Annual refreshing of all mulched areas in Common areas and around Townhome units will begin around mid-April. The landscaping contractor has been requested to take care around blooming spring bulbs and bedding plants in order to avoid crushing delicate flowers. The use of bagged mulch this year instead of bulk mulch should make this easier. However, if you have not yet planted bedding plants, it is suggested that you wait until after the mulch is applied.
It’s that time of year again! Yard-of-the-Month judging begins at the end of April for the month of May and will continue through October. Winners are selected among single-family homes. The home will be selected one or two weeks prior to the month of the award and will be featured in the newsletter and posted on the website. Be a winner of the “Star of Excellence” in 2009!
The criteria established by the Selection Committee (representatives from the neighborhood) are listed below. The total exterior appearance of the yard, including the planting strip between the sidewalk and the street, should be one of neatness and visually appealing as evidenced by:
If you have questions or suggestions regarding this plan, please call Judy McLean, at 704.895.0940
Talk about timely! Following the March newsletter article regarding smoke/ fire detectors, Mike Stenhouse responded that he had just had his second alarm failure and that he had replaced all units in his home. His comments and advice for those who have not experienced this problem are included here as an update to last month’s article. As stated last month, units other than the BRK/First Alert brands may require a different approach. Contact the manufacturer or an electrician if in doubt.
For those of you who have not yet experienced a smoke detector failure, let me describe what happens. Since they are interconnected, all of the smoke alarms in the house go into alarm mode at once if there is a failure or real detection of smoke by one. It is difficult to determine which one has failed, particularly if you do not have a copy of the owner’s manual. The ear-splitting cacophony goes on until you drag out your ladder and begin disconnecting them one at a time until you disconnect the failed unit. [Note: According to BRK, when interconnected units alarm, the red LED on the triggering alarm flashes rapidly. The red LEDs on all other alarms remain off.]
Having experienced a false alarm twice, once while I was out for the day, I am a big fan of pre-emptive replacement. I have just finished replacing mine.
Like most of us, we had the original BRK Model 4120B. I was reluctant to use the replacement BRK 9120B because of the fair to poor ratings. However, I found another choice. The Kidde Model i12060 Hardwire Replacement (P/N 21007397) is a plug compatible replacement for the First Alert/BRK smoke detectors. The Kidde Model i12060 has all of the three essential features: hardwired AC operation, battery backup, and interconnectivity with the other smoke detectors. The Kidde model comes with a three wire plug (which I discarded) and two adapters, one for BRK compatibility marked KA-B (which I used) and one for Firex compatibility marked KA-F (which I also discarded).
Important Note: The Kidde i12060 is also carried as P/N
21006376 without the adapters. Be sure to get P/N 21007397 identified as “Hardwire
Replacement” which includes the adapters. If you happen to purchase the
i12060 without the adapters, the adapters are available separately.
Installation is simple. I did the following:
I replaced all six units in our home in under an hour using only a Phillips head screwdriver. Although it is not required, I replaced all the smoke detectors at the same time to avoid any potential compatibility issues between different brands.
Both Lowes and Home Depot carry Kidde smoke detectors. Lowes does not carry First Alert/BRK smoke detectors. Home Depot has First Alert/BRK smoke detectors on their web site, but does not stock them in the I-77 Exit 25 store.
One final note: Ionization smoke detectors like the BRK model contain small amounts of radioactive material. Accordingly, I will take the discarded ones to the recycling center on Highway 21 (North Mecklenburg Recycling Center and Yard Waste, 12300 North Statesville Road) for disposal.
Many thanks go to Mike Stenhouse for sharing his experience and knowledge with the Neighborhood. Mike has been a frequent contributor to the newsletter. We want to encourage others to provide articles and information. We are particularly interested in human interest stories. If you have an idea, please e-mail Dave Smith at davidbsmith@bellsouth.net or call by phone at 704.987.1472.
Residents of New Neighborhood have often complained about cell phone reception. Some neighbors get fair reception with AT&T. Others swear by Verizon (some of the time). Sprint seems to fall short everywhere. We see neighbors talking in the streets and porches because nearly everyone has no signal inside Townhome units. Well, whine no more! Help is on the way.
