Dogs, Fish and The Movies

Ø The Harris Teeter/Purina Bark in the Park third annual event is Saturday, April 28 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at William R. Davie Park, located at 4635 Pineville Matthews Road. The event includes the top dog contest, a pooch parade, pet/owner look a like contest, the Ultimate Air Dog show presented by Purina, a variety of vendors and much more.

Ø Forrest L. Woods (FLW) fishing tournament, named for the maker of Ranger Boats will be April 26-29, launching from Ramsey Creek Park. This tour is similar in size to the BASS Masters, with 400 anglers and 200 boats launching on April 26 and 27.

Ø Memorial Stadium has been transformed into two different football stadium sets. Filming of the Leatherheads movie at Memorial Stadium continued from April 16 - 20. Filming will continue on April 23 and conclude on April 24. WBTV-3 interviewed location scout Beth Petty and several businesses adjacent to Memorial Stadium and noted the economic impact of heads in beds, food and beverages. Staff has received an inquiry from a motion picture firm to film a civil war movie at the Latta Plantation Nature Preserve. Additional details will be provided.

READER SAYS DO-IT-YOURSELF SELLERS ARE NOT "GREEDY"

Recently, I saw this response to a question that realtors often receive regarding a "for sale by owner" and a buyer's agent. I think its a little agressive but my local experience has shown that often seller's will work with a buyers agent.

DEAR BOB: I usually agree with 95 percent of your excellent advice. However, I strongly disagree with your recent item where you said a home buyer might have to pay his or her buyer's agent if a home is purchased from a "greedy" do-it-yourself home seller who refuses to pay the agent half of the customary sales commission. Home sellers have the right to sell their homes alone without having to pay a sales commission. Why don't you mention the "greedy agents" who charge a 6 or 7 percent sales commission just for filling in a few blanks on a sales contract? --Zygmont C.

DEAR ZYGMONT: Most "for sale by owner" (FSBO) house and condo sellers are only too happy to pay a sales agent who produces an acceptable buyer 50 percent of the customary sales commission, usually 3 percent of the sales price.
However, some "greedy sellers" don't understand the benefits of having a buyer's agent represent the buyer. Those buyers' agents do double-duty of guiding the FSBO sale to a successful completion. Yet, some FSBO sellers stubbornly refuse to pay the buyer's agent even half of a normal commission, so then the buyer might become obligated to pay his or her buyer's agent.
As for your comment about "greedy agents" who charge 6 percent or 7 percent sales commissions, are you aware how sales commissions are split among sales agents and their brokerages?
Usually, the listing agent and the buyer's agent receive half of the gross sales commission. Then half of that portion of the commission goes to the brokerage. Of course, the exact split of the sales commission depends on each agent's agreement with their brokerage.
The result is what seems to you like a huge sales commission is split four ways and the agents really aren't as "greedy" as you might think.

Long Creek Greenway - Update

The Long Creek Greenway will eventually connect the Northlake Business Park to the new Whitewater Center. Various sections are in the long-range plans for the Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation Department.

* The section from I-77 to Beatties Ford Road is currently listed in the county's 10 Year Capital Needs Assessment. This section is about 2.3 miles and will connect several single family and multi-family residential neighborhoods. Access to the business park and mall will be provided through their respective sidewalk systems.

* The section from Beatties Ford Road to Oakdale Road is in the county's 20 Year Capital Needs Assessment. The biggest challege in this section will be how to work with NC Department of Transportation and private land owners to secure easements.

* The Shuffletown Park Project will provide land for the next major section. Working with Trust for Public Lands and developers in the area will help in providing necessary conservation easements as the county moves forward.

Continue to visit this website for updates as plans and developments progress. If you wish additional information as to future community meetings regarding these projects and others send me an e-mail at scottmcclure@carolina.rr.com. Thanks!

Carolina Raptor Center To Release Rehabilitated Bald Eagle

Huntersville, North Carolina: In celebration of Earth Day, Carolina Raptor Center will release an eagle at Cowan’s Ford Wildlife Refuge on Saturday, April 21st at 9:00 AM.

