Call to order. Start meeting recording 7:00pm. May 9, 2023, Meeting minutes approved without dissent. May 2023 Treasurer report approved without dissent.
Elected Officials’ Reports
Council Member Liliana Bakhtiari: She is working on participatory budgeting but asking neighborhoods how the city budget should be spent. $1 million has been allocated to District 5 via Park Pride separately from and in addition to the regular budget. This will be distributed in the form of grants. Some grants will require matching funds. Implementation date is not decided just yet. Code enforcement is 14 agents short because they are not well-paid. She has been working to get pay raised to the national average so we can fully staff the office. The new pay structure will start July 1. Burned out house on Glenwood is to be taken down tomorrow. Because of liens on the property, it will be forfeited by the owners and become city property. Crime is down in the district. She voted no on the funding for the police training facility. Her reasons for the vote include environmental issues and she noted she has questions about the project that remain unanswered. She is working to address the Maynard Terrace campground, which is considered GDOT land. Workers are going out there regularly to get people into housing. Three people are still there. Eventually the area will be fenced. There was a sexual assault at the location recently and the suspect has been arrested. That is the only violent person known to have been living at the camp. Ormewood Forest deal is nearly complete. Sign up for her District 5 newsletter for more details of what her office has been working on. Q: Why did the Atlanta Police Foundation allow the current police training facility to deteriorate? A: Current police and fire training facilities are in horrible shape. The question of why is very good and she doesn’t have an answer. She has asked the same. She also has been asking how many Zone 6 officers are diverted to the training facility, and she has not gotten an answer.
Public Safety Update – Zone 6 Representative and Myron Polster: Zone 6 Update. Nicholas Mercado – burned out house on Glenwood should be coming down any day now. They are working on closing the urban campground on Maynard Terrace near the I-20 bridge. KIAs and Hyundai’s are still targets of theft. There is a program to help owners get steering wheel locks. There will be extra patrols between 2-4 a.m. in the Flat Shoals/Bouldercrest/Fayetteville corridor whenever there are free units to do the patrolling. Q: What is the current Zone 6 authorized strength vs actual strength? A: He will ask Maj. Webster and get back to us. Q: Flat Shoals and Pasley has been a nexus of crime lately, so thanks for the effort in that corridor and it’s hoped that can be kept up. Is there anything we can do to assist getting the officers staffed? A: It all depends how many people they get through the police academy. Q: How many officers from Zone 6 are stationed at the training facility site? A: He doesn’t know and would have to ask Maj. Webster. Q: Is anything being done about open drug dealing in the EA business district? A: Officers are often out looking for that and they are working on a plan to address that. EACA Public Safety Committee Myron Polster — meeting held last week; please reach out to publicsafety@eaca.net if you’d like to get involved. A number of car break-ins are not being reported, so we need to advise folks to call in even minor so the police know they are going on and can assign officers based on the number of crimes being reported.
Parks & Greenspace Update – Alex Levy and Matt Day: Friends of Brownwood Park update. First improvements will be made to the playground, then the pavilion There is a donor who will help nonprofit Art in the Paint resurface the basketball court, and that will be finished in the next month. Please see the full presentation in the meeting recording. The City of Atlanta has onboarded a landscape designer, Patrick Hand, to help lead a redesign and update of Brownwood Park in collaboration with the community. Patrick will present current plans including revamp of the existing playground areas, which is set to be completed by the end of 2023. To support the park redesign, EACA recently launched a community survey seeking feedback from the community on their wishes and desires for the park. You can read the output here.The Parents Network (EAPN) also polled their network to see the specific feedback from parents and families with children. You can read that output here. Congrats to our survey winners! Friends of Brownwood Park will next meet on Sunday, June 25 at 1:00pm at the Brownwood Park pavilion. All are invited. Email parks@eaca.net to get involved.
East Atlanta Parents Network – Rachel Corbin and Carleen Sutton: Spring Fling – Sunday, May 21 at Farmers Market Park. – huge success To follow all of our upcoming events, follow us on Facebook or Instagram.
EACA Outreach Committee – Ishita Chordia: EACA is launching a strategic effort focused on the unhoused community within East Atlanta. Initiatives will focus on securing social services support, organizing food, and clothing distribution, and equipping all residents with the knowledge and resources needed to support our unhoused neighbors. If you’re interested in getting involved, please email ichordia91@gmail.com or president@eaca.net. See meeting recording for Ishita’s presentation.
Land Use and Zoning – Karla Lightfoot Causey: Bouldercrest Triangle Neighborhood Commercial-16 (formerly NC-17). EACA’s LUZ Committee in collaboration with the community, is currently drafting updated legislation that would shape the future of development in the Bouldercrest Triangle. Examples of requirements included in the legislation could include maximum building height, required incorporation of retail space on the ground floor of developments, music/noise restrictions, and a list of uses that would not be allowed in the area (e.g., gas stations, discount retail stores). The legislation will continue to be iterated and could go into effect this fall (timeline to be confirmed). You can review the current copy of the draft legislation. Voting Item – Annexation Vote: 2018 Flat Shoals Road – Property is requesting annexation into the City of Atlanta. EACA LUZ recommends conditional Support of Annexation. EACA votes 40 yes, 7 no, 8 abstain.
Education Committee – Jeanne Fore: Meet Ken Zeff, Candidate for Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education District 3. Please see meeting recording for Zeff’s presentation. EACA is looking to launch a “task force” of parents representing APS and Dekalb County schools to help engage on key topics, make the community aware of key developments and represent East Atlanta in key meetings. Email president@eaca.net if interested.
Announcements / Community Updates
Community Pool Idea: Daniel Dorfman will present the idea of a community pool here in East Atlanta. Pool proposal is for the church at Clifton and Glenwood across from Burgess-Peterson. Plan is to have an East Atlanta swim team available to all, although the pool itself will be a private club. The corner would be recrafted as a community park. Email him if you want to see renderings and plans. See meeting recording for photos. Q: Timeline and cost? A: They haven’t purchased the property yet because they are waiting to make sure the project is feasible. Will be meeting with Liliana and the Parks Department to help figure out how it will work. They will try to keep the cost on par with similar in Lake Claire. They want to give access in various ways to the entire community.
Public Safety Training Center: Dawn Rivera spoke on the recent idea to launch a referendum and key information our community should know. Once the petition has been cleared, 75,000 signatures will be needed to get the item on the ballot. To sign the petition, you must be a registered voter in the city of Atlanta. For more info, see www.copcityvote.com.
EACA Call for Volunteers: We’re excited for what we will accomplish in 2023. But we won’t get there without engaged members of the community to help make it happen. Please reach out to president@eaca.net or any member of the EACA Executive Committee to find out how and where you can support. List of open positions. Ongoing recruitment for committee involvement: Arts and Culture, Communication, Community Outreach, East Atlanta Parent Network, Education, Fundraising and Grants, Land Use and Zoning, Membership, Neighbor in Need, Parks and Greenspace, Public Safety, and Transportation.
Closing Remarks and Adjournment 9:05pm.
