NEWSLETTER – FEBRUARY 2012

NEWSLETTER – FEBRUARY 2012

NEW TREES FINALLY ARRIVE
We thank City Parks for the nine new trees they planted in the 4th Street Park. After a rocky start, all of them are alive and well. More trees have been planted privately on the pavements at the corner of 2nd Ave & 2nd Street, and a third tree was planted outside Seven Oaks in 3rd Street. These are replacing trees that have died in the past.
Buildings with low or open fences are urged to plant colourful shrubs etc along their boundary areas, to uplift their surroundings even further.

HISTORICAL RECOGNITION
Gleneagles was recently “plaqued” as a building of historical significance. We congratulate their trustees on this effort, and on the civic pride which they clearly take in their building. It was mentioned at the ceremony that, in addition to being a desirable place to live, a building having an appropriate heritage status could potentially qualify for a 20% rebate on their assessment rates, which these days is well worth having.
Any building that is over 60 years of age might qualify. Please contact us if you need more information on this, and we will forward your query to our resident heritage expert.

SAFETY AND SECURITY
Car theft is on the rise in our area. The SAPS warn that car thieves are now using jamming devices, which can block the signal from your remote-control when you lock your car doors. Please ensure that your car doors are properly locked before you walk away from your vehicle, even if the lights have flashed and beeped as they normally do.
Employees who live in the building are entitled to have visitors in their rooms, but be alert to who is visiting and who is staying overnight – most burglaries are inside jobs, and are often committed by relatives of employees with the assistance of that staff member. Also be careful about strangers in the building who are wearing overalls, as burglars often pose as workmen. Toolboxes are ideal for removing small but valuable items from buildings.
Information is needed to fight crime – please report all suspicious activity and individuals to Captain Moonsamy, on 071 675 6000.

STREET LIGHTS
Councillor Ravid has provided an SMS number to use for reporting defective street-lights. It is 32694. Please also include the physical address of the pole in question.

Pavement Repairs:
A number of pavements have been repaired by the NKRA, including areas that are tarred, and some which have been paved with flag-stones. We will never have enough money to produce a suburb full of perfect pavements, but a number of unsafe areas have now been repaired, and more will done in 2012 as the contributions come in from member buildings.
We note with relief that, after much nagging from Councillor Ravid and the NKRA, City Power has started doing something to repair the long trench they cut along Riviera Road. We hope they will finish this soon.
Councillor Ravid has also been putting pressure on Joburg Water to complete the on-going repairs to water pipes under pavements in Riviera Road, especially the deep excavations at the corner of 4th Ave and Riviera Road, and in the intersection of Killarney Road and 3rd Street. It is however most encouraging to note that the municipality still has the will and the capacity to fix leaking pipes in Killarney.

Traffic Safety:
With funding from the NKRA, JRA have installed additional speed-humps in 4th Avenue, to help motorists to remember to drive safely. More will soon be done higher up in 4th Avenue at the Park, and in Main Road outside Splice.
The next phase will be to request a traffic circle at the corner of 3rd Street and 2nd Ave, which has seen several quite serious accidents recently, and a speed-hump in 1st Street.

Street Sweeping:
Last year the NKRA contracted with a cleaning company to provide a street-sweeper for 3 days per week, to clean up the pavements along Killarney Road and at the illegal taxi rank. This project is adding excellent value. It was agreed at the January meeting to extend this service to also clean the pavements of 4th Ave and Main Road, which are very high-volume pedestrian routes.
Buildings are asked to keep their pavements clear of weeds, as a weedy pavement attracts litter and illegal dumping. It also makes our suburb less attractive for the residents.
Buildings are again asked to promptly take inside the bags of litter gathered up by the PikiTup street sweepers, as these will otherwise soon be emptied out again by the scavengers.

Sectional Title Seminar:
A suggestion has been made for the NKRA to arrange a “seminar” on Sectional Title issues, to be presented by a Sectional Title expert. It will probably take place one evening, in the area somewhere. We will not arrange this unless there is sufficient interest, so if you would be interested to have such an event, please do let us know.

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Our newsletters are kindly sponsored by Nomsa Nene Properties.

(NOMSA NENE ESTATE AGENT (CRS) (PDE) (NQL4)(RPL) SECTIONAL TITLE SPECIALIST)
Email: Nomsa@neneprop.co.za I Website: www.neneprop.co.za | Fax to email: 086 617 4662
Office tell: 011 486 0569 I Office fax: 011 486 4698 I Mobile: 083 964 2665 4662