Call to Order – 7:30pm. President’s introduction.
Boulevard community survey: Didn’t receive too much feedback aside from traffic and bike safety. The goal is to have procurement of the construction as quickly as possible to begin in 2025.
GPNA Storage Space Decommissioning – GPNA will share more details soon via newsletter. To subscribe, visit www.grantpark.org/contact.
Trees Atlanta volunteer date: Taking place August 2.
2024 steering committee vacancies: Fundraising Chair, Transportation Chair, Philanthropy Chair, Economic Chair. Anyone interested can contact Phill Kelly at president@gpna.org.
Treasurer’s update: Monthly income statement & balance sheet. Budget presentation – Budget was approved by the body 7/16/24 by unanimous consent. Revenue 9 $12,112. Sunburst sales remain flat compared to the prior year. Filming revenue is down slightly compared to prior year. Expenses -$16,483. The storage unit is the largest operating expense at $3,264. Community grants & givebacks – $3,825.
Public Official Update: Shad Rembert joined on behalf of Council Member Jason Winston’s office. Council on recess until July 26, but City Hall is open for business as usual. The next eBike rebate application window starts in August. A federal grant of $5M was awarded for the first comprehensive urban forest plan to improve access to nature and manage the urban forest,
Item One – Public Safety: APD Zone 6 & Fire Station 10 Update. Lt. Crosby joined on behalf of Zone 6 – He’s recently joined the Zone from Zone 5. Implemented 10 hour shifts, with overlapping shifts (trial period). Neighbors can expect to see more of a patrol presence. Most crime in Grant Park is related to apartments on Memorial Drive. Anyone with a question or concern for Lt. Crosby can reach him at rcrosby@atlantaga.gov. Average response time for 911 in our area is 14 minutes.
Committee Updates
Applications: All approved at GPNA NPU Public Safety meeting earlier this week. Oakland Cemetery’s Sunday in the Park – NPU voted to approve. House in the Park – NPU voted to approve; Ramon Guyton joined to speak on behalf of the event. Everything will be the same as previous years, with the exception of an activation on the baseball field. Ramon is working on securing parking at Georgia State with free bus shuttle service. They will also promote Parkside Elementary parking and Uber use so that streets and residential driveways aren’t blocked. Queen’s Day Atlanta – deferred for general body discussion, but no one attended to share additional information. Show Your Brand Festival – Deferred for general body discussion. Julie Jackson joined on behalf of the event; September 7, 12:00pm-5:00pm hosted by Healthy Children Awareness Network. None of the vendors are alcohol vendors. Julie emphasized that vendors will be on the sidewalk, and not on the grass. Motion to recommend approval at the NPU level was passed for this event, along with Oakland Cemetery Sunday in the Park and House in the Park.
Item Two – Transportation: Boulevard Complete Street, Community Survey. The city said they weren’t collecting public input, but then put it online without telling neighbors it was available. GPNA will try to get word from the city on what they plan to do with the comments. Memorial Drive Bike Lanes – Anyone who wants to reach out to GDOT directly with concerns can contact Senior Project Manager Tahirah Slaughter at tslaughter@dot.ga.gov.
Item Three – Land Use & Zoning (LUZ): Data Centers, definition and BeltLine Overlay restriction. Not codified in current city ordinance, so they can be built anywhere and they use significant power. One ordinance has been proposed to define data centers. A second ordinance has been proposed, including a prohibition on where they’re allowed to be built, including in the BeltLine Overlay district. GPNA LUZ consensus is that it’s a good idea, but not narrow enough, leaving too much room for loopholes. City Q&A Meeting Update from Comprehensive Development Plan & Zoning 2.0 process. Discussion on the first module of updated zoning ordinances took place July 9. Three total modules will be released, and the second will be released in September, discussing parking. The third module will be released in December and will discuss administration and how administering the new code would work. Q&A happens roughly a month and a half after each module is released. Comments are still being accepted on first module: https://atlzoning.com. Our historic district isn’t being touched in this process
Item Four – Legacy Committee: MEDICI Urgent Care Free Services for Unhoused Population – Every first Saturday of the month.
Community Items
NPU-W will meet the third Wednesday of the month starting in July. This won’t impact any committee or neighborhood meetings. All registration links should still work for this new date.
Grant Park Pool – Anne Wise-Kann joined on behalf of Friends of Grant Park Pool, a small group of neighbors that keep tabs on what’s happening at the pool. As an update, the Grant Park Pool has been open Wednesdays-Sundays 12:30-7:30pm with a break from 3-4pm every day they’re open. There’s a new mural at the pool and new chairs. The manager of the pool this year is Devin Oubre, and he’s there all the time. HappiFeet is no longer the way to submit concerns. City said they want people contacting at parkscustomerservice@atlantaga.gov. The one-hour breaks aren’t supposed to be happening per Commissioner of Parks & Rec; if residents see this happening, the best thing to do is communicate with the parks customer service email address. The city will only accept fundraised dollars for capital improvements, not operation costs. The bathing load is currently capped at 125 people at a time. When they reach capacity, they make everyone who wants to come into the pool line up, let the current people swim for an hour, and then make everyone swap out. Open regular hours through July 28 and then on weekends into September. Submit comments and concerns to pool operations at: City of Atlanta Department of Parks and Recreation (activate-atl.com).
Approval of the June Minutes.
New Business: Environmental item added by Steve Carr. There was supposed to be a combined sewage meeting in Peoplestown a few months ago, but it was abruptly canceled. GPNA will keep neighbors informed of any updates.
Adjournment – 8:30pm.
GPNA Officers and Steering Committee – Online Directory: Visit gpna.org/calendar for committee meetings and Zoom links.
