7:00pm, 60 attendees
Opening Remarks/Introductions
State/City/County Elected Officials
Councilwoman Natalyn Mosby Archibong (City of Atlanta, District 5), represented by Kevin Friend. He asks if there are any questions. None.
Commissioner Larry Johnson and others (DeKalb County) – presentation on combined transportation and comprehensive land use plans.
Sylvia Smith with long-range planning for DeKalb. Public meetings will begin next week. See https://dekalb2050unifiedplan.com or email 2050unifiedplan@dekalbcountyga.gov. Jon Tuley presents slides describing the project. Please see meeting recording for details. Q: Will public meetings be recorded and will slides from presentation be shared? A: Yes, to both. Q: Haven’t transportation and land use always been included together? A: Transportation usually is mentioned as a reference to a separate plan rather than totally combined as this new plan will be. Q: Will the neighborhood registry be active again? Trying to get EACA listed on the registry. A: Ms. Smith will follow up on why Dawn has been unable to access this. See chat for her email address.
Zone 6 Update — Lt. J. Holt with Atlanta PD: His first time at this meeting and he is new to the unit. There was an email question about Waffle House shooting of 15-year-old. There is no suspect. If you have info, please call Crimestoppers. This incident began in a park, so police will be more closely monitoring parks this summer. See chat for his contact info. Q: Please be aware of speeding and loud traffic on Flat Shoals, including ATVs, which officers don’t seem to pay much attention to. A: Thanks for putting that on his radar. There will be a special unit this summer addressing this type of thing and he will forward info on the hot spots to that unit. He asked what day and times are worst for this and resident says it happens on many days, but weekend nights are worst. He asks folks to put problem locations into the chat.
Approval of Meeting Minutes (April 13, 2021).
Approval Treasurer’s Report- April 2021 – Please email treasurer@eaca.net with any questions.
Guests
EAV Farmer’s Market– Katie Kriner — kriner@cfmatl.org: Market is getting busier every week, with peaches and shrimp arriving in the market this week. Email Katie for more info. Check the chat for her details. There also will be plants available this week, along with cut flowers. Roots and greens also in season. Serviceberry Fest will be June 3 at the market; run by Robby Astrove. Alliance Theater may be performing at the market in June or July. They are working on safely bringing back market chefs and tastings and are looking for help planning kids’ activities. Contact her. Again, see chat for info. When: Thursdays from 4-8pm. Where: EAV Farmer’s Market, 572 Stokeswood Avenue (entrances on Flat Shoals and Stokeswood).
Business spotlight: Monique Arar – Music with Monique, who teaches piano to kids and adults, along with music theory and history, recently entertained at the farmers market, sponsored by our EACA president and her husband. www.musicwithmonique.com.
Atlanta City Council Candidate – District 5 Spotlight – This is EACA’s first candidate introduction. Others will follow in the next months.
Liliana Bakhtiari – www.lilianaforatlanta.com. Please see recording of the meeting for Liliana’s presentation. Liliana@lilianaforatlanta.com.
Committee Reports
Membership (membership@eaca.net): Chase Miller is new membership chairman. He hopes to build on the feedback received in this year’s survey.
EACA will be at the farmers market the first Thursday of every month and you can join or renew your membership there or online any time. Join EACA! www.eaca.net/join-eaca – $20 membership (per household); $45 (membership and sign).
Education (education@eaca.net): APS- Back to full time in-person in the next school year. First day APS is August 5 and for DeKalb it is August 3. APS Summer programs for credit recovery – your school will inform you. Deadline to register has been extended to the 19th. DeKalb County – New charter school, K-2 – lottery system. DeKalb Brilliance Academy will add grades each year until it’s K-8.
Vaccinations now available for 12 years old and older. Mercedes Benz Stadium has appointments. All school-age children are likely to be eligible in the summer. Fulton County Library jobs program for teens. Volunteer: www.fulcolibrary.org/volunteer-at-fulcolibrary.
Atlanta Parks Department: Camp Best Friends – Summer employment opportunities for youth and adults. https://atlantaga.jobs.net/jobs?posted=30&radius=&emp=all&cb_apply=false&keywords=camp-best-friends&location=.
Pool update – City pools will be open and free every day. Elementary and high school times have flipped for the next school year and added 30 minutes to each day. Petition has been going around to ask the superintendent to reexamine the high school early start time.
Public Safety and Welfare – Myron Polster: Mail Theft – this longtime problem is continuing. Please don’t leave outgoing mail in a personal mailbox. He suggests you sign up for USPS Informed Delivery(https://informeddelivery.usps.com/box/pages/intro/start.action). Report mail theft! Losses and mail theft are charted by the Postal Inspection Service to identify problem areas and assist Inspectors in tracking down thieves. Report suspected mail losses to Postal Inspectors by calling 887-876-2455 or report at www.uspis.gov. There has been an uptick in car break-ins. Probably happening to visitors. Don’t leave items in plain view in your vehicle and remind visitors of the same. Anniversary of the 2013 shooting death of Patrick Cotrona is coming and there have been no arrests in the case.
Transportation (transportation@eaca.net) Karlyn Beer: BATL multi-use trail update – Project has lots of support and a subcommittee is collecting data on how we can make this happen. Email transportation@eaca.net if you’re interested in joining the subcommittee.
Maynard Terrace GDOT – Q&A has been posted to EACA transportation shared drive (https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1n7GZUZN9IWv8aclQax0x-_5xHiJKIYao)
Transportation committee has already provided feedback on this plan, noting there are many safety concerns. Public comment is open until May 26 and GDOT will be at the NPU-W Transportation Committee meeting. See chat for info on how to comment. This plan is about easing traffic congestion and not safety.
South Moreland Avenue Working Group – Upcoming pedestrian counts for Moreland crossing near Pendleton (Week of May 17, 12-hour count; Weekend count on May 22/23) The number of people crossing will determine whether a crosswalk and pedestrian beacon will be installed. If you see the GDOT camera, please alert your neighbors to cross the road multiple times if they can do it safely.
SMAWG also is working to have safety improvements included as a planned resurfacing of Moreland Avenue from Edgewood to Custer is done. Transportation Committee will be hosting City Council candidates to hear their views on transportation issues.
Parks and Greenspace (parks@eaca.net) Alex Levy: Brownwood Park Workdays – 1st Saturday of each month, 9am-noon (info in announcements below) There was a good showing at May’s workday with Trees Atlanta and neighborhood volunteers doing a lot of work, including fixing a clogged drain at the rec center parking lot. Downed, diseased and damaged trees are being worked on, and Alex will work on getting those replaced with new trees. Trees Atlanta has continued attacking invasive species even as volunteer days stalled during Covid. Next volunteer day is June 5. Watch for announcement on details.
Park Pride says the city will soon turn on the water fountain in the park. He’ll be joining a grants workshop next week to see what opportunity there might be to get some money for the park.
Ormewood Forest MOA – City of Atlanta Parks Department and Parks Committee have been working on the agreement on how Ormewood Forest will be managed.
Land Use and Zoning (landuse@eaca.net): Jennifer Murray filling in.
V-21-099 730 Gresham Avenue – Home on NE corner of Gresham and Ormewood and want to put a pool in the backyard. They are requesting a variance for privacy fencing and need to move a shed. The LUZ Committee voted to defer and deny the variance because all documents were not available. The documents then were presented at the NPU-W meeting. EACA voted to remove the defer and denial and approve the variances for the pool 19 to 3, with 4 abstaining.
770 Shadowridge Encroachment – The Ormewood Forest group is trying to get around this and have sidewalk on just one side of the street instead of both, as the second sidewalk causes an encroachment on the stream. The city has approved the encroachment, but citizens are still working on the issue.
1543 Maynard Avenue update – As of May 4, Dept. of Parks & Rec had not received application for right-of-way tree removal or building permit.
1560 Flat Shoals Avenue update – 6-acre lot around Maynard and Pasley near the Bouldercrest split. Developers’ plans were denied, and they are appealing, with a Superior Court Appeal that will be open to the community on June 16, 1:30pm. Case 2020cv343208 – Judge Leftridge.
DeKalb Commissioner meeting with Skyhaven neighbors on opportunities for future of former school property
1058 & 1078 Moreland Avenue update – This is the parcel that includes the quarry. LUZ and development partners have met with and opened dialogue with current owners. Fluid and ongoing dialogue.
Open request for neighbor assistance in area of architecture (roughly 2–10-hour commitment over 30-day period) for three visioning projects. If interested and willing, please email landuse@eaca.net.
Announcements
Neighbor in Need – Day of Service – May 15, 2021, 8:30am-12:00pm; meet at Brownwood Park Rec Center parking lot3 residences have been selected for general yard clean up Volunteer slots are full but there will be another day in June.
Burgess Peterson Academy Organic Garden – Michelle Rice: Fridays at 8:00am; adults only currently. Garden work and harvesting. Please contact BPAgarden@gmail.com with questions.
Brownwood Park and Trees Atlanta Workdays – Alex Levy (parks@eaca.net). First Saturday of each month, 9:00am-12:00pm; (June5 1) Meet at Pendleton Street near tennis courts (Trees Atlanta) and Brownwood Rec Center (Parks and Greenspace committee clean up) Please sign up at https://signup.com/go/FeENYRM so we can rent tools ahead of time!
Porch Press (porchpress@eaca.net) – Henry Bryant: Call for proofreading volunteer. Once per month between 27th and the 1st of the following month If interested, please reach out to Henry at porchpress@eaca.net or Lyn Hillman at editor@theporchpress.com.
Nate Minor, EABA: Whispers of History event coming up. Register via eastatlantabiz.com. On May 19, there is a court date for Abe Asher, who is facing charges related to his properties. If neighborhood residents want to share victim impact statements, they need to be present at Courtroom 5A between 9:00am and 10:00am at Municipal Court.
“The Valet” will be filming this week in the village and will return in June. They are the ones putting in the palm trees, painting the old Dollie’s and putting up fake business signs confusing some folks. Sign up at eastatlantabiz.com for the newsletter and you will learn about upcoming filming.
Meeting adjourned at 9:30pm.
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