I wish it would rain!

"I Wish it Would Rain!" was a 1967 hit by Detroit's Temptations and I've been humming that melody a lot lately.

Because of the abnormally dry spring, this year we had to start watering the lawns on April 20th, which was a full month earlier than 2009. Since then, we have received 9.3 inches of rainfall in my backyard rain gauge, 60% of which fell over four separate dates: May 2, 11, 13 and June 5 (click on the chart above for a better view of all of the rainfall I've measured from April 20th through July 3rd).

Lately, the rainstorms seem to pass either to our north or south, leaving us with hardly enough rain to skip a watering cycle. The National Weather Service records at their Detroit Metro Airport location show an official rainfall total over that period of 11.6 inches, 2.3 inches more than we've received here in Shelby Township.

Because of the early start this spring and Shelby Township's recent 9% increase in water rates, I've been closely regulating our watering frequency and lengths to keep us within budget. As of July 2nd, I have increased the watering duration by 20% on all zones to get us through the current and forecasted hot and dry spell. I also moved the starting times earlier so that the last zones will finish by 6:00 AM, which is when the water pressure begins to drop.

I am hoping to avoid adding a second watering cycle for as long as I can, particularly since the Township has asked everyone to voluntarily avoid watering their lawns between the hours of 6:00 AM and 9:00 PM. UPDATE: second watering cycle was added July 5th (read this post for more information).

Why don't they just park on the lawn?

It's even closer to the front door - and then maybe the rest of us could use our sidewalks for their intended purpose!

Seriously, now that parking is only permitted on one side of the street, there is no reason for anyone to park with their tires on the sidewalk. Courtesy violation notices have been routinely ignored, so from now on "sidewalk parkers" will receive a formal violation notice, with fines assessed for subsequent violations.


And what's up with all the parking on the empty lots? The Bylaws clearly state that co-owners have exclusive use of their garage and driveway for parking their vehicles. That provides four parking spaces per unit. The Bylaws further state that "each co-owner shall park his vehicle in the garage.... provided therefore" and that "at no time shall a parked vehicle be located on any sidewalk, landscaped area or empty lot". We have plenty of on-street parking available for the use of co-owners and their guests, so "field parkers" can also expect to receive a formal violation notice.

Maple Tree Infestation

Some of the silver maples along the walkway behind the units on Lexington East have leaves that are covered with red bumps. These bumps are called "galls" and are caused by the Maple Bladder Gall Mite. More information about the mites and the galls they produce can be read here and here, but the bottom line is that this is a cosmetic problem and they are highly unlikely to harm the trees. Therefore, I do not plan to spend any budget money or take any actions to control them.

Exterior Painting

Our exterior painting contractor began work this past Monday. Their first step is to identify, remove and replace all deteriorated wooden trim. These trim pieces have been marked with an orange paint stripe and they will be returning to remove them and install new trim pieces, which will then be painted with a primer before work begins on repainting the exterior of the affected units.

Removal and replacement of the deteriorated trim is a noisy task. Please bear with us while this vital work is performed.

The first 46 Units on this list will be painted this summer. The contractor will decide the actual order in which they will be completed. The contractor will return next year to work on the 47th through 105th Units on that list.

Additional Assessment

The Additional Assessment for exterior painting that I mentioned in the April 2010 Newsletter was approved this past week by the Board of Directors of the Manors at Central Park Condo Association. Co-owners of Units 16 and higher will soon receive a letter from our Managing Agent (Associa Kramer-Triad) with full details on how to make your payment.

The exterior painting contract was awarded to U&S Painting, which plans to begin work during the second half of May. They will be painting 46 units this year and the remainder during 2011. The initial 46 units were all originally painted during 2004, while the remainder were painted in 2005, 2006 and 2007. Click here to view a web page that lists all units in the order that they were initially painted.

The Additional Assessment also provides funding for the application of landscaping mulch throughout the condominium common element areas. The contractor plans to do this work within the next seven to ten days.

