October 2005 Minutes

OCTOBER 10, 2005

The meeting was called to order at 7:15 PM. Those present were:
Rick Matthews
Sheryl Bennett
Delores Wallace
John Michalik
Jeff Erwin
Todd anderson
Diane O’Rea
Katie Kaiser
Joe Glessner

The Benteen Park Neighborhood Association was honored with the presence of Sheryl Bennett, Chief of Staff for Carla Smith, Council Member, District One.

OLD BUSINESS
Code Enforcement was invited to tour our neighborhood. A Code Enforcement Representative told Joe Glessner they do not do neighborhood tours.

Sheryl Bennett suggested taking pictures and making other documentation that must be sent by neighborhood residents with details of issues and the location addresses for review by code enforcement. Sheryl Bennett said other neighborhoods have taken this approach with success. Ms. Bennett suggested we “spoon feed” the issues approximately ten (10) at a time rather than sending them all at once. She also said the best people to send the issues to would be Cathy Lloyd (Code Enforcement Director) or Yolanda Mack.

Sheryl Bennett spoke with Major Propes concerning the Garage Sale Business at the corner of Benteen Avenue and Custer Avenue. Major Propes told Sheryl Bennett that our beat officer has issued a warning to this home owner. She also said this home owner has been warned several times in the past and has been visited by a city official concerning running a business in a residential neighborhood. Sheryl Bennett said, since a report has been filed, all residents are encouraged to dial 911 to report any sales activity at this location, while it is happening.

City officials have been called several times concerning properties being illegally renovated (no posted permits) on Federal Terrace and on McDonough Boulevard. In spite of these efforts for action, nothing was done. These calls have been met with remarks indicating the officials are not interested in these activities nor making an effort to stop them. It was suggested that we email officials: Building and Planning Devision EMAIL: www.atlantaga.gov . Or call Brenda, at Carla Smith’s office, 404-330-6039.

Sheryl Bennett said she is beginning research concerning abandoned alleyways. Police tend to not enforce blocked alleyway issues. According to Sheryl Bennett, alleyway issues are very difficult to deal with and alleyways become blocked by new construction, thus interfering with ingress to other properties having no other alternative other than the alleyway for off-street parking.

Sheryl Bennett left the meeting early due to other meeting commitments. We expressed gratitude for her efforts on our behalf and being present to speak with us.

The issue with the community have little to no communication with our neighborhood Hispanic residents was approached again. It was suggested that we need to rethink how to approach them because past efforts have failed. We need to continue researching ways to reach out to the community so we can bond together as an entire community.


NEW NEIGHBORHOOD LOGO:
Katie Kaiser presented several impressive examples of our neighborhood logo she created. Those present voted on a choice. By the majority vote, a new logo was established. The vote was 7-1. John Michalik moved to accept the new logo. Rick Matthews seconded.

SPEED HUMPS:
Major Propes said we would get speed humps much more quickly by going through Carla Smith’s office. One member volunteered to talk with Traffic Engineering to request a review of our stop sign condition around Benteen Avenue and Casanova Street.

YARD MAINTENANCE ISSUE:
Custer Avenue, Delores Wallace reports a neighbor who rents the home is leaving hedges untrimmed and the owner of the property is nonresponsive to Ms. Wallace’s requests that this issue be addressed. It is important that we have names, addresses, and phone numbers for all owners of rental properties so we may contact them with any issues concerning violations on the properties that have a negative impact upon our neighborhood.

SUGGESTIONS FOR DISTRIBUTION OF MINUTES AND WELCOMING NEW NEIGHBORS
We discussed ways to keep our neighborhood informed of meeting agendas, present and future. One suggestion was to mail the monthly minutes to all members who request a copy. The cost involved was discussed.

Welcoming new home owners by distributing welcome baskets. It was mentioned that SAND provides these and we are part of the SAND community. It was suggested we begin gathering information for an updated Benteen Park Neighborhood Phone Directory. This phone directory will be discussed in a future meeting.

We will distribute a statement of purpose on Benteen Park Neighborhood Association letterhead in the future.

FROM THE PRESIDENT:
We will compile a list of all new home owners as a contact list/phone list. Joe Glessner will speak with SAND for ideas.
Joe Glessner will represent our neighborhood association at NPUW meetings.
Our current goals are Zoning violations and Code enforcement.

Those who would like to participate in a neighborhood walk on Sunday, October 16th, will meet in front of Joe Glessner’s house at 10 AM to document zoning and code violations in the neighborhood. The documentation will be sent to Cathy Lloyd, Code Enforcement Director.

The meeting was adjorned at 9:00 P.M..

Respectfully,
Diane O’Rea
Secretary, Benteen Park Neighborhood Association