Cleanup at the Park - bravo!

I am not sure whether volunteers or Town employees did the job, but it was impressive this morning to see all of the trash from the weekend collected and bagged at the Park, awaiting pick up. Bravo to those involved and I hope we can keep it looking that nice!

A crowd at the Park!

I started to count a few people in the Park today until I got up to the playing fields which - for the first time, I think - were filled with people! Maybe more than 100. I am not sure which teams were playing, and it would be nice to know how to follow who is playing when. How do we do that?

"Driven to Distraction - Multitasking Drivers in Utah Face Tough Law on Texting" - Series - NYTimes.com

We should all be encouraging anyone using any electronic device while driving a vehicle in Southern Village and environs to do one simple thing: stop it.

The Park again

This morning at about 9:

• 15 adults
• 6 kids
• 1 worker
• 2 joggers
• 1 dog

Enviornmental priorities for Southern Village and environs

Paul ROWE, of Southern Village, has told me that he is putting together some sort of a "Green Team" for Southern Village either as part of the Southern Village Homeowners Association or tied to it in some way. It's not clear to me yet what they hope to accomplish.

Here are some to the ideas that I intend to share with them (and I hope to edit this in coming days):

• Work with PSNC, Duke Energy and OWASA to see if we can learn the total energy consumption for Southern Village and environs going back several years and then let's work to reduce it.
• Ask Chape Hill Transit for ridership numbers (I am not sure how they do this) for the V and NS lines for the last several years, and I think there are one or two others that come to Southern Village, and then seek to increase those passenger numbers.
• Ask the relevant people in Orange County and maybe Chapel Hill for the total amount of non-recyclable garbage we produce, again going back several years. Let's set a target to reduce it.
• Find out the amount of recycling for the last several years, and then figure out if we want to set a target higher, the same or less. Recycling is good if it comes from necessary items that otherwise would have gone to the garbage, but it is bad if people are accumulating more "stuff" that comes in packaging that gets discarded.
• Do an area census of all homeowners to ask how many have and use composters; do we have a community compost bin for those in homes with no place to use the compost?

Can't we do better?

At 9 AM today:

• 13 walkers
• 4 dogs
• 6 kids

First day of school

I walked up to the Park this morning around 8:45 and I sense a change in turnout...

• 12 walkers
• 4 children
• 5 joggers
• 5 dogs

As I passed Scroggs, I noted how many bicycles were parked there. Kids set good example for their parents who ought to follow those examples.

"The future of solar power" - GlobalPost

It would be interesting to know the impact, if any, of these developments on Solar Tech, the company across 15-501 from Southern Village. I believe they sell German-made products, but I am not sure.

Sunday in the Park

At 10:30 AM today - Sunday, saw these creatures:

• 3 adult bikers
• 2 child bikers
• 1 adult and 2 children exploring the "pond"
• 40 adults and kids in the play area, about 50/50
• 1 skater on the basketball court
• 4 skaters on the "rink"
• 2 walkers
• 2 dogs

The best part, tho, were all of the people - 50-100 - who were at Scroggs for a soccer match. This is the second time I have seen teams playing there that appear to be made of Hispanics....and the second time I have been so impressed by the quality of the play. Where do we find the schedules for these matches?

Another Park "census"

This morning I was out in Southern Community Park again. Passed these people:

• 17 kids using the swings play equipment, having a good time
• 17 adults/parents with them
• 2 Chapel Hill workers
• 4 kids on bikes
• 1 adult biker
• 2 walkers

It was 10:30 AM.

"Pittsboro-Chapel Hill bus route launches Aug. 17" - News: Orange County

So far, this assumes that no one wants to go to Fearington or Pittsboro from Chapel Hill in the morning or to return from there in the late afternoon. Why not at least present the option as I assume the buses are operating on some sort of loop system???? And include a stop in Southern Village or at least on 15-501 at one of the Southern Village entrances?

Another morning walk to the Park

Today, a little after 9 AM, here is whom I encountered:

• 2 kids on bikes
• 1 adult biker
• 5 dogs
• 5 walkers
• 4 adults in the play area
• 4 kids in the play area
• 1 young person

TheTownHallGrill (TownHallGrill) on Twitter

I wonder how many people and organizations in the Southern Village area are on Twitter?

