I am very happy to inform you that the NC DOT has decided to apply an hot-mixed asphalt overlay to the entire length of Wood Valley Drive. After many months and several recent meetings, the DOT folks said that they had some problems with their materials during our "maintenance" project. Their first proposed solution was to put down a slurry seal which is basically a thin coat of sealer. That would stop any further loosening of stones and would fill some minor ruts.

However, after walking sections of Wood Valley Drive last Friday, they recognized that the long ruts and irregular surface could not be improved properly by the slurry seal.

In the end, the DOT has informed us that they will put down a hot-mixed asphalt topping approximately 3/4" thick. This will give Wood Valley Drive a smooth "paved" finish.

The project will be included in a larger paving contract. At this point the timing is not set but work will be completed no later than December 1. When I receive notice of the schedule, I will make it available here and on the WVHOA website.

Many thanks to Tony Correale and his hard working committee for their diligence. Thanks to Senator Hunt for his help. And special THANKS to Representative Marilyn Avila for her tireless help. Without her persistence, I am afraid the DOT would have tried to wait us out. Rep. Avila has earned my vote in the upcoming election!

Don Van Ollefen

WVHOA President

The paving of Wood Valley Drive has received media attention from WRAL with both a TV segment and a story on the website:

WRAL TV coverage (7 Jan 08)

WRAL website story (7 Jan 08)

The following status update has been provided by Tony Correale:

The Department of Transportation's (DOT) BST road treatment of Wood Valley Drive has been deemed unacceptable by us, the residents of the Wood Valley subdivision, and our North Carolina elected officials, Representative Marilyn Avila and State Senator Neal Hunt. The road system within the development prior to the recent action of the DOT was macadam-based. Recently, the main thoroughfare of the subdivision, Wood Valley Drive, was treated to a BST paving process. This tar and gravel composite has resulted in numerous complaints to the DOT and to our elected North Carolina Representative, Marilyn Avila, and to North Carolina Senator Neal Hunt.

A Wood Valley resident meeting was held on Tuesday, December 11, 2007, at the Wood Valley Swim and Racquet Clubhouse, and was attended by numerous residents as well as Representative Avila and Senator Hunt. The DOT representatives were aware of the meeting and, while invited, chose not to attend. Representative Avila has been very proactive in these complaints, and has had an outside paving contractor, Blalock Paving, assess the Wood Valley Drive roadwork done by the DOT crews. Rep. Avila relayed her findings to the residents. Both Rep. Avila and State Senator Hunt agree with the residents that the "final" DOT work product on Wood Valley Drive is not acceptable and that we have apparent cause for action.

Based on this meeting, Senator Hunt recommended that we craft a petition to the head of the DOT, Lyndo Tippett. Tony Correale, Donna Correale and Steve Gilbride volunteered to draft the petition. The final draft was reviewed by Ryan Dyson and Antonia Gilbride, and was ready for signatures on Thursday, December 13th. Tony Correale established a task force of volunteers to begin gathering the signatures. This door-to-door campaign, as well as other neighborhood events such as bunko and gourmet dinner club gatherings, yielded approximately 200 signatures over the December 14-15th weekend. The signature-gathering team was comprised of Donna Correale, Tony Correale, Frank Fiumano, Steve Gilbride, John Hoban, Keith Holland, Brenda Kullick, Janis Lawrence, Mickey Mantiply, Fletcher Penn, Wade Ponder, Gordon Still, Nancy Ward, and Mike Wildenberg.

Entryway signs were crafted and posted by Dave Kerr to alert residents of the opportunity to sign the petition at the WVS&R club on Saturday, December 22nd. Mickey and Dave acquired twenty-four additional signatures during that two-hour period.

