THE BATTLE CRY

 

• Join the PBA: Membership invoices were mailed... please return your checks asap

Susie Cogan and Carter Maguire

• We’re getting greener in more ways than one... in addition to the 25 trees added to Haynes Manor Park at the PATH by PBA and Trees Atlanta volunteers which will help screen out Northside Drive for our neighbors on Peachtree Battle, look for the many more trees that were planted along Woodward Way at the creek... Judy Tindel

• Communication is key... In order to provide more timely information to PBA members, the Battle Cry will be online and will come more often. Our PBA website will be completely updated and easier to use in the very near future with a password protected directory so neighbor contact information can be updated more often. We also hope to offer an online dues payment option. Mitzi Michelson and Jeff Cohen

• Remember to call the Security Patrol if you will be out of town so they can pick up your papers... ‘tis the season for an increase in theft... Tara Joiner

• Don’t be surprised to see surveyors out on Peachtree Battle in front of E. Rivers...more  James Worrell and Jeff Hehir

• Improvements are happening everywhere... the graffiti is gone from the intersection of Northside, Sagamore and Woodward Way thanks to the Parks Committee’s diligence and the help of neighbor, Craig Mullins. Look for a landscape improvement project at the AT&T U-Verse boxes at Sagamore. The plan was done by Spencer Tunnell and funded by AT&T.

 

Special requests

1. Neighbors should please ask their landscape contractors to refrain from blowing leaves into public parks and green space throughout the neighborhood, especially along the Peachtree Battle Avenue median parks. This practice creates maintenance problems for neighbors when the leaves make their way back into adjacent landscapes and causes an unnecessary burden for the landscape company that manages maintenance for the Peachtree Battle Alliance in parks throughout the neighborhood.

2. Too many doggie bags – contents and all – are being found in our parks and creek areas. Dog walkers are urged to dispose of their doggie bags in litter receptacles, not in public areas or yard waste receptacles.

Message from the President

As you can see, the PBA is on a roll! After years of hard work and perseverance, a number of critical issues for the PBA are being resolved. The foresight of the many PBA volunteers who came before us is paying off. When you provide solutions and are willing to work until the problems are solved, there will come a day when you are successful. In order to get to that point, it takes responsive representatives at all levels of government who are willing to work with us and for us and we have been fortunate to have had the support of many.

With Clair Muller's help, the first of our “concrete” traffic initiatives will come to fruition this year. Others are approved and awaiting proper funding. Reasonable traffic speeds make it safer for our many walkers, joggers and bikers. The trees planted now will ensure that our neighborhood continues to be one of the most beautiful in the City for years to come. Litter is being picked up. Graffiti is not allowed to persist. Our security patrol is successfully in place. Our watershed issues are under study. And our neighborhood parties continue to bring us together and bind us to this place.

At the Annual Meeting on October 22nd, a great new slate of board members was elected and all who attended heard about the exciting plans for the coming year. Four PBA board members rolled off after many years of service. Our sincere thanks go to Sherry Cohen, Molly Caine, Margaret Long and Marion Smith.

Over 70% of you supported the PBA with your dues in 2009. We hope the remaining 30% will do so as well in 2010. Thanks for your continuing support of the work the PBA does on your behalf.

The Buckhead Council of Neighborhoods

The BCN hosted a well attended mayoral forum this fall, which the PBA supported. Membership on the Council has proved to be an invaluable source of information sharing and support for PBA efforts. The BCN, which now numbers 26 Buckhead neighborhood associations, meets once a month to discuss and seek solutions to issues of importance to neighbors in Buckhead.

Current projects include the completion of the ramps from Georgia 400 to I-85; finding solutions to the water meter and billing problems within the Department of Watershed Management; reviewing the organizational structure of the various neighborhood associations in Buckhead to encourage best practices and help those who need improvement; addressing the issues of development and infrastructure in Buckhead; and providing a forum for the exchange of information.

