,
Merry Oaks Neighborhood Advocate

Central Streetscape – Phase III Eastway to Morningside
This project was awarded to contractor Ferebee Corporation by City Council on April 14th at a construction cost of $1,705,316. Preconstruction conference with the contractor should happen the first week in May. The contract time is 150 days, so completion is due sometime in October.
This work will include three pedestrian medians near Arnold Drive, Eastcrest, and Longfellow, bike lanes from Eastway Dr. to Merry Oaks Rd., 6 foot sidewalks minimum and widened planting strips.
Landscaping plans are now being prepared. CDOT will monitor the traffic load on Central following the closure of the Independence Albemarle intersection by the NCDOT project on Independence Blvd. If traffic on Central allows we will proceed with landscaping the project during the upcoming planting season, October 2003 - April 2004.
Keith Carpenter, City of Charlotte Project Manager

Merry Oaks Neighborhood Improvement Project
Permanent pavement markers around the traffic circle will be placed in May.
Streets will be resurfaced throughout the neighborhood, but I cannot be more specific about the schedule except to say that resurfacing will take place between now and October.
Standard warranty inspections will be held six and eleven months after the city formally accepts the project from the contractor (acceptance should come shortly after the traffic circle pavement markings are installed). The inspections will cover the materials and workmanship of all construction performed under the Merry Oaks NIP contract and includes ensuring the grass planted in planting strips and other disturbed areas is maintained.
Landscaping, including trees in the right-of-way, shrubs at the traffic circle, and a tree in the roundabout, will be done in the fall. MONA neighbor and landscape architect Bruce Clodfelter is volunteering his expertise for this.
Todd Thorne, City of Charlotte, Project Manager

Central Avenue Traffic Violations
The police are cracking down on traffic violations, especially speeding, in our area. In the past month they have issued more than 400 traffic tickets in the vicinity of Central and Briar Creek Road.

Merry Oaks-Plaza Midwood Connectivity Project
Christy Wenzel is taking the connectivity project over from me. I’ll be available as needed though. The purchases of the two houses on Logie were recently finalized and we are working with the Charlotte Country Club on their property needed to connect to Masonic. Design is in progress, and city staff is currently reviewing a preliminary design of both the choker lane and bike/ped path. We are currently on schedule to begin construction by the end of the year.
Todd Thorne, City of Charlotte, Project Manager


Briar Creek Greenway
Property acquisition along Arnold Drive is still not finished but is pending. The bonds have been sold and the RFP has resulted in a contract with Regenbogen and Associates. So we are under design, which typically takes 3-6 months. I’ll let you know when we are ready to schedule the public meeting, possibly in July.
Bridget Hanifen,
Mecklenburg County Greenway Planner

Merry Oaks School
The children moved into the new school in March. The old school will be torn down this summer (at least that’s what they’re telling us now). Part of the old building, the blue wing, will be kept for adult educations (ESL and GED) and after school care for children. The buses and day care vans use Longfellow to access the school. Two after school buses still use Draper between 5 and 5:30 PM. Tour the new building at 6:30 PM prior to the MONA general meeting on May 15.
Stan Frazier, Merry Oaks Principal

Merry Oaks School Campus Park
Plans and funds are still intact to make a park on the excess acreage around the school. Designs that were made a few years ago after neighborhood input will be considered but will have to be changed since CMS decided to keep part of the old school building. Central Park District II General Manager Neil Carrol and Park Planner Lola Massad will attend our May 15 general meeting to confer with us about park plan and development. A more formal community workshop will be held at a later date.
MCPRD General Manager, CPD. Neil Carrol

Birchcroft Apartments
Officer Jeff Wheaton of Charlie II is leading an initiative to clean up crime from the Birchcroft Apartments. These back up to Cosby Place and front on Central Avenue. The police believe there is drug dealing there, and they think some residents from Birchcroft may be committing crimes in other apartment complexes and perhaps in our neighborhood. Also, some residents illegally dump trash over the fence onto the surrounding properties.
Officer Wheaton will attend our neighborhood meeting to talk about this. He specifically requests that property owners who abut the Birchcroft Apartments attend.
Neighbors’ Corner
Protect Your Car From Theft
A thief can peer through the windshield of your car or truck, write down the VIN number from the label on the dash, then go a local dealership to get a duplicate key for it using the VIN number. If you’ve ever had to replace your key, you know it’s a simple request. The car thief then goes back to your vehicle with key in hand and drives it away. So record your VIN number and keep it in the house. Then put a piece of opaque tape over the VIN number on the dashboard so it can’t be seen from the outside.

