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STEELE CREEK NEWS

Chief Putney: Know Your CMPD Community Coordinator

Highways and Schools Also Featured at Annual Meeting

(March 13, 2017) Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Chief Kerr Putney was the featured speaker at the 2017 Steele Creek Residents Association meeting in February. He said the police and the community are not connected enough. "We want you to know us, and we need to get to know you," he said.

Chief Putney asked how many people knew their Community Coordinator by name, and less than a third of the audience raised their hands. He said "We ask you to invite us to your event."

Since about 1980 Community Oriented Policing has made a significant change in thinking and practices of the police, as officers work more with the community. Officers provide more personalized, decentralized service to identify and solve problems. Chief Putney asked the community to invite a Community Coordinator to their neighborhood events to discuss crime prevention and other issues. The Steele Creek Division Community Coordinators are assigned to three response areas, as shown on the map below. They can be reached at 704-336-8549 or by email at the addresses below.

Response Area 1 - OFC Adam DeGeorge adegeorge@cmpd.org
Response Area 1 - OFC William Fontaine wfontaine@cmpd.org
Response Area 2 - OFC Alex Cruz acruz@cmpd.org
Response Area 2 - OFC Dan Redford dredford@cmpd.org
Response Area 3 - OFC Ron Hill rhill@cmpd.org
Response Area 3 - OFC Matthew Huffman mhuffman1@cmpd.org



Robert Cook, Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization (CRTPO) Secretary, reported that the entire length of Highway 160 (Steele Creek Road) from I-485 to the South Carolina state line will be widened beginning in 2022. Previously the portion south of Highway 49 was not scheduled. (Right of Way acquisition will begin in 2020.) He also said that construction of improvements to the Highway 160/Hamilton Road intersection should begin in spring of 2018.

Additionally, NCDOT will be adding a right turn lane to Brown-Grier Road at Highway 160 this spring, once ongoing utility work is completed.

See CRTPO Presentation.

Highway 160

CMSCharles Wilkerson of Alignment Southwest Charlotte said that beginning in 2004-2005, Mike Realon of Olympic High School began fostering partnerships between Olympic and area businesses. These efforts soon expanded beyond the business community to churches, non-profits, and city agencies, and beyond Olympic to Olympic's two feeder middle schools and six feeder elementary schools. He said that Alignment Southwest Charlotte "wants to provide every kid with the opportunity to achieve to his or her highest human and economic ability."

Three principals, Merita Little of Steele Creek Elementary School, Kevin Sudimack of Kennedy Middle School, and Erik Olejarczyk of TEAM High School at Olympic highlighted some of the accomplishments of their schools. Ms. Little said, in summary:

Steele Creek has been in existence for the past 91 years and has always represented the community through its rich history and long standing relationships with the families, faith-based partnerships, and local businesses. Steele Creek Elementary has transformed the instructional practices which focuses on STEAM to match the magnet programs of its feeder schools. The school has received many grants from the Arrowood Business Association, Bosech Rexroth, PPG, Northup Grumman, and Steele Creek and Central Steele Creek Presbyterian Church's to fund the technology, environmental science, and robotics programs. We are proud to be a part of the Steele Creek Community.

Rodger Nolden emphasized the need for a new high school in Steele Creek. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools owns land for a new school adjacent to Palisades Park Elementary School. Steele Creek continues to grow, and Olympic High School is at 152% capacity. Mecklenburg County plans to include a school bond on the November ballot, and it is imperative that a new high school in Steele Creek is included. However, Olympic is 51 years old and desperately needs renovations.

Over a dozen non-profit and government agencies participated in the Meet and Mingle before and after the presentations. See Participant Contact List.

Berewick Recreation Center/Wingate Recreation Site
Charlotte Department of Transportation (CDOT)
Charlotte Douglas Airport
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Planning Department
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department - 
   Steele Creek Division
   Animal Care and Control
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools
Lake Wylie Covekeepers/Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation
McDowell Nature Center
North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT)
Palisades Episcopal School
Steele Creek Athletic Association
Steele Creek Library
Steele Creek Presbyterian Church
Steele Creek YMCA

2017 Annual Meeting

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