MINUTES FOR THE MEETING OF THE 20th FEBRUARY 2013

MINUTES FOR THE MONTHLY PUBLIC MEETING OF THE
NEW KILLARNEY-RIVIERA ASSOCIATION
HELD AT THE MALL MANAGEMENT OFFICES (1ST FLOOR OFFICE TOWER)
ON WEDNESDAY 20 FEBRUARY 2013 AT 18H00

PRESENT: Wayne Ford (Chair); Kayte Denham; Raphael Ndlovu; Deleen Levy; Jo Marais; Ruth Kuper; Trish Terry; Auden Stenerson, Captain Moonsamy (SAPS); Paul Denham; Clr M Ravid; Shaun Oakes; Clare Oakes; Abe Sher; Debbie de Beer; Mathilde Margolis; Audrey Kobrin, Frank Kobrin; Steve Mendelsohn; Vivian Darko; Chris Saunders; Roy Mathews; Harry Rutenberg.

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

2. APOLOGIES
Charles Whyte; Mike Kalk; Yogan Naidoo; Celeste Mulholland.

3. DISCUSSION OF TIME CONSTRAINT
• It was noted that the Mall has requested us to finish by 6pm. As we are guests here, we will strive to keep the discussions short and relevant, so as to finish on time.

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
• Captain Moonsamy presented the statistics for the past four weeks or so. This month we suffered 3 thefts of vehicles, 4 thefts out of vehicles, 4 common robberies, 3 common assaults (with 1 arrest), 1 carjacking at the Houghton Drive intersection; 1 vandalism and 3 shopliftings. There was also one case of assault with intent, which resulted in 2 arrests, and 1 burglary.
• The burglary once again involved criminals entering a flat on the 2nd floor through a small window. Once again, please keep your windows and balcony doors locked while you are out or asleep, unless you have adequate burglar bars.
• One body of a murder victim was dumped in Houghton near our Newton Road intersection, but the person was not killed in Killarney.
• It was explained that the police have portable devices called “morpho-touch machines”, which enable them to scan the fingerprints of people at roadblocks and elsewhere. All the fingerprints of all wanted persons are stored in the memory of the machine, so if a wanted person is scanned at a routine roadblock or tavern-raid the machine signals to the police officers and the person will be arrested immediately. The SAPS arrest many suspects on these routine roadblocks and sweeps, so if you are a victim of crime it is essential that the police take fingerprints before you clean up and repair your car or window-sill. It is also possible that your particular criminal is already on the criminal database for other offences, or in the drivers’ licence database or the firearms’ licence database, in which case the police might be able to trace them very quickly.
• The police patrols will be regularly fingerprint-checking our many loiterers, beggars and hawkers, as well as people drinking in the park, as its possible these people may be linked to car thefts and burglaries in our area and elsewhere.
• A complaint has been raised regarding the inappropriate behaviour of two police officers who responded to a burglary report. This is being investigated at a very high level.
• The email scam involving asking people to confirm their banking details by email has been confirmed to be a serious syndicate, and people are reminded never to share their banking details on the internet or by email with anybody.
• It was again mentioned that the police van doesn’t always answer the phone when people call. Captain Moonsamy was once again requested to follow up on this, to ensure that the patrol van has the correct phone, and that it is working properly.
• Please note that the SAPS are not allowed to deal with by-law enforcement – this is the preserve of the JMPD. For all by-law concerns, please call the new JMPD call-centre at 011 378 1000. This includes soccer in the street, hawkers, taxis, littering etc etc. The more people who call, the better the response is likely to be.
• The trailer in 1st Street appears to be used by loiterers as a shelter for drinking, and even sleeping. Will all those people who live in the vicinity thereof please report this to the JMPD call centre, and have it towed away. The police van will be asked to fingerprint-check those men as well, as they may be linked to the recent burglary at that building.
• The large truck that has been parked permanently in 3rd Street opposite Bretton Woods is also a problem. Everybody please report that to the call centre as well – 011 378 1000.

6. FEEDBACK FROM COUNCILLORS
• Clr Ravid reported that the JMPD ward-allocation of officers is limited to 10 officers per ward, but that they work across multiple shifts. We therefore effectively have 4 officers per shift for the entire enormous ward. They were in fact present in Killarney Road today.
• The valuation roll is being revalued. You should all be receiving a notification of the new value of your properties. Your rates are set based on this value. If you are unhappy there is a process to lodge an appeal.
• The cul-de-sac sign at Anerley Road cnr 7th Street is no longer readable. If you see a damaged pole or a pothole or any other problem, please report it to the Council on 011 375 5555, and then copy your reference number to Councillor Ravid for monitoring and follow-up.

7. TRAFFIC ISSUES
• A number of issues have been repaired in the last 4 weeks, but several still remain. It was also noted that a number of new potholes have sprung up recently too. Please report them all to 011 375 5555, and get a reference number.
• The council has undertaken to repair the pavements around Dukes Court as soon as they can manage.
• As a stepping stone toward the boom project, it would be useful for the affected buildings to hire an extra guard to visibly patrol the street they intend to boom off. It’s not as good as a boom, but will give about 85% of the value, with no legal or bureaucratic fuss at all, and for a much lower cost.
• A petition will be started to appeal for action on the illegal taxi rank. This has seemingly added value in Craighall Park recently.
• Clr Ravid was asked to press for road markings to be repainted, especially the stop-streets and pedestrian crossings.

8. ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
• Our Centenary Project is well underway. A written strategic plan has been prepared, and will be fine-tuned in the next few weeks. Motivations will then be prepared and submitted for every affected building.
• The Heritage Day event in September must have Council permission – this must be addressed urgently. Kayte will pursue this for us.
• Wayne will manage the process for a plaque for the TAC and the House in Third Street, as well as hopefully a heritage plaque in the Mall for the Mall/Film Studios.
• We will contact Mr Steven Sack at the Council heritage office for input.
• Our finances can no longer support the 5-day sweeping project. Wayne will approach Enigma to discuss reducing this to 4 days per week.
• All buildings are again asked PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE to take care of the litter and weeds on the pavements and gutters (and traffic islands) near and around your building. If every building looks after their immediate surroundings the suburb will look so much better, and we will be able to spend our meagre resources on fixing other things.
• The pavement bins are being cleared now by the NKRA Sweeper project, but they still overflow very quickly. They really need to be emptied out properly. Kayte will continue to approach PikiTup and the advertising company to do this. We need more pavement bins.
• Please support the recycling project – Eric Abrams on 083 272 5618.

9. FINANCE AND MEMBERSHIP
• Our finances are precarious. It was agreed to increase the voluntary membership subscription to R40 per unit per year, with a maximum of R2500, and to increase the corporate subscription to R2500 per annum. It was again noted that this is a voluntary donation – we have no legal right to demand these payments, and we need to approach all members and prospective members with appropriate sensitivity and tact.
• Only 22 buildings contributed in 2012. The exco will directly contact non-contributing buildings to appeal to them to join in and make contributions. Hopefully the Centenary Year Project will make more people community conscious, and lead to more participation.

10. GENERAL
• Some buildings are suing the Gautrain for damages to structures caused by the construction of the Gautrain tunnel. If you have suffered damage and would like to participate in a class-action lawsuit, please let us know urgently.

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

Our next meeting will be held on
WEDNESDAY 20 MARCH 2013 AT 5PM!!!!

PLEASE PASS ON THESE MINUTES TO OTHER RESIDENTS IN YOUR BUILDINGS