Minutes ~ NPU-X Meeting - November 2009

WHEN:              Monday, November 8, 2009           TIME:                 7:00 P.M.                            WHERE:            Stewart-Lakewood Library                           2893 Lakewood Ave., S.W. SPONSORS:      NPU-X and the Bureau of Planning   FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  Dianne Bryant, Chairperson (404) 758-8008 Charletta Wilson Jacks, Assistant Director (404) 330-6145 Wendy Scruggs-Murray NPU/Citizen Participation Coordinator (404) 330-6899 Garnett Brown, Planner (404) 330-6724

1.     Opening Remarks/Invocation

2.     Minutes

Previous meeting’s minutes were e-mailed and hard copies are available. Review and provide corrections to be entered for the record.

3.     Chair’s Report

Upcoming Beltline corridor southwest study group meeting on November 11^th @ 6:30 p.m. at West Hunter St. Baptist Church.

Sign ordinance—Keep Atlanta Beautiful issued a statement in opposition to the sign ordinance presented to the NPUs last month. Those interested in voicing their opinions are encouraged to attend the upcoming public hearing to discuss (date TBD).

Councilmember Joyce Sheperd is hosting the annual Gilbert House lighting event. Need volunteers. Contact Joyce’s office at 404-330-6053, to volunteer to help on November 21^st @ 9 a.m.-2 p.m., and December 5^th @ 9 a.m. -2 p.m. The lighting ceremony will be on December 11^th @ 6:30-8:30 p.m.

The application for Billie Jean’s (G-Spot) is on the LRB agenda for next Tuesday, November 17^th but it has been postponed several times. Confirmation will be sent if it happens.

NPU-X’s representative to the Metropolitan Pkwy TAD advisory committee is Matt Cherry, chair of the land use committee.

Sister Marie of the Sullivan Center is NPU-X’s nominee for an APAB award. Dianne received 3 nominations for the award; however, 2 of the nominees weren’t known and the third did not have information of their accomplishments in the NPU to support the award. The awards ceremony will follow the APAB meeting on November 21^st. The NPU has been given 4 tickets for the ceremony. One is saved for Sister Marie leaving 3 to be given to others. Note: Dianne declined the nomination for an APAB award as she would not sign a nomination for herself.

4.     Treasurer’s Report - Currently, NPU-X’s bank

         account balance is $486.96 including

         collection of $22 from October’s meeting.

5.     Public Services

• Zone 3 Police Department – Lt. Rodney Bryant, Assistant Zone 3 Commander rbryant@atlantaga.gov, ph. 404-624-0670 (Note: Major Finley was present later in the meeting but did not make a report)

Same issues as previously reported. Slight increase in property crime; however, violent crime is substantially down in the zone. Focus has been on the Sylvan, Dill and Metropolitan Pkwy corridors. A discretionary officer, Officer Bachman, has worked the Dill Ave. corridor and has gotten to know everyone in that area.Want to adjust coverage to focus on Sylvan Rd. and nearby streets.

Clubs—A recent detail hitting nightclubs in Zone 3 including 1230 Murphy, 1919 Metropolitan Pkwy and another location yielded multiple arrests. The detail will continue. Also, a prostitution detail last week on Metropolitan Pkwy resulted in at least 10 arrests.

Q: Any information about the club operating in the 1800 block of Murphy Ave. (Visions Royal). A: It appears to be an illegal club but haven’t confirmed what type of business license if any they possess.

Q: Update on the Lisbon and Cahoon homicide? A: The case is still under investigation. The victim was specifically targeted and not a random act. Leads are coming in.

Q: Any information on the Katherwood gunfire that struck the McWilliams’ house? A: Although someone was arrested on a gun related charge in the area, the investigation was unable to connect that arrest to that particular shooting. The case is in an inactive status which means the investigation has exhausted all possible leads at this time but remains open in case a lead arises.

• MARTA – No one present.
• Atlanta Fire Department – Captain Wyatt, Fire Station 20
  

  The station has had about 2,000 runs this year which is relatively busy but now is when the busy season actually begins. All should watch out for fire hazards involving space heaters as well as check the batteries in smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. Call AFD to get a CO detector if needed.

  Fire station #20 is almost 100 years old. Crew has been fixing up the station with paint and other repairs. They have requested new siding for peeling painted areas on the exterior.

  Baptist Towers fire on Myrtle—all removed safely. 2 minor injuries (smoke inhalation and chest pains). 3 alarm fire. No word on injured fire fighter.

  Q: Is burning of leaves in City of Atlanta allowed? A: No. Burning requires a permit but they usually aren’t given.
• Department of Watershed Management – Santana Kempson ph. 678-616-7085, fax 404-546-8651
  

  To keep the storm drains clear to avoid possible flooding, everyone is asked to rake leaves and place them in paper bags. Do not rake in storm drains.

  To keep the drains and sewers clear, apply the FOG rule (Fats Oils Greases)—keep grease, food scraps dairy, oils, chocolate and other fatty, oily items out of the drain.

  Q: A crew was digging up water pipes along Melrose on Sunday. How long with the fire hydrant project last and how long will the metal plates remain at Melrose and Victory? A: Nothing none about the project at this time.

  Concern: Storm drain openings on Lisbon seem dangerous

  Concern: Hammond Park neighborhood has significant problem with storm drains due to abundance of leaves that haven’t been raked and an over growth of vegetation. Need a more permanent solution to keep the storm drains clear.

  Concern: A large area of standing water continues near the railroad crossing at Sylvan and Murphy. A leak has been reported there in the past and the leak seems to continue.

6.     Elected Officials’ Report

• Ralph Long, District #61, State House Representative, ph. 770-616-2130
  

  Baptist Towers fire—The fire occurred earlier today on the 11th floor of the assisted living facility on Myrtle Ave. Not clear how it started. The residents had problems evacuating the building via the stairwells because of the number of seniors with mobility issues clogging the stairwells. The building does not have a current, legible fire plan despite loss of 9 lives in a fire there back in the 70’s. Note: Rep. Long will be looking into options for assistance for those in assisted living facilities including whether the residents with mobility issues can be located on lower floors.

  The governor announced a significant loss in tax revenue for the state.

  The Fulton County delegation meetings are to be held on November 11th and 12th. The delegation meetings provide an opportunity for citizens to learn how to voice their concerns to the state legislature.

  Q: Governor provided a tax credit in the past that is now gone. Why? A: Rep. Long asked to be called with more information so that he can have the matter researched.
• Councilmember H. Lamar Willis – Sidney Allen reporting
  

  Expressed gratitude for support received in last week’s election.
• Claire Farley – Community Prosecutor Zone 3 –
  

  Bond has been denied to Dante Harris for the Ya Boy and Muffler King cases.

  Carver High School incident—bond denied to the 16 year old charged (juvenile charged as an adult) with attacking 2 other students from the neighborhood. Multiple students and possibly adults perpetrated the attack during school hours. The victims were very traumatized by the incident that involved robbery and a pistol whipping. APD officers focused on gang activity are involved in the investigation.

  Local offender, Jeffrey Wright, goes to trial on November 23rd. He is a repeat offender for a variety of crimes whose case has been delayed due to claims of mental illness.

  The defendant in the apparently gang-related shooting of John Henderson at the Standard has appeared before a grand jury.

7.     Committee Reports 

Public Safety Committee - The committee’s next meeting is on Monday, November 23rd @ 6:30 at Rice Memorial (1515 Brewer Blvd at Sylvan and Deckner). At the last meeting, the committee discussed the Lisbon and Cahoon shooting and the robbery of the 3 men on Beattie who were in their yard. Dianne will continue to head the public safety committee and would like suggestions for future city officials or others to visit the meetings. Suggestions so far have included a representative from the license review board and a narcotics crime investigator.

Lakewood Oversight - Ruben Burney, ph. 404-761-7340, announced that the committee is continuing plans for its gospel extravaganza in celebration of the amphitheater’s 20th anniversary. The next meeting will be on November 10th. Event proceeds will benefit the community. They are negotiating with the finance committee to finance the event.

