Here are minutes from the May 12, 2020 General Body Meeting, neighbors! Thank you to all who attended virtually, and to Anna Hovind for recording. Remember that these meetings are the best way to stay connected with what's happening in Howell Station!
Quarry Park. First phase was supposed to come on line this month, that may be dated. They are about 90% and working hard to be substantially complete by the first of June. At some point there will be plans for a celebration at the park. Most likely not going to happen soon.
Entrance off Johnson Rd. with parking & restrooms. Grand entrance has pedestrian trial separate from auto traffic. Original road – Grove Park Place ran north south from Johnson and hooks up at Hortense, Grove Park. That will all be pedestrian and bike travel. Quarry will be full in a month / month-and-a-half.
Playground is being created now; it’s next to an overlook at the fence with views of the quarry & skyline. Grand Lawn well over the size of a soccer field with great views of downtown.
Pedestrian paths 3-to -3.5 miles of walkways, mostly ADA compliant. Eventually, will have a rim trail that encircles the quarry. Beltline will be coming down Marietta, hooking in at Bankhead Marta station.
Artwork “Birth of Atlanta” that used to be in Little 5 Points will be taken to the Park. It includes an area under shade next to rest rooms where food trucks could come.
Access for Howell Station – Beltline will be our best bet. There is a live railroad track by the GA Power station, so access there is probably not going to happen.
New YMCA and school are also being built near Hortense.
District 3 updates. City hall has been closed since mid-March. City is figuring out how to conduct business remotely. Pre-pandemic, City Council was already working on remote voting by its members. They’re trying to test as many people tested as possible so they can know their status. In some parts of the district, resources are scarce. District 3 is a food desert; providing meals to the needy & seniors.
Marietta BLVD sewer project. No updates. City wants to get it done as quickly as possible. Low traffic due to pandemic has helped crews get a lot more road and infrastructure work done.
Bridge on Marietta is scheduled for work – for this summer. July 22- timeline for work to begin. How will it impact our neighborhood? Hope to get ahead of any traffic issues like what we saw on Rice Street. They do take this into consideration but it can be a necessary evil sometimes. They try to move through the projects as quickly as possible to alleviate problems for Howell Station. Not always an easy answer. He will check on the sewer update and share with Chad. Please feel free to reach out to Antonio and his team with questions or concerns.
Upper Westside CID.
At our board meeting, they discussed –
Our arts grant. Submitting a post card of what we’d like the ideal park to look like Knight Park. We won an $1125 art grant. They will hold the funds and make payment to the artist we choose. We need someone to manage the survey and the artist we choose. We can work with the CID to get that in place.
New pocket park – W Marietta and Brady. It will be in the little triangle of land by the white building. It will have a bike station, benches. There is already a foot path there – it will be maintained and a nice aesthetic thing near our hood. We have to thank the MARIETTA STREET ARTERY – through their talks we were able to get that pocket park.
Upper Westside CID - community improvement district. There are several in Atlanta. Working with each neighborhood so it can develop its own visioning document, as in “This is the development we want to see and what we don’t want to see.” This document which we author will go into a larger narrative for the city of Atlanta- city’s comprehensive development plan. We will poll neighborhood for their best available times in May or June all invited – probably virtual meeting.
Upper Westside CID is just to north of us, on the other side of W. Marietta. They go to businesses and ask them to put a little extra $ on their taxes for the betterment of the area. This $$ is for the benefits of businesses and residents. This CID will probably encompass Howell Station, potentially next year.
New website: Historichowellstation.org. Sarah Noble & Jessica Shumaker updated it. Old web page is now a landing site that sends you to new page. New site has links with basic info about HS, events and to support fundraising. Also, a blog with news about Westside developments, meeting minutes, info on Knight Park renovations. Support Us tracks park fundraising, and you can donate there. Neighborhood Association Dues. Please pay your $25 via the website – link on home page in the upper right corner. Dues $$ goes for events, maintenance for neighborhood amenities. Howell Station shop – buy neighborhood items on line & order your brick, too. Will email entire neighborhood so all will know.
Rezoning.
Many lots near us are zoned commercial or industrial. Brian Smith is trying to change it to more beneficial zoning. Keyetta Holmes okayed proactive zoning. We’re doing this after losing the gas station battle; we will have fight after fight, so we are trying to get ahead of it. They are starting to work on gas station. We want to set up a liaison to talk to the project manager of the gas station.
Knight Park.
New playground is complete. Bridge replacement. We won a $4,000 grant; need to come up with remaining $$ of the total cost of about $8,000. Tennis court will be re-striped; may re-do fence. The brick building is in permitting process for partial deconstruction. Contractor to demo bricks & place them at little library (in front of the playground). Will replace picnic table & add benches in the future.
3rd and Urban development.
QTS leased 15 acres to 3rd and Urban. A new multi-use development. They’re now remediating the area. 30,000 square feet of retail and some restaurants and 200-to-210,000 square feet of office space. No direct access from Howell Station. Hope to have a pedestrian bridge connecting to Goat Farm. Some of the large magnolias and Civil War monuments are slated for removal. W Marietta Street intersection at Joseph Lowry to be re-vamped from a “Y” to a “T”.
Brock Built.
Chappelle Forest project in Bankhead area - will include part of Proctor Creek Greenway. Potential for southern expansion of Maddox Park. The plans will be presented by Brock at NPU-K meeting next Tuesday at 6:30. Zoom meeting as well. Present questions/comments at NPU-K meeting.
Treasurer’s report.
Operating account $6,614.80- neighborhood dues go into this account. Pays for events, flowers at signs, things not associated with the 5013C.
Savings $492.00
Friends of Howell Station, $72,704.29
All Howell Station Neighborhood events are on hold due to pandemic. Looking for alternative ways to hold safe community celebrations. Use Amazon Prime or Kroger accounts to donate to Howell Station.
Trash Pickup.
Take containers to street by 7pm the night before & remove by 7pm on collection day.
Next general body meeting August 11. Meeting time changed to 6:30