Charlotte Observer: Closer Scrutiny for Duke's Coal Ash

There is a very interesting story in today's Charlotte Observer for anyone who lives near, boats on, fishes in or drinks water from Mountain Island Lake concerning coal ash from Duke Energy's power plants.

According to the article by Bruce Henderson:

"Riverbend and Duke Energy's seven other Carolinas coal-fired plants disgorge 2.2 million tons of ash a year. Two-thirds is dumped in landfills and ponds at the plants, an old practice that has begun to worry regulators.

Coal ash is loaded with metals that can contaminate groundwater and lakes like Mountain Island, the chief water supply for more than 850,000 people. Millions of gallons of water a day flow from Duke's ash ponds into the Catawba."

One of the biggest issues raised by the story is whether any government agency is taking full responsibility for the coal ash situation and making sure that groundwater is being properly monitored.

You can read the full story at:

http://www.charlotte.com/112/story/497420.html

Mountain Island Promenade Rezoning

MIP consists of up to 765 housing units plus extensive retail and ofice space, when completed in late 2009. This develop will have a significant impact n the Mountain Island area, including 20,000 more daily trips on Mount Holly Huntersville Rd. Despite our protests in 2006 to limit the scale and address traffic in a broader way, MIP was approved by the Charlotte City Council. Now the developer is back to get his site plan amended to include the possibility of a 2nd "big box" store (Lowe's Home Improvement is the first), increasing the number of apartments and decreasing the size of the townhomes. It is now quickly moving away from the "first class" development we were promised.

The initial hearing on this proposal will be Monday Feb 18 at 6 pm at the Char Meck Govt Center at 400 Fourth St. Chastain Parc and Overlook plan to speak on it, asking that the City Council will direct that a new Traffic Impact Study be conducted, that the specifications regarding the housing be changed so that something better than entry level housing be constructed, that Charlotte guidelines say that only one "big box" is allowed and that issues in the Chastain Parc buffer be addressed. Our area does not need more entry level housing and apartments and it needs the MHH traffic problem addressed now, not after it becomes impossible to get in and out of our neighborhoods.

Please join me and others in the "fight" during the next 30 days to preserve/improve our quality of life in the Mountain Island area. Come to the initial hearing Monday night!! For more info, e-mail me at blm245@aol.com

Links to Mountain Island Monitor Articles

Here are the links to informative articles from the current issue of the Mountain Island Monitor:

More Apartments for the Promenade?


Mountain Island Neighbors Rally Against Crime

Heroes Aren't that Hard to Find

Suspicious Vehicles Oakdale

I called 911 concerning a suspicious car, Grey? Maxima lic. WSL-6061, that was parked on Oakdale Commons just past midnight. This car drove off, exiting the development with it's lights off and then returned minutes later.

I tried to confront them (2-Black males) near 2811 Oakdale Pasture and they drove off again. They met up with another vehicle, Reddish/Purple? Ford Taurus lic. WXE-9141 (light skinned black male under 5 1/2 foot tall) on Oakdale near Oakdale Middle School.

The officers that arrived confirmed that these two cars "most likely" did not belong based upon their registration info. I certainly believe the Maxima was casing one our homes. Please keep an eye out for these cars, Nissan Maxima & Ford Taurus, and call 911.

William Watkins
2412 Oakdale Creek Lane

Facts About Mountain Island Lake

According to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Storm Water Services:

1. Mountain Island Lake is the smallest of three lakes bordering Mecklenburg County.

2. The lake was formed in 1924 with construction of the Mountain Island Hydroelectric Station.

3. Mountain Island Lake has a total surface area of 2,788 acres.

4. There are 27 miles of shoreline in Mecklenburg County.

5. It is the primary water source for Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Gastonia and Mt. Holly.

6. Water stays in Mountain Island Lake for 11 days before flowing into Lake Wylie.

North Carolina Department of Transportation Traffic Cameras

If you are planning to run errands around Charlotte or you are making a trip to another city in North Carolina you can check out traffic and road conditions by visiting the North Carolina Department of Transportation website.

By going the http://www.ncdot.org/traffictravel/ you can select your region and click on one of the dozens of traffic cameras in each area. It is easy and a few clicks of your mouse could save you plenty of time.

Suspicious Activity Overlook MHH Road

Good Afternoon Fellow Neighbors!

I'm Patricia Vanek, Overlook Neighborhood Watch Coordinator

According to Officer Dendy the Police Helo was in Huntersville & came to help. Police investigated but no arrests. This event took place 2/4/08.

Tom our President received the information from a Chastain Board Member. Thank you!

I wanted to let you know I called the police today because of 2 black males who were on Overlook's property. They were walking in front of the neighborhood sign area going towards Walmart. They turned around when they reached the end of the 1st sign and entered the property just to the right of the sign. I could see one set of feet. The other male disappeared out of sight.

About 2 minutes after they went into the bushes/trees, I heard what sounded like a small caliber gun shot. About one minute later, the males exited the property and went down Mt. Holly-Huntersville Rd. towards Chastain.

I never saw the police respond to my call (the "gun shot" happened while I was talking to a dispatcher). Shortly after that, a Char-Meck police helicopter was circling Chastain for about 20 minutes. I called the police dept. to find out why and they said there was a suspicious person reported in our neighborhood (black with dredlocks).

Not that it will help much, but here is a description of the two males:

Both were in their mid to late teens, one about 4 inches shorter than the other one. The taller male was dressed in a black jacket, orange shirt, black pants with white writing down the outside of the right leg, and he had a doo (spelling?) rag on.

The shorter male was dressed in a black jacket, black pants with a red strip around the knee area (approx. 1" in diameter) on both legs, and black doo rag.I hope nothing happened.

Silver acura with 3 men in park at Overlook

This morning I was walking from the path to the gazeebo park in Overlook and came across a silver acura (older model) with 3 men in their late 20's or early 30's inside. The windows were all closed and fogged up. When they saw me and my walking partner appear they started their car and slowly backed out to see us, then they opened the drivers window. I saw an Asian man with short layered dark hair driving and the front passenger had a Panthers jacket on, the glass was too fogged to make out the details on the third man in the backseat.
I doubt that they were there to use the swings. I called in the plate to 911. They took off at a pretty fast clip after backing out and seeing me on my phone. Was it drug related?

Mountain Island Monitor Reports on Jan. 24th Meeting

The current issue of the Mountain Island Monitor has several articles about issues impacting the quality of life in our area.

The Monitor's website is a little bit behind, so we cannot link to the stories yet, but the current issue is well worth spending time with if you are interested in efforts to reduce crime in the area and concerned about the escalating the size of the Mountain Island Promenade project.

The paper's coverage includes an article and an editorial about the Jan. 24th meeting among representatives of a number of neighborhoods and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department at Cooks Memorial Presbyterian Church. There is a column by Judy Rozzelle that questions whether Charlotte city officials are paying attention to issues important to the area. She gives out phone numbers and email address for elected officials. There is also a story about the developers of Mountain Island Promenade attempting to tack on additional apartment units even before the groundbreaking for the massive project at Route 16 and Mount Holly-Huntersville Road. The Mountain Island Neighborhood Organization claims Cambridge Properties, developer of the Promenade, is trying to back out of previous agreements.