8.     Planner’s Report – Garnett Brown,

        ph. 404-330-6724

Announced that the Ft. McPherson redevelopment organization (http://www.mcphersonredevelopment.com/) has been given a grant from the Army to fund 4 staff for the next 2 months. A meeting will be held at St. Peter’s church on Saturday, November 21st @ 10 a.m.-12 noon. The minutes of the meeting will be sent to Dianne for distribution.

9.     Presentation(s)

Georgia Work Ready Initiative – Fulton County Office of Workforce Development - Dwanda Farmer, Fulton County Workforce & Employment Services Board member, www.gaworkready.org

Fulton County Sheriff’s Community Outreach Program – Sgt. Brian McGhee (no-show)

Promoting Georgia Work Ready, an easy access training and job opportunities program that provides a Work Ready Certificate. Participates can receive $50 to be tested to assess their current skills and prove their work readiness to potential employers. Georgia also offers gap training aimed at helping to improve Certificate scores. Retesters can earn $100 if they boost their certification level with using the on-line gap skills training. Note: The test itself is not available on-line. Must take it on-site at Atlanta Tech to be properly proctored. No educational requirement to take the test. 45 minutes are allotted to take each of  3 or 4 parts.

The program is available for the unemployed or employed. To meet program goals, they need approximate 3,200 employed volunteers to take the test. Must meet certain targets by a fall 2010 deadline.

Ultimately the program hopes to bring jobs to Georgia and allow employers to categorize the job skills need for a position and indicate participation in the program with a green logo on job advertisements.

10.   Election for 2010 Officers and by-laws

By-laws - Revision to bylaws to make sure eligible voting requirements applies to meeting decisions as well as officer elections. Voting eligibility requires attending one meeting prior to being eligible to vote. Some considered the requirement weak but the motion was made to accept the revision and it was approved by consensus.  Motion to approve bylaws with amendment above. 20 approved; 0 opposed; 2 abstained.

Officer Elections

President—Ruben Burney, II, rubenii@att.net (Vote: 19 approved; 0 opposed; 1 abstained)

Vice President—Pam Young (Vote: 18 approved; 0 opposed; 4 abstained)

Treasurer—Sigrid Read (Vote: 21 approved; 0 opposed; 0 abstained)

Secretary—Carol Coney (Vote: 21 approved; 0 opposed; 1 abstained)

Sergeant at Arms—David Read (Vote: 24 approved; 0 opposed; 0 abstained)

Parliamentarian—Oscar Leonard (Vote: 25 approved; 0 opposed; 0 abstained)

Lakewood Amphitheater Oversight Committee – Ruben Burney, Carl Hendrickson, Be Edwards, Steve Bavec—Accepted and approved by consensus)

Lakewood Amphitheater Finance Committee – Sherry Adams, Lisa Manka, Jackie Crenshaw - (Accepted and approved by consensus)

Neighborhood associations need to provide their officer slate to Dianne and Ruben.

11.   License Review Board – no cases

12.   Zoning

Atlanta Greenspace Plan Also, the city’s proposed updated Project Greenspace plan (http://atlantagreenspace.com/), an 11 point plan to improve green space in Atlanta including land acquisition, recreation centers, and other improvements, will be adopted as part of the Comprehensive Development Plan next month as a guide for Atlanta’s next administration. Motion to support the plan—20 approved; 0 opposed; 0 abstained.

13.   Text Amendments & Ordinances

        (for public review and comment)

Public Hearing                December 2, 2009               1:00 P.M.

09-O-0803   A Substitute Ordinance amending the Atlanta Code of Ordinances Chapter 46, entitled Civic and Cultural Affairs, by adding a new article IV that shall be entitled Entertainment Filming Fees; and amending Code Section 110-60 to allow entertainment filming in parks between 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. under certain circumstances; and for other purposes. (For Your Information-No Vote Required)

14.   New Business

15.   Adjournment

Motion made and seconded to reimburse Dianne Bryant for printer toner (approx. $80). Motion approved by consensus.

No meeting in December 2009.