Construction at the corner of Van Dyke and Central Park

UPDATED Sept. 18th:

You may have noticed work crews moving earth and making curb cuts at the southwest corner of Van Dyke and Central Park. According to Glenn Wynn, the Shelby Twp. Planning Director, a building for a credit union has been approved for this site and we are seeing the initial stages of its construction. This type of land use is of a much lower intensity than a grocery store and should not cause a large increase in traffic at the intersection. From markings on the curb, it appears that a curb cut is planned on Van Dyke as well as on Central Park. Mr. Wynn indicates that the credit union site plan is available for review at the Planning and Zoning Department. When I get a chance, I will stop by and take a look at it to see what the traffic flow pattern is for the site.

The new credit union will operate under the name of "Genisys Credit Union". It was recently formed by the merger of T & C Federal Credit Union of Bloomfield Hills and USA Credit Union of Auburn Hills. The rumors about a new Kroger store are not true, however, a new one was built a few years ago at the northeast corner of 23 Mile Rd. and Hayes.

While I'm sure we will appreciate a newer, larger and closer Kroger store, this is bound to generate some concerns about increased traffic at that intersection and whether there will be additional curb cuts and deceleration lanes built on Van Dyke so that all of the traffic does not have to use Central Park. Considering how difficult it can be at times to make a left turn onto Van Dyke from Central Park, this new development will hopefully drive the eventual installation of a traffic signal at that intersection.

Sept. 16th Paving

UPDATED Sept. 17th:
The signs announcing paving pertains only to the Kensington Condo development. Moore Ct. and the Broadway loop (East, North and West) will be getting a final top coat of asphalt on the 17th or 18th. The only impact to the Manors will be a temporary closing of West Broadway at Lexington South while the roadway is paved. Manors residents will still be able to park normally and enter/leave via Lexington West.

New Rules and Regulations

(click to enlarge comic strip)

All co-owners should have received a letter by now from Kramer-Triad with an enclosed copy of the new rules and regulations that were recently adopted by the Board of Directors. The cover letter and rules and regulations can also be viewed here.

The cover letter in the mailing also stated that copies of Articles VII and XII of the Association Bylaws were to have been enclosed for your reference but they were inadvertently omitted. The full Bylaws, including these Articles, were included in the "Documents" book that you received at your closing. Rather than incur the expense of an additional mass mailing, if you need a copy of these particular Articles, you can either request them from Kramer-Triad or view them on this web page.

Volunteers needed for a work party

I'm looking for some volunteers who are willing to get their hands dirty with a project that needs to be completed before the snow flies. On Saturday Oct. 4th at 9:00 AM (rain date is the 5th), we will meet on the private access drive that parallels Central Park North. We will be installing concrete patio stones to create four walkways across the median that separates the access drive and Central Park North (the proposed walkways are shown in red on this drawing).

These walkways are necessary to provide a hard-surfaced path for Manors residents on Central Park North to use when setting out their trash during the winter. The Shelby Twp. waste collection contractor only picks up items placed at the curb of Central Park North and after the snow has been piled up by the plows, it can be impossible to safely climb over the frozen piles to get to the curb. We can have our snow removal contract stipulate that paths be kept cleared for use by these residents, but the contractor requires a marked, hard surface on which their crews can use their snow shovels and snow throwers.

The need for these walkways became very evident during last year's harsh winter. Since this project was not anticipated in our 2008 budget, the Board has approved expenditures for the materials, provided we volunteer the installation labor.

We will be installing (26) 1 ft. by 1 ft. concrete patio stones to create each of the 2 ft. wide walkways. We will first have to remove the sod and prepare a level, sandy base before we lay the stones, which weigh about 22 lbs apiece.

If you can help, please contact me by e-mail or phone (they are listed at the right side of the page). We will also need a couple of wheelbarrows and rakes. I will have the materials delivered in advance, so we will only have to move them from from the nearby drop-off point to their final positions.

Proposed Amendment to Central Park PUD

The Shelby Twp. Planning Commission will hold a study meeting on Sept. 10, 2008 regarding a request by the Lombardo Homes to revise the building elevations for the proposed detached units to be built on Manors at Central Park Lots 1-15, which are located on Central Park North between East and West Broadway [map].