Rabies
There have been 8 cases of rabies in East Charlotte, including at least 2 cases and maybe 3 on Medford Drive, right across Eastway from Merry Oaks. Please make sure your pets’ vaccinations are up to date. Be careful of wild animals acting strange or stray cats and dogs. With all the wildlife (raccoons, foxes and possums) in our area this can be very serious.

Needed: A New home for Jack
My 10-month-old Jack Russell with beautiful markings needs a spacious home/yard in Merry Oaks. My allergies prevent me from keeping him so I will give him to a good home. He is house-trained and has had all his shots. He is a loving companion and great with kids! Jack comes with a voucher to have him neutered for free at the Humane Society. I also purchased heart worm prevention and flea prevention medicine and I’ll be happy to pass this along to the new owner. Call Tracy Watkins on Arnold Drive - 704-535-7248.

Thank You!
Thank you to Nancy, Andria and Sarah Krewson for planting the flowers in the traffic circle. The City should be planting a tree there in the fall.

Merry Oaks Email List
If you provided your email or changed it in the past two years, you may no longer be included on the MONA email list (due to a stupid error on my part). So please email me at nancypierce@carolina.rr.com and request to be put back on the list. Also all newcomers please send me your email! The MONA list now has 91 members. This list is for the exclusive use of MONA Board members to communicate with members and will not be given out to anyone else.
Nancy Pierce Shaver, Neighborhood Advocate

Who Do You Call?
Joyce Anderson has a new phone number: 704-336-3491. She is the City inspector who deals with violations such as illegal junk on the curb, unkept yards, junk cars and so on.

New Web Address For Merry Oaks
Merry Oaks new web address is: www.neighborhoodlink.com/charlotte/merryoaks
Tom Poston is webmaster and Nancy Krewson is web editor.

