Northcrest Civic Association - Board Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, December 17, 2019 – 7:00 PM
Location: Deb Knott’s home, 3451 Lori Lane
Present: Chris Hester, Liza Everett, Alison Tyrer, Tom Hohol, Debra Knott, Matt Jeffirs. Absent: Jarek Beem, Chuck Hunt
The meeting was called to order at 7:03.
The November 2019 minutes were accepted.
Governance Committee
Chris said there was nothing to report; there are no current board vacancies.
Finance Committee Report
Liza Everett reported we currently have $8,457.80. We paid for Santa, and Vanessa reimbursed NCA $275 for the photographer at Black Friday Market. We have 71 paid 2020 members.
Community Involvement Report
Chris reported that at the Board of Commissioners meeting they approved the traffic calming plan for the 35 homes affected. Seven neighbors were there to speak in favor of it; three neighbors were opposed. Meg has the petition and has 90 days to get it done. All 35 homeowners must sign it one way or the other; 65 percent must be in favor for it to pass.
Also, Chris reported that a DeKalb County official says the construction debris will not be taken out through the neighborhood. Let’s see if Chuck can confirm that, and then we can publicize it. There is no other news about the school except they appear to be on track. No news about paving on Archwood.
Communications Committee Report
Matt is scheduling a newsletter meeting on Jan. 8th to discuss a possible 4-pager and/or email about the end-of-year recap/membership appeal. We need to have a full newsletter before the garden club’s tour of homes, tentatively April 26th. Liza and Chris have volunteer lists from past years; we could mine those for potential current volunteers. Matt will post the November minutes on the website and will follow up on some to-do items from the last meeting.
Membership Committee Report
Tom asked what we are doing to encourage membership in 2020. Alison suggested limiting signtopper voting to members. Deb suggested starting autorenewals on Jan. 1st and publishing the membership list so people can check their status, but privacy is an issue. We need to determine how to use the MailChimp account – it may be better just to start over. Deb suggested we develop a new header for the Facebook page with a place to click for renewals. She suggested doing a logo for 2020 and offering a Northcrest sticker with a membership renewal. Deb and Matt suggested we do an email blast, Facebook and Nextdoor posts for membership renewals, see what the response is and then determine if we need a printed piece.
Safety Committee Report
Tom reported that he and Jarek are looking at streetlights and whether we have the appropriate number and placements in the neighborhood – it’s very dark at night, and with no sidewalks and few street signs it can be dangerous. Tom will report on findings at the next meeting. Chris suggested doing a Facebook poll about it. Alison asked about replacing the Neighborhood Watch signs and if we might be able to get the old ones updated. Chris says we are technically not a Neighborhood Watch neighborhood anymore, so probably not. It was hard to get homeowners to sign up.
Social Committee Report
Deb reported Black Friday Market went well. We had 31 vendors but three have not paid (Deb is following up with them). Deb said next year we need to figure out a better way to register vendors and have them pay. One paying vendor did not come, and one came late, which created access problems. We netted about $500 after expenses, and 12 new members signed up. The parking situation (people parking on both sides of the street) created issues for the fire truck and could have created problems in case of emergency. The weather was nice and people from other neighborhoods came as well. We did not track the number of attendees. The photographer has not yet sent the digital photos.
Matt suggested for next year, we may want to hold a bicycle or golf cart tour of lights at Christmas. Deb said one neighbor has contacted her about Christmas caroling but she does not have time to organize that. She also said she’d like to do an event on the east side of the neighborhood. Alison suggested a neighborhood-wide Christmas light decorations contest.
Meet & Mingle will be in the spring and fall; we need to decide when – maybe March. Chris asked about a potluck, maybe in partnership with the swim club; Deb suggested a get-together with the Garden Club and Swim Club. Matt suggested having Northcrest artists promote the neighborhood by creating art in the five tunnels of the Peachtree Creek Greenway. Chris said that most of them have water flowing or building up. Anderby Brewing has a good party room and Deb suggested having a social event there or the Buckeye Room. She will look at the calendar and try to find a date for an event. Matt said there are two new breweries in Tucker.
Old Business - There was no other old business to discuss.
New Business – We need more volunteers for the committees, to help with the action items and create a line of succession for board members. Deb suggested having a social event for potential volunteers. Alison suggested that each board member call potential volunteers (listed on Liza’s spreadsheet) for their own committee; she can help make calls if needed. Ideally much of what we discuss at the board meeting should have been discussed in a committee and then reported out at the board meeting.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:23 PM.