The site plan documents that were approved for the Central Park Planned Unit Development (PUD) contain building elevations showing that these lots are to be developed with detached ranch type units with elevations identical to those that have already been built on Manors Lots 16-32 [map].

A request by Lombardo Homes to amend the PUD to permit the construction of detached two-story condo units on Lots 1-15 was tabled by the Planning Commission on Feb. 27, 2008. You can read the approved minutes of that meeting on this web page. Since the request was tabled, the petitioner has the right to come back before the Planning Commission and try again to get a decision from them.

The first step in the process is a "study meeting" at which the petitioner describes their proposed amendment and the Planning Commission has the opportunity to ask questions and discuss the proposal, however they cannot make any decisions at this type of a meeting.

Following the study meeting, a public hearing meeting will be scheduled for a later date at which there will be a formal presentation by the petitioner followed by public comment. The Planning Commission will then close the public hearing and discuss the proposal and then make a decision.

Representatives from each of the four Associations in Central Park have been invited to attend the Sept. 10th study meeting. I will attend as the representative of the Manors at Central Park Condo Association. Following the study meeting, I will post a message here to let everyone know how the discussion went between the petitioner and the Planning Commissioners. I will also let you know as soon as a date is set for the public hearing so that we can get a solid turn-out like we had on Feb 27th.

UPDATE - Sept. 10th:

I received an advance copy of the materials submitted by the petitioner and I have scanned and uploaded them to this web page so you can see what the petitioner is planning to present at the Sept. 10th Study Meeting.

UPDATE - Sept. 12th:

The petitioner's Sept. 10th proposal was very similar to what was presented back on Feb. 27th, except for the inclusion of a roof height comparison drawing and several more proposed two-story model elevations, for a new total of (10). Send me an e-mail and I will respond with further details about the Sept. 10th meeting.

Back to Once-a-day Watering

The hot dry spell that started back in the third week of July has finally broken and we are seeing cooler and wetter weather. Therefore, as of Saturday, Sept. 6th, the lawn sprinkler controllers have been reset to water once a day during the early morning hours.

According to my rain gauge, here are the recent monthly rainfall totals for the Manors at Central Park:
May - 3.1 inches
June - 4.6 inches
July - 3.7 inches
Aug - 2.8 inches

Just like the Detroit Lions...

.... our sprinkler system zones are going on "two-a-day" sessions!

Adding 20% more time hasn't produced the desired effect, so starting Tuesday, July 29th, each sprinkler zone will run twice a day, six days a week until the weather cools off.

I have reset the Seasonal Adjustment back to 100% and added a second start time that is exactly 12 hours after the first. Each of the controllers start sometime between 12:15 and 3:30 AM/PM and finish up between 6:00 and 8:45 AM/PM. Specific start and finish times for each controller can be found by going here.

Additional landscape watering

I have recently increased by 20% the length of "on" time for each sprinkler system zone so that our lawns will stay healthy during the toughest part of the summer. Except for Controller No. 2, the start time for the first zone on each controller remains the same, but the succeeding zones will start and finish later than the times shown on the published lists that can be found here.

I will continue to monitor our landscaping watering needs and I will scale back the water usage when appropriate.

Disappearing flowers & plants

Residents on Regent and Lexington South have reported that during the first two weeks of this month, someone has been stealing flowers and plants from the mulched areas in front of their units. Some of these were neatly uprooted from the ground and others were in growing in planters, which the thief or thieves also took. These were all taken under the cover of darkness over four different nights. Please keep an eye out for suspicious activity on our streets after dark.

As a result of this, some co-owners have indicated that they wish to replace the exterior light fixture by their front door with one that includes a motion detector. Since these fixtures are common elements, an Alteration/Modification Request must be made out and the new fixture must look similar to the existing one that is used throughout our development. Once I find some comparable fixtures with motion detectors and where they can be bought, I will post the information here. I already know of four co-owners who wish to purchase a motion detecting light fixture and I will be writing up a single Alt/Mod Request to cover them and anyone else who would like to go this route.

