Power outage

Wednesday night at about 10:05 PM, an electrical power failure affected all of the units on Watling as well as those on the west side of Lexington East and the east side of Regent.   All of the other units in the Manors had uninterrupted service.  When I called to report our outage, I was given an automated estimate that the power would be restored by sometime between 2 and 4 AM Thursday morning.

Three DTE trucks arrived at around 11:00 PM and a few minutes later I walked down to where they were parked on Lexington West near Lexington South and spoke to one of the workers. He said they were aware of the isolated outage within the Manors and mentioned that there were also a group of homes without power in the Meadows sub to our south.

Power to the affected units in the Manors was restored at 2:38 AM.

Here is a link to DTE's Outage Center, from which you can use your computer or smart phone to report an outage on-line and also view an interactive map of reported outages.  Electrical power outages and downed lines can also be reported by calling (800) 477-4747.

Crosswalk Striping

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!

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.

 

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.

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.

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.

How to guarantee Board of Director turnover

How to guarantee Board of Director turnover:

• 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.

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.

Water Line Protection Program mailing

You may have recently received this mail offer from American Water Resources of Michigan.  They sell insurance for $5 per month that will cover up to $5,000 in water line repairs.

The Manors Board of Directors strongly urges you to ignore this offer.  Your Condo Association owns the water line between the Shelby Twp. water main and your unit, not you.   Therefore, if this water line needs to be repaired, the cost will be paid for by the Association using funds from the general budget.

UPDATE, Aug. 16, 2012

Earlier today I received the following e-mail from American Water Resounces:

From: Chelsea Mcfadden
Subject: AWR Mailing to Manor's Homeowners
To: Mike Grobbel
Date: Thursday, August 16, 2012, 9:34 AM

Good morning, Mike,

I came across your Condo Association blog this morning regarding our recent mailing. Is it possible for you to give me an idea of the addresses included in your association so that we do not mail your homeowners in the future and avoid any confusion for service line ownership?

Thanks in advance,

Chelsea McFadden
Assistant Marketing Manager
American Water Resources, Inc.
330 Fellowship Road, Mount Laurel, NJ 08054

I replied with a list of the street names and addresses within the Manors at Central Park and within minutes I received the following reply:

Thanks, Mike.

This is very helpful! Sorry for any confusion our mailing may have caused this month. We will be sure to remove these addresses moving forward.

Chelsea McFadden

95 gal. green recycling carts

I believe that yesterday everyone in the Manors received a new, 95 gal. green recycling cart.  Note that this cart is not to be used for trash, only recyclables (a list of accepted items for recycling can be found here).

I spoke with a customer service rep at Rizzo this morning and here is what Manors residents need to know.

• Even though we are a multi-family sub and the Association pays the bill quarterly for all the addresses, all residents at our individual addresses qualify to receive a 95 gal. green recycling cart.  If you did not receive a cart and want one, call Rizzo Customer Care at 1-866-772-8900.
• if a resident at one of our addresses doesn't want to make room in their garage and use the 95 gal. recycling cart, they may call Rizzo Customer Care at 1-866-772-8900 and ask to have it picked up.  Rizzo will still allow them to use the 18 gal. blue bins for their recyclables.
• even though individual residents do not have a billing account with Rizzo, their street address is on-line at www.rizzorewards.com and they may register at that web site to become eligible for recycling incentives.  Once they have activated their rewards account, a RFID chip embedded in their cart will cause their account to be updated with the date each time the Rizzo truck empties their cart.  This incentive program rewards consistent and frequent recycling efforts with ongoing access to local offers of value.
• The Board asks that all trash and recycling containers be stored inside your garage except on collection day (exceptions made during the next week or two if you are returning the cart and leaving it outside your garage for Rizzo to retrieve)  

From more information, click here to visit the Shelby Twp. Waste Service web site.

Notice of road closures

Last Updated on Aug. 3rd:

The seal coating portion of this project is now complete.  The only remaining work to be performed is the striping of the pedestrian crosswalks, which will not require any street closures or parking inconveniences.   Thank you for your cooperation.

 The Central Park Master Association is having a seal coat applied to the asphalt road surfaces of North, East, South and West Central Park Avenues during the week of July 16, 2012.  Sections of these roads and intersections will be closed while the work is performed. This work does not include the Manors private access drives that are parallel with North Central Park. On certain days the Van Dyke entrance to Central Park will be closed and on other days, the 22 Mile Rd. entrance will be closed. It will take six Work Days to complete this project.

Here is the full project plan along with an updated map, scheduled Work Days and locations of the road closures. A hard copy of the original plan was delivered to each home prior to Monday, July 16th.

If rain is forecast, the contractor will cancel that Work Day and move it to the next scheduled date, with the remaining schedule delayed accordingly. Below is the latest  Work Day schedule, which was revised to add Work Day 6 (to do the northerly portion of what had been planned for Work Day 2).  Check back here regularly to see the latest schedule.

• Work Day 1 was completed on Monday, July 16, 2012.
• Work Day 2 was completed on Friday, July 20th
• Work Day 3 was completed on Wednesday, July 25th
• Work Day 4 was completed on  Monday, July 30th - everyone must enter and leave via Van Dyke
• No seal coat work planned for Tuesday to avoid interference with the trash collection. 
• Work Day 5  was completed on  Wednesday, August 1st - everyone must enter and leave via 22 Mile Rd.
• Work Day 6  was completed on  Thursday, August 2nd.

This seal coating project is separate from the Manors asphalt paving project, which is being funded by the Special Assessment that was approved in April.  The Manors paving project will not begin until the Board knows that we will be able to pay the project invoice, which is due 30 days after the paving is complete. Since about half of the Special Assessment money will have been received as of Aug. 1st,  the paving will probably begin around Sept. 1st and the Board will pay the invoice by borrowing the remainder from our replacement reserve account.  The Board will repay the "loan" as the October and November Special Assessment payments are received.

A dry June

According to the National Weather Service, 1.31 inches of rain fell at Metro Airport during the month of June 2012, compared to the normal average of 3.52 inches.

Here at the Manors, my rain gauge collected only 1.05 inches of rain during June, which is 2.5 inches below normal for the month. [UPDATE: we received 3.8 inches of rain on Tuesday, July 3rd]

Daily rainfall here at the Manors - May & June 2012

Since the sprinkler system was made operational six weeks ago on May 18th, we have only received a total of 1.25 inches of rain. Basically, it is our sprinkler system that is keeping our lawns green and preventing them from going totally dormant.

I read each of our water meters yesterday and again today.  Using the Township's billing rate of $3.431 per hundred cubic feet of water,  it cost us $397 to water all of the lawns last night.

According to the experts, proper turf management involves watering the lawn with 1" of water per week. This water can come from either rainfall or the sprinkler system.  However a lawn could need more, depending on factors such as soil type, sun exposure, large tree root systems, etc.  For example, a lawn in sandy soil such as ours may need as much as 2" of water per week, whereas a lawn area that is in shade for most of the day may only need one-half inch of water per week.

Since the beginning of June, I have been running the sprinkler system zones at 120% of their normal programmed times ($331 per night) and on June 28th I increased it to 140% ($397 per night).  That means that a typical front yard zone that is normally set to run for 20 minutes will run for 24 minutes at 120% and for 28 minutes at 140%.  At 100%, the lawn in that front yard zone would receive about 0.2 inch of water each night, or about 1.4 inches per week, while at 140%, it is receiving about 2.0 inches per week.

Because of the design of the irrigation system, a rear yard zone that runs for 20 minutes will only deliver about about 0.13 inches of water and in some areas it is even less.  Where we have rear yard sprinkler head on the same zone with heads in the front or side yard, I have to set the timer to avoid over-watering the front or side yard, even if it means dry spots will develop in the rear yard.   Where a zone consists of all rear yard sprinkler heads, I set it to run for 30 or 40 minutes at 100%, depending on whether it includes half-circle or full-circle rotary heads. Actually, they should be set to run for about 40 and 65 minutes at 100% to receive the same amount of water as a front yard zone, however with only $37,500  available to spend in our budget for water this year, I have to manage our water usage judiciously.

This year's budget line item for water was set based upon the average amount we have spent on water over the past four years, plus 9% to accommodate the rate increase that went into effect on Jan. 1, 2012.  From May 18th through June 30th, I calculate that we have used $14,573 worth of water and we still have two-thirds of the season to go.  If the hot and dry weather continues for the rest of the summer and we continue at this rate of water usage, we will exhaust our budget line item amount for water sometime just before Sept. 1st.