Development News

• Aside from the single detached condos being built along Central Park North, there are only two remaining finished condos that have not yet closed and both have binding sales contracts. Unit 33 on Lexington West is scheduled to close on April 26th and Unit 103 on Watling is scheduled to become the 106th closed unit sometime in May. Once all of the 14 single detached condos on Central Park North are built and sold, the Association will have a total of 119 units. The developer does not plan to build any of the remaining 47 units until the market for duplex condos improves.
• The 22 Mile Road rezoning that I posted about on Feb. 22nd is nearing final approval. The rezoning and special land use request for a skilled nursing care facility has received a recommendation for approval from the Shelby Twp. Planning Commission. The Shelby Twp. Board of Trustees will hold a Public Hearing and make a final decision on the request at their May 4, 2010 meeting. More information can be found on this web page (scroll down to the bottom of the page for the latest news). This subject is also being discussed on the Central Park Master Association Group page on Facebook.
  
• Lombardo Homes is planning to ask Shelby Twp. officials for permission to build single-family homes instead of clustered condos on the Kensington Phase 2 parcel that is located south of Central Park North and east of Central Park East. Greg Windingland of Lombardo Homes explained their plans to the Central Park Master Association Board of Directors at their April 5th meeting. At the Board's suggestion, Lombardo will hold an informational meeting on May 11, 2010 to present their plans to all Central Park residents prior to any public hearings. I have prepared this web page that explains the information Greg presented on April 5th and the concerns that the Board shared with him. The web page also contains the location and time of the May 11th informational meeting. This subject is also being discussed on the Central Park Master Association Group page on Facebook.

Sprinkler system activated

LBI Irrigation installed our water meters and activated the sprinkler system on April 20th. I immediately began a daily watering schedule because of the dry spell we've had, plus the fertilizer and pre-emergent crabgrass treatment that we received on April 15th needed to be watered into the turf. The zones along Central Park North and Lexington South did not become operational until this morning because of a stuck valve that could not be repaired until yesterday.

Central Park Sub Garage Sale

This year, the Manors at Central Park will join the other Central Park associations in holding a Subdivision Garage Sale on May 13-15, 2010 from 9:00 AM until 4:00 PM daily. The Central Park associations will place signs each day at the Van Dyke and 22 Mile Road entrances, plus they will run a newspaper ad in the local paper. "Backyard Party Rental" is offering Central Park residents a Garage Sale Equipment Discount Package: rent Eight Foot Tables for $5 each (cash only, delivery and pick up included). The owner lives in Central Park and having rented from them prior to moving here, I can highly recommend his company.

More information on the garage sale and the table rental offer can be found here, including a garage sale pricing guide.

This will be the only time this year that garage sales will be permitted in the Manors at Central Park.

Traffic Study Request

The Central Park Master Association recently contacted Glenn Wynn, the Shelby Twp. Planning Director, to enlist his aid in requesting that a traffic study be performed at the two entrances to the Central Park community.

Click on the image at left to read the letter he received back from the Macomb County Road Commission confirming that they will be undertaking a traffic study to determine if traffic signals are warranted at the 22 Mile Rd. and/or Van Dyke entrances to Central Park.

Verification of need is only the first step in the process. If traffic signals can be justified by the traffic study counts, then their purchase and installation must be funded in a future budget before the project can proceed.

2010 Annual Meeting - Central Park Master Association

The 2010 Annual Meeting of the Central Park Master Association will be held Wednesday evening, April 7, 2010 in the Board Room at the Shelby Twp. Municipal Building, which is located at 24 Mile Rd. and Van Dyke.

Sign-in starts at 6:00 PM and the meeting itself will begin at 7:00 PM. It is important that we reach a quorum so that we can conduct the election of 2 co-owners to the Master Association Board of Directors.

The Central Park Master Association is responsible for maintaining the common areas owned and used by all four subassociations in Central Park (the Manors, Kensington, Gardens and Meadows). All co-owners of the Manors are also members of the Central Park Master Association and are entitled to attend and participate in the Annual Meeting.

Last year's meeting was our first one and we elected a full slate of four members to the Board of Directors, one from each of the four Central Park sub-associations. They are:

Mike Grobbel, Manors (2-year term)
Ted McCoy, Kensington (2-year term)
Brian Pesola, Gardens (1-year term)
Mike Malone, Meadows (1-year term)

The two highest vote-getters received the 2-year terms (which is the normal length) and the other two received a 1-year term. The bylaws state that except for the first annual meeting, two Board members are elected to a 2-year term at every annual meeting. Therefore, at this and all future Annual Meetings, the election results will never cause a turnover of more than half of the Board.

