General Assembly Meeting Minutes

April 16th, 2009

Woodland Hills Neighborhood Association

Quarterly General Assembly Meeting

The meeting was called to order by Brad Grulke at 7:30 PM.

Brad introduced Officer Obester from the Dekalb County Police Department's "Interactive Community Policing" (ICP) group.

Officer Obester provided background on the ICP. The ICP was created to get officers "back to the neighborhood and to the community". Recent ICP projects have included cleaning up the Sage Hill shopping center after an increase in property crime. The property crime was attributed to homeless people squatting under a bridge near the shopping center. The squatter's community has been cleaned up, and property crime has decreased.

Despite the recent, high profile crimes along Briarcliff, property crime for Woodland Hills has decreased compared to last year. Office Obester provide crime reports for the neighborhood. These crime statistics can be found by accessing "CRIMETRAC" at this web address : http://dekalbpolice.com/crimetrac.html.

Regarding the recent violent crime along Briarcliff, Office Obester told the assembly that several arrests have been made for robberies that have occurred. He feels confident that those responsible for the violent acts are either close to being arrested or already have been arrested.

Office Obester provided the following crime prevention tips: Never leave anything in your car. If you are home during the day and a stranger knocks, let them know someone is home even if you do not open your door. Many burglars look for houses with no one home to rob during the day.  When questioned from a resident about how to know when you should call the police, Officer Obester said to trust your instincts. Call even if you think you may be overreacting.

Nicole Merchand from Dekalb Solicitor's Office spoke about upcoming Crime Prevention Tour classes in the area. Nicole also provided some background about the criminal justice process including how bonds are issued and warrants assigned. Nicole stressed that if you have information about a crime it is important to be as specific as possible about the details. However, it is ok to be anonymous when you report a crime.

Kate Martin, WHNA Secretary, recapped minutes from the last WHNA Board Meeting and the last WHNA Quarterly General Assembly meeting.

Amy Chism, WHNA Membership Chair, provided a membership drive update. Currently we have 5% paid membership, around 20 households. Our goal for the membership drive is to increase to 30% paid membership (140 households). On 4/18 volunteers will begin canvassing the neighborhood and distributing information about WHNA and the upcoming bar-b-que. We need help with our canvassing efforts.

Jeremy Mador, Social Chair and Zoning Coordinator, gave an update on zoning issues in the area.

In exchange for building the power substation in Morningside, Georgia Power hired a local landscape architect to design the surrounding area. They also built a sidewalk from the area to the Morningside Nature Preserve.

Tim Allen, the developer who built the new homes at the entrance of the neighborhood, has agreed to replace the landscaping surrounding the neighborhood entrance. This landscaping was displaced during one of the home's construction. The new landscaping will be designed and planted in consultation with a Woodland Hills' resident.

GA 400 ramp project:  A public open house was held regarding the proposed ramps connecting 400 and 85. The original plan would have displaced 35 homes in Lindridge Martin Manor. The new plan will not displace any homes. A noise test must be passed and property negotiation completed with Home Depot. Otherwise, the project is being fast tracked because it will create jobs. More info is available on the WHNA website.

Jesse Thompson, WHNA web developer provided demonstration of the new WHNA website.

The website is now more dynamic. The events calendar automatically updates. Postings from other websites, like the AJC.com, are automatically updated and contain Dekalb County news. The 3 column layout is easy for users to navigate. The first column stays with you wherever you go on the website. The middle column is the meat of the website. The assembly gave a very positive response to the new website.