Call To Order / Start Meeting Recording 7:00pm. December 12, 2023 Meeting Minutes approved without dissent. December 2023 Treasurer Report approved without dissent.
Elected Officials’ Reports
Commissioner Johnson’s Office – Florence Coram: We served more than 1,000 children with food and gifts for Christmas. There will be a food drive on MLK day and flu and COVID vaccines will also be offered. See the commissioner’s website for details.
State Rep. Saira Draper: Legislative session started yesterday. Some things to look for: they will pass a budget, possibly will expand Medicaid using federal dollars that have been available for some time, rumors of a bill to stop cities from doing citizen-led petitions and referendums. Go to her website to sign up for her newsletter if you want regular updates.
Council Member Liliana Bakhtiari, (This came after the parks update) The stormwater issue has been tricky, but they finally have the right people at the table. After the pavilion is done, she wants to discuss with the neighborhood ideas to improve the rec center. GDOT may finally paint two crosswalks across Glenwood (near Branan and near Haas) in the business district. Timing is seven months, which is fast for GDOT, she says. The agreement to run Ormewood Forest has been taken care of and there will be a ribbon-cutting in the spring. She and the business association are working on a contract with Georgia Works to regularly clean the Village, including regular pressure washing of sidewalks. This will be paid for by city and private donors. She’s working on substance abuse treatment plan for the people Intown Cares’ Michael Nolan has been working with. Q: 593 Gresham updates? A: She is aware of the problem and is working on it. She will have a more in-depth conversation with the neighbors.
Public Safety Update – Zone 6 Representative Sgt. Williams: In 2024, they hope to work more closely with the community to get concerns registered in real-time. See the chat for his information to facilitate that. East Atlanta has seen a slight update in thefts from vehicles. Please take everything out of your car. Q: (Multiple residents, plus Ryan Downey notes this house is adjacent to the park where EACA kids and other families and children play) 593 Gresham Avenue is a problem house, with fights, shouting, shooting threats, open drug deals throughout the day, stolen bicycles appearing. How do we get law enforcement to act on this house? A: He will look at adding patrols to the area and do some research on the address.
What’s In Store for 2024: Chase Miller, president@eaca.net – Overview of EACA’s committees and areas where you can get involved. See slide show on meeting video. Neighbor in Need is a key area where volunteer project managers are needed. Outreach and EAPN have done amazing work and can always use help. Land Use and Zoning would love volunteers who have experience in related areas. Transportation will be working on a master plan. The EACA leadership team (officers and committee heads) will meet in January to set 2024 goals.
Parks & Greenspace Update – Matt Day and Alex Levy: Update on priority areas for Brownwood Park in 2024 – playground construction has been approved and will likely be done in March. Grant for pavilion has been applied for and we will know more by the end of the month. It’s likely the pavilion will be finished by the end of June. Tennis court work is in the planning stages. Invasive species management plan is in the works. Watershed issues are also being addressed. There will be a cleanup day on 1/20 from 9:00am to 12:00pm.
Outreach Update – Ishita Chordia: See slides in meeting recording. Update on our first quarter with Michael Nolan of Intown Cares, Nolan is working to get unhoused people in East Atlanta into housing. This is a pilot program that has been going on for three months. He’s made contact with 81 people, enrolled 30 people to get on the path to housing. Out of those, 8 have reached the housing queue and two have been moved into permanent housing. He’s done multiple overdose reversals and 15 people eligible for public assistance have started receiving it. If you have built relationships with any unhoused people in East Atlanta, or if you have information about their situation or families, please share that with Ishita and/or Michael. Some of the people we see in the Village do have housing but are using or dealing drugs. These people come under APD’s purview, not Michael’s. Michael has office hours when anyone can drop in with info or questions on Tuesdays and Fridays from 9:00am to 12:00pm at Eastside Church. She is organizing a meeting to discuss affordable housing. There is also a Slack channel for volunteers. Email outreach@eaca.net if you want to know more. If you have contacted Michael about anything, please contact Ishita to give your feedback. She is a student and can pay $40 for an hourlong interview. Email ichordia@uw.edu.
Land Use and Zoning Update – Grant Dollar, Jenny Murray: Update on NC-16, the proposed Bouldercrest Triangle re-zoning effort. The legislation, as proposed in late 2023, has been on-hold due to concerns among some property owners who are part of the re-zoning. Conversations with have been in progress. This week, we will be holding a follow-up session with property owners to work through potential adjustments to the legislation. For a full update on these proposed changes and the next iteration of the legislation, please join our January EACA LUZ meeting on Monday, January 29. Zoom information can be found on our EACA calendar. Update from Grant on 430 Clifton pool club: Application was approved by EACA LUZ and EACA main body. Questions came up with the application got to NPU-W’s land use and zoning committee. Ultimately, that committee voted to defer/deny the project until/unless the committee’s questions were answered. For details on this application, you can go to the document portion of the NPU-W website.
Announcements / Community Updates EACA Day of Service – Please save the date for our first Day of Service in 2024 on Saturday, January 20 from 9:00am to 12:00pm. Projects will include Brownwood Park clean-up and garden freshening; Burgess Peterson Academy garden day; a volunteer event with Michael Nolan in support of our homeless outreach efforts; and more.
Adjournment 8:19pm.
