Trenching Equipment arrives

UPDATE - Here is video of the fully-assembled one-pass trencher that I took on Saturday afternoon.

Here it is sitting idle, shortly after it has started the trenching process:

Permeable Reactive Barrier construction progress

(click to enlarge)

Construction of the Permeable Reactive Barrier (PRB) has begun and is proceeding according to the work plan schedule.  On Thursday afternoon (Nov. 7th), work crews were excavating to expose an abandoned sanitary sewer so that it can be cut out from the vicinity of the PRB and capped.   The panorama photo above shows the unearthing of the south end of the sewer line.  The staked square outlined with yellow caution tape to the right of the pick-up truck marks the north end of the sewer segment to be removed.   The PRB will run the entire width of this photo and its location is marked by a series of three parallel stakes with red tape on their tops. Check back here for photos of the trenching activity that will occur during the week of Nov. 11th.

Permeable Reactive Barrier Work Plan

Ford Motor Company has announced the following work plan for the construction of the Permeable Reactive Barrier (PRB) that will be installed on the former Visteon plant property near the northwest corner of the Manors at Central Park Condominiums:

• Week of Oct 28th - locate underground utility lines and clear away brush.
• Week of Nov 4th - begin delivery of equipment and materials; excavate and remove abandoned underground utility lines in the vicinity of the PRB
• Week of Nov 11th – DeWind (Ford's subcontractor) will begin the trenching and installation of the PRB. They anticipate having the work completed by Thanksgiving and during this portion of the work plan DeWind will be working 7 days per week.  Actual construction work will be limited to the daylight hours.

(click to enlarge)

The approximate location of the PRB is indicated by the red line in the aerial view above. The PRB will be located on the other side of the landscaped berm behind the units at 50087 through 50167 Lexington West. All of this construction work will take place on the former Visteon plant property, not on the Manors' side of the fence.  Manors residents might be able to hear the equipment when work is underway but they will not be able to see any of this work unless they are standing on top of the berm.

Road and access drive closures for seal coating

UPDATE (2:30 PM, Oct 3rd):
The last of the seal coating was applied at 1:00 PM this afternoon.  The work was completed early enough that any rain later this afternoon or evening will not negatively affect the coating. The contractor advised us to keep the roadways closed to traffic until 1:00 PM Friday afternoon.  This will give the coating enough time to bond to the asphalt surface and resist marking from tires.  
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DCAM, INC. has scheduled the remaining asphalt seal coating work for tomorrow, Thursday, Oct. 3rd  beginning at 8:00 AM (weather permitting).  They will be applying seal coat material to the private access drives in front of 6915-7355 North Central Park (Units 1-22), the Walter Ct. stub street and also in the roadway in front of 6958-6980 Lexington South (Units 166-167).  

Do not walk on the fresh seal coat unless you first check and confirm that it is dry to the touch, which depending on the weather might take several hours after it is applied.

Parking and vehicular traffic will not be allowed on these affected roadways beginning at 8:00 AM Oct 3rd and ending at 8:00 AM Oct. 4th (or earlier, depending on temperature and humidity levels).  Please do not remove or drive around any “CAUTION” tape.

Residents at the addresses listed above must park their vehicle(s) out on either North Central Park, East Broadway or on Lexington South (west of 6936 Lexington South) prior to 8:00 AM on Oct. 3rd or risk the possibility that they will be towed or trapped in their garage or driveway for most of the day and evening.

No parking is allowed on West Broadway between North Central Park and Lexington South at any time.  

Seal coating cannot be applied if there is a risk of rain prior to the estimated time that the seal coating would be fully dried to the touch.  Rain will cause the fresh coating to wash off and congeal into messy clumps that not only would have to be removed but which could also get into the storm water system and into our retention ponds.

Therefore, if there is a threat of rain for Thursday, this work will be postponed and rescheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 9th.   If necessary, an e-mail blast will be sent out to those on my Manors e-mail distribution list prior to 8:00 AM Thursday morning, announcing the postponement; the announcement will also be posted here on the Manors Blog. If there is a chance of rain on Oct. 9th, the same postponement notification procedure will be repeated.