Neighborhood Yard Sale
Clean out your closets and attics and mark your calendar for June 7! Our neighborhood-wide yard sale will be held June 7th from 8am - noon. Permits are $5 each and your neighborhhood organization will place an ad in the Charlotte Observer as well as place signs around the neighborhood the day of the sale. Contact Beth AlRawi at 567-1207 or Carol Herrington at 563-0288 to make a reservation. Permit fees will be due by Sunday, June 1 to give us time to pick them up and distribute them.
Feature
The Ugly Little House
I first noticed the ugly little house on Draper a year or two ago. The only landscaping was a couple of weeds growing out of the rutted driveway and an abundance of sticks and limbs from a giant oak tree. The windows didn’t quiet fit; they look like glorified storm windows. The front stoop and wrought iron - just “yuck”. But for some reason I kept looking at that house. Then a For Sale sign miraculously popped up in the front yard, like a flower waiting to blossom. I thought, “Yeah! Somebody’s going to buy that house and fix it up.”
Always the optimist, that’s me.
What a surprise when no one came forward. “What’s wrong with that house? It seems pretty cheap.” I thought. Having sold a lot of houses in Merry Oaks, and being a big fan of this little neighborhood, I called a past client that had told me he’d like to find a “fixer upper”. We decided to have a look.
“Nice big tree in the front yard” my buyer said as I worked to unlock the door. “A little paint on this stoop, a few bushes… that would give it some curb appeal.” I said. “I can’t believe this hasn’t sold.” I cracked the door.
“Oh, Ah Ha.” I thought as I got my first good whiff of - cat pee. The fumes saturated the walls; my eyes started to get a little watery. There were wood floors in the small living room and dining room. The bedrooms seemed okay, except for the missing window in the back. All in all - not horrible. “All these rooms need is some patching, windows, paint, new light fixtures and the floors refinished and they’d be as good as new.!” I said enthusiastically.
Next the bathroom. Someone had put a thick layer of stalactite plaster on the walls. A great treatment if you are trying to grow – mold. The window had a board covering it. “At least you won’t have to waste time making difficult decisions on what to toss out and what to save. “It all had to go. And hopefully by someone wearing rubber gloves a gas mask and goggles. Goggles might help with the eye-watering problem.
Next stop, the kitchen. Seems like the same decorator who covered the bathroom walls, had also left their mark in this room. Well not exactly, the kitchen. They had removed the kitchen – or at least the few cabinets and sink, and moved them into a big old porch that was on the back of the house. At some point, this might have been called a “room addition”, now the words “stinky mess” seemed more appropriate. The particle board floor dipped at least 8 inches in the middle. There were a couple cabinets and a sink. No floor covering, no walls. “Oh, watch your step.” I pointed to the ceiling. A hole in the roof had caused a bigger hole in the floor. Rainwater was dripping into the, what shall we call it, “the breakfast area”. Of course there is a sheet of plywood covering the broken out windows, (a feature most the rooms seemed to have). The room had settled so much, the back door wouldn’t open. By now, the smell of mildew and rotting wood seemed to be masking the pee odor.
I thought out loud, contemplating the possibilities… “You could gut this. Start over. There isn’t anything here to loose. Reframe, rebuild. A new roof. New windows. This could be a great kitchen and family room. French doors out to the deck.” I looked over my shoulder for confirmation. My buyer was in the front yard. He seemed to be retching from the smell. He was bent over near the large tree. A limb fell and hit him on the head.
“Or not.” I thought to my self. “Some people just don’t have any vision.”
I showed that house several more times. I told all the potential buyers what a great house it could be. I tried to sell 3230 Draper so many times that the inevitable happened. My friend, Mick McNeely and I bought it! He’s always been a glutton for punishment and is going to renovate it. New kitchen, new bathroom, refinish the hardwoods. He’s even talking about adding a master suite upstairs over-looking the “beautiful” back yard. “It’s got potential,” he says, “and that great tree in the front yard.”
Lexie Longstreet, Realtor, Helen Adams Realty
Neighborhood Advocacy And Monitoring
Board members have responded to neighbor’s complaints, inquiries or suggestions by taking action on or finding out about the following issues:

· Getting the City to pick up abandoned shopping carts;
· Trying to save old trees from destruction for the Central streetscape project;
· Inquiring about the new silver poles on Central (they are for speeding cameras);
· Trying to get Roseview Lane abandoned;
· Trying to get the City to enforce code violations such as junk cars, parking on planting strips and sidewalks, junk on curbs, ill kept properties;
· Working with The Park Apartments on school bus and cut-through issues
· Informing neighbors about break-ins or attempted car thefts.

Vinland Lodge
Inquiring minds have wondered about the Adopt-A-Street signs which claim “Vinland Lodge” has adopted Arnold Drive. After many hours, days, and weeks I discovered what Vinland Lodge is…....sort of. City staff was unable to furnish information about it but they did state that it is a business. Finally, I located Vinland Lodge on the internet at yahoo.com, groups. The stated purpose from the yahoo link is:
“This is an exclusive discussion group for Vinland Lodge. Membership is earned. We’re not here to argue. We’re here to build. Chapter, region and national business, projects and issues are all fair game for discussion. Remember that civility is more constructive than combat, and that the “Folkish vs. Universalist” debate is a thing of the past. We take our place as people in service to our families, folk and communities.”
According to the link, Vinland Lodge has 36 members, but it lists no physical location. I sent an email to the listowner of Vinland Lodge and received a reply from the Adopt-A-Street, Vinland Lodge individual. That’s all I can report at this time.
Jasper Parham, Board Member and Creek Steward