UPDATE: Exterior lantern-type lamp fixtures with built-in motion detectors that are comparable to our existing type of fixture can be found at Lowes and Home Depot. I also stopped at the Ray Lighting Center on Hall Road and the House of Lights across from us on Van Dyke and could not find anything comparable.

Lowes carries the Portfolio Wall Lantern, Motion-Activated, Item # 253841. The motion sensor is mounted at the end of the support arm under the fixture and it has independent right and left sensitivity adjustments. It sells for $48.98.

Home Depot sells the Hampton Bay Motion Sensor Exterior Lantern, # 248 593 for $39.97. Its motion sensor is located on the wall plate and it features 2-level accent lighting. When this feature is enabled, the light bulb burns with a reduced intensity that increases to normal when motion is detected. The reduced intensity accent lighting can be controlled to burn for various lengths of time after dusk. If you choose not to enable the accent lighting feature, it operates like a regular motion-activated fixture and the light bulb burns at its regular wattage.

Both fixtures have a maximum bulb rating of 100 watts and the sensor on the Hampton Bay model is advertised as having about a 30 foot range.

However, several resident's experience with both models shows that when installed and set at the maximum sensitivity adjustment, the sensors detected motion only in the 4 to 6 foot range. This is probably due to the narrowness of the front porch and the "tunnel effect" created by the front bedroom and garage exterior walls.

A single Alt/Mod Request was submitted on behalf of (10) co-owners and it has since been approved. All ten co-owners should have received a copy of it in the mail by now.

No pain at this pump!

Our new irrigation well is now operational and pumping water nightly to the sprinkler zones on the berm along the west side of our property. The well is located at the base of the berm near the corner of Lexington North and Regent Streets. The Board plans to enclose the well equipment with a screen of arbor vitae evergreens so that it cannot be seen from the neighboring units or the street.

Previously these zones along the berm used municipal water but since our water and sewer bills were our largest single budget expense in 2007, the Board decided to invest in the well because it will immediately reduce our operating costs and it has an attractive payback period.

The well water has a high iron content that can cause staining on buildings and sidewalks, therefore we do not intend to use it for watering any landscaping other than on the berm.

Landscaping

Last week United wrapped up a week's work of work on our landscaping to bring it back into a neatly manicured condition. Beds were edged and new mulch was applied throughout the property. A half-dozen dead trees were removed and replaced, along with more than 20 shrubs. Also, numerous bare and low spots in the lawns were filled-in with topsoil and seeded. While it isn't totally perfect, we are getting closer to the ideal and more work will be scheduled for this fall.

To enable the new grass seed to germinate and the new shrubs to thrive, I've added a 5 minute additional mid-day sprinkler cycle. However, the new shrubs and trees probably need an occasional deep watering that the sprinkler system cannot provide without drowning the other landscaping. Therefore, it would be greatly appreciated if you can take the new shrubs and trees that were planted near your unit "under your wing" for the next couple of weeks and give them an occasional long drink from your hose.

Our On-site Contractors

The following contractors are paid by the Association to perform various services for us and you can expect to see their trucks being regularly driven and parked on our streets:

• Allied Waste Services - collects refuse and recyclables using separate trucks every Tuesday
• Eradico Services - outdoor pest control, responds to service calls submitted to Kramer-Triad
• H2O Irrigation - sprinkler system maintenance, responds to service calls submitted to Kramer-Triad
• United Lawnscape - a work crew mows and edges the lawn every Monday from April to October, plus additional work as required.
  

Other commercial vehicles you can expect to see on our streets include UPS and Fedex delivery trucks (which should be stopping at occupied units) and those belonging to the builder's various contractors (which should be stopping at units that are under construction).

Please be observant for vehicles that appear to be cruising through our streets without a legitimate business purpose. They could be looking to illegally dump refuse on a vacant lot or into one of our contractor's rented dumpsters. Also, many local subdivisions have had their sprinkler system water meters and shut-off valves stolen from the meter boxes so they could be sold for scrap. Only H2O Irrigation Inc. and Trost Irrigation Inc. are authorized to open our beige meter boxes while working on our system.

If you see any suspicious activity, please try to get a description of the vehicle (and its license plate number if possible) and contact the appropriate authorities.