MINUTES FOR THE MEETING OF THE 20th JULY 2016

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 JULY 2016 AT 17H00

PRESENT: Wayne Ford (chairman); Raphael Ndlovu; Julie Wilson; Ruth Kuper; Vivian Cobbett; David Kramer; Harry Rutenburg; Charles Whyte; Clr Mia Snyman; Captain Moonsamy (SAPS); Katia Lodder; Larry Benjamin; Trish Terry; Jo Marais; Elena Joaquim; Frank Kobrin; Faye Susser-Sher; Rochester Shen; Karuna Mohan; Aurobindo Ogra (SAPI).

1. WELCOME
The chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.

2. APOLOGIES
Dean Dada; Dalien Rutenburg; George Kymdell; Margaret Urban; Yogan Naidoo.

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
• Captain Moonsamy presented the crime statistics for the last month. These were: 3 common assault; 1 attempted theft; 4 common robbery (smash & grab); 3 theft of vehicles; 1 theft out of vehicles; 2 crimen injuria; 2 arrests for drugs; 2 arrests for shoplifting; 2 general theft. These statistics are again much better than the recent average.
• The drug arrests in 1st Street were possible only because of cameras. The cameras enabled the police to record who is selling drugs, as well as where they hide their stock of drugs between sales. With that information the police were able to find the drugs and thus make an arrest. The recordings also provide critical hard-evidence for the trial. The Mall was thanked for making their security system available to support this operation.
• Using cameras not only allows the police to identify the criminals and to prove the crimes in court, but it also allows police and the community to identify the problem people without being personally present and thus putting yourselves in danger.
• A meeting will be held on Monday 25 July to discuss hiring a security company as a potential solution. Representatives of the affected 1st Street buildings will attend, as well the chairman, the councillor, Captain Moonsamy and hopefully JMPD.
• If you call the SAPS patrol van and get no response, please call the Hillbrow Joint Operations Command Centre on 011 488 6712 or call 10111.

6. FEEDBACK FROM COUNCILLORS
• The new excavations in the Riviera Road pavements have not yet been fixed. However numerous potholes in 1st Street, 2nd Street, 5th Street and 4th Ave have been repaired recently.
• There is a serious hole in the road at the corner of Oxford Road and Riviera Road, which is a safety hazard.
• There is another serious hole in Oxford Road further south, about one block before the St Andrews intersection.
• The dangerous pavement trees in 2nd Street (between 2nd Ave and 4th Ave) have not yet been attended to. Two trees have been hit repeatedly by tall vehicles because they are growing at a serious angle across the road toward the sun, and a future heavy impact could potentially cause a huge branch to snap off or even unbalance an entire tree. Clr Snyman committed to getting a City Parks official to inspect them urgently.
• Wayne has taken Clr Snyman and a city official to see the backyard shacks which are being built in the back yard of Martindale Mews. An inspection by the relevant department will be arranged urgently.
• Councillor Snyman committed to getting the JMPD commander to visit the 1st Street area to see the various problems.
• The car-washers in 3rd Street, outside Pick ‘n Pay, continue to take water from the damaged valve on the Chartwell pavement. Chartwell and Brenthurst Court will be asked to fine-tune their cameras to cover the car-washers and to record them in the act of breaking open the water valve.
• Clr Snyman was asked to follow up on the request for a turning arrow to help cars turn from Riviera Road into Main Road – this busy intersection is a safety risk at present.

7. ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
• A new netball pole has been installed in the park. Killarney Mall was thanked for the donation which covered the costs of this project.
• The project to add artwork to the drinking fountain has finally been completed. The style can apparently be described as “artisanal”, and it is certainly very eye-catching.
• Zeenat Ghoor of St John’s Wood has offered to donate more playground equipment to the park. Many thanks to Zeenat for this generous offer.
• Vered have ended their long-running sponsorship of the NKRA street-sweeping project, and we will need to find a new sponsor soon. The current project involves one man for five days per week. On Monday and Wednesday and Friday he sweeps the streets and pavements in 1st Street and 2nd Street where the taxis and shoppers park, including clearing up the overflow from the dustbins, as well as clearing the overflow from the dustbins in Killarney Ave and the dustbins up 2nd Ave. On Tuesdays and Thursdays he sweeps 4th Ave from the top down, including clearing the overflow from the dustbins. If any company would like to sponsor the sweeping project going forward, please will they contact me?
• It was agreed to once again hold a Spring Day event in the park. This has become a valuable tradition in a short time, and it was considered to be well worth maintaining that momentum. The event will be held on the last weekend of October, by which time the jacarandas should be in full bloom. Kayte has done a great job of organising these events for the past three years, but due to business pressure Kayte is not available to manage the project this year. Wayne will therefore lead the project this year. Fay, Elena and Katia volunteered to join the task team. If anybody else would like to join the team, please let us know.

10. FINANCE AND MEMBERSHIP
• No news to report.

11. GENERAL
• The treasurer of the South African Planning Institute, Mr Aurobindo Ogra, attended the meeting as a guest. The SAPI has awarded the NKRA their 2016 National Planning Award for the category “Great Places”, based on the various improvements which we have made to the park and to the suburb generally. This is the first time that a community organisation has won the award. Once again, this proves that a small number of people making a series of small efforts, can work wonders.

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 August 2016 at 5pm

PLEASE PASS ON THESE MINUTES TO OTHER RESIDENTS IN YOUR BUILDINGS