The event is open to the public.
We suggest allowing plenty of time due to busy traffic at Historic Rural Hill as they present The Loch Norman Games. http://www.ruralhillfarm.org/

Plan on arriving by 8:30 AM.
The release location is Cowan’s Ford Wildlife Refuge at 2329 Neck Road, Huntersville, NC. Directions can be found on the Park and Recreation website: www.parkandrec.com. Then under “Quick Links” select “Nature Preserves” and then under “other preserves” select “Cowan’s Ford”.

Please note that there are no restroom facilities or drinking water at the site.

ON A PERSONAL NOTE: As a boy, growing up in North Mecklenburg, I have many fond memories of Sample Farm (now Latta Nature Preserve). We would camp and explore this property for entire week-ends. Once my wife and I had the opportunity to build our home, there was no better choice than the banks of Mt. Island Lake, just minutes from Latta. Enjoy this story and visit us soon!

History:
This eagle was found August 22, 2004 in Valdez, Alaska with damage to one toe on each foot. Anticipating limited use of its feet – the primary method of catching its food - the recovery team in Alaska determined that the eagle would not be able to survive if released. Carolina Raptor Center was seeking a non-releasable eagle that was still capable of flight for use as an education bird and the eagle was shipped to NC. After several months at Carolina Raptor Center, it was obvious that this bird had a lot of spirit, was not comfortable around people and would not be suitable as an education bird. These characteristics are not always evident during the rehabilitation process.

Carolina Raptor Center’s rehabilitation staff noticed that the eagle still had incredible strength in its feet. The eagle was placed in a 100 foot long flight cage. Mathias Engelmann, Director of Rehabilitation noted, “This eagle demonstrated excellent agility and foot strength as it successfully caught rabbits and ducks.” This was valuable information as both are natural food sources. The eagle was placed on a regiment designed to strengthen is flight muscles and other skills. Our final concerns involved the ability of an Alaskan eagle to resist parasites and diseases in the eastern part of the US.
To improve the odds for this eagle, Carolina Raptor Center has engaged this eagle in flight training and prey capture for the last two years. The eagle has remained healthy and is considered to be properly acclimated. Mathias Engelmann stated, “Based on the tracking of the 2006 eaglets (http://www.carolinaraptorcenter.org/eagle_journeys.php) we feel confident that this eagle will do fine.” President/CEO Alan Barnhardt noted, “We would like to place a transmitter on this eagle like we did for the eaglets born at our site in 2006. This would provide a way for the public to track its progress and enjoy its future journeys. Unfortunately, we have not been successful in identifying a sponsor to underwrite the cost of a transmitter and tracking during the coming years.”

In collaboration with Mecklenburg County’s Park and Recreation department Cowan’s Ford Wildlife Refuge has been identified as a perfect site for the release. Michael Kirschman, Division Director of Stewardship Services for Mecklenburg County said, “We are excited to continue our relationship with Carolina Raptor Center in educating the public about the importance of the conservation of wildlife and our natural resources.”

Representative Martha Alexander, a member of the NC General Assembly and long-time friend of Carolina Raptor Center, will release the eagle. While hundreds of raptors are rehabilitated and released by CRC each year, only thirty-two eagles have been released since 1979. Representative Alexander said, “This will be a unique experience and I’m honored to be a part of the return of this magnificent creature to the wild.”

Bald eagles are still recovering from their status as an endangered species. While some areas of the country have fully recovered, North Carolina is home to only about 50 nesting pairs. Carolina Raptor Center has received over 63 bald eagles since 1987, releasing 32 back to the wild. Over 350 hawks, owls, vultures, falcons and eagles were released by CRC last year.

