North Main St Neighborhood Meeting - Apr 13th - 6:30PM - City Park Rec Center

Be sure to come to the neighborhood meeting this Monday to hear the update about the new sidewalks (at last!) planned for West Miller Street! We've been hearing about these improvements to the neighborhood for some time and now it appears very close to happening! This is your opportunity to hear about it first-hand from the City engineers and planners - your opportunity to ask questions.

The meeting will be held this Monday April 13th at 6:30 PM at the City Park Recreation Center on 316 Lake Drive in Salisbury.

We'll be hearing about the sidewalks and proposed crosswalk at North Main Street and West Miller Street. The sidewalk is the first step in a plan to connect our Old North Salisbury neighborhood to the city parks and the Salisbury Greenway system. After we get the West Miller Street sidewalk, we'll see more sidewalks go in along the 900 block of North Jackson Street along the City Park edge, then up and around Lake Drive and over to Hurley Park. The planned sidewalk improvements will provide safer, more convenient access to the parks for our neighborhood residents. These changes were recommended by our neighborhood residents who took part in the North Main Small Area Improvement Plan completed in 2007. The project is being funded by Salisbury City Council and a grant from the North Carolina Health & Wellness Fund as part of the Fit Community initiative. Members of the Old North Salisbury Association attended several of the grant meetings and were instrumental in having Salisbury become a grant recipient.

This is an exciting time for our community and we hope you will find the time to attend this meeting to both show your support and learn more about the whole process. Please come! The more we know, the more we can help initiate more improvements like this in the Old North Salisbury - North Main Street neighborhood.

We hope to see you there!

Sidewalks & Crosswalks Coming to W. Miller St.

Hey All!

As you know, the long promised sidewalks and crosswalks are coming to the W. Miller St crossing at N. Main St.!!!

The Old North Salisbury Association's President, Sue McHugh of N. Main St., attended a meeting at Salisbury City Hall today as part of the Fit Community Grant Partnership that is funding this improvement to our neighborhood. Here is what we learned:

A Public Neighborhood Meeting is scheduled for Monday April 13th at the City Park Recreation Center's Activity Room from 6:30PM - 7:30PM (or maybe 8:00PM if question/answer period extends). A postcard from the City is expected very soon - maybe next week that will invite our neighborhood participation and some brief details. Most critically, we need to have our W. Miller St. residents on board with the changes as they will be most directly impacted by the work.

The impact should be minimal. The residents on the south side of the street will be asked to sign easement papers that give the City permission to work on the property. Now in truth - most of the work will be on City property, however this is a courtesy measure should any disruption occur to privately held property. If such disruption does occur, it is general policy to put it back BETTER than it was. Some driveways will be temporarily torn up, however they City will place a stone entryway to the drives so that people can still get up into their property. They may be required to park in the street for one day as concrete is poured. Additionally, where W. Miller St. connects to N. Jackson St will be temporarily closed during the construction.

The sidewalk will be 5-feet wide with a 2-foot planting strip or lawn between it and the curb. Pedestrian level street lighting, something we had really hoped for, is not budgeted for but will be considered as the project moves forward. And speaking of moving forward . . . we should expect groundbreaking in May 2009! The project should take 3-months to complete so we are looking at perhaps an August completion date.

We saw drawings that show the sidewalks and some of the other engineering work we may not often consider - storm drainage, moving utilities such as electric/phone/cable - and the positioning of fire hydrants and sewer lines.

Next year, as Phase II of the project emerges, we'll see additional sidewalks along N. Jackson St. at City Park to Lake Drive and along Lake Drive to Hurley Park. This is when we may expect to see signage incorporated - like neighborhood entrance signs!

The overall aim is to ultimately connect the North Main neighborhood to the Salisbury Greenway and to incorporate a very fine-tuned large-scale walking program.
Please make EVERY EFFORT to come to the April 13th Neighborhood Meeting! Encourage your friends, neighbors, relatives, EVERYBODY to attend. This is our first structural neighborhood revision toward the North Main Small Area Improvement Plan and we NEED TO SUPPORT IT!

