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March 14, 2005 MLPA Board of Directors Monthly Meeting
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Board and committee members present: President Norman McKay, Vice President Alan Perry, Secretary Sarah Nunn, Parliamentarian Mae Reich, At Large (North) James Strack,
At Large (South) Shira Kash, Education Chair Barbara Feinberg, Parks Co-Chairs Charlotte Gillis and Karen Schaefer, Zoning Co-Chairs: Tad Christian and Trav Carter
Membership update by Norman. 750 members including 500 MSP members. $70,000 collected since December.
Visit from Grady robotics team, Gear Box Gangstaz who will advance to the Nationals.
Grady's first-ever robotics team competed March 3-5 in the FIRST competition and came away rated #1 among 10 rookie teams. Overall, the team had the sixth highest point score out of a field of 47 teams and will compete on the national level at the Georgia Dome April 21-23. Motion to contribute $1000 (at the expense of the Parks and other budgets) approved unanimously.
Approval of Minutes: A motion to approve the February minutes passed unanimously.
Report by Anne Fauver - Reduction in Monroe Dr speed limit from 35 mph to 30 mph.
Crime report by Norman – Lots of crime just outside the boundaries of Morningside. Limited crime inside boundaries of Morningside, mostly vehicle break-ins with visible wallets, laptops, and other valuables.
Parks Co-Chair Karen Schaefer
Request approval from MLPA board for a donation to Trees Atlanta for trees they supplied to MLPA's neighborhood tree planting. Trees Atlanta provided 50 trees @ $50 per tree for a total of $2500. This expense was anticipated and budgeted for in the Parks Committee 2005 budget
Education Chair Barbara Feinberg
CINS - New Georgia Performance Standards adopted by the state department of education will influence the math, language arts, science and social studies curricula taught in our schools. Changes will be made not only to what is taught, but how it’s taught, when it’s taught and how learning is measured. These new standards – with a focus on changes to the K-12 math curriculum – are the topic of the March meeting of the Council of Intown Neighborhoods and Schools (CINS). Alicia Derin, executive director of teaching and learning for Atlanta Public Schools, will explain the new math standards and how their rollout will affect current elementary, middle and high school students. The meeting will take place: Noon on March 23 at C.W. Hill Elementary, 386 Pine Street, (404) 853-4011. The meeting is free and open to the community. Lunch is available for $5. Mark the date for CINS’ April Meeting!
CINS will hold its annual Grants Showcase on April 20th, 7 p.m., at the Grady theatre. At the Showcase, teachers who are recipients of CINS grants for the 2004 – 2005 school year will present reports and student demonstrations to provide feedback on how the grants have benefited our schools. This year CINS distributed just over $15,000 in teacher grants, $1000 of which came from MLPA. Plan to attend the Grants Showcase on April 20th and learn how MLPA dollars were put to excellent use.
Grady High School - The Projectors are coming! APS will be purchasing 40 LCD projectors for Grady, 5 of which will be installed by Spring Break, the first week in April. That’s great news. However, there will still be a need for funds for additional A-V hardware. APS is not paying for the audio equipment and its installation that will fully activate Grady’s CCTV system. The Grady technology committee projects a need for an additional $8200 to provide VCR/DVD capability in 40+ classrooms.
PUBLIC HEARING FOR THE CRIM/GRADY/SOUTHSIDE REZONING
This August, Atlanta Public Schools will convert Crim to an Open Campus High School. Crim’s new, non-traditional program will offer a flexible, rigorous academic program to APS students age 16 through 21 for whom a traditional high school does not best meet educational needs. As part of the Crim conversion, current Crim students will be rezoned for Southside and Grady high schools. A public meeting will be held at GRADY on Tuesday March 15th, 6:30 p.m., and at Southside on Tuesday March 29th.
GRADY’S GRAND OPENING set for March 20 from 2 – 4 p.m. Join the celebration of the new and renovated Grady High School. Highlights will include the grand ribbon cutting ceremony, tours, performances, demonstrations, and refreshments.
Inman Middle School - Two Inman 7th graders will be participating in this year’s People to People Student Ambassador Program, an educational travel program founded by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Tiara Davis will be travelling in China for two and a half weeks, and Sidney Wise will be participating in the Washington, D. C. program.
Morningside Elementary School - New Date, New Time for Meeting to Discuss Overcrowding at Morningside The PTA invites you to the rescheduled Overcrowding Issues at Morningside Meeting, Wednesday, March 30th at 6:00 PM in the Morningside Auditorium. Valerie Thomas, Director of Facilities for the Atlanta Public Schools will be in attendance to discuss the facilities planning process.
April is the month for Standardized Testing at Inman and Morningside.
3rd and 5th graders will be taking the Iowa Test of Basic Skills and all grades at Inman will be taking the Georgia Criterion Referenced Competency Tests (CRCTs). The results of these national standardized tests provide the data with which our schools are evaluated for annual yearly progress as defined by the No Child Left Behind law. Those findings will be made public by the beginning of the next school year.
Motion to approve Daniel Cherrix’s request for a check for Sunken Garden film approved unanimously.
Traffic Report - Diane Olansky for Bill Ellis
Proposal to pay up to $1000 for parking enforcement by MSP during Dogwood Festival passed unanimously.
Zoning Co-Chairs: Tad Christian and Trav Carter
Application Number V-04-399
1116 Berkshire Road
Applicant: Christopher Smurda
Property Owner: Christopher Smurda & Patrick Clark
Applicant seeks a variance to reduce the east side yard setbacks from 10 ft. required to 1 ft. and the rear yard setback from 20 ft. required to 1 ft. to allow for the construction of a detached garage and porte-cochere to a single family residence. Motion to Deny. Motion Passed by Zoning Committee: 5- In Favor, 0- Against, 2 - Abstaining.
Application Number V-05-35
1470 Kay Lane
Applicant: Bernardo Velha
Property Owner: Bernardo Velha
Applicant seeks a variance to reduce the front yard setback from 35 feet (required) to 22 feet to allow for an addition to a single family house.
Motion to approve conditional on approval of all neighbors on the circular cul-de-sac and conditional of proof that the applicant cannot build additional livable space in the rear of the property and per the plans dated 2-4-05. Motion Passed by Zoning Committee: 6- In Favor, 0- Against, 1 - Abstaining.
Application Number V-05-36
1371 North Morningside Drive
Applicant: Dixon E. Nash
Property Owner: Robert Hardaway Ferris
Applicant seeks a special exception to allow for the construction of a 7.5 foot ornamental gate where such gates are restricted to 6 foot in height. Motion to approve passed unanimously by MLPA board.
Application Number V-05-45
690 Amsterdam Ave.
Applicant: Eric M. Smith
Property Owner: Eric M. Smith
Applicant seeks a special exception to allow for a room addition to an existing non-conforming detached duplex, where otherwise it is prohibited. Motion to Defer. Motion Passed by Zoning Committee: 7- In Favor, 0- Against, 0 - Abstaining. Motion to defer passed unanimously by MLPA board.
Parks Co-Chair Charlotte Gillis
The Conservation Fund now owns Option 1 of the Herbert Taylor Park buffer project. The next step will be for the Fund to donate the parcel to the City of Atlanta and DeKalb County. The City will manage the property as part of Herbert Taylor Park.
Presentation of the 4 master plan alternatives for the Wildwood Forest:
- No Action
- Nature Trails & Preservation, no bicycles
- Balance of Preservation & Recreation, allows bicylces
- Preservation & Facilities, hard surface roads like Piedmont Park
Meeting adjourned.
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