Founded in 1979, Carolina Raptor Center (CRC) is dedicated to environmental education and conservation of birds of prey through public education, rehabilitation of injured and orphaned raptors, and research. More than 12,000 injured and orphaned raptors have come to CRC since its inception and last year more than 63 percent of birds that survived the first 24 hours were released back into the wild. More than 100 non-releasable raptors, whose injuries make it impossible to survive in the wild, are permanent residents of CRC and educate the public as ambassadors for their species. Last year outreach exhibitions taught more than 100,000 people about raptors and their importance to the environment, “Wild Wings” educated more than 36,000 children in North and South Carolina communities and more than 32,000 people visited CRC.
Carolina Raptor Center, located in Latta Plantation Nature Preserve in Huntersville, is dedicated to environmental education and the conservation of birds of prey through public education, the rehabilitation of injured and orphaned raptors and research.

Horse Lovers Work For Expanded NW Facility at Latta Nature Preserve

Mecklenburg County is one of the largest counties in terms of population in the state. Also Mecklenburg County and its immediate surrounding counties have the largest equine population in the state.

We all know that there are two or three privately owned equine show facilities combined in these counties, but none of these have all the amenities that we have here at Latta. Straight from the horse's mouth this is why the show promoters want to come here. Latta Equestrian Center offers 192 stalls, two show arenas, two warm-up arenas, 26 RV sites with eletric and water, restroom and shower facility, mutipurpose building for meetings and small events, and a general store.

For the general public Latta offers daily trail rides, arena rides, carriage rides, pony ride birthday parties, and all types of special events. There is no other equine facility that offers all of these services at one location.

There is still one problem that is faced here at Latta. We are limited to the quality of these services by not having a covered arena. As far as the horse shows there are a lot of show promoters that will not book at a venue that does not offer a covered arena. The contestants spend a lot of time and money to get to a show for it to be rained out. Without a covered arena the show usually has to stop if it rains hard before or during the show. Also in July and August it is limited on what can be booked because of extreme heat. A cover would prevent this. Also birthday parties, arena rides and summer horse camps have to be cancelled because of rain or extreme heat when there is no covered arena.

This issue of a covered arena here at Latta has come up several times in the last fifteen years with no apparent success. The current operators of the equestrian center, Country Time Carriages LLC, along with Mecklenburg County Park and Rec have come up with a plan to try and raise $250,000 to contruct a metal roof to cover one of the arenas. A kickoff party will be held to recruit interested people to serve on a steering committee this year to get the fundraising campaign underway. Please send an e-mail to scottmcclure@carolina.rr.com to be kept informed of these events.

Mecklenburg County Park & Recreation Commission Moves On Haymarket

The Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation Commission (MCPRC) unanimously approved the Haymarket property as a nature preserve.

At the April 10th meeting of the MCPRC, Mr. Michael Kirschman, Division Director for Stewardship Services requested the the board approve the dedication of the 100 acre Haymarket property to be classified as a nature preserve. The property would be granted all of the protections, permitted passive recreation uses, and scientific management as a nature preserve and would be developed for public and educational passive use. Located on Mt. Island Lake, near the intersection of Nance Cove Road and Hwy. 16, the property sits directly across from the entrance to the Mt. Isle Harbor neighborhood.

This property includes over one mile of shoreline on the lake which serves as the drinking water supply for Mecklenburg and Gaston counties. It was purchased in December of 2000 by Mecklenburg County at a price of three million with one million coming from the Clean Water Management Trust Fund (CWMTF). The CWMTF adds strict easements for the property including a 300 ft shoreline buffer. Dating back to its creation the Mt. Island Lake Marine Commission (MILMC) had sited a history of illeagal uses including camping, fires and tree removal. In an initial biodiversity assessment dated April, 2002, Sudie Daves noted deer hunting and atv use on the property.

Prior to the MCPRC action, the Park and Recreation Northwest Advisory Council and the Stewardship Advisory Council had approved the recommendation. After MCPRC approval, the issue will move to the agenda for the Mecklenburg County Board of County Commissioners.

(Fact: Residential Property values increase 18-20% when found in close proximity to parks and other publically held and managed open space.)

Scott McClure, Your Charlotte Agent has served of the Mt Island Lake Marine Commission for a period from 1995 - 2002. He has now served on the Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation Commission for three years.