Irrigation pond
In the past six months you may have noticed logging and dump trucks at the end of Masonic Drive. Charlotte Country Club has cleared six acres of land to build a 4-acre irrigation pond for the golf course. As creek stewards, MONA neighbors have been concerned about the loss of trees and other vegetation along the creek. But the property owner has the legal right to build the pond, and Mecklenburg County Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Water Quality Section and Storm Water Services have approved the project.
MONA also has the right to monitor and report any issues associated with the pond. Three concerns are: mosquitoes, run-off fertilizer, and reduction in creek flow.
County EPA states that fish and other critters will eat mosquito eggs and larvae. If a problem arises, we can contact county vector control. EPA also said that devices installed in the creek will monitor run-off chemicals and fertilizers from the golf course. EPA also said that the property owner has the right to draught water from the creek to fill the pond as long as it does not adversely affect creek flow. If the creek flow is adversely affected, we can contact EPA.
On the positive side: we may see an increase in desirable critters such as blue herons, frogs, and mallard ducks
Jasper Parham, Board member and Creek Steward
Help Keep Briar Creek Clean By Ben Shaver

Briar Creek is the only creek in our neighborhood and it is our job to help protect it, whether it’s by being aware of the junk we allow to go down the storm drains in the street or by going out and picking up trash from the street or the creek itself. I’m 14 years old and if I’m capable of this, something tells me you are too. If you don’t want to get your hands dirty, you can start by not littering in our neighborhood and not pouring oils, animal fat, and vegetable fat down your sink drain. Grease causes more that half of our sewer spills, and when a sewer spills it drains to the creek. Overall, if it is not something you would feed to your kids, don’t dump it in storm drains or down the kitchen sink.
If you see or suspect a sewage overflow or spill, call 704/357-6064.
When you see trash or clutter (including grass, sticks and leaves) that could end up in the storm drains in front of your or your neighbor’s house, stop by and clean it up. We need to allow the city’s systems to function by doing our small part.
There are many other things you can do, including using rechargeable batteries, recycling motor oil, being aware of water usage (taking shorter showers, less flushes of the toilet), and not buying products that contain Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).

Merry Oaks Memories
During his lifetime, longtime Merry Oaks resident Bill Thompson has driven over 3 million miles, visited all 48 continental states, and visited all 9 Canadian provinces. Not a bad record for a Wadesboro boy who grew up during the Great Depression. Even as a boy there must have been traveling in his future, for his first job was pumping gas at a Wadesboro filling station, where he earned five cents an hour (which equaled $3.00 a week for a 60 hour week). He also spent a lot of time making music. In his late teens he played the guitar for a small ensemble that had a regular gig at a Raleigh radio station. But most of his life he has spent on the road, driving a Trailways bus for More Tours and traveling all over the country. One of his favorite memories was traveling often to Nova Scotia, where he introduced grits to the local population.
During World War II he served in the Navy as a driver and dispatcher in the Pacific. He recalls traveling on a flat bottom ship from Norfolk to San Diego through the Panama Canal. He also worked repairing damaged ships that returned to San Diego from fighting near Tokyo.
He came to Charlotte in the 1950’s and chose to build in Merry Oaks because he had a sister who was married and living on Arnold Drive. He bought a lot on Arnold Drive. The lady who sold him the lot was dividing up her land and required that all the homes built on these lots be built of brick. She also pledged that the wooded area behind these lots would never be torn down… as long as she lived.
Sadly, when she died, all the trees came down and eventually the Park Apartments came up. And, oddly enough, her son moved his childhood home, which was wooden, to one of those Arnold lots, where it still stands today. Mr. Thompson drew his own plans for the house and, with the help of his father, built it himself. He started drawing the plans in February of 1954; he began building in September of the same year; and, in December, he moved in. He remembers driving every day to pick up the man who “mixed the mud” (the concrete), who didn’t have a car of his own.
He and his wife raised two daughters in Merry Oaks, and they attended Merry Oaks Elementary. He has fond and respectful memories of Miss Henderson, who was a much loved principal at Merry Oaks in the 1950’s. He has always enjoyed living in this neighborhood and especially looks forward to an annual holiday gathering put on by a good friend who lives nearby.
Lucy Hazelhurst
MONA DAY
Saturday - June 7
Neighborhood yard sale
8 AM - Noon
Join your neighbors at our second annual neighborhood yard sale.
Permits are $5 each. Your neighborhhood organization will place an ad in the Charlotte Observer as well as place signs around the neighborhood the day of the sale.
Permit fees are due by Sun., June 1.
Contact Beth AlRawi at 567-1207 or Carol Herrington at 563-0288 for more information.
Block party
6 PM - ?
Arnold Drive between Merry Oaks & Farmington
Hamburgers, hot dogs & drinks will be provided. $2 donation requested.
If your last name begins with:
A-F Bring a salad G-P Bring a dessert Q-Z Bring fruit or veggies
Contact Cate Martin at 704-535-3501 for more information
Upcoming MONA Events
MONA General meeting
Thursday, May 15
Merry Oaks School (enter off Draper to park)
6:30 New school tour 7-9 General meeting

