MINUTES FOR THE MEETING OF THE 15th NOVEMBER 2017

MINUTES FOR THE MONTHLY PUBLIC MEETING OF THE
NEW KILLARNEY-RIVIERA ASSOCIATION
HELD AT THE MALL MANAGEMENT OFFICES (1ST FLOOR OFFICE TOWER)
ON WEDNESDAY 15 NOVEMBER 2017 AT 17H00

PRESENT: Wayne Ford (Killarney Village); Julie Wilson (Killarney Hills); Vivienne Cobbett (Biarritz); Ruth Kuper (Gleneagles); Faye Sher (Whitehall Court); George Kymdell (NAMA); Dalien Rutenberg (Glenhof); Hussein Dudhia (Hampshire Mews); Charles Whyte (Beverley Heights); Sameena Khan (Cranwell Hall); Ruth Longridge (Gleneagles); Tim Davies (Chartwell); Jaco le Roux (Chartwell); Trish Terry (Gleneagles).

1. WELCOME
The chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.

2. APOLOGIES
Eleanor Huggett (Ward Councillor); Tony Mantle (Gleneagles); Captain Moonsamy (SAPS); Paulo Joaquim (Sevenoaks); Elena Joaquim (St Johns Wood); Margaret Urban (Hanover Gate); Harry Rutenberg (Sevenoaks); Estelle Jacobs (Killarney Park).

3. DISCUSSION OF TIME CONSTRAINT
• We will strive to keep the discussions short and relevant, so as to finish by 6pm.

4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING
• The Minutes of the previous meeting were taken as read, and were approved.

5. SECURITY FEEDBACK / SECTOR CRIME FORUM
• Captain Moonsamy was not present, and we have not yet received the crime statistics.
• The SAPS have been doing stop-and-search visits at the illegal taxi rank in 1st Street, and these efforts will continue through the festive season.
• We need a new person to represent us at the Community Policing Forum at Hillbrow Police Station one evening per month. If you have the time, please would you volunteer?

6. FEEDBACK FROM COUNCILLORS
• There is no further feedback yet on the municipal process to compel Martindale Mews to rectify the illegal structures they built in their yard.
• The big excavation made by Joburg Water at the intersection of Riviera Road and 4th Ave has now been refilled, but they will need to build a manhole to give access to that valve, before they can re-surface the road. We do not have a deadline on that yet.
• One building in 5th Street has reported that their water pressure has dropped recently, and that they are hearing a lot of noises in the water pipes. By discussion, it was determined that nobody else at the meeting has experienced either problem.
• There seems to be a lot of organised dumping taking place in the heritage park in Oxford Road, alongside the Temple Emmanuel. It looks like some sort of landscaping is being done here. Wayne will follow this up with Flo Bird.

7. ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
• Overall attendance at the 2017 October Community Day Picnic in the Park was substantially reduced by the freezing cold weather on the day. However it was a huge success for the many children who attended, and all the planned activities were carried out successfully. Many thanks to RCS Security and the Killarney Mall for their involvement and support. We hope to have more favourable weather next year.
• It has been suggested that we should repair the park benches where some planks have started to crumble, and perhaps repaint all of them. When we asked City Parks previously to repair benches, they instead cut them out and replaced them with less-comfortable benches. The meeting agreed unanimously to look into this project.
• A new flower bed has been created at the 4th Ave gate of the park, incorporating the avocado tree that was planted there a few months ago. We have thus far added two hibiscus shrubs. It was suggested that we should have a community gardening day, where members of the community are invited to bring the plants of their choice, and plant them in that bed. Plants should preferably be perennial, heat tolerant and water-wise. Small flowering shrubs would be great, but also hardy ground covers and hardy seedlings such as marigolds. The meeting agreed to meet in the park at the 4th Ave gate at 10am on Saturday 25 November, i.e. South Africa Day. See also http://www.southafricaday.org.za/
• All donations of plants are most welcome. Please would you drop them off at the ablution building at the 2nd Ave entrance to the park?
• We had previously approved a quotation to repaint the street names on all the kerb stones, at a cost of R24,359. We have now finally managed to get a second quotation, for the amount of R11,475, which includes cleaning off the old paint with a wire brush, painting the area with proper undercoat, painting the back-ground and then painting the street name with a stencil. This is obviously much cheaper, plus this company is an established company that has been recommended by a caretaker in Killarney. The meeting agreed unanimously to award the job to the cheaper contractor, and to start work as soon as possible.
• We have not yet received feedback on our requests to JRA for improving the existing speed-humps in 4th Ave outside the park, and for a small new traffic circle in the intersection of 7th Street and Anerley Road. {NOTE: Subsequent to the meeting, the feedback was received. The traffic circle was not approved, due mainly to the size and shape of the intersection. However the enhancement of the speed humps was approved. We do not have a date yet.}
• It has been suggested that we should embark on a project to clean up the trees on the pavements. In the last few months, some of them have been plastered with illegal advertising signs. The signs have been placed high up, and are nailed in solidly, so it will need ladders and proper tools to remove them. All buildings are asked please to remove all advertising signs on the trees near your buildings. For those buildings that cannot or will not assist, we might need to hire a cleaning company to do it for us.
• Election posters can be taken down, but please keep them handy in case the owner appears and demands them back.
• We will again request City Parks to provide bins and bags for dog-poop, as well as signs to remind people who own dogs to take responsibility for cleaning up after them.
• It was again noted that some estate agents are contravening the by-laws regarding advertising signs. The by-law apparently allows only one sign-board per agent per building.
• The car washers are continuing, seemingly unhindered by the JMPD.
• Please report problems of potholes and pavements to the JRA at http://www.jra.org.za/find-and-fix-mobile-app, or call 011 375 5555.
• Please use the number 0860 562 874 to report all road and pavement-related problems to the municipality. This includes all cases of rubble being dumped on pavements, potholes in roads or pavements, road signs in need of repair, streetlights not working, blocked storm-drains, or traffic lights out of order. You can also report all of these issues to the call centre hotline number – 080 872 3342. Please keep the reference numbers for follow-up.

8. FINANCE AND MEMBERSHIP
• As this is the last meeting of the year, a summary financial report was presented. The closing bank balance at 14 November 2017 was R65,889. The report will be attached to the minutes.

9. GENERAL
• The Hyde Court sale has been held up by problems with securing a levy clearance certificate.
• Please try to avoid supporting beggars at traffic lights. If we keep making Killarney profitable for them, they will keep coming back.

THE CHAIRMAN WISHED THE ATTENDEES A HAPPY FESTIVE SEASON

The meeting was closed, with thanks to the Killarney Mall for hosting us.

Our next meeting will be held on
WEDNESDAY 17 JANUARY 2018 at 5pm

PLEASE PASS ON THESE MINUTES TO OTHER RESIDENTS IN YOUR BUILDINGS

JMPD call centre hotline number – 080 872 3342.
SAPS patrol van – 071 675 6001
If you get no response, please call the Hillbrow Joint Operations Command Centre
on 011 488 6712, or call 10111.