The NKRA is grateful for the support provided in the 4th Street park by our park sponsors RUSSELL FISHER PROPERTIES and VISION TACTICAL SECURITY and the KILLARNEY MALL, and for the street cleaning services provided by RCS SECURITY SERVICES.

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MINUTES FOR THE MEETING OF THE 18th SEPTEMBER 2019

MINUTES FOR THE MONTHLY PUBLIC MEETING OF THE
NEW KILLARNEY-RIVIERA ASSOCIATION
HELD AT SHOP 56 OF THE KILLARNEY MALL
ON WEDNESDAY 18 SEPTEMBER 2019 AT 17H00

PRESENT: Wayne Ford (Killarney Village); Ruth Kuper (Gleneagles); Charles Whyte (Beverley Heights); Mike Kalk (Brenthurst Court); Floh Thiele (La Camargue); Deon Blignaut (Dumbarton Oaks); Dimitri Clayton (Brenthurst Court); Annica Marincowitz (Chartwell); Julie Wilson (Killarney Hills); Vivienne Cobbett (Biarritz); George Kymdell (NAMA); Dalien Rutenberg (Glenhof Gardens); Eleanor Huggett (Ward Councillor); Hussein Dudhia (Hampshire Mews); Debbie Lubinsky (Killarney Park); Doris Samson (Killarney Park); Jenna Segal (Interlaken).

1. WELCOME
Wayne welcomed everyone to the meeting.

2. APOLOGIES RECEIVED
Sergeant NH Mdlolo (SAPS); Harry Rutenberg (Sevenoaks); Elena Joaquim (St Johns Wood); Margaret Urban (Hanover Gate); Tony Mantle (Gleneagles); Dean Dada (RCS Security).

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.
• An amendment needs to be added, recording that although residents are becoming frustrated with the slow progress of law enforcement, the August meeting strongly emphasised that the NKRA is itself a law-abiding organisation which will never knowingly countenance any course of action which contravenes any law or by-law.

5. SECURITY FEEDBACK / SECTOR CRIME FORUM
• Sergeant Mdlolo was not in attendance. The crime statistics for the past month will be circulated by email when they become available.
• Our efforts to obtain information about the Mall’s responsibilities regarding a future taxi rank have been blocked by the municipal planning officials on grounds of confidentiality. They have guided us to address our questions via their PAIA process, and Wayne has been given contact details for the legal officer of the municipal planning department. Cllr Huggett was asked to assist us in pursuing this route, through the official councillor channels.
• Our application to join the project where residents provide JMPD with a car, in exchange for two dedicated officers, is still under consideration by JMPD. We have not been given any date for the completion of this process. Cllr Huggett was asked to follow up on this for us, through the official councillor channels.
• Floh reported back that the September CPF meeting had been cancelled. Floh will continue to fight our cause at CPF, assisted by Melissa.
• 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
• Cllr Huggett reported that the ward committee for Ward 73 is due to hold elections again soon, and she urged Killarney residents to attend, nominate and vote. Details will be circulated closer to the time.
• It was noted that the Council now pays a small stipend to ward committee members, to assist them with committee-related transport and phone bills etc. However this opportunity to obtain remuneration attracted a lot of interest from a specific sector, who swamped the process at the last election and filled the committee with their own members.
• It was noted that the Rea Veya bus service in Louis Botha Ave is still not running properly.

7. ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
• We have started to implement our Spring Plan for the gardens in the park. A lot of pruning and cleaning up has been done, and paving stones have been added to the pavements in 2nd Ave to help pedestrians to cross over the beds of ivy. New planting will wait until it starts to rain. Donations of water-wise plants will be most welcome – especially shrubs, or packets of seeds.
• It was noted that our park gardener, Nolicent Ntete, has been impacted by the xenophobic riots in Hillbrow. This is negatively affecting the speed with which he is able to progress with this garden work.
• The wild bee-hive in the tree stump had to be removed urgently, as the stump had crumbled to expose the hive itself, and the visible mass of bees was attracting small children. A dog had apparently also been stung, so we acted quickly to remove the danger before a tragedy occurs.
• The hive was safely extracted by a registered expert, and the queen and the bulk of her worker-bees have been rehoused in a proper hive. Once they have settled down, the colony will be relocated to an appropriate farm site. This process cost us R1000. It could have been done more cheaply if we simply killed all the bees, but due to the serious global decline in bee populations, an effort was made to preserve the queen and the colony. Wayne was authorised by the meeting to pay the R1000 fee on behalf of the NKRA.
• A few dozen bees escaped in the process, and these bees will continue to cluster around the old hive for a few days until they die or finally wander off. Please exercise caution around that area for a few more days.
• Whitehall Court has offered to supply the park with a proper composting system. Concerns were expressed about the risk of attracting rats and flies into the park – a risk which does not exist with our present “dry-pile” system. “Moist” composting is obviously much faster and more effective than the “dry-pile” approach, so this generous offer was accepted by the meeting, but it was agreed that no kitchen waste must be allowed into the compost heaps. Wayne will speak to Laurence of Whitehall about the location of the new structure.
• The owners of the Lhenveolan building in 1st Street have informed us that they will shortly begin removing all their exterior razor wire. They also expressed interest in joining our Safe Zone project in 1st Street. Wayne and Charles and Dean will continue to liaise with them towards these valuable goals.
• We have not yet been able to find a recommended supplier of asphalt paving repairs. However Cllr Huggett reported that the JRA are suddenly very active, so we will give Cllr Huggett an updated list of the pavement issues. This will include missing manhole covers. If this doesn’t work we will still attempt to fix the pavements ourselves, so if anybody can recommend an asphalt paving supplier, please do let us know.
• It is now well into spring, and hopefully it will start raining soon. If you have any empty flowerbeds beds or unpaved spaces on your pavements, please would you consider planting something – perhaps just some marigold seeds?
• Please would all residents continue to report problems on roads 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 have been no changes in membership since the last meeting.

9. GENERAL
• It was noted that the municipality has installed a stop street at the dangerous intersection of Anerley Road and 7th Street. We have lobbied for this important safety improvement for many years, and have always been told that the traffic studies do not support so drastic a measure, but finally the assessed risk seems to have passed the tipping point. Many thanks to Cllr Huggett and the JRA for this.
• JRA has also finally repaired the big crater in the intersection of Anerley Road and Federation Road, between PPS and the school. Many thanks for that as well.
• It was noted that the Mall parking machines sometimes run out of change. Perhaps residents who come to the Mall by car should bring along some coins or small banknotes for the parking machine, to avoid having to pay with a large banknote and perhaps have this happen to you.

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

Our next meeting will be held on
WEDNESDAY 16 OCTOBER 2019 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