MINUTES FOR THE MEETING OF THE 18th JULY 2018

MINUTES FOR THE MONTHLY PUBLIC MEETING OF THE
NEW KILLARNEY-RIVIERA ASSOCIATION
HELD AT ROOM 223A OF THE MALL OFFICE TOWER
ON WEDNESDAY 18th JULY 2018 AT 17H00

PRESENT: Wayne Ford (Killarney Village); Julie Wilson (Killarney Hills); Ruth Kuper (Gleneagles); Sgt Mdlolo (SAPS); Vivienne Cobbett (Biarritz); David Spencer (Brenthurst Court); Ward Councillor Eleanor Huggett.

1. WELCOME
The chair welcomed everyone to the meeting, on this very chilly evening.

2. APOLOGIES
Yogan Naidoo (Dukes Court); Charles Whyte (Beverley Heights); Mike Kalk (Brenthurst Court); Faye Sher; Dean Dada (RCS Security); Margaret Urban (Hanover Gate); Paulo Joaquim (Sevenoaks); Elena Joaquim (St John’s Wood); David Kramer (Chartwell), Romi Reinecke (Daventry Court).

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
• Sergeant Mdlolo presented the crime statistics for the past four weeks, and the major issues were as follows: Theft of motor vehicles 2; Attempted theft of motor vehicles 1; Theft-General 1; Common robbery 1; Common assault 1.
• Sgt Mdlolo reported on the steps being taken against the illegal drinking of alcohol in 1st Street and 2nd Street, and the selling of drugs in 1st Street.
• The vehicle patrols have been increased in that hotspot, but the drinkers hide the alcohol in vehicles when they see the police cars coming, and it’s not illegal to have alcohol in the boot of a car.
• Uniformed officers are patrolling on foot as well, but intermittently and only during the day. At night they patrol in vehicles.
• The Mall security are co-operating with the police, and are sharing information.
• More co-operation is required from JMPD to enforce by-laws – Clr Huggett to assist. A conference will again be set up, including JMPD and the community, to revisit their approach and our communication with them.
• Sgt Mdlolo was asked to attend to the cell-phones in the dedicated SAPS patrol vehicle, as they do not always answer when we call them.
• It was reported that the car-washers in 3rd Street have disappeared – at least for the present.
• Sgt Mdlolo can be contacted on 082 355 5646 for the time being.
• When you notice a problem developing with a street party or similar, please first call the City emergency hotline on 011 375 5911 and ask the operator to log a call for you. Don’t let them just transfer you to JMPD, make sure they first log a call for you with a reference number. If JMPD don’t thereafter arrive within about 30 minutes, then contact the Councillor with your reference number and ask her to chase JMPD for service.
• Councillor Huggett can be contacted by the community at any time, by SMS or Whatsapp, on 071 785 8068.

6. FEEDBACK FROM COUNCILLORS
• Councillor Huggett was thanked for the refreshing of the road markings.
• The streetlights are still on permanently in several streets, due to problems with the timer devices.
• The new JRA budget is larger than before, so we should see better service in fixing roads and pavements this year.
• Clr Huggett will be doing a by-law inspection in the next few days, with a JMPD inspector.
• They were asked to look also at the exposed gas pipe in 9th Street, which is now a safety hazard due to the erosion of the embankment.
• Clr Huggett advised that the municipal mandatory recycling project will actually support the trolley-people. If we separate the recyclable material out of the garbage before it goes into the bins, then the trolley-people will no longer need to dig through the bins – and this will improve their health as well as reduce mess on the pavements.
• An inspection was done of the jacarandas in the park together with the City parks tree department. It was agreed that some of those lateral branches are growing dangerously close to the buildings, and need to be cut, as do all the dead branches which are adding useless weight and endangering the healthy trunks. However there is a problem with getting the cherry-picker truck into the park. The City Parks workers won’t use harnesses and ladders, because of worker-safety concerns. We might need to hire a private sector company, to work in conjunction with City Parks.

7. ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
• The parents of very young children have not yet come back to us with specific ideas for improving the playground equipment.
• The Family Day in the Park will be held on Sunday 28 October. This will again be based around a jumping castle for children, and encouraging residents to bring picnics.
• Clr Huggett knows a lady who arranges sports events, and will put us in touch.
• It was agreed to get a coffee van as well, even if we have to pay a rental.
• Clr Huggett will assist us to connect with a journalist at the Killarney Gazette.
• We need to be aware of a beetle-infestation that is destroying pavement and park trees in the northern suburbs. Clr Huggett will put us in touch with the JHB expert.
• Clr Huggett will follow up the progress of the manhole-cover replacement project, as this is a safety issue for all the pedestrians who use that high-traffic pavement – especially at night.
• Clr Huggett was asked to help us get rid of the two large pavement bins which have broken doors in the side. These allow the litter to fall straight through onto the pavement. They are in Riviera Road cnr 2nd Ave, and 4th Ave cnr 3rd Street. It would be good if they could be replaced please with solid bins, as these are both high-litter areas.
• The street-light covers have been removed again in 2nd Ave, exposing the electrical wiring to curious children. It was resolved that residents should seal these using plastic covers and tape.
• 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 keep the reference numbers for follow-up.
• Please also 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
• Thus far 23 buildings have paid the 2018 subscription. This is a bit less than half of the buildings in the suburb.

9. GENERAL
• The community is reminded that we have an active group of people called The Friends of the Wilds, with a Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/1582183308538762/. They are doing great work – please get involved if you can.

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

Our next meeting will be held on
WEDNESDAY 15 AUGUST 2018 at 5pm

PLEASE PASS ON THESE MINUTES TO OTHER RESIDENTS IN YOUR BUILDINGS

JMPD call centre hotline number – 080 872 3342
City emergency hotline on 011 375 5911
SAPS patrol van – 071 675 6001
If you get no response from the patrol van, please call 10111
Councillor Huggett – by SMS or Whatsapp – 071 785 8068