PBA Parks Committee

Nearly 40 neighborhood volunteers participated in the PBA Fall Creek and Parks Clean Up on Oct. 14 picking up litter and flood debris from all public greenspace in our neighborhood: the Peachtree Battle Avenue median parks, the three parcels of Sibley Park, Haynes Manor Park at Northside, as well as Peachtree Creek and its banks from Bobby Jones Clubhouse to Northside Drive. The City provided dumpsters, ValleyCrest donated litter bags, Park Pride loaned tools, and Gibson Landscaping Company donated the use of two John Deere Gator vehicles for hauling. Chris Hastings, master arborist and president of ArborMedics, was kick- off speaker and shared valuable information about how to care for and preserve the many senior trees in our yards and parks.

Some 60 neighborhood and community volunteers participated in the November 14 PBA Trees Atlanta Neighborwoods tree planting. 25 trees were planted, watered and mulched along the PATH trail in Haynes Manor Park, at E. Rivers Elementary School and in front yards to restore street canopy.

ArborMedics spent two days providing canopy pruning in the median parks on Peachtree Battle Avenue. The work was funded jointly by the PBA and Park Pride through a Community Micro Grant titled "Caring for the Seniors: Mature Tree Care in the Peachtree Battle Avenue Median Parks".

Johathan O'Connor continues work on his Eagle Scout project at the corner of Havenridge Drive and Woodward Way on the grounds of the Bobby Jones Golf Clubhouse. The neglected corner has been cleaned up with new plant materials installed.

Rehabilitation of Sibley Park at Woodward Way continues. Twenty-two donors, including an anonymous foundation, have contributed $9,775 in tax deductible donations to Peachtree Battle Neighborhood Improvement, Inc., a 501 (c) 3 independent charitable organization

supporting Alliance neighbhorhood projects. Expenditures of $6075.50 have been made to Cascade Springs Forestry for phase one removal of non-native invasive vegetation and chipping of woody debris. Two additional years of exotic vegetation management are planned. Neighborhood volunteers have picked up litter at the site and will continue to include the park in clean up events on an ongoing basis. Landscape Architect John Howard, through the generous support of the Smithgall family, is preparing a landscape plan for the installation of native trees and shrubs for review and permitting by the Atlanta Department of Parks for installation this winter.

The Haynes Manor Garden Club and Habersham Garden Club continue their work with maintenance and beautification of the Peachtree Battle Avenue median parks. The neighborhood thanks these volunteers for their generous expenditure of time and funds.

The PBA Watershed Network has been established to facilitate communication and action on behalf of watershed issues in the community. Eli Green chairs the committee and may be contacted at elijahtgreen@gmail.com.

PBA Tree Recompense- New trees have been planted on Woodward Way near Peachtree Creek, Haynes Manor Park and Sibley Park at West Wesley. Eighty-seven trees were specified on a planting plan developed by North American Pipeline Management Inc. for installation on City land in the Peachtree Battle Alliance community along creekside Woodward Way, Havenridge Drive at the Bobby Jones Golf Course parking lot, Haynes Manor Park and two parcels of Sibley Park at West Wesley. The new trees were

planted as recompense for mature trees removed or impacted by Clean Water Atlanta sewer work in Sibley Park last year. The tree plan was developed by a certified arborist with NAPM Inc. according to provisions of the Atlanta Tree Ordinance, reviewed and edited by landscape architect Spencer Tunnell at the request of the Peachtree Battle Alliance, and approved by the Atlanta Parks Department. Trees on the plan include red maple, tulip poplar, allee elm, willow oak, nuttall oak, redbud, beech, sweetgum, and southern magnolia. The crew installed the trees the week after Thanksgiving. Terms of the contract with the City include professional care for the trees for a period of two years. This installation is the third

tree recompense project within the neighborhood in recent years. Earlier projects located 40 red maples and redbud trees on the Peachtree Battle median parks and in Haynes Manor Park.

Traffic Committee

This year has been a successful one for the Peachtree Battle Alliance Traffic Calming Plan. Several elements of the Plan have moved forward to implementation and the Traffic Committee continues to make progress on other parts of the Plan.

Plus there is breaking news to report. The Committee has been able to successfully negