EACA Meeting June 10, 2012
Meeting called to order at 7:05 pm.
Public Safety Committee: Ted Bradford, Chair – We’re going to start with the APD report.
Brought three out of the four weeks. Last week we had 8 crimes. 3 auto thefts out of 30 in the zone. Pretty consistent through those three weeks. Averaging about 100 crimes for the zone – fairly steady. Violent crimes Question – on the car break-ins is there a common theme, like people are leaving stuff in cars?
Answer – Yes. Officers that see electronics or other valuables in your car put a “ticket” on the car to tell them to not leave valuables in the car. Clean Car Campaign. A lot of cars are being stolen in Grant Park, particularly Dodges and Jeep Cherokees. For week 24, we were down in zone 12%. Week 26 we were down 32% from last year. Week 27 we were up 25%, 22 crimes. Each crime makes a significant statistical difference. Most recent YTD is from week 26 and compared to last year we are only up 1%. Burglaries are down 32% but we have made that up in aggravated assaults and car break-ins. Were having a lot of snatch thefts on Moreland and at Fox Bros. Arrested two juveniles for 8 crimes – 2 auto thefts, 2 snatch thefts, 2 cases in Dekalb and College Park. Caused 10% of crime for one week.
Question – FEAL got a call about a guy at the library doing stupid things like sit in the parking lot all alone using the library with his computer. People who come to the meetings, you know you live in a big city and crime comes with that. Electronics are worth a dollar value so don’t be flagrant about them.
Question – Owns shops next to 13 Roses, car has never been broken into, walks around a lot at night, concern is the bums in the neighborhood. They come in my business and I ask them not to. It is very disruptive, especially a place that has a majority of women customers. Doesn’t think it is wise as a citizen to call 911, but it seems like it is getting to the point where I might have to.
Answer – If you encourage a behavior or tolerate a behavior it will become more prevalent. They are criminally trespassing if you tell them to leave and they don’t. You may have a reputation of being a very friendly person and they don’t differentiate between seeing you on the street and being in your shop. There are a lot of worthwhile organizations in the city to donate your money to help the homeless. For criminal trespassing, you are required to swear out the warrant from the judge in Dekalb county.
Question – What does that mean?
Answer – You’d have to go before the judge, although the officer will take them away.
Question – Has there been any additional enforcement of Skyhaven/Confederate intersection.
Answer – We lost our best traffic officer but we do have some officers in training. We do usually run two dedicated traffic cars. 500-700 tickets a month are written. The East side of that is also on Dekalb Unincorporated. Because it is offset, people pretend that it is two intersections.
Updated crime stats – We don’t get crime stats like we used to in a readable format, so Ted made monthly stats using what is available. Crime tends to cluster around the commercial district. Vehicle larcenies have been pretty bad in the last few months. Went to the EABA meeting and showed this to the business owners. They have expressed interest in improving the lighting in the parking lots. We need to figure out how big the parking lots are, what sort of fixtures we have, where we can put lighting.
Mary – There are grants for solar lighting available from SouthFace. If we could encourage use of LED lighting instead of traditional lighting so as not to bother residents.
Transportation – TSPLOST: Jack Gruendler, Transportation Chair – Are there any questions that didn’t get asked last month?
Question – Is there anything that will directly or indirectly affect us in East Atlanta.
Answer – The Marta project was allocated $250M dollars. Will be building express bus stations in the vincinity of Glenwood and I-20 and possibly Moreland and I-20 or Glenwood Park and I-20. This bus would take us downtown or to Stonecrest Mall. The other thing that affects us is the 15% of money that goes to the city. Improvements to Moreland, straighten the roads at East confederate/Skyhaven, make pedestrian improvements (sidewalks, bus shelters, improved crosswalks/pedestrian refuges).
Question – Would there be an express bus route from Moreland Ave south?
Answer – Don’t believe any of the TSPLOST money goes to implementing the routes.
Question – Is anyone getting sidewalks out of this deal?
Answer – There is a good portion that will go just for local discretionary use, so possibly. Out of the 7-8 billion dollar, about 6.15 goes to regional projects already decided upon. The other money goes to individual jurisdictions. COA has been deciding how they want to spend it. There are two major sections of the Beltline that made it into the SPLOST as a region specific project. The NE quadrant top of Piedmont Park to Edgewood Avenue streetcar. Will also build onstreet connection on North Avenue and build the southwest portion from Bellwood Quarry (ATL reservoir park) to somewhere in southwest Atlanta. If you look at how much jurisdictions are contributing from taxes, the COA is a net winner. We will receive more from the tax than we put into it.
Question – What about our area – the NPU or council district?
Answer – We don’t really know, but probably not really favorable for us. Question – how much is the tax?
Answer – 1% sales tax for 10 years or until projected amount of money has been raised.
Question – Is this like the toll road?
Answer – It is different in that in the law it is explicitly stated that in order for the tax to be continued, it has to be voted on. Contingencies – each project had its funding amount set for the regional projects + certain percentage over for contingencies. The road projects have a 10% contingency. The transit projects have a 30% contingencies. Some people believe this reflects uncertainty in transit projects and some people think that there will be a lot of money left over.
Question – Is this specifically a sales tax?
Answer – Yes. It is a region wise tax, so you would have to drive past the 10 county metro ATL region.
Gail Buckner, State Senate Candidate, District 44, special guest: District is new to EA. The redistricting moved it out of Henry into Southwest Dekalb. In 2004 she changed state law dealing with trespassing, dealing specifically with schools. She shouldn’t have to be burdened with dealing with this day after day. Running because believes in public service and because several people have asked her to run. The citizens of Clayton county elected her 8 times to serve in house and 1 term in the Senate. Was appointed to serve as chair of house administrative services appropriations committee and economic appropriations committee. Budget of billions of dollars. Elevated and raised the bar on professional services in house. Tri-chair of women’s legislative caucus. President of national organization of women legistlators. President of GA org of democrat women. Towards the end of service in the house had a study committee and legislation to mandate between 6:30 & 9 am the lanes on Capitol Ave should be reversible. People sit for an hour on I-20 to get to the capitol after sitting in her car for 45 minutes. Gailbucknersenator.com. Listed in the phone book as Charles and Gail Buckner. Married for 40 years, 3 grown children. Has an investment to what happens under the gold domes. Wants to make sure things don’t happen like the Clayton county schools losing accreditation or the possible Dekalb schools losing accreditation . Question – couldn’t capitol police take care of some of that traffic problem around the capitol?
Question – Who is your opponent?
Answer – I am running for the position.
Gail Davenport, Senate District 44 present senator: Grady baby, grew up in Clayton county. Product of public schools, fight for teachers, bus drivers, cafeteria workers. Mother and sister worked in Clayton County school for many years. Active in civil rights and human rights. Advocate for students and public schools and kids. Key issues – job creation, transportation and protecting and supporting public eduction. Believes in recycling and going green initiatives. Support veterans and am on the veterans committee. You want a good quality of life wherever you live. Member of American Business women’s associations. Knows plight of small businesses. Real estate agent in metro ATL, knows what it means for people to have the dream of home ownership. Wants to stop predatory lenders and help people keep their homes. Candidate for re-election for District 44. Thank you for inviting me.
Brownwood Park Fitness Trail Update – Laird Ruth, co-chair of Parks and Greenspace committee: Jonathan Barhite has helped us out with getting a grant for the Love Your Block grant. They gave us $1K because of his excellent proposal. Presented the plan at the EACA meeting in January but wanted to provide an update. There was a master plan developed for Brownwood Park in 2005. Some of the things that came out of the surveys and focus groups was that people supported physical activity and wanted walking/jogging and promote increased use of the park and create a safer environment. We proposed a loop that will provide about a 2/3 mile trail. We did an additional trail in January that, when added to the original plan, will be one mile. The loop will include fitness stations. We looked at a lot of fitness trails like Maynard Jackson. We thought about condensing the stations but decided to spread them out around the park. In the first phase we have bench sit-ups, a hill run, chin up bars, balance beam, and stepping stones. The holes for phase 2 have been dug in phase 1. The parks committee has also completed a lot of other projects recently. We are having a workday this Saturday from 8am – 1pm. Meet at the Rec Center. Do you need any equipment that volunteers could bring? Glad to talk about it after the meeting. We could always use battery powered drills.
Question – What measures are you taking to make sure the metal doesn’t get stolen
Answer – There is a chemical bond so can’t unscrew the bolts.
Question – Will there be more drinking fountiains?
Answer – Right now there are two. Would love to add more but that would require more money. Doing water on the south side (the wilderness side) is very costly. We’d like to put some more on the north side.
Question – What about lighting?
Answer – Would like to get funding for more lighting and power. Currently there is lighting installed it just hasn’t worked and we haven’t gotten any response from the city. Most of the trail has lighting.
Question – What is the city’s role in these improvements/planned improvements?
Answer – Good question – we did go through park pride to get our plans approved. Called 811 to make sure we didn’t hit any lines before we dig. Question – asking in reference to this project but also for other projects. Surprised there isn’t more interaction from the city.
Answer – Any kind of activity in the park, we go through Park Pride and they are our liaison to the city. Working with visioning in the park is different from working with maintenance. One hand isn’t talking to the other a lot of times. Candidate Buckner may qualify for an Iced Tea (?) grant. A key element is that is does require matching money. Usually like a 60/40 or 70/30 percentage. But because you having biking/walking trails, you would likely qualify. They just qualified for more money for security cameras and a small amphitheater. Laird- trying to determine what size grant we should go for. Keep it small or go big. We have to prioritize.
Question – Does your creek feed into South River?
Answer – Yes. Phase 2 & 3 – we won’t be able to get all the mulching done in Phase 1, so that is part of it. We want input for Phase 2 & 3 – what else would be useful for exercise equipment. Would love help prioritizing the next phase. Are there other ramps/sidewalks we should put in? Tell us at parks@eaca.net.
Question – How are you communicating these work days?
Answer – The last work day went in the newsletter.
Question – do you have a parks committee mailing list?
Answer – Yes. Suggestion – send a request for volunteers to the EAPN.
B*ATL Update – Henry Bryant: Has flyers for kids B*ATL programs. Interested in the 5K, has forms for that – the Doublequick. Runs along the trolley trail in Kirkwood. Has schedules of over 140 events. Www.batlevent.org. EACA has two tables for the Gala. Tickets are available online. Have 2 van tours of the battlefields. All tours leave from EAV. Why should we be worried about this battle? It is important to all of us because without the battle, Abraham Lincoln wouldn’t have been elected. Lots of fun events going on July 21-22.
Ron Lall and Bob Titus, Transportation chair for NPU: zoning on Moreland. Map of Moreland. This map was prepared by a consulting team that did the South Moreland LCI study in 2007, adopted by COA in 2008, Dekalb County in 2009. One of the recommendations was rezoning of key property throughout the corridor. Did not happen in 2008, but what did happen was a change to the designated land use. Now we have land use that gel with report but not zoning. We are encouraging the city to do rezoning in this corridor. Was plan that an info session would be held prior to tonight to give an overview of the rezoning. The city reneged on that, so Ron is here to give a heads up. Parcels in pink and yellow where there were recommendations made for rezoning. Given that this was done in 2007, part of the process needs to be redone – the public input part of the process. COA is going to have public input sessions so that the public and property owners can get information about zoning categories. When the study was done in 2007, the consulting team did interview the property owners. Some of those owners have changed in the last 5 years. At some point in the next few months you should see a notice from the city for these information sessions. Very similar to Neighborhood Commercial exercise EAV is going through right now. To facilitate the rezoning, the city establishes a moratorium on land use changes during the time it takes them to achieve the results.
Question – Can you talk about the moratorium in Brownwood Park areas?
Answer – The properties around Moreland and Ormewood are zoned C1. When this report was done, some variation of Quality of Life zoning classification. There is a COA side and a Dekalb side. There’s no guarantee that the planning and zoning will be implemented the way it is seen in the map.
Question – What is going on with the area on Florida?
Answer – Thinking was going to higher density residential.
Question – What is the green?
Answer – Proposed new greenspace. Had a conversation with the Dekalb Parks department to acquire the property where SpaceMax would be (property value is $300K) and was told it wasn’t a priority.
Question – With regard to encouraging Dekalb, is there anything that EACA could do?
Answer – Could engage them in conversation. Ask the planning staff to act in concert with COA . Uni-Dekalb looks like a bandaid because they employ these bandaids all over the county to solve their zoning problems. Are in the process of rewriting their zoning codes which was started in 2006.
Question – Can we as Dekalb County constituents call our commissioners and say that East Atlanta wants you to do this?
Answer – Ask for status of zoning rewrites. Call Commissioner Larry Johnson. Director of Planning is new. Map is available on ARC and COA website.
Question – Is there a digital copy of the map?
Answer – We would have to email you.
Question – Has anyone at SouthStar or ARC talked about the bridge at the Entrenchment Creek?
Answer – Meetings in past month with GDOT and it is coming before SAND. It is a bottleneck for pedestrians and vehicular traffic. Asked them to take a look at the safety issues to see if they could justify funding to make changes.
Question – What does the South River trail connect to Fulton county and then the beltline?
Answer – Don’t think that is shown on the map.
Hope you perused the minutes and the treasurer’s report. Can I get a motion to approve the minutes? Approved and meeting adjourned.
SEABA Updates
By Ashley McCartney
On July 20, 2012, Zoo Atlanta hosted our quarterly business luncheon. We had sixteen guests gather at the Ford Conference Center to enjoy lunch and hear a presentation from Vic Uzumeri and Rick Hudson. Vic and Rick reviewed a range of systems, service and software offerings that are now available to small businesses at very low cost – or even free. The audience, including myself, found the presentation extremely helpful and we thank Vic and Rick for sharing their wisdom.
On August 16, 2012, Cube Gallery, located at the corner of Memorial Drive and Powell Street, will host our networking soiree from 5:30 p.m. until 7:15 p.m. Milltown Arms Tavern will be providing snacks and beverages. As always, we pay our own tabs. Cube Gallery is the newest art gallery in our area and there is some exciting stuff going on. Come check out Cube Gallery and network with other business owners and entrepreneurs in the area. Bring your business cards. This is where deals get started!
If you have not paid your dues for 2012 ($24 for an individual and $60 for an organization), please do so either by sending a check to SEABA at 199 Estoria Street, SE, Atlanta, GA 30316 or you may pay with your credit card at any of our events.
Good things are on the horizon for SEABA. Please check out our new SEABA website at www.seabaga.org for information about our new membership guidelines, leaders, membership benefits, and tactical and strategic plans for 2011-2012. If you would like to be on our mailing list or know more about our organization just send an email to ashmccartney@gmail.com and we’ll get back to you. We are also now on Facebook.
SEABA (South East Atlanta Business Association) was created through the merger of the Reynoldstown/Cabbagetown Business Association and the Grant Park Merchants Association in 2006. Our most important goals are to strengthen and grow the business community and enhance the quality of life for all residents. SEABA is a 501(c)(6) nonprofit corporation operated by volunteers.
SAND Meeting Minutes July 2012
By Jenni Ferguson, Secretary
The meeting was called to order at 7:36 p.m. by Stephen Norman, President of SAND.<
The meeting was kicked off with welcoming Ryan, Jessica, Derrick, Leon & Kamau as new SAND residents.
MEETING MINUTES:
- Motion to draft a letter of support to Wesley International was passed 18-0.
- ·Motion to approve June minutes was passed.
MEETING NOTES:
APD ZONE 6: Officers Golphin and Jones of APD Zone 6 reported that there has been little activity in SAND since the last meeting. They responded to a question regarding the bicycle lane and that it was illegal for an automobile to use it as a turn lane. They also informed the group that the most popular time for residential break-ins is during the day.
Sheryl Bennet
Sheryl reminded SAND residents about Restorative Board which is a group of people from our district who are trained to hear of small crimes by 18-25 year olds and make decision regarding punishment. This is an option instead of going the judicial route. Typical punishment is community service. If you have any questions call Sheryl at 404-330-6038. Sheryl also briefly discussed the recycle program next April. A resident provided information of an ongoing recycle program at Walden the second Saturday each month.
Kamau Bobb
Kamau, Chairman of the Board at Wesley, discussed the ongoing matters at Wesley which includes charter renewal in the fall and potential new location. He announced that Cook would be used in the future for teacher training. Most importantly, he announced that the school would be managed internally and will be in charge of staffing.
Transportation: Bob Titus
Bob continued the conversations regarding the upcoming vote on July 31. The project will take 10 years to complete. Three items on the project are in SAND and 10 will have an impact on SAND. To see ballots go to the web site and Georgia Secretary of State.
By-laws: Steve Carr
The matters to be addressed in amendment to bylaws are term limits and voting eligibility.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Battle of Atlanta
Trestle Tree bridge painting project Saturday, July 14at 9:00 am
Ice Cream social August SAND meeting
SAND social October 13
Trolley Patrol $30.00/month
2013 Officers needed
Clarification regarding meeting dates:
August 9, 2012
October 11, 2012
Meeting adjourned at 8:28 pm
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