The pedestrian crosswalk striping work will take place during the coming
week of Oct. 1 (weather permitting). Please be prepared to make temporary detours while the striping paint dries. These marked crosswalks will be located at both entrances to Central Park and at various points along the Central Park ring road. This work is the final phase of the asphalt seal-coating project that began in July.
Residents are reminded that, by law:
a) vehicular traffic shall yield the right-of-way to pedestrians and bicyclists lawfully within an intersection or crosswalk
b) pedestrians may not walk in the roadway if there are sidewalks present.
If there are no sidewalks, they must walk on the left side, facing
traffic.
Furthermore, the speed limit is 25 MPH on all roadways within the Central Park planned unit development - including the Manors. If you are driving faster than that, you may not be able to stop in time if you come to a crosswalk with a pedestrian already in it. We have already had one child hit by a car this year while within a crosswalk and we do not need to have a repeat.
Even though these are all private roads within the Central Park planned unit development, the Board of Directors has the ability to ask the Shelby Township Police Department to enforce our speed limits and traffic control devices. Given the almost blatant disregard some of our residents display for the 25 MPH speed limit and our STOP signs, expect to see a lot of flashing blue and red lights around here in the very near future - just don't let them be seen flashing in your rear view mirror!
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Friday, September 28, 2012
Curb repair work planned for Oct 1st
Florence Cement is going to have a crew here on Monday, Oct. 1st to finish the curb and gutter repairs (weather permitting).
UPDATE: the cracked concrete curbing was removed and the new concrete was poured on Oct. 1st; the concrete forms were removed the following day.
UPDATE: the cracked concrete curbing was removed and the new concrete was poured on Oct. 1st; the concrete forms were removed the following day.
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Saw cutting work on curbs and bad pavement
Florence Cement will have a worker on-site tomorrow beginning at around 9:30 AM. They will be saw cutting the broken curbs and deteriorated pavement that needs to be removed and replaced prior to final paving. Please do not park on the street in the vicinity of the marked curbs and pavement.
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Phase 1 of the paving project is set to begin
Florence Cement is our paving contractor and they were on-site today to place paint markings at the locations of all work that must be performed prior to the paving of the final layer of asphalt. This Phase 1 work includes the removal and replacement of cracked concrete curbs, the removal and resetting of selected catch basin covers and cutting out damaged areas of the base layer of asphalt and replacing it with new asphalt.
They will be on-site again this coming Saturday, Sept. 22nd (weather permitting) to video tape the Phase 1 work locations and the existing pavement.
The Phase 1 work is tentatively planned to begin during the week of Sept. 24th (weather permitting). This work will only involve localized traffic restrictions for short periods of time. However, to allow the workers sufficient access the areas to be repaired, please do not park your vehicle in the street near or across from any of the paint markings until after the work is completed.
Once all of the Phase 1 work is completed, Florence Cement will enter our final asphalt layer paving project (Phase 2) into their schedule, which is always subject to change due to the weather. They will give us a "heads up" and we will share the Phase 2 scheduling information as it becomes available. However the actual date for Phase 2 paving will be announced 24 to 48 hours in advance, at which time the Board will place a notice on every door informing you of the paving date and parking requirements for that day. All of our Phase 2 paving will take place during a single day. In case of rain, the Phase 2 paving will be delayed by one day.
Phase 3 involves crack filling and seal coating the short stretches of pavement on Lexington South and the access drive on North Central Park (near where the sales models had been) that received its final layer back in 2005. The Phase 3 work can be performed independently of the other two phases.
If the weather cooperates, we should have Phases 1, 2 and 3 completed by the second or third week of October.
They will be on-site again this coming Saturday, Sept. 22nd (weather permitting) to video tape the Phase 1 work locations and the existing pavement.
The Phase 1 work is tentatively planned to begin during the week of Sept. 24th (weather permitting). This work will only involve localized traffic restrictions for short periods of time. However, to allow the workers sufficient access the areas to be repaired, please do not park your vehicle in the street near or across from any of the paint markings until after the work is completed.
Once all of the Phase 1 work is completed, Florence Cement will enter our final asphalt layer paving project (Phase 2) into their schedule, which is always subject to change due to the weather. They will give us a "heads up" and we will share the Phase 2 scheduling information as it becomes available. However the actual date for Phase 2 paving will be announced 24 to 48 hours in advance, at which time the Board will place a notice on every door informing you of the paving date and parking requirements for that day. All of our Phase 2 paving will take place during a single day. In case of rain, the Phase 2 paving will be delayed by one day.
Phase 3 involves crack filling and seal coating the short stretches of pavement on Lexington South and the access drive on North Central Park (near where the sales models had been) that received its final layer back in 2005. The Phase 3 work can be performed independently of the other two phases.
If the weather cooperates, we should have Phases 1, 2 and 3 completed by the second or third week of October.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Construction equipment south of Genisys Credit Union
You may have noticed the construction equipment that has recently been moved onto the vacant parcel on Van Dyke south of the Genisys Credit Union. I have learned that this vacant parcel is being used as a staging site for the equipment and materials that will be used to construct the new sanitary sewer that will be installed along the west side of Van Dyke from 22 Mile Road south to a point about 1,000 feet past 21 Mile Road (approximately here). The sewer project is expected to take six months to
complete. More information about the sewer project can be found in this article from the July 28, 2012 edition of the Source & Advisor.
