President, Lewis Cartee called the meeting to order at 7:06pm and welcomed all new and returning community members and guests.
Public Safety – Lewis announced that Helen Silverstein, who was unable to attend the meeting, has volunteered to be the new Public Safety Chairman for EACA. She is new to the area but has already gotten involved with the East Atlanta Security Patrol and is eager to do more education and advocacy activities with EACA. Lt. Floyd of the Zone 6 precinct of the Atlanta Police Department reported that crime events have been down 52% in the last 28 day period. There was an armed robbery on March 6th in the vicinity of Hillburn and Russell (on the south end of the district) involving four black males driving a tan Dodge Caravan. It is not known if the perpetrators are associated with other crimes in the area. There was a residential burglary on Clifton Street. Vehicle break-ins in the business district continue to be an issue. Please be vigilant about leaving valuables in your car, be conscious of your surroundings and do not become distracted with electronic devices while walking in any public area. Cooperation with Dekalb Police is one of the major contributors of decreased statistics. APD has more patrols focused on traffic violations to address citizen concerns of illegal turns, speeding and running traffic signs and signals.
Jill Sieder of East Atlanta Kids Club announced that the Kids Club is looking for kids in the area who are 7 to 12 years old (2nd – 5th grade) and middle school age who may benefit from tutoring and mentoring. STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) projects, literacy-building activities, fitness and healthy eating activities, field trips, community service and leadership development activities are just a few of the pursuits that the Kids Club offers. The programs are focused on having an impact on kids’ school performance and are free for children who meet household income guidelines. A registration packet is available at www.eastatlantakids.org. The Annual East Egg Hunt will be on March 19, 2016 from 10:00am to 12:30pm. Along with the hunt for plastic eggs stuffed with candy and money, activities will include crafts, relay races and dying real eggs. Volunteers are needed on Wednesday and Thursday, March 16 and 17, the week prior to the Saturday event to help stuff and hide eggs. This year, The East Atlanta Kids Club is working with the EACA Parents Network and Living Waters Bible Church. The Egg Hunt and other activities are funded by individual and business donations and grants.
Transportation – The NPU Transportation Committee had discussions at recent meetings regarding support for the vision of a public transit shuttle connecting the neighborhoods of East Atlanta, Ormewood Park, Glenwood Park and Grant Park with the King Memorial MARTA station, the Edgewood at Hilliard Atlanta Streetcar stop and the Memorial Drive Corridor (“Connector Shuttle”). The initiative was started by Jim Voris and David Lively of GPNA. The EACA Transportation Committee asked for a resolution to support this initiative and designate EACA Transportation Chair Joe Peery as the representative for EACA on discussions with City of Atlanta and MARTA regarding this initiative. The resolution was passed unopposed by the voting membership.
The Urban Land Institute has chosen Save The Old Atlanta Prison Farm as a project for Mini-Technical Assistance Program (MTAP) to get some forward movement in MTAP by engaging the surrounding community with City of Atlanta government. Joe Peery will have an update on this project at the April EACA meeting. The committee is updating the website and it should be up to date by the end of March. In the meantime please see the “Save the Old Atlanta Prison Farm” Facebook page: www.facebook.com/atlantaprisonfarm. Scott Peterson gave a history of other Prison Farms that were improved and later became regional parks. Saturday, March 19 will be the next tour of The Old Prison Farm. The tour begins at Intrenchment Creek Park. The committee asks that community members encourage both Dekalb County CEO candidates in the upcoming election to support repurposing of the Old Atlanta Prison Farm into a regional park.
Daniel Murphy of the Southeast Beltline Committee which is a sub-committee of the NPU-W Transportation Committee gave an update of progress portion of the Beltline Project that will affect Southeast Atlanta. Development proposals and plans for this portion of the beltline continue but it will be 2017-2018 before prospective Beltline property is sold by CSX. The Sub-Committee of NPU-W meets the 3rd Thursday of each month at Eastside Church. For more information go to www.seatlbeltline.org. The Sub-Committee asks that community members forward this information to anyone they think would be interested.
Arts and Culture – The first annual April Fool’s Day Pub Crawl will be held on Friday, April 1 beginning at 7:00pm. There are currently five pubs committed to offer food and drink discounts to crawl-goers, with an anticipation of at least two more signing up this week. The cost for participants is $15 for EACA members, $20 for non-members and only 50 tickets will be available. To buy tickets, please use the link at www.EACA.net.
East Atlanta Parents Network – This year, the Parents Network will celebrate Earth Day with a “Cardboard Challenge” on April 23. Participants will construct a cardboard car, boat or truck using recyclables and at dusk there will be a “drive in” movie. Donations of recyclables are needed.
Parks and Greenspace – There will be an “invasive species” work day on March 19 at 9:00am in Brownwood Park. The Parks and Greenspace Committee is partnering with Trees Atlanta to grow successive vegetation. Email parks@eaca.net to get involved.
Membership – There are currently 140 new and renewing EACA members. The conclusion of the 2016 Membership Drive will be marked on April 12 at the regular EACA meeting with a prize raffle. Tony Crump announced that The APD Citizens Police Academy will run from March 23 to May 11 this year. This is a weekly program to engage community members in Public Safety.
Treasurer – The 2016 Proposed Budget was made available at the February EACA meeting, on the eaca.net web page and at the beginning of the March EACA meeting for review by the community. Each year, the Proposed Budget provides transparency for dollars brought into the organization and expenses that are expected based on committee input and previous years’ spending. Bylaws require approval at two consecutive EACA general membership meetings. The first approval was granted by the voting membership in attendance at the February EACA meeting. The EACA Board requested and received the second approval by EACA membership without opposition.
Neighbor in Need – The Midway Pub will host the next Neighbor in Need Fund Raiser Poker Tournament on March 26, 2016. The tournament is free to play with a purse of $500. For more information or to sign up to play, see www.eaca.net.
Other business:
Meeting Minutes and Treasurer’s Reports for both February and March were approved without opposition.
Not Just Spectators” will host a mixer on March 20 at The Loft at Castleberry Hill to benefit families who cannot afford to participate in programs at Dance 411. For more information, contact Shannon Moorer at (404) 490-3621.
Meeting adjourned at 8:08pm.
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