March 2015 - East Atlanta Community Association

EACA Meeting Minutes
March 10, 2015
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7:00 PM - Introductions and Welcome New Neighbors
7:05 PM- Ralph Green , Approve April Minutes and Treasures Report, and EACA
Budget Vote
7:10PM Public Safety Police Representative
7:15PM- NIN Poker tournament
7:30 -Principal Robbins BPA – State of the School
7:40-PM Tony Crump – EACA Membership Survey Results
7:50PM- Joe Perry and Jack Grundler – Infrastructure Bond Vote
8:00PM- Andy Schneggenberger- All things Land Use and Zoning
8:10- Park Pride Park tour and Brownwood Park Community work day
8:20- East Atlanta Farmers Market
8:30 – Adjourn
The President, Mary Yetter called the meeting to order at 7:10 and welcomed all new
neighbors and guests. New neighbors introduced themselves.
Announcements:
East Atlanta Easter Egg Hunt will be held on Saturday, March 28, 2015 beginning at
11:00 a.m. (participants should gather at 10:30 a.m. at the Brownwood Park Rec Center)
Volunteers are needed for preparation prior to the event as well as the day of the event
and donations of pre-wrapped individual candy would be appreciated. Will hide 800
plastic eggs and 13 dozens hard-boiled eggs. Donations of either can be dropped off
Friday or Saturday morning. For more information email: info@eastatlantakidsclub.org
or call 404-627-8050.
On March 21st Scott Peterson will be giving a tour of The Old Atlanta Prison Farm and
will meet all who are interested in going at 10:30 am at Key Road and Fayetteville Road.
Check FB page “Save the Old Atlanta Prison Farm” for further information. Will host a
get together for people to become more familiar with Prison Farm project on April 16 th at
El Mexicano Restaurant. Details to follow in the newsletter. (Note: the date of this event
was changed after the community meeting was adjourned. The new date of the event at
El Mexicano is April 22, 2015.)
The Minutes and Treasurer’s Report for February were approved.
Treasurer, Ralph Green re-presented the 2015 Budget for questions and approval, which
was passed.
Public Safety:
Lieutenant Tim Carter of APD reported that there was one aggravated assault and 3 or 4
vehicle larcenies in the 612 district in the last 28 days. He reminded residents not to
leave valuables in their car while they are away from their vehicle whether it is locked or
not. There has been a high incidence of guns being stolen from vehicles. Also, please
keep your garage door closed and do not leave your car unattended while warming it up
in the morning. Lt. Carter reiterated if you “see something, say something”. There was a
concern mentioned regarding beat patrols of the Burgess Peterson Academy area to deter
people from parking illegally in front of school. There was also a concern mentioned
regarding what was assumed to be celebratory gun fire in the neighborhood. Please
report any shots fired to 911. There is no way to tell if someone is shooting a gun in the
air or if it is injurious gunfire or not. Thank you to the neighbors, residents and business
owners for the continued vigilance of the East Atlanta community. Resident participation
and partnership with APD is one of the reasons for the drop in crime in the area.
Councilperson Natalyn Archibong announced that she recently escorted Mayor Reed to
the Old Atlanta Prison Farm to garner his support to save the prison.
Matt Garbett, a consultant on “Tactical Urbanism” (which is described as “a collection of
low-cost, temporary changes to the built environment, usually in cities, intended to
improve local neighborhoods and city gathering places), invited the community to attend
a planning meeting to target the potential of the intersection of Bouldercrest and Flat
Shoals Roads on March 19, 2015 at First Mount Pleasant Church (816 Maynard Terrace)
at 6:30 p.m. More details can be found on the Facebook page “East Atlanta Corner
Project”. The meeting will focus on brainstorming creative ways to capitalize on and reuse already existing resources and materials to utilize the proposed space, engaging the
property owners to improve the property, demonstrate viability and embrace the value of
community enrichment. Build date is TBD. Funding is coming from Councilwoman
Archibong’s office.