Since the Board members representing the Gardens and Meadows subassociations received the 1-year terms, the nominations and elections on April 7th are for those two positions only. They may be only nominated by members of their own subassociation (which is why only the Gardens and Meadows are mentioned on the Nominating Ballot), but all members of the Master Association may vote to select the person to represent each subassociation.

The bylaws permit Board members to run for re-election and I strongly endorse the nomination and re-election of Brian and Mike.

Nominating Ballots will be collected during the meeting, after which the two elections will take place.

We must have a 35% quorum of Master Association members either in attendance or represented by General Proxy so that we can legally conduct this meeting and election. If you are unable to attend (or not sure whether you will be able to attend) please read the Annual Meeting notice letter and then fill out the General Proxy form that were delivered to the front doors of Manors units on March 10th (co-owners of leased units should have received their packet in the mail from Kramer-Triad). If you have misplaced your Annual Meeting notice letter and General Proxy form, an electronic version is available here.

You have several choices for filling out the General Proxy form and having it voted for you.

a) write "Board of Directors" if you want the current Board to cast your vote on your behalf. Mail or Fax your Proxy per the instructions on the form, or you can give it to me or a neighbor to bring to the meeting.

b) write in the name of a neighbor who is the designated voting representative for their condo unit and who will be attending the meeting. They will be allowed to receive your blank ballot and cast your vote for you. You may instruct them in advance how you wish to vote or give them permission to cast your votes for whomever they want.

Make sure you sign and date the General Proxy when you complete the form. Call me (Mike Grobbel) at 726-0317 if you have any questions or wish me to stop by and pick up your completed General Proxy. If you submit a completed General Proxy and later decide to attend the meeting, your General Proxy will be given back to you at the meeting and you will be able to vote in person.

On a related note, the Central Park Master Association now has its own Facebook Group. If you are a Facebook member, login to Facebook and then click here to view and join the Group. If you are not a Facebook member, it's free and all you have to do is click here to sign up and join.

Rezoning Request

A rezoning request has been submitted to the Shelby Township Planning Department that would affect an 8.44 acre parcel that is located on the north side of 22 Mile Rd. adjacent to the southeast portion of the Gardens subdivision in the Central Park community.

The petitioner is proposing to have the zoning on this parcel changed from "Industrial" to "Multiple Family". Click here to learn more about this proposed rezoning and the 120 bed skilled nursing facility that the petitioner intends to build there if they receive the rezoning approval.

Board Members of the Gardens and Central Park Master Associations met with the petitioner's representatives on Feb. 17, 2010. The Board Members are supportive of this proposed rezoning, which would restrict development on this parcel to the less intense multiple family residential land use.

2010 Annual Meeting of Manors Co-owners

The 2010 Annual Meeting of the co-owners of the Manors at Central Park was held on Wednesday night, Jan. 20, 2010.

A quorum of co-owners were in attendance for this meeting, of which the main order of business was to elect one co-owner to the Board of Directors of the Manors at Central Park Condominium Association.

Michael Grobbel was the only co-owner who was nominated for the position and he was unanimously re-elected for a one-year term.

The "unapproved" meeting minutes can be read here.

During the meeting, I mentioned that the Board will be soliciting quotes from multiple painting companies as the first step towards initiating an exterior repainting program. I explained that building exteriors typically need to be caulked and repainted every five or six years to keep up the appearance and avoid deterioration and that if the Board did not take action soon, we would be risking even higher costs down the road. We have 46 units that were initially painted during 2004 and this will be the sixth year of exposure to the elements for those paint jobs. 48 more units were initially painted during 2005 and 2006 and there are another 11 that were first painted in 2007. Here is a list of all units arranged in their approximate construction order.

The consensus of the co-owners in attendance was that they felt we should not delay the start of the repainting program beyond 2010. Rather than increase the monthly association fee and fund the repainting out of the operating budget, I explained that the Board would prefer to levy a Special Assessment to pay for this work. More information will be forthcoming once we have competitive bids in hand and have a realistic estimate of the cost.

At the meeting I also mentioned that myself and several other co-owners recently had cellulose insulation blown into our attics to bring them up to R-49. I have received my first gas bill and after comparing it with a neighbor's bill, I've calculated that my gas consumption has been reduced by about 20%. We received estimates from three different suppliers and went with Ace & Sons Insulation.