Thursday, September 6, 2012
How to guarantee Board of Director turnover
How to guarantee Board of Director turnover:
The Manors at Central Park will need to find one or more co-owners who are willing to run for election to the Manors spot on the board of directors of the Central Park Master Association. I will not accept nomination to that post when my current term expires in April 2013. However, I do intend to run again for the Manors board when my current term expires in January 2013.
- wait until you see that a board member is outside their condo or out on the common elements to communicate your concern or complaint - after all, it is so much more convenient than picking up the telephone or sending an e-mail
- better yet, stop them while they are in the middle of performing a voluntary task for the association that is above and beyond the role of a board member - if they've got that much time on their hands, surely they won't mind the interruption
- even better is to wait until another co-owner has already stopped them and add your complaint to the conversation - and if it's already two on one, why not make it three on one?
- another way is to track a board member down while they are on their knees working to repair a broken sprinkler head and threaten a lawsuit in response to having received a violation notice in the mail - just because the board took the time and effort to communicate in writing doesn't mean that you have to do the same
The Manors at Central Park will need to find one or more co-owners who are willing to run for election to the Manors spot on the board of directors of the Central Park Master Association. I will not accept nomination to that post when my current term expires in April 2013. However, I do intend to run again for the Manors board when my current term expires in January 2013.
Sunday, September 2, 2012
Lawn watering schedule changes
Depending on the settings, our lawn irrigation system uses between $300 and $400 worth of municipal water every night it runs. This has been an unusually hot and dry summer - through September 1st, Detroit has had 30 days with high temperatures at or above 90 degrees (compared to the annual average of 11 days) while Detroit's year-to-date precipitation is 3.58 inches below normal. Here at the Manors, our monthly rainfall totals have been 3.45 inches in May, 1.05 inches in June, 6.30 inches in July and 4.70 inches in August for a four-month total of 15.50 inches.
However, as you can see from the chart (click it to enlarge), more than half of that rainfall (8.05 inches) came from just three separate storms. With our sand, a two or three inch rainfall drains away very quickly and is of no greater benefit to the lawn than a half-inch of rain.
Because of the heavy watering schedule necessitated by this summer's weather (usually at the $400 per night setting), I've been reading our water meters regularly and it is clear that we are rapidly approaching the point where we will have used all of the $37,500 we have in our 2012 budget for watering the lawns. As of yesterday, we had only enough money left to water the landscaping for 12 more nights. Therefore as of last night, I reprogrammed the automatic timers to run every other night beginning tonight.
I have been manually reprogramming the automatic sprinklers throughout the summer to stretch our budget dollars. By my records, my reprogramming efforts have saved more than $4,000 worth of water so far this summer. When there have been forecasts for a high chance of rain, I have turned the system off the night before to keep them from running unnecessarily. Also, after the occasional good soakings, I have also stretched our dollars by reprogramming them to run every other night for a few days. The last time I tried this I discovered that after dusk on the evening of Aug. 22nd, someone decided to manually operate a zone valve to provide "extra" water to the lawns in front of their units. This is unacceptable behavior and it has caused me to decide that in 2013 I will no longer "bust my hump" by reprogramming the irrigation system every time there is an opportunity to save this association some budget money by not watering.
Please do not tamper with the sprinkler system to use extra water or I will be forced to shut the entire system down at the water meters and lock the covers. I will not allow this association to overspend its budget for municipal water.
However, as you can see from the chart (click it to enlarge), more than half of that rainfall (8.05 inches) came from just three separate storms. With our sand, a two or three inch rainfall drains away very quickly and is of no greater benefit to the lawn than a half-inch of rain.
Because of the heavy watering schedule necessitated by this summer's weather (usually at the $400 per night setting), I've been reading our water meters regularly and it is clear that we are rapidly approaching the point where we will have used all of the $37,500 we have in our 2012 budget for watering the lawns. As of yesterday, we had only enough money left to water the landscaping for 12 more nights. Therefore as of last night, I reprogrammed the automatic timers to run every other night beginning tonight.
I have been manually reprogramming the automatic sprinklers throughout the summer to stretch our budget dollars. By my records, my reprogramming efforts have saved more than $4,000 worth of water so far this summer. When there have been forecasts for a high chance of rain, I have turned the system off the night before to keep them from running unnecessarily. Also, after the occasional good soakings, I have also stretched our dollars by reprogramming them to run every other night for a few days. The last time I tried this I discovered that after dusk on the evening of Aug. 22nd, someone decided to manually operate a zone valve to provide "extra" water to the lawns in front of their units. This is unacceptable behavior and it has caused me to decide that in 2013 I will no longer "bust my hump" by reprogramming the irrigation system every time there is an opportunity to save this association some budget money by not watering.
Please do not tamper with the sprinkler system to use extra water or I will be forced to shut the entire system down at the water meters and lock the covers. I will not allow this association to overspend its budget for municipal water.
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