Transportation:
There was a reminder about the March 17 special $250 million Bond Referendum for
City of Atlanta voters. The two bond items, if passed, will fund transportation and public
facility improvements. There is currently a backlog of projects to be funded by the $250
million proposed bond: $134 million would address city wide horizontal infrastructure
(projects such as roads, bridge and overpass improvements, street repaving, sidewalks,
bicycle lanes, traffic signal coordination, ADA compliance, etc.), $64 million would
address city wide vertical infrastructure (projects such as municipal building and facility
upgrades and maintenance, fire and police stations, a video integration center to collect
footage from public and private surveillance systems, recreation centers, public art, etc.).
The bond is intended to address only existing projects, no greenspace or new projects are
included. The two items (horizontal and vertical projects) will be separate issues on the
ballot. A sample ballot is available at:
http://fultoncountyga.gov/images/stories/RAE/2015/Elect/SPCOA/COA_SP_SB.pdf .
The proposed list of projects is available at: http://www.infrastructuremap.org but the list
is not yet approved by city council. Of the monies that will be split between the council
districts, $5.5 will be for horizontal infrastructure and $1.3 million for vertical
infrastructure. Ms. Archibong is primarily looking at ways to leverage this district’s
allotment of that money. Please lobby your city council member to see projects that you
have an interest in added to the list and approved.
There was a request for a crosswalk at Maynard Terrance and Glenwood Road.
Councilwoman Archibong said she would have a traffic engineer go out and access the
area.
The community expressed their thanks to the City of Atlanta and MARTA for the new
sidewalks along Flat Shoals Road.
Principal Robbins of Burgess Peterson Academy thanked EACA for all the support,
engagement and involvement in the school over the last 7 years and gave a state of the
school review from the last couple of years as well as a preview of upcoming events.
Land Use and Zoning:
An application for sub-division of the parcel of land at the corner of Flat Shoals Road and
Newton Avenue was presented and discussed. Sub-division applications are not a voting
issue so the community was not asked to approve the application. It was noted that the
NPU suggested to the representative of the builder that the configuration of the 3
proposed structures be changed so that 2 structures face Flat Shoals Road and 1 structure
face Newton Avenue. The developer’s proposal is to have all 3 structures facing Newton
Avenue causing the west side of the corner structure to face Flat Shoals Road, which is
inconsistent with the parcel layout pattern along that stretch of Flat Shoals.
An item for general knowledge and discussion regarding neighborhood and community
vision-associated zoning and the various Master Plans of interest to the East Atlanta
community will be introduced at the April 14th EACA meeting. All who are able are
invited to stay after the meeting to participate in a more in depth exchange. Please see
the newsletter or EACA website for current Master Plans.
Neighbor in Need:
The annual fund raiser Poker Tournament will be held on March 28, 2015 at 10:00 a.m.
at Midway to benefit NIN. Last year’s tournament raised $2,000 for projects designed to
help senior members in our community. Players are still needed.
Parks and Recreation:
The Beautification Committee, in conjunction with the City of Atlanta, is planning to
make some repairs in Brownwood Park prior to the March 23rd Park Pride Conference
Event, “Public Spaces & Forbidden Places: Southeast Atlanta Tour,” which will include a
tour and presentation of Brownwood Park. The handrails, which were taken down in
order to remove an unsafe tree, need to be replaced and the gates to the tennis court need
repair. They need many hands/wheel barrows and possibly the use of a Bobcat to move
the mulch that has been delivered for use in the park. If you can help in any way, please
meet at the Pendleton Road entrance to the park from10:00 a.m. to 1:00 pm on Saturday,
March 14th.
Membership:
A survey concerning EACA membership concepts, activities and values was developed
earlier this year and made available to EACA members as well as newsletter recipients to
garner opinions about how effective the community association is in its pursuit to
represent East Atlanta. The survey period has ended and the results have been tallied. A
summary of the responses is now on the EACA Facebook page and a link to the
responses will be available in the next newsletter. A second survey may be planned for
later in the year regarding the vision of community. The Membership Reward program
needs more sponsors if you know of someone who can offer a discount on their goods
and/or services, please let the membership committee know. It was suggested that
highlights of survey be published in the Porch Press.
To date, membership renewals and new memberships are up to 173 household
(representing 372 members, 78 of those being new members). 2014 had @ 200
memberships, but actual residents in each household were not counted by the
membership committee until this year.
Meeting adjourned at 8:36.