MINUTES FOR THE MEETING OF THE 19th JULY 2023

MINUTES FOR THE MONTHLY PUBLIC MEETING OF THE

NEW KILLARNEY-RIVIERA ASSOCIATION

HELD VIRTUALLY OVER THE INTERNET

ON WEDNESDAY 19 JULY 2023 at 18H30

PRESENT:                      Wayne Ford (Killarney Village); Hussein Dudhia (Hampshire Mews); Leon Mare (Castlerosse); Boitumelo Sebambo (Mentone Court).

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1. WELCOME

• Wayne opened the meeting, and welcomed all attendees.
• The idea to use Zoom software has been unsuccessful, so we are reverting to our Plan B – the Microsoft Teams link.

2.  APOLOGIES RECEIVED

• Eleanor Huggett (Ward councillor Ward 73); Kim Robinson (Killarney Hills).
• Charles Whyte of Beverley Heights and Daventry Court was present, but again was unable to participate due to technical difficulties.

3. DISCUSSION OF TIME CONSTRAINT

• Although we currently have no load-shedding in progress, we will still try to keep the meeting to one hour if possible.

4. CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES, AND MATTERS ARISING

• The minutes of the previous meeting had been circulated to all attendees, and were approved by them. The details thereof were incorporated into the monthly newsletter.

5.  STATUS OF OUR SUBURB, AND LIST OF ISSUES REQUIRING ACTION

• The meeting recorded a huge vote of thanks to Charles Whyte, for his tireless efforts to communicate on our behalf with City Power and Joburg Water during the many service delivery outages we have experienced of late. Thank you very much Charles!
• Pavement and pothole repairs: A long-standing water leak was recently repaired on the 4^th Avenue pavement outside St John’s Wood. The excavation was left open to confirm that the patch has been successful. The large open excavation on that narrow pavement is a danger to pedestrians.
• Thieves stole cables on the 4^th Avenue bridge, and some suspicious persons have also been observed working on the 9^th Street pavement outside Knightsbridge.
• It was noted that thieves are acting with relative impunity. If you see something suspicious, please report it to the police. The police may never respond, but sometimes they do, and every little bit helps. Since these thefts often involve the use of vehicles, it is also very useful to take photos of the people and of their vehicles. Static security cameras can be very valuable for this purpose, provided the film is clear enough to read licence plates, and provided the footage is recorded.
• Proposed dog area in park: Some of the dog owners want to allow their dogs to run freely in the park, but this sometimes results in their dogs approaching and frightening other park users, including in particular children. Formal written enquiries have been made to City Parks about the possibility of building a fenced-off area inside the park for dogs to run free, as is envisaged in the by-laws, but no response has yet been received. The meeting agreed that this would be a valuable feature, and it was agreed to continue with these enquiries. It was also discussed to contact the Melrose Ratepayers’ Association, as they seem to have good contacts with City Parks.
• Illegal taxi rank in 1^st Street: We do not yet have any feedback on the Mall’s renovation plans, although we have been told that they are now busy considering the costs of the various proposed alternatives. We hope to hear more from them quite soon.
• In the meanwhile, one of the worst symptoms of this illegal taxi rank is the urinating in public, which is unhygienic and quite disgusting. The meeting discussed that many cities have these challenges, but that they address it by providing public urinals at key places. It was agreed to consider approaching Mentone Court to allow the building of a simple screened off area on the part of their land which is outside their perimeter wall, in the immediate vicinity of the taxi rank. The idea will NOT impact at all on the drainage pipes of any building, but will use a basic French drain idea to absorb the urine and prevent it from flowing across the pavements. This basic screen will be cheap, simple and easy to remove once the taxi rank has been relocated, but in the meanwhile it will provide us with relief from the bulk of this particular problem.
• By-laws issues: Our proposal to sue the municipality to enforce their own by-laws is bogging down, due to the lack of an attorney. If any resident is an attorney, or knows of an attorney who lives in Killarney, please would you approach them to assist us with this valuable project?
• Martin buildings: The two buildings owned by Dr Martin have not yet been sold, but he has at least done something to improve the appearance of his buildings. Hopefully this indicates that he is serious about selling, and that he will do so provided he is offered his price.
• Safety and security: Phone snatching is still our biggest problem, so please advise all residents and their visitors to be careful with their phones (and other possessions) while they are outside on the pavements. In addition the squatters living on the motorway embankment are becoming seriously established, and the municipality needs to act before things get much worse.
• New issues: The parking lot in 7^th Street is becoming a gathering-place for illegal drinkers. This is problematic for various reasons, and again the JMPD have not acted to enforce the by-laws. These people have been observed selling beer, and throwing sacks of garbage over the fence.
• We cannot keep repairing that fence, as the squatters quickly break open a new access. In addition, although that pavement in 7^th Street was cleaned recently by the NKRA, and again even more recently by individual members of the community, it very quickly becomes submerged once more in litter.
• We are currently looking for a sponsor for a dedicated street cleaner to manage the litter in the parking area in 7^th Street near the circle, as well as the pavement along 7^th Street. Meanwhile, we need for buildings to help by cleaning the litter (or at least part of it) on a regular basis, as the municipality does not seem to address this problem. Once again, our best approach for resolving the lawlessness is to obtain high-resolution photos and videos of illegal activities, perhaps by redirecting some existing security cameras onto that area, or even installing new security cameras. This is not cheap, but it would help a lot. Please would the affected buildings consult with their security companies on this idea?

6.  GENERAL

There are wires protruding from the pavement at the corner of 2^nd Avenue and Riviera Road. We need to find out whether these are municipal or private, and have that issue addressed before somebody gets hurt.

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The meeting was closed at 19h35, with thanks to all who participated.

Our next public meeting will be held virtually on

WEDNESDAY 16 AUGUST 2023 AT 18H30

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PLEASE PASS ON THESE MINUTES TO OTHER RESIDENTS IN YOUR BUILDINGS

JMPD call centre hotline number – 080 872 3342

JMPD Control Room – 011 758 9620

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