Huntersville Happenings: January and February 2016

The median is being cleared for more lanes on Interstate 77.

Lane Closures happen at night mostly.

Car accident off McCoy Road.

The bushes are growing so big off Sam Furr Road that they are getting the "right of way" for sidewalk use.  Sorry pedestrians!  I highlighted this street block back in May 2015 on this blog. Trust me it could be worse.

A backpack a few blocks down from an Elementary School.  

"Hmmm.  But not my business though."

Okay, this is Cornelius, NC (versus Huntersville, NC) - 

nonetheless, this envelope was either very thin or very light or BOTH!

I was really on a roll . . .  I don't know what the next two months will bring as far as interesting sightings, but we shall see!

2015 Charlotte and Huntersville Elections

On September 11, 2015, when this campaign ad appeared on my vehicle's dashboard for "Clodfelter for Mayor," my first thought was marketing has come a long way.  My second thought was why is this ad being run on a predominantly Black radio channel for Soul and Rhythm and Blues music?

I believe, the mayoral results ended up with a run-off election between Clodfelter and Jennifer Roberts. Jennifer Robers won the run-off election.

Meanwhile, as I write this article on Election Day, I hope that the citizens of Huntersville, NC vote against increasing the commissioners terms from two to four years.  Apparently, the politicians have gotten too comfortable in their positions and want to save campaign monies every two years. 

I am looking to see a bigger push for HOA laws.  I am also looking for this tree to get trimmed off of the sidewalk. 

Interstate 77 and Exit 25

 I see some deficiencies in leadership.  While no one is perfect, getting too comfortable in office is not a safe thing for the citizens of Huntersville, NC.

Rosedale Meeting Street Board agreed to ask non-members to Join

According to the August 2015 Board meeting minutes of the Rosedale Meeting Street Homes Board of Directors, three directors agreed to ask "renters" to join the Board.  Translation:  Allow non-members to control other members' monies.  I was appalled as the mere suggestion of this.

Is it legal? Yes, the Bylaws allow for this situation because the original Builder(s) needed to be able to have control of the Association without actually owning a unit within the subdivision.  Logically, once the majority of the units in the subdivision actually had ownership/members,  the members of the subdivision should control their own monies as an Association.

So to ask "renters" or non-members to control our Association's monies seemed insane.  The Board President Jamie Darche Warren explained in the Annual meeting that she meant "no harm" but with five members running for three vacancies, why were renters even considered?  Actually, one other member also considered running.  So we would have had six members running for three vacancies.  With two of the three Board members planning for re-election, there was only one Board vacancy in question.  Now, if any member of our Association had any question about whether or not I as a member was interested in working on our Board, then they would had to be totally distanced from the Association as a whole. So essentially, there were NEVER any deficit in members wanting to work on the Board. Why even consider renters to join the Board?????

On a separate note, the winners of the election all had absentee proxies counted with their names on them.  No names were mentioned when the Annual meeting notices were mailed out so outside of existing Board members running for re-election, the six absentee proxy voters had no inclination that they had other members to choose from except those soliciting for votes outside of the meeting.

So the election was slanted before it even began.  The absentee proxies are legal, and since the people running actually was present for the election, I will not complain.  The only reason that I am even addressing this matter is because I believe in "out of sight means out of mind."  Where there is smoke, then there is often times "fire."  

I do not trust our Board President, and I look forward to Board meeting minutes every other month.  As one of the only minorities present at the Annual meeting, I appreciate many of my neighbors making me feel welcomed.  It was much appreciated.  I was disappointed that we did not see a lot of change in leadership, but I am hopeful that the little change that did happen will make a difference in the year to come. 

Deer and Rabbit: Neighbors of Huntersville, NC

This "deer" family of six are native to the Huntersville Business Park.  They are accustom to people, and the pedestrians and cyclists are comfortable with them.

I was not sure what this animal was upon initial view. 

Then I realized that we have a "rabbit" in Rosedale/Huntersville.

These fuzzy neighbors are heartwarming and in the town of Huntersville.

Huntersville's Street Corner Surgery

Jackhammer noise and yellow tape sightings have been familiar over the last week in the Rosedale and Market Square Shopping Center area.  The street corners are being brought up to code for the disabled.

The end results of the "street corner surgeries" is pictured above.

The downside is that these shopping centers are so close to residential neighborhoods that the jack hammer running at 2 a.m. is quite disturbing to the neighborhood.  I am uncertain of the Huntersville, NC noise ordinances, but I can assure you that if there are some in place, then they have been broken for the last week or so.

This corner was dissected between 2 am and 4 am in the morning.

This sidewalk stayed like this for about a week.

Then finally, it was fixed around 6am in the morning.

Huntersville: Another Possible Water Main Break

 I noticed running water in the Huntersville Business Park on Sunday as I was getting some exercise.  At first, I thought it was a broken sprinkler, but then upon a closer look, I felt like this was a water main break.

I made a service call to the "Water Leaks" department to generate a work order.  I had to report a different water main break a month or two ago for the Rosedale Shopping Center.

I did not follow up to get status, but I am in hopes that this running water is fixed sooner rather than later.  Someone is got to pay for water being wasted.

Will Housing Projects Lead to Heavier Traffic in Huntersville?

 Under construction: Holly Crest Luxury Apartments - one entrance.

Huntersville, NC currently has two exits off Interstate 77.  Exits 23 and 25 have become increasingly gridlock within the last year without any more new apartment homes.

 Holly Crest Luxury Apartments - another entrance off Exit 25.

 Meanwhile behind Earthfare grocery store and Forrestal Academy at Exit 23, there looks like more apartment homes being built.

Another view of construction at exit 23.

Can Huntersville, NC roads handle any more vehicles than it is doing now?  If there is an accident on Interstate 77, then the normal gridlock becomes a parking lot in Huntersville, NC as it stands now.  When these apartments were approved, I wonder if the road usage and traffic flow was considered?

May 22, 2015 at @3:01 pm, Exit 23 Gilead Road, Huntersville, NC

Friday of Memorial Day Weekend, traffic started early.

In addition, the remainder of the Interstate 485 loop is scheduled to open in June 2015. Will this relieve some traffic congestion or add to it?  I am excited about the loop opening to get to Concord Mills in a straight line.

NCDOT Lawn Maintenance in Huntersville, NC

This is an active city bus stop on Sam Furr Road near Interstate 77 across from the Whole Foods store in Huntersville, NC.  I personally emailed and left a voicemail to the Town of Huntersville, NC on Monday, May 11, 2015 requesting that this high grass is cut as soon as possible.

Thank you C.A.T.S.!!!! 

The Transit service actual cut some of the grass around the actual bus stop sign. 

Thank you pedestrians!!!  

Actual human foot traffic down from the sidewalk has formed a path through the high grass to get to the bus stop sign.

 The town of Huntersville says that NC DOT maintains this stretch of road.  So when is NC DOT (Department of Transportation) going to finish mowing the lawn????  It's been five days since I submitted a formal maintenance request, and the grass still has not been cut.

This picture references the bus stop in the distance to the left, and the Bob Evans sign in the distance to the right.  The grass surrounding the bus stop area is approaching 3 feet tall. Clearly, it has not been mowed in over a month.

 The grass down from the BB&T bank is being mowed, but can pedestrians get the right a way on the sidewalk again?  This bush has taken over the sidewalk.  Pedestrians can not walk through the bush, and the bush is not mobile.  Any thoughts? Can we get the bush cut to free up the sidewalk along with the getting the grass cut?

 Pictured is the same bus stop on Sam Furr Road from a top view.  Can someone on the city or state payroll please cut the grass?  It is going on one week since I have complained, and I was told that the NC DOT was forwarded the maintenance request.  How long is it going to take to get this past due lawn maintenance request completed?

Pictured is the other side of that overgrown bush along with the high grass off Sam Furr Road and Interstate 77.  Some parts of this sidewalk is also collapsing.  Can we get the sidewalk repaired too?

LET US SEE HOW SOON WE CAN GET 

the Grass Mowed in Huntersville, NC . . .  

so far, we are on week #2!

18April2015: My Three 911 calls to the HPD

On this past week, our Association's Board President had "rattled my chains" so much that I felt like I was "Papa Pope" on the "Scandal" Television Series.  I was "the hell and the high water" that was going to bring some justice to our neighborhood.  So I printed up my articles documenting all the drama that has been associated with our Board President over the years, and then I called 911 on Saturday, April 18, 2015.

My call was dispatched to Huntersville Police Department (HPD).  Officer Urps called me from a restricted number. I answered.  As everyone who has been following my blog over the year(s) know that to sum up my anger and anxiety that I was feeling in two sentences over the telephone, was darn near impossible.  I tried to tackle all the different incidents that I have endured regarding community politics, and Officer Urps says "it sounds like a mess."  Well, that was why I was calling the police because I was tired of the "Mess."  The management company, the community, and now, the remainder of the Board members seem to be ALL TIRED of the "Mess."  Officer Urps suggested civil court/small claims court to hit the defendant(s) in the "pocket."  He stated that I did not have a criminal case even though I felt harassed.

He also informed me that the judges do not want to hear anything about "race" being a factor in all of this drama.  Although, I believe inmates are always tracked by race, gender, height, age, etc. just as a side note that I am injecting here.  Back to the conversation at hand, he said that the judges can determine if racism is a  factor in a case.  We mutually ended the telephone call with the next step for me to file a civil suit.

As I began processing the whole civil suit route, I began questioning myself "where are the damages?"  I have sued defendants before in Small Claims Court for breach of contract in order to get a refund, but this HOA drama is not attached to a "bill of sale."  There are always punitive damages and emotional distress, but based on past research, those type of damages are difficult to put a cash value on. I then realized that I wanted a second opinion from another officer or at least a police report number so I called 911 again.

Officer Urps says that he recognized the name and contact information so he took my service call again.  I was hoping for someone else, but since I had him on the phone, I asked for a police report number.  This is where the phone call went "downhill."

• Officer Urps repeatedly refuses to give me a police report number after I repeated ask for a police report number.  He finally explains that the 911 call logs are how my phone calls are tracked.
• He then uses, in my opinion, a "scare tactic" with me that since I was a party in the "case" that he could come an arrest me along with them.  I told him "Come on, let's all meet up with the other neighbors and iron this situation out now."  He then backed off and said that he is not going to stand around and listen to women arguing back and forth.
• I asked him to allow me to speak to another officer.  He refuses.  He references that his word is the final word in this matter.
• He also mentions that I am wasting his cell phone minutes that he is paying good money for.
• I asked to speak with his supervisor, and he tells me to drive on over to the Huntersville Police Department which he knew was probably closed for the night anyway. It was approaching 9pm at night on a weekend.
• And he eventually just hung the phone up on me.

 At this point, I felt a little of the pain and frustration that the town of Ferguson went through during the shooting of Michael Brown.  I was angry and appalled by this officer's insensitive handling of my case.  I was not going to rest until an officer with some better manners treated me with some respect and tried to help me understand what my other options besides civil court were.

I made my third 911 call.  Finally, a supervisor called me back.  He was kind, informative, professional, and he helped me to understand NC Law, and that Officer Urps was right that my case was a civil matter.

This supervisor was able to communicate with me and made me feel like he cared about finding a viable solution to my HOA "Hall of Shame" story.  My call ended with hope.  I did ask for this supervisor's name, but regrettably, I did not write down his name accurately, but I am thankful that the Huntersville Police Department have him on staff.

Angry Black Woman Confronts Black Member in Rosedale

On Thursday, March 26, 2015 around 8pm after sundown, I had a Black woman to knock at my salon door disrupting my service with another salon patron.  I assumed that she needed a business card or wanted to know more about my salon service offerings; yet, as she began speaking she accused me of leaving a note on her car. Immediately, I was trying to figure out

• who sent her?
• who was she?
• why the urgency?
• what made her think that I left a note on her car?

Of course, I had two clients waiting, but I needed to gather enough information to figure out how much of a threat to my well-being and to my business that she was.  I gathered enough information from our conversation that I asked her to call me to discuss other community relations issues.  I gave her a business card.  I did not hear from her so on Tuesday, March 31, 2015,  I left a detailed, handwritten letter on the porch of where she said she was from.  The note described our 3/26/15  brief encounter with my full contact information as well as a petition that was sent out to the community on last year.

This Black female called the same evening and identified herself in the follow-up voicemail as Meleeka. (spelling may be wrong.)  She claimed that I left a note on her boyfriend's or husband's (Brian) car before. She continued in an angry, irate tone saying that I had a reputation in the community,  that nobody sent her to confront me, etc.   I just listened to the voicemail today, and I texted her the following:

Hello Meleeka! I just listened to your voicemail. I didn't know that I had a reputation in the community. Can you tell me who told you what when? I would like to know. Also, I don't know who your husband is. I never told your husband anything about his car.  Which car is his? So his name is Brian. Okay, thanks for letting me know.  I am totally blindsided by being harassed by you while I was working.  Which car is yours? I literally, do not know who you are. You started the harassment.  Why?  I am clueless who is spreading hatred against me. Please give me more information.  I am tired of being harassed. If I need to go to the police, then I will.  This is ridiculous!

Meleeka's reply:  
I wasn't harassing you when I tried to leave you wouldn't let me because you wanted to gossip.  Call the police you were trespassing on my property when you came on my porch and when you put the note on my car and the reason you don't remember my husband is because you've harassed so many people in the neighborhood.  You aren't on the board for Rosedale as you lied about to me. You're crazy and if you contact me again I will call the police for you stalking.

My reply:
I will save your voicemail and call the police tonight.

Meleeka's reply:
Good they can see how crazy you are.

My reply:
I will save these text messages as well. I will also report to the management company this harassment.

Meleeka's reply: 
A vm/text of me telling you to leave me alone . . .  Please get a life. Bye Felicia.

My reply:
You started it. I also sent her a link to a December 2014 HOA article.

In conclusion,

• It took me about two weeks to finally listen to Meleeka's voicemail which may mean that "I do have a life."
• I have consistently left my contact information with all correspondence that I have left for any reason. If her boyfriend/husband Brian parked in my reserved parking spaces, then I may have left a note on his vehicle versus having it towed. Any notes that I leave ALWAYS has my contact information attached.
• If a note was left on Meleeka's car without my contact information, then the note was NOT left by me.

It is a shame that this predominantly White neighborhood in Rosedale is poisoning another Black woman to harass me and attack my character without any supporting documentation.  I will continue to stand up for my rights as a member.

Black Member Speaks about Rosedale Meeting Street Homes HOA

As a long term Board member and past Board President, I needed to get my Homeowner Association story exposed to the masses.  Stories like mine are nothing new.  Homeowner Associations do NOT work.  They are not regulated enough.  They have no checks and balances. Organizations such as www.hoaowners.org have been lobbying for years about the abuses of the homeowner associations.  I hope that our law makers will read my stories and listen to my appeal for fairness and ethics as I address one of the communities in Huntersville, North Carolina US.

Board member Jamie Darche Warren seems to have no problem with holding a conversation in front of my salon nor walking back and forth in front of my salon after unseating me at our last 2014 Annual meeting using an unethical political approach.  Apparently, she still does not feel that my complaints are any concern to her.  However, I hope that the Jamie Darche Warren and her new Board will learn that "Black people do have value!"

Huntersville, NC 2014: Who Eggs Anymore?

So someone egged the side of my Huntersville, NC salon within the last month and a half.  Who? Why?  Eggs are too expensive to buy, and then waste a good egg on the side of a building?   Wow!

Huntersville, NC has been in the news lately because another Black homeowner had her Kay Hagan campaign side burned in her front yard. When the news reporter interviewed her, she mentioned that her campaign signs had been stolen from her yard before but never burned.  She has surveillance footage, but she needs the public to help identify the person.

And on a separate note regarding campaign signage:

I saw these campaign signs of two Black candidates on the ground at the library in Huntersville, NC.  It could have been the wind that caused them to fall down.  Who knows?

Race Relations in Huntersville, NC should be monitored for rising tensions.  I have felt victimized in the past.  I feel victimized now, and I will remain optimistic that community relations will get better.

I was asked recently am I considering leaving the area.  My response for now:  I prefer to deal with the "devil" that I do know versus the one that I don't know. My faith continues to stay in God's Hands.

The new Publix in Market Square Huntersville

Publix Food and Pharmacy at Market Square Huntersville, NC opened this month. (October  2014)

This new Publix store opened in the old Bi-Lo grocery store building.

The positives:  Great Hot Meal Selection, Popular submarine sandwiches, and Kellogg's granola cereal!

The negatives:  NO Indoor seating for the public, NO salad bar, and their store brand beverages are not double sealed like the neighboring Harris Teeter grocery store does.

Harris Teeter double seals their beverages.  Publix only has the white cap and no "peel" seal.

As you can tell, I plan to patronize both grocery stores for different reasons!

Breakfast for less than Four dollars!

You can get grits, Eggs, Sausage Links, Toast and a few slices of fresh fruit for $3.95 plus tax.  Where?

Showmars restaurant in Huntersville, NC.  This breakfast deal is only Monday through Friday before 11am.

Don't like grits or sausage links?  Showmars does offer some other meat options as well as another substitute for the grits.  However, your drink or beverage is NOT included, but a glass of water is no extra charge.

The ambience reminds you of a family diner.  The restaurant is not new and fancy, but it's clean and comfortable.  For the price, food quality, friendly service, it is well worth the four bucks!

Sidewalks make Pedestrian Traffic More safe!

Pictured above is Gilead Road overpass bridge over Interstate 77 in September 2013 in Huntersville, NC.  I have been told that NC State DOT owns this road. Did you notice that the excessive amount of foot traffic has created a path in the grass leading into vehicular traffic?

Update:  As of October 2013, the lines have been added  to this overpass bridge to redefine the shoulder area making it a safer bridge to walk across.  Yes!  A great improvement!

Another Charlotte, NC example:

Guess where this temporary pedestrian path dumps you out?  The streets along the parking lot at Northlake Mall.  September 2013 is when this picture was taken.  The sidewalk from the primary public bus stop is closed off to build what looks like a new parking lot for the H&M store, but in the meantime, transit riders have to dodge traffic to actually get into the mall.

November 2013 update:  parking lot and walkway finished at Northlake Mall.  

For those who recognize more and more people walking on the streets or in the grass where there is no pavement,  would you please assist me in identiftying the streets like the ones pictured above that need more sidewalks in order to keep pedestrians safe and drivers from having an accident?

Larger cities know that citizens use public transit.  Installing sidewalks as a standard along most roads makes life easier for those without personal vehicles.

However,  in Charlotte, our bus routes are limited, and there are still many people who are walking through the grass and in the street trying to get to food and groceries.

Let's not forget that walking is good exercise! Most pedestrians are at least wearing light colored clothing so that the headlights at night will reflect on them alerting drivers that there is someone walking.

I for one am still concerned that someone driving and talking on a cell phone at the same time is going to accidently hit someone during the night or daytime hours.

I am going to start the list of streets that need more sidewalks in the metro Charlotte, NC area.  Please feel free to add additional streets in the comment section or contact me directly to add your input.

Streets to add more sidewalks to:
1) West Harris Boulevard between Mallard Creek Road and Davis Lake shopping center
2) Harris Road/Eastfield between Popular Tent Road and Prosperity Church Road.
3) Statesville Road between Rich Hatchett Road and Gilead Road
4) Gilead Road and the Interstate 77 overpass/bridge
5) Independence Boulevard between Eastway/Wendover overpass and the Walmart store (needs a crossing over Independence Blvd)

Thanks in advance to city officials who will work to make Charlotte's quality of life safer and healthier by looking out for pedestrians.

Update: 6/11/2014

Pictured is the front page of Charlotte Observer newspaper on Sunday, June 8, 2014.  The concern for pedestrians in South End Charlotte warranted the front page cover while I have seen people run across Independence Boulevard, jumping over cement barricades within seconds of fast approaching cars.  I am certain the death toil of pedestrians on Independence Boulevard is far higher than congested SouthEnd.