My-Communications, a national telegraph provider, is entering into a partnership with SolarCorp, a regional solar energy company, to install a cell tower on the flat piece of land adjacent to Ashby Park and east of Faulkner Square. The Town has ownership of the land, once planned as a bocce ball court. The tower will rise to a height of 100 feet, but will be take on the camouflaged appearance of a giant Douglas fir. This will maintain the eco-friendly requirements of our community and add some faux greenery to the landscape. The tower will be protected from small children and animals by a 12 foot X 12 foot anchor fence barrier with high voltage electrical wire strung above the 8 foot high fencing. This will also be camouflaged by installing artistic panels on the visible part of the fence. Local artists have agreed to participate in providing the artwork.
The partnership with SolarCorp is an important part of the project. SolarCorp will install solar energy panels interspersed among the fir branches, but open to sunlight. These solar panels will be used to power neighborhood utility needs and lighting in the Common areas. This type of solar panel use is a “first” for Community Associations in the United States and the installation is being paid in part by some of the federal stimulus money now being sent to all states.
The only negative drawback to the project will be a low frequency hum that will be associated with the electrical wiring. This is unavoidable, but should not be noticed by any neighbors.
Roman S. Parks, Operations Manager for My-Communications, was interviewed by Davidson officials early in March when the project was proposed to the Town. Mr. Parks stated, “We are truly excited about this ground-breaking idea and are happy to bring much needed cell phone reception to the area. The eco-friendly appearance of the tower is especially attractive to those individuals who usually associate unsightly steel structures with cell phone spires. We call these types of structures ‘Flowers’ rather than towers. They were first used in the Pacific Northwest in 1999, but have gained widespread popularity and, most recently, have been used in the Raleigh-Durham area.”
The My-Communications tower is a general service provider, so all cell phones should be able to benefit from a strong signal. Company officials report as many as eight bars within a half-mile radius. The project should start in June and be completed by early-fall. No problems are anticipated other than several days during erection when North Faulkner Way will be blocked to through traffic.
For more information about the project and the partnership companies, please call 555-APR-FOOL.The Neighborhood enjoyed celebration of OktoberFest last year and has expressed an interest in having the neighborhood party at that time again. We are looking for one or two neighbors to chair the event. Lots of notes and boxes of supplies are available from past years to jump-start the planning process. There also seem to be an endless supply of helpers and volunteers, but we do need a chairperson. If you are interested, please contact Dave Smith (704.987.1472) or any other member of the Council of Stewards.
The neighborhood celebrates with a party annually in Faulkner Square. This is a budgeted event supported by the Neighborhood Association. Last year, for the first time, the event was held in October rather than June. An exact date has not been set. Planning and organization needs to begin soon for the gathering to be a success. Let’s keep up our new fall tradition in 2009!
The Covenant Committee has the unenviable task of ensuring that our neighborhood meets requirements set forth by our Neighborhood Covenants and Canons of Conduct. They are not an enforcement committee, but do present violations to the attention of Abbott, our Association management company. If a resident or owner wishes to report a violation, please contact Shannon McLean (704.895.0940), chairperson of the Covenant Committee, or one of its members.
It is not appropriate to individually attach notes to neighbor’s cars and/or doors. These notes (often referred to as “nasty” grams) only create anger and build tension. Notes are not enforceable or “official.” If properly reported to the committee, a follow-up letter will be sent to the offending neighbor by Abbott. In this way subsequent violations of the same restriction are documented and can be appropriately corrected.
Thanks go to all of our delivery volunteers! Our March team, dressed in snow shoes and winter gear, included Adria & Woody Appleby, Barbara Dillman, Tom Fischer, Anne Jerands, Sherman & Nancy Kahn, Norman Richards, and Dave Smith. Bob Herman (Clemens Place) joined our group in March. Please – No more snow on delivery day!
If you wish to volunteer, please call Dave Smith at 704.987.1472 (e-mail at davidbsmith@bellsouth.net).