Draft Minutes from Dec. 2010 General Meeting

Minutes of the Mason Mill Civic Association Meeting
December 8, 2010
Submitted by Mary Hinkel, Secretary

President Patrick Noonan called the meeting to order at 7:08 p.m. Approximately 33 individuals were in attendance at the meeting, which was held at Intown Community Church.

Neighbors were welcomed and acknowledged by street.

Patrick reported that the minutes had been sent out via email and also posted on the civic association’s blog. With no suggested changes being put forth by members of the civic association, he asked for the minutes of the May 2010 meeting to be approved. Henry Zuber made such a motion, seconded by John Bugge. The minutes were approved by unanimous vote.

Treasurer Pat Brittain reported that the MMCA has $9,828.19 in the bank, down from the previous meeting due to picnic expenses. Civic association dues for 2011 are now being accepted.

President’s Report
Patrick Noonan reported that the association is active; people are engaged and the association’s officers and volunteers are helping residents communicate with each other and with the County to address problems and to take care of the area we live in.


Update and Discussion Items

Real Estate, Zoning and Land Use
Vice President and Land Use Committee Chair Eric Benjamin reported that we continue to have a solid neighborhood. There are no single family homes in pre-foreclosure and the one foreclosed home on Houston Mill is already under contract.

A question was asked about housing values in relationship to the perception that Briar Vista elementary school is not one of the county’s top schools. Eric reported that many parents are involved at the school and test scores from the students with involved parents are good. Moreover, the PTA has been reinvigorated under the leadership of neighbor Matt Huey (Mason Woods Drive). The PTA welcomes the involvement of neighborhood residents in supporting the school. Eric also pointed out that our location near CDC and Emory tends to trump any loss of value due to the public’s perception of the school.

W. D. Thompson Park
Neighbors held the first park clean-up at the end of October. Six to ten volunteers led by Hilary Ford and Janet Rechtman spent three hours cleaning up an area near the picnic pavilion. The focus was removing invasives (especially Chinese privet), tangles of vines and fallen trees. We hope to do more to improve the appearance and health of the park in the coming months.

One neighbor inquired about the lights and generator being used in the park. These are for the Decatur DeKalb YMCA, which is using the field for a little tyke’s soccer league.

Water Runoff
Our neighborhood continues to be challenged by rainwater flowing from the Toco Hill shopping center and Calibre Woods apartments. Many neighbors have spent time trying to get these entities to respond to the flooding and debris issues experienced by residents on McConnell and Vistavia. One neighbor, Praveen Ghanta , determined that the apartment complex’s retention pond had been modified in violation of county regulations to allow more water to flow out of the pond. This information was shared with Commissioner Rader and the County engineers who have asked Calibre Woods to submit plans to remedy the situation within six weeks. While the county was responsive, it took neighborhood residents to get action, something we all need to keep in mind.

Commissioner Rader’s office has also been helpful in realizing that the shovel ready culvert project planned on Vistavia is tied into the water problems occurring upstream. The culvert project may still need to occur, but the county is looking more broadly at the problem.

Health & Safety
Committee Neighborhood Watch Chair Jesse Gould reported on the “baseball house” problem at 1182 McConnell. Members of the Emory baseball team have rented this house for the past five years with students rotating in and out over the years. As a result of loud parties and property damages (knocked down mailboxes), the police have been called several times. The owner has also been notified but seems to have no interest in making the situation better. Jesse asked the neighbors of 1182 to continue to call the police and county code enforcement when problems occur. Patrick Noonan also will alert Tim Downes (Emory Athletic Director) as well John Ford (VP of Campus Life, and Mason Mill Road resident) to the problem.

[Follow-up: Emory’s AD and coaches were very responsive to our concerns, and immediately met with the students in question. Actions have been taken to reduce and/or prevent future problems. The students also agreed to pay to replace the damaged mailbox.]

Traffic Calming
Secretary & Traffic Committee Chair Mary Hinkel reported on the traffic calming program process to date and neighbors were encouraged to ask questions and express their concerns about the process. Once the county presents its plans, the neighborhood will be able to review and discuss the plans before they are presented to the County’s Board of Commissioners. If approved by the Commissioners, homeowners in the impacted area will be officially petitioned to support the traffic calming measures with an annual $25 fee. Several handouts were shared with the group.

[Follow-up: Since the meeting, the County engineers sent Mary a draft plan, and she has been organizing get-togethers and street walks to study the plan and gather neighborhood input.]


More Formal Ties with Victoria Estates Civic Association
President Patrick Noonan presented the idea of possibly a more formal tie or merger with the Victoria Estate Civic Association, in order to increase our political clout with the county and also to enlarge the number of potential volunteers available to work on behalf of the neighborhood. Specific traditional events could still remain separate, but we would have a joint association governance structure and joint membership meetings.

Patrick asked for a show of hands as to whether this idea should or should not be explored further. Members positively responded, encouraging the association’s officers to take the next step in exploring such a merger.


[Handouts]
May 19, 2010 Minutes
Traffic Calming Materials – Description of Program, Process Flow Chart, Neighborhood Plat