MINUTES FOR THE MEETING OF THE 17th OCTOBER 2018

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

PRESENT: Wayne Ford (Killarney Village); Julie Wilson (Killarney Hills); Vivienne Cobbett (Biarritz); Charles Whyte (Beverley Heights); Tony Mantle (Gleneagles); Ruth Kuper (Gleneagles); Elena Joaquim (St John’s Wood); David Spencer (Brenthurst Court); Dalien Rutenberg (Glenhof Gardens); Faye Sher; Dean Dada (RCS Security); Margaret Urban (Hanover Gate); Floh Thiele (La Camargue); Eleanor Huggett (Ward Councillor); Phillip Makgabo (Ward Committee Chair).

1. WELCOME
The chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.

2. APOLOGIES
Paulo Joaquim (Sevenoaks); Harry Rutenberg (Sevenoaks); Mike Kalk (Brenthurst Court); Romi Reinecke (Daventry Court); George Kymdell (NAMA); Annica Marincowitz (Chartwell).

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 did not attend, and no crime statistics were available.
• The street parties in 1st Street have been much quieter over the past two weekends – perhaps partly due to police action and partly due to the cold and wet weather.
• It was reported that the drinking has now expanded into 2nd Street as well, between 2nd Avenue and Killarney Avenue. The SAPS will be asked to ensure that this area is thoroughly covered by their patrols. Clr Huggett will convey this risk to JMPD as well.
• The NKRA’s new high-resolution camera will be installed at Daventry Court in 1st Street in the next few days, to assist the police in gathering evidence.
• Daventry Court will be installing extra LED floodlights at their end of 1st Street, to assist the cameras as well as to deter bad behaviour.
• PPS have noted that stolen cars are being taken to Federation Road immediately after being stolen, to remove the trackers etc before the tracker companies can close in on them. PPS are working with the SAPS to ensure that the police can respond rapidly on the next occasion so as to catch the thieves in the act.
• Dr Martin has sold all his units in the Hyde Court building in 1st Street. The new owner is a corporation that specialises in the letting of low-cost apartments, mainly in the inner city neighbourhoods. They will be contacted as soon as possible to help with resolving the over-crowding situation in Dr Martin’s units and staff quarters, which will help a lot to reduce the attendance at the street parties.
• Clr Huggett undertook to remind JMPD once again of the need for them to co-operate with the SAPS in managing this problem.
• Rand Realty, the managing agent of the Lhenveolan building, has been informed of the 1st Street party problem, and of the fact that the street party drinkers move the party into the Lhenveolan garage when the police come around. Rand Realty has promised to take action.
• Vision Tactical arrested four youths who had been stealing cell-phones, and handed them over to the police. The youths had been attacked by pedestrians in 1st Street, after a car accident in 2nd Ave at which a quantity of cash and a gun were apparently found. We are still awaiting full details from Sgt Mdlolo on this matter.
• We have had several incidents where cell-phones were snatched from owners on the pavements. Please try not to use your phone on the pavement if it can be avoided, and if you have to take a call then be very aware of pedestrians and cars approaching you.
• Sgt Mdlolo can be contacted on 071 675 6000. Please call her directly if there is any problem requiring the SAPS.
• 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
• Clr Huggett introduced Mr Phillip Makgabo, who is the Chairperson of the Ward 73 Ward Committee. Mr Makgabo was welcomed.
• Clr Huggett gave feedback on the streetlight problems. Problem streetlights can now also be reported to citypower.mobi.co.za.
• Water repairs are very slow, due to lack of resources. However a major repair is being done on 24 October, which will result in the entire area having no water for the whole day. Please make arrangements to store enough water for your needs before 8am.
• Clr Huggett was asked to facilitate the widening of the pavement in 7th Street at the intersection of Anerley Road, at the public toiler facility, by having the CoJ fence moved back a few meters. This will also allow the cars coming into the intersection from the south to have better sight of the traffic approaching from the east.
• The billing problems are apparently a consequence of the many computer systems not interfacing with each other. This will take a long time still to resolve properly.
• The recent PikiTup non-service was due to the contract for the hire of the specialised compactor trucks not having been renewed or replaced in time. This is being addressed, and we should not have a repeat of this problem.
• Clr Huggett was asked to notify JRA again of the problem with rubbish being dumped in 4th Street (against the Mall property boundary), as well as blockages in the storm-water system.

7. ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
• The Family Day in the Park will be held on Sunday 28 October. The jacarandas are once again in full bloom, and the weather forecast (for what it’s worth) is hot and dry, so it should be a great outdoor day.
• It was resolved to pay R2000 for posters to be printed, to advertise this event. The Mall will display some of them for us. However we will print extra, and we will ask buildings to please put these up in your lobbies and lifts. Please would you also notify your neighbours on your various internal communication networks.
• The Mall will bring their Kids Club to the picnic. Dean from RCS offered to assist with transporting the equipment for them.
• Feedback was given of a recent public meeting held by the We Love Killarney association. After conducting some research a few months ago, they are proposing to undertake various projects, financed by donations and community fund-raising. These proposed projects include beautifying pavements, bringing a coffee-shop to the park, installing street furniture, improving access to The Wilds for Killarney residents, and creating a community garden at the abandoned electrical sub-station in Riviera. We welcome their contribution, and we will communicate their projects to the community as soon as they are ready to progress.
• Killarney-Riviera is one of the cleaner suburbs, due to our sponsored street-cleaning projects. However the projects can’t reach every pavement every day. We appeal to all buildings please to keep your own pavements and streets clean, on an on-going basis. Some buildings already maintain their pavements meticulously, and it would be wonderful if all buildings could please follow that example.
• A recent survey of Killarney-Riviera by tree experts found no sign yet of the shot-borer beetle, which is spreading through Joburg and causing fatal damage to many pavement trees. Residents are asked please to keep an eye on all trees, and report the appearance of coloured blotches on the bark – which indicate the presence of the harmful fungus which these beetles bring to the trees.
• It was suggested that all buildings review their surroundings at night, and that they install additional LED floodlights of their own if they note the existence of dark areas near their perimeter. Crime flourishes in the darkness, and criminals will be less bold in brighter light – especially for building with cameras.
• 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
• There was no change from the previous month.

9. GENERAL
• It was previously suggested to have a year-end function this year, with some drinks and snacks, to improve community networks and perhaps get some fresh ideas. It was agreed to incorporate this into the November public meeting. Please would you all extend a general invitation to your neighbours to join us.

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

Our final meeting of the year will be held on
WEDNESDAY 21 NOVEMBER 2018 at 5pm

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