As of December 28th, we have acquired approximately 380 signatures on the petition, with neighborhood house coverage of approximately 65%. We plan on continuing the drive for signatures through the first week of January with hopes of getting 500 total signatures and a 95% coverage. At that point, my plan is to provide the petition to Senator Hunt and Representative Avila for their delivery to Lyndo Tippett. I also plan on sending a letter with a certified copy of the petition to Governor Mike Easley. Included with the petitions will be a letter from Wade Ponder, a 33-year veteran of the EPA and Wood Valley resident, addressing the health concerns from an air quality aspect. With these documents, we hope to prevail in getting the DOT to resurface Wood Valley Drive with a plant-mix asphalt, and to cease and desist from using this BST treatment anywhere else in our or other subdivisions. Remember, this BST treatment is the DOT plan for all neighborhood roads. If you haven't done so already, please consider signing the petition. Remember, all owners of real property in Wood Valley can sign the petition. I have a copy of the petition and signing sheets in my front doorway (4729 Wood Valley Drive), so please feel free to stop by and sign. Also, we will have a final signing opportunity on Saturday, January 5th, at the WVS&R clubhouse between 10 a.m. and noon. Please have your voice heard by signing the petition.

Lastly, I would like to thank the HOA board and all the volunteers for making this come together, as well Representative Marilyn Avila and Senator Neal Hunt for their on-going support.

Tony Correale

Residents of Wood Valley met on Tuesday, December 11th to discuss the paving on Wood Valley Drive. Representative Avila and Senator Hunt also attended.

A committee was formed to create a petition, solicit resident signatures, and present the petition to the NC Dept. of Transportation. A copy of the petition is available here. Please read it and join us by signing it. Check back on this site and watch the entrance signs for signing locations.

Tony Correale has provided this sample language to use in an informal appeal to the recent property assessments:

"Other items to consider in the overall valuation of all these properties is the noise abatement restrictions (see the attached document) and the fact that the DOT has recently converted our macadam paved road to a tar and gravel composite. This is one of the only main subdivision roads in the county to receive such an application. This is a devaluation factor compared to other neighborhoods having smooth and clean black top roads and this, along with the noise abatement issues, I hope will also be factored into your lowering our assessments."

A special meeting was held to address the Wood Valley repaving problems. Full meeting notes are here.

Our State Representative, Marilyn Avila, called me tonight on behalf of both herself and State Senator Neal Hunt. She has gathered a lot of valuable information on our road situation and I invited her to our Meeting next Tuesday night to share this information. She said she will attend and try to get Neal there also.

As far as the State DOT is concerned this is a completed project and there is nothing else to discuss.

Marilyn agreed that we need to join forces and plan our strategy to fight for getting our road restored to a livable, residential condition.

By the way, the DOT came through today with a sweeper and a "walking crew" that followed and blew the remaining loose gravel into all the homeowners's yards along Wood Valley Drive. A sloppy, uncalled for finishing touch to a terrible job.

A letter submitted by Tom Wall, one of our neighbors, can be found here.

A letter submitted by Judy Penn, and the response from Representative Avila, can be found here.

A letter submitted by Paul Schroeder and the response from Senator Hunt, can be found here.

The NC Dept of Road Maintenance has reported that they inspected the Wood Valley paving work and found it to be extremely unsatisfactory (as we well know). They are beginning on Wed. 11/14 to repair the work. The first step will be to remove the loose gravel from the road. The next step is to assess the situation. Even before the assessment, they are already committed to repair the washboard bumps. However, it is worth noting that they reported that the standard technique for refinishing is tar and gravel and that is what they are doing all over the county now.

As you have noticed, the NC Dept. of Highway Maintenance has paved Wood Valley Drive. Indirectly, the WVHOA Board has received information from homeowners that have called the State offices that they consider the work complete. The Board has not verified this information yet but we believe it is in the best interest of the neighbors to share the following information supplied by one of our homeowners.

Contact info at the NC Dept. of Highway Maintenance:

• Brandon Jones - Area 5 Division Maintenance Engineer
• Jon Nance - Field Operations

Here are web links for our state representative and senator:

• Representative Marilyn Avila
• Senator Neal Hunt

A letter submitted by Jeff Ward, one of our neighbors to the above addresses can be found here.

Local TV station WTVD-11 ran a story about the Wood Valley Drive repaving, here on their website