4th Sundays At Cate’s
Sundays - May 25, June 29, July 27,
August 24, September 28 4 PM
MONA Co-president Cate Martin’s at 2301 Arnold Drive
Bring lawn chair and beverage. Kids are welcome. Come and meet your neighbors.
Contact Cate Martin 704 535-3501

MONA DAY
Saturday - June 7 - Morning and late afternoon
Neighborhood yard sale 8 AM - Noon (details page 5)
Block party - 6 PM - ? (details page 8)
Contact Carol Herrington 704-563-0288 (Yard sale)
Or Cate Martin (block party) 704 535-3501

Evergreen Nature Preserve Tour
Saturday, July 5 7:30 AM
The Winterfield Neighborhood Association is sponsoring a tour of the Evergreen Nature Preserve. Meet at the old basketball court near the new bus parking lot at Winterfield Elementary School. (Right off Central onto Winterfield just before Sharon Amity). Louise and Larry Barden have volunteered to guide us through this 80-acre green space and natural wildlife habitat. Bring binoculars for bird watching, a bottle of water, a camera for “shots” of the wildlife, and wear some good walking shoes.
Diane Langevin , President, Winterfield Neighborhood Association

“Hands on Merry Oaks”
Saturday - July 12 - 9AM
Edge and clear Merry Oaks Road sidewalks and street.
Just show up with gloves, edgers, garbage bags.
Contact Cate Martin 704 535-3501


“Hands on Merry Oaks”
Saturday - August 16 - 9am
Storm drain stenciling
Contact Cate Martin 704 535-3501


“Hands on Merry Oaks”
Saturday October 11 9AM
Fall creek walk
Meet at the end of Masonic near Central
Contact: Creek Steward Jasper Parham 704-537-9765


“Hands on Merry Oaks”
Saturday November 22 9AM
Canker worm tree banding
Contact Cate Martin 704 535-3501
Your MONA Board:
Beth Al Rawi
Co-President
704- 567-1207
bhalrawi@aol.com

Cate Martin
Co-President
704-535-3501
cate1868@yahoo.com

Nancy Pierce Shaver
Neighborhood Advocate & Past President
704-535-7409
nancypierce@carolina.rr.com

Donna Howard Peters
Treasurer
704-563-1422
dhowardpeters@hotmail.com

Carol Herrington
Secretary & Newsletter Designer
704-563-0288
robcar1823us@yahoo.com

Richard Stenhouse
Newsletter Printing & Circulation
704-535-4026

Jasper Parham
Creek Steward, Meeting Signs, Neighborhood Advocacy
704-537-9765
jwparham@bellsouth.net

Tom Poston
Webmaster
704-567-0020
tom@tranquility-base.us

Tony Edwards
Neighborhood Advocacy
704-535-3602
taedwards@mindspring.com

Pam Stenhouse
Newsletter Advertising
704-535-4026