Thanks, All!

First Meeting of the Year held Jan 13th

Hello Friends & Neighbors!

The Old North Salisbury Board of Directors held their first meeting of '09 a couple of weeks ago. Although we had a small turnout (everyone still holiday weary?), we have a lot of items on the wish list this year!

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One very exciting development - we are forming a "Green Team"!! And right in time for the Spring season! The Green Team will be assisting in tree planting, mulching, and in general - sprucing up the neighborhood. If you are interested in joining the Green Team, let us know! If you are not apt to be found wielding a shovel, we are interested in donations of mulch, good garden soil, plants, seeds, etc. Even a little pot of pansies will go to good use!

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We are working on another, more formal, presentation to City Council. Remember we went before City Council last summer and asked for better enforcement of our ordinances. The City has restructured their Ordinance & Code Department so now may be a good time to remind them of our work here as a community and how we could use their help.

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We are still aiming to hold a neighborhood-wide business meeting, so all of the folks in our community can learn about what we are doing, our goals and our achievements. We would like to invite representatives from the City to talk about the planned improvements to our neighborhood and the status of those plans. The date has not yet been finalized, so we'll keep you posted. Stay tuned!

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We are trying very hard to figure out a Landlord / Tenant Outreach program. . . a way to let landlords know we care about their properties and the quality of the tenants . . . and a way to let renters know that they can be a part of the community. If you have ideas, let us know. So far we are struggling with an answer, and perhaps there are more ways than one to accomplish this.

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We are still talking about the Historic House Plaque Program and the best way to roll that out. Here's the difficulty - the plaques themselves may be expensive to have produced. So . . . do we want each home to purchase one voluntarily if they wish to have one? Do we award them annually? Do we have people apply for their plaque? We still believe that the Plaque Program will enhance the awareness of the value and history of your homes, and the program would tie into the walking programs the City is initiating.

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We will be creating a brochure for Realtors that highlights the homes, the neighborhood, and the benefits of living here. Gotta love an art project!

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AND - we are talking about hosting another neighborhood get-together - more fun than the business meeting. We had such a great day at our Celebrate Old North Salisbury picnic in the park last Fall that we think it might be fun to host another event this Spring. This also needs a bit more planning so we'll let you know as things start to gel. More volunteers always help to make this a success!

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Keep your porch lights on - the neighborhood looks way more friendly and the extra lighting deters crime. And if you haven't gotten rid of your fall leaves yet - the City's last leaf pickup is scheduled for February 25th. Need some help with this? Drop us a line - maybe this will be the first item on our Green Teams initiative!

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***Thanks Everybody! See you in the Neighborhood!***

It's Official!! "Celebrate Old North Salisbury" Saturday Nov 8th City Park!!!

"Celebrate Old North Salisbury"

The Old North Salisbury Association is hosting a neighborhood social gathering!!!

When: Saturday November 8th

Time: 2:00 PM ~ 6:00 PM

Where: City Park Outdoor Pavilions

What: A celebration of the Salisbury's North Main area friends and neighbors!

Live Music On The Lawn: The Tripp Edwards Trio / No. 9 Coal / Alan Wyrick & Friends

Please Bring: A Covered Dish to Pass ~ Lawn Chairs ~ Picnic Blankets

ONSA will supply non-alcoholic beverages, cups, plates, and utensils.

We will be announcing some of the 2008 activities of the Association & some of our ongoing plans. There will be entertainment featuring Salisbury's own No. 9 Coal's own brand of bluegrass/newgrass, The Tripp Edwards Trio, and Alan Wyrick & Friends ~ all performing live original music and old familiars! Enjoy an afternoon in the park with music and friends!

If you live between Lafayette Street and 17th Street and between Jackson Street and the Southern Railway tracks to the east - you are in the Old North Salisbury neighborhood. Please come and participate in this wonderful opportunity to meet others in this community. We share a common bond here & we're looking forward to sharing it with YOU!!!

See you on November 8th in City Park