If you wish to be added to my Manors e-mail distribution list, please send your request (including your name and street address) to my e-mail address shown in the right side of this blog.

Mike Grobbel - President, Board of Directors

WOW! update

Earlier today, on behalf of the Board of Directors, president Mike Grobbel signed "Right of Entry" and "Grant of Easement" documents giving WOW! the right to come onto our property and use the easement given them to install their coax cables and pedestals.

By the end of this week, similar documents will have been signed by all of the other Board presidents within Central Park, opening the way for WOW! to begin the design and installation of the infrastructure necessary to bring their broadband Cable TV, Internet and phone services to the residents of the Manors and all of Central Park.

Assuming the remaining documents are signed this week, design will begin the following week and construction will begin before the end of October 2013.  Based on this timetable, WOW! services should be available to all Manors and Central Park residents no later than the end of this year.

Minutes of Sept. 27, 2013 Board Meeting

MANORS AT CENTRAL PARK
CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION
Minutes of the 27 September 2013
Meeting of the Board of Directors of the
Manors at Central Park Condominium Association

(UNAPPROVED)

1.       Meeting was held at the offices of Kramer-Triad Management Group, L.L.C.,

      320 East Big Beaver Road, Ste 190, Troy, MI 48083.

2.       Meeting began at 9:45 AM EDT; Quorum was established with all three Board Members being present.  Board Members present: President Mike Grobbel, Treasurer Larry Cybulski, and Secretary Bhartan Amin.  Also present: Ryan Dorner (Kramer-Triad property management).

3.       The Board approved the agenda for this meeting.

4.       The Board approved the meeting minutes of the Meeting of 15 March 2013.

5.       New Business:

a.       Management Report – Ryan Dorner

                                                   i.      Ryan reviewed the items in the Management report with the Board.

                                                 ii.      Ryan updated the Board on Central Park Master Association Board discussions at their meeting of 26 September 2013:

1.       There was a discussion about granting an easement along North Central Park to allow WOW! Cable to service the Manors and the other three sub-associations in Central Park.  Master Board indicated their intention to sign the documents granting the easement.

2.       Should volunteers or a contractor install holiday decorations at both entrances to Central Park?  If they get volunteers, they can put up more decorations.

Door to Door Solitication

Shelby Township has a "No Soliciting" ordinance which allows every resident the opportunity to put their address on a "No Soliciting" list that restricts most solicitors from knocking on your door.  

As mentioned in the April 2013 Newsletter, rather than each co-owner having to put their address on that list, the Board of Directors decided to have all of our addresses placed on that list.  The Shelby Twp. Clerk's office allows us to do it this way, providing we first inform all co-owners that they have the opportunity to opt-out, which we did in the newsletter.  

The Board received no opt-out requests, therefore as of Sept. 5, 2013,  all addresses in the Manors at Central Park have been placed on the Shelby Twp. “No Soliciting” list.  If you wish to have your address removed from the list, you may do so at any time by submitting your request in writing and mailing it to the Shelby Twp. Clerk's Office at 52700 Van Dyke Ave., Shelby Township, MI 48316.

The Board received 118 "No Soliciting per Shelby Twp. Ordinance 246" stickers from the Township Clerk, which will soon be distributed to each residence in the Manors. The use of the sticker is optional because you are already covered by having your address on the list. However, there is "strength in numbers" and the Board recommends that everyone place their sticker in a visible location at the front door, preferably on the side glass near the door bell (not on the painted door surface).

Please note that the "No Knock" Ordinance 246 does not apply to the following types of solicitors:

• out-of-state vendors
• scout troops
• religious groups
• charitable organizations and political groups protected by the U.S. Constitution.

Upcoming asphalt maintenance work

DCAM, Inc. has recently been contracted by the Manors Condo Association’s Board of Directors to perform asphalt maintenance work on our roadways.  This work will be performed in three separate stages over the next three weeks.

Stage 1:  On Monday, Sept. 16, 2013, DCAM will be performing pothole patching using a compacting roller machine and hot mix asphalt to repair several areas where the original top layer of asphalt has deteriorated.  These locations are scattered along the private access drive in front of 6915-7011 North Central Park and also in the roadway in front of 6958-6980 Lexington South.   

