MINUTES FOR THE MEETING OF THE 19th SEPTEMBER 2012

MINUTES FOR THE MONTHLY PUBLIC MEETING OF THE
NEW KILLARNEY-RIVIERA ASSOCIATION
HELD AT THE MALL MANAGEMENT OFFICES (1ST FLOOR OFFICE TOWER)
ON WEDNESDAY 19 SEPTEMBER 2012 AT 18H00

PRESENT: Wayne Ford (Chair); Charles Whyte; Jo Marais; Captain Moonsamy (SAPS); Paul Denham; Kayte Denham; Mike Kalk; Moggie Lewis; Deleen Levy; Raphael Ndlovu;. Hendrik Cloete (ADT); Sue Prior; George Kymdell; Ruth Kuper; Celeste Mulholland; Abe Sher.

1. WELCOME
• The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.

2. APOLOGIES
• Steve Mendelsohn; Clr Marcelle Ravid; Vivian Darko; Debbie de Beer; Yogan Naidoo; Margie Naidoo.

3. DISCUSSION OF TIME CONSTRAINT
• It was noted that we have been asked by our hosts to try to finish by 7pm if at all possible. As we are guests at this facility, we need to respect this request.
• It was noted that Debra Sharnock, the mall manager, has resigned. The chairman thanked for her support of the NKRA during her term.
• The new mall manager has not yet been announced, but we will try to meet with them as soon as we can.

4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING
• The Minutes of the previous meeting were taken as read, and were approved. Further clarity re the Blue Living cleaning project will be added.

5. SECURITY FEEDBACK / SECTOR CRIME FORUM
• Captain Moonsamy presented a summary of the detailed crime statistics for the month. This month we suffered 4 thefts of vehicles, 1 theft out of a vehicle, 1 common assault and 3 cases of shop-lifting at the mall. There were also 3 burglaries.
• Captain Moonsamy warned that the burglaries are invariably inside jobs, as most if not all of these buildings are very well secured against external intruders.
• Kayte mentioned a recent case where a burglar had apparently climbed up the outside of a building and entered an upstairs unit. This crime seemingly has not been reported yet.
• Captain Moonsamy also reported that thieves are targeting steel palisade fences, which they sell as scrap. Please watch out for people dismantling fences, and report them immediately to the police patrol van. Please don’t wait until later, by which time nothing can be done. The SAPS patrol van is on 071 675 6001.
• Houghton is having a public heritage event – the SAPS and ADT were asked to liaise with the organisers to provide extra visibility on the day.

6. FEEDBACK FROM COUNCILLORS
• No councillors were in attendance.
• There has been no further feedback on the ward-based allocation of JMPD officers.

7. TRAFFIC ISSUES
• The meeting approved the final quote of R23 480 for the new raised pedestrian crossing at the intersection of 3rd Street and 2nd Ave.
• The water-pipe repair excavation at the corner of 4th Ave and 5th Street has not yet been re-tarred. The various leaks and leak repairs in 4th Ave at the corner of Riviera Road are also still outstanding. There are many manholes on the motorway bridges that are exposed and dangerous due to the theft of their metal covers, as well as elsewhere on the various pavements (especially 4th Ave between 2nd St and 3rd St, Riviera Road cnr 2nd Ave), There is a dangerous new excavation in West Street at the intersection of Riviera Road. Clr Ravid will be requested to follow up on all of these.

8. ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
• Our new vision is to pro-actively make our area safer, cleaner, better and greener. This is progressing nicely, with new speed-humps, repaired potholes and pavements, new trees and new dustbins already accomplished. These activities will continue. However the next steps will be more ambitious. As car theft is our most serious crime element, it was resolved to approach council for permission to boom off all the various dead-end roads, to create safe zones for parked cars and for pedestrians. A lot of research has already been done by Celeste as part of the 9th St project.
• It was however noted that this process will be neither quick nor cheap. It was agreed that the buildings which stand to benefit most from each project will in future be approached directly to contribute to those related costs.
• Kayte Denham was thanked for her work and financial support in the dustbin project.
• The clearing out of the pavement bins was discussed. A number of these bins are more than half full of building rubble, placed there illegally by successive renovators, and PikiTup seemingly does not remove rubble from rubbish bins. It was suggested that PikiTup may have put the rubble in the bins to make it easier for their cleaning ladies, but Wayne reported that PikiTup have previously denied this. It was agreed that Kayte will contact PikiTup to get this rubble cleared, failing which we will need to do it ourselves.
• The large pavement trees have still not been pruned, although the request was logged in July. Wayne will continue follow up on this.
• A further part of our vision to make Killarney-Riviera “better” is our focus on our heritage. It seems that our area was proclaimed a township in 1906, but the first home was started only in 1921. The TAC and the film studios were built somewhere in between. This gives a mid-point of about 1913/1914. As 1914 will be a World War One centenary year, it was agreed to declare 1913 as the Centenary Year of Killarney-Riviera. The idea is to have constant reminders in the press through the year, to raise awareness among current owners as well as future owners. This will culminate in a Heritage Day function in the spring of 2013. This would ideally include a Heritage Tour to showcase each of the historical buildings, which would hopefully by then be officially plaqued, followed by a function in the Park. A Centenary Committee will be formed to take this forward – if anybody would like to contribute their services, please don’t hesitate to volunteer.
• Blue Living Estates undertook to examine the possibility of introducing their environmental cleaning project to Riviera Road. The need for new pavement bins on the south pavement of Riviera Road was also discussed.
• The paving outside Gleneagles in 2nd Ave is subsiding unevenly, and is now posing a safety hazard to pedestrians. Ruth Kuper will correspond with Clr Ravid to resolve this.

9. FINANCE AND MEMBERSHIP
• There was nothing new to discuss.
• It was however noted that those buildings who do not currently contribute to the NKRA should be visited. A list of such buildings will be drawn up and circulated.
• The new membership signs will be available shortly, and will hopefully further support this awareness campaign.

10. GENERAL
• It was noted that the 10th Street area is in need of attention. Celeste and Abe will correspond to identify and communicate with all the caretakers in the street.
• It was again noted that a care-takers’ forum would be useful, in terms of sharing information and recommendations about contractors etc. Please would all buildings notify us of the contact email addresses of their care-takers.
• The boundary wall at Dukes Court is again underway, and is starting to look good.
• A new illegal taxi rank is apparently starting up in 2nd Street, cnr Killarney Avenue. Captain Moonsamy was asked to get JMPD onto this urgently, before it takes root.

The meeting was closed, with thanks to the Killarney Mall for the use of their boardroom.

Our next meeting will be held on
WEDNESDAY 17 OCTOBER 2012

PLEASE PASS ON THESE MINUTES TO OTHER RESIDENTS IN YOUR BUILDINGS