MINUTES FOR THE MEETING OF THE 17th AUGUST 2011

MINUTES FOR THE MONTHLY PUBLIC MEETING OF THE

NEW KILLARNEY-RIVIERA ASSOCIATION

HELD AT THE MALL MANAGEMENT OFFICES (1^ST FLOOR OFFICE TOWER)
ON WEDNESDAY 17 AUGUST 2011 AT 18H00

PRESENT: Charles Whyte (Chairman); Captain Moonsamy (SAPS); Jo Marais; Kayte Denham; Henry Rudzinske; Celeste Mulholand; Helene Bell; Deleen Levy; Mary Cagamoff; Debbie de Beer; Dave Spencer; Gavin Botha; Margaret Naidoo; Wayne Ford (from 18h30).

1.    WELCOME

The Acting Chair (Charles) welcomed everyone to the meeting. Wayne had apologised and would be late as he was coming back from a meeting with a client outside Jo’burg.

2.    APOLOGIES

Herbert Prins; Clr Ravid; Yogan Naidoo.

3.    APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING

The Minutes of the previous meeting were taken as read, and were approved.

4.    SECURITY FEEDBACK / SECTOR CRIME FORUM

• Captain Moonsamy presented the detailed crime statistics since the last meeting. The Crimes included: 4 thefts out of vehicles, 5 thefts of vehicles, and two robberies at the Mall. There was one attempted rape in Newtown Street and the SAPS shot the culprit dead. Once again, it is clear that theft of vehicles and theft out of vehicles remain our most serious crime issues.
• There had been two break-ins at Gleneagles. Both looked like an inside job.
• The Captain reported that there had been cases of corruption with SAPS staff members demanding bribes. He appealed to all not to pay any bribe and to contact him on 071 675 6000 if any policeman asks for a bribe.
• The SAPS will be conducting a special crime prevention campaign in and around The Wilds as there has been an increase of crime there.
• It was reported that persons playing football in First Street between 4^th Ave and 2^nd Ave are causing problems. Captain Moonsamy will keep a watch on that street.
• With the festive season approaching, the number of crime cases generally increases. We therefore need to be even more vigilant, especially regarding parking cars in the street.
• It was reported that Dukes Court will be installing a security fence and new flood-lights along their 1^st Street boundary.
• The SAPS are still trying to get access to Lhenveolan to follow up on reports of drug-selling. Can anybody help with identifying and contacting the caretaker please?
• The SAPS Police forum AGM briefing will take place on 7 September at 18H00, in the Hall at the Hillbrow Police Station. This is to clarify all issues relating to the AGM, which will be held in October, as there have been a number of queries and challenges along the way. The briefing will also specifically seek feedback from the public on what has been working and what has not been working, so that policing can be further improved. All are urged to attend.

5.    TRAFFIC ISSUES

• Re the project to improve traffic safety in 4^th Street and Main Road, a private engineer has been briefed, and is in the process of preparing the drawings with which we will seek JRA approval. The engineer has held preliminary discussions with JRA already, and believes that we have a good chance of success.
• JRA have assured Councillor Ravid that there is a pressure-actuation device on the motorway off-ramp at Riviera Road. They have undertaken to test and service it.
• We need to consider putting up additional turning arrows at the intersection of Oxford Road and Riviera Road, to aid traffic flows in the rush hour.

6    ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

• It was previously agreed to set up a private street-sweeping service. An outsourced cleaner service has been called in, and are supplying one supervised sweeper for R2000 per month, to work 3 days per week. Dukes Court will work with the recycling contractor to create extra capacity in the Dukes Court wheelie-bins, which can then be used to dispose of the “pavement rubbish”. The draft contract with Enigma Cleaning is being considered.
• New Trees project – this is waiting only for the manpower to become available. The Community Workers Program has offered to assist City Parks here, so some new trees should hopefully be appearing soon.
• The 10^th Street problem is being addressed – the prohibited trees have been cut down, and we now need to stabilise the soil on the slope. Helene Bell is liaising with City Parks and the neighbours.
• It was noted that there are many water leaks around our area of late. A list has been forwarded to Clr Ravid. Please continue to report all water leaks as soon as you notice them.
• It was noted that the Lhenveolan building continues to deteriorate. Dave Spencer was told by the managing agents, Colin Sidelsky at Rand Realty, that progress can be expected “soon”, but there are no details yet available.
• The Martindale Mews swimming pool is about half full with rubble, but progress is mighty slow. The pool is not currently a health nuisance, but once it starts raining stagnant water will again accumulate, and the mosquitoes will again become an issue. Also, the accumulated garbage and plant matter in the garden area encourages rats, which is an even bigger concern.  Wayne advised that Dr Martin needs rubble to complete filling up the pool. We were invited to dump rubble therein (but not garbage or garden refuse).
• A suggestion had been made to repaint the rusting etc poles in Killarney, especially the poles holding traffic signs. Henry and Charles will devise and cost out a project here for the NKRA to consider.
• The owner of Martindale Mews has now apparently contracted with Vodacom to install a cell-phone mast on the roof. It was agreed that this poses an unacceptable health-hazard, and this mast should be resisted. Clr Ravid was asked to co-ordinate the appropriate process of objecting to this mast. There were no further developments here.
• There is a problem in obtaining replacement bins from PikiTup.
• Sevenoaks has built a French drain on their land to avoid discharging water onto 2^nd Street. This will hopefully eliminate future potholes in that problem-area. Sevenoaks was thanked for this expensive effort.
• The first phase of the pothole project has been completed, and 11 potholes were repaired. The left-over tar was used to “polyfill” parts of 5^th Street, which is a very bad condition. The cost of patching that road properly is exorbitant, as it actually needs total resurfacing, but this will help a bit for a short while. The cost of the overall project was only R8 000, and Steve has paid the invoice. Feedback indicated that this project was well received and appreciated. Some rubble still to be removed – Charles would chase up the contractors. Wayne has explained to the contractors that such rubble will be welcome in the Martindale pool, and has introduced the contractor to the Martindale caretaker.
• City Parks has also undertaken to prune all the pavement trees in the area “soon” (they will not cut them down, just prune them.)
• Lights project – it was reported that Daventry Court and Beverley Heights will be installing extra flood-lights along their 1^st Street perimeters in the near future. The actual position is still to be decided and Wayne and Charles will investigate the optimum positioning here.  Dukes Court will install extra lights on their 1^st Street side as well, once the new fence/wall has been installed.

7.    FINANCE AND MEMBERSHIP

With Steve not available this was held over.

8.    GENERAL

• PikiTup strikes: The strikers attended to their jobs on Tuesday 16^th and it is not clear how successful this strike will be. We can reduce the amount of garbage we put out for collection, by recycling more. The more you recycle, the less you are exposed to the striking workers.
• Mrs Naidoo asked if any building could advise on the outsourcing of cleaning facilities. Charles invited Gleneagles to discuss it with him, as he is involved in another complex which is outsourcing.
• Painting of buildings. A suggestion was made that buildings should link up here and possibly obtains better prices. Charles advised of the process his building had followed here, and is prepared to share that info with anybody who needs it. It was agreed that buildings planning big projects would mention it at the meetings for general info and possible joint operations.

The meeting was closed at 19H30, with thanks to all who attended, and with thanks to the Killarney Mall for the use of their boardroom.

Our next meeting will be held on WEDNESDAY 21 SEPTEMBER 2011 AT 18H00

PLEASE PASS ON THESE MINUTES TO OTHER RESIDENTS IN YOUR BUILDINGS