Parking will not be allowed on these affected roadways beginning at 7:00 AM on Sept. 16^th until after the repair work is completed. Traffic on these affected roadways will be blocked during the short period while the work is being performed since the workers will have the affected roadway blocked with their equipment.  The patches will be able to be driven on as soon as the crew leaves.

The Board of Directors recommends that residents of these affected units park their vehicle(s) out on North Central Park and to the west on Lexington South if they will need to use their car on the 16^th  after 7:00 AM and prior to the completion of the repairs.  No parking is allowed on West Broadway between North Central Park and Lexington South. DCAM says that they will likely start this work early in the morning of the 16^th but they cannot promise a start time.  In the case of a threat of rain, this work will be postponed and the Manors Blog will provide an update on when work will be rescheduled.

Stage 2: On Friday, Sept. 27, 2013 (weather permitting), DCAM will be on-site to clean and fill cracks in all of our roads and access drives with a hot rubberized tar.  No parking is allowed on any street or access drive that day, beginning at 7:00 AM and expiring after the work crew has passed by. Each roadway will be closed to traffic during the short period that the roadway will be blocked by the workers and their equipment.  Please avoid driving over the freshly-applied tar strips for the first half-hour or so to avoid any damage to your vehicle and/or the tar strips. In the case of a threat of rain, this work will be postponed and the Manors Blog will provide an update on when work will be rescheduled.

Stage 3: On Thursday, Oct. 3, 2013 (weather permitting), DCAM will be on-site to apply seal coat material to the private access drives in front of 6915-7355 North Central Park (Units 1-22), the Walter Ct. stub street and also in the roadway in front of 6958-6980 Lexington South (Units 166-167).   Parking and vehicular traffic will not be allowed on these affected roadways beginning at 7:00 AM Oct 3^rd and ending at 7:00 AM Oct. 4^th.  You must park your vehicle(s) out on North Central Park and to the west on Lexington South prior to 7:00 AM on Oct. 3^rd or risk the possibility that it will be trapped in your garage or driveway for most of the day and evening. No parking is allowed on West Broadway between North Central Park and Lexington South.  In the case of a threat of rain, this work will be postponed and the Manors Blog will provide an update on when work will be rescheduled.

This work is the final phase of the asphalt paving project and is being funded from the Special Assessment that was levied in 2012. Your cooperation is appreciated.

Sincerely,

The Board of Directors of the Manors at Central Park Condo Association

Minutes of the 4/22/2013 Special Meeting of the Board of Directors

MANORS AT CENTRAL PARK
CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION
Minutes of the Special Meeting of the Board of Directors
held on April 22, 2013, 7:00 PM

1. The Special Meeting was called to order at 7:07 PM; Board Members present: Mike Grobbel, Larry Cybulski (Bhartan Amin received advance notice of the special meeting but was unable to attend)
2. The Board members approved the Special Meeting Agenda
3. The Board approved formation of the Architectural Control Committee (ACC) as follows:

Ford Field in Shelby Township Found Safe

From the Shelby-Utica Patch:

Ford Field in Shelby Township Found Safe

There are no signs of chemicals from the former Ford-Visteon plant at the Ford Field complex in Shelby Township. (click here to read the entire article)

2013 "Douglas R. Bouford Memorial Golf Outing"

Manors co-owner Linda Bouford is once again organizing the "Douglas R. Bouford Memorial Golf Outing" as a fundraiser for the Children's Tumor Foundation in memory of her son and she is looking for golfers, sponsors and prize donors!

The golf outing will be held on Saturday, July 20, 2013 at the Sycamore Hills Golf Club in Macomb Township, MI.   Full details including a registration form can be found here. You can also register on-line by following this link.

Tilt feature on your double-hung windows

Did you know that you can clean both sides of the glass on the lower sash of your double-hung windows without having to remove the screen and going outdoors?

Simply raise the lower sash and use your window's tilt feature to clean the outside glass surface from inside your house.

Click here for photos and instructions on how to properly use the tilt latches and security locks on your double-hung windows.