This morning at Southern Community Park

Today, I walked up to the park at 9 AM. Here's who I saw:

• 2 bikers
• 1 jogger
• 7 adults walking for the most part
• 3 adults with 3 kids in the play area
• 1 hockey player

I also noticed that the light in the men's room seems to always be on - at least from the outside. Unless they are using LED bulbs or some such think, I would think they could be turned off with a note on how to find the switch, or could be motion-activated, no?

Southern Community Park again

I walked to the park again today. This time about 4 PM on Sunday. Here's who I saw:

• Maybe 20 adults and children in the play area with the swings, etc.
• 2 people who looked like they had been palying disc frisbee or whatever it is called
• 9 people and 4 dogs in the dog area
• 15 or so people at the picnic tables under cover

What I did not see was a single person walking on the trail, no one at any of the basketball courts or the inline hockey rink or anywhere else.

Is this what one might call success?

I realized also that neither the park nor Southern Village is served by any buses on either Sat or Sun. Is that the way it should be?

Southern Community Park

Does anyone know where to find a schedule of games to be played at the Park? I can find nothing.

I walked up to the Park today about 1 PM - a bright, sunny day in August with temperatures in the low 80s. In the course of my circuit, starting and ending at Aberdeen on the trail, I saw

3 walkers

2 fellows playing the disc frisbee or whatever it is called

2 people walking 2 dogs in the dog park

That seems a tad underutilized to me.

Safety rules for landscape people

What are the rules we think people cutting grass or doing other landscape work in Southern Village and its environs ought to follow? Most grass cutters stop while we pass, and that is very thoughtful of them.

But I am asking more about safety. Should any piece of equipment ever be left running without an operator in control - from weedwackers to trucks? What chemicals do we think are ok to apply to areas bordering public rights away and which ones do we want to try to eliminate? There are many more.....

Cars and trucks on inclines

As I walk around Southern Village, I see many cars and some trucks parked on inclines. That's necessary, in some cases, because of the hills we enjoy here.

What's missing in almost every case, tho, is proper blocking of the wheels of a vehicle left on an incline of 20 degrees or more. Ok, if the vehicle is on the road and the driver turns the wheels such that the car would roll back against the curb, and if the wheels are indeed already close to the curb, that's fine. Otherwise, on the street or in a driveway, for the sake of the kids of the community, put a block of some sort behind at least one wheel.

If you don't, you risk lives and losing any lawsuit that results from your negligence. The legendary "reasonably prudent person" would know to put a block in place on a steep incline, and you should, too!

"Bank: We're in good shape" - Business - News & Observer

This is Harrington Bank again. Note that all the statements here by those close to the bank are from the bank itself. The story provides no comments by anyone who both knows the bank and is competent in this field. So, a reasonably intelligent person would read the Office of Thrift Supervision document and ask the bank lots of specific questions about compliance under that agreement, if that person really wanted to know what was happening. I surely would not rely on a bank that has not complied with federal law (see the agreement) to tell me what's happening.

Here is just a portion of the agreement, referring to Harrington as the Association:

"WHEREAS, based on its January 20,2009 examination of the Association (2009
Examination), the OTS finds that the Association has failed to comply with the requirements of
laws and regulations to which the Association is subject, failed to adopt and implement
appropriate and comprehensive operational and risk management practices and strategies, and
failed to identify and correct other deficiencies and weaknesses in its operations;...."

"Bank is told to shape up, or be seized" - Business - News & Observer

This is Harrington Bank with an office in Southern Village.

Trucks on steep driveways...

I passed a truck today on Aberdeen, parked on an inclined driveway that I bet is close to 30 degrees. The truck was facing the street and was set up for a work crew that must have been inside the house to load stuff on the flatbed from the rear with a kind of gangplank arrangement. That meant that people and/or equipment would be rolling/walking on and off the bed of the truck.

What was missing was any blocking at all of the truck's tires. Having seen a car roll out of one of these same Aberdeen driveways once before and across the street, I could imagine an awful accident.

I called the company whose name was on the side of the truck and got a voice mail.

So I called 911 and felt that the lieutenant with whom I spoke was going to send someone out to investigate.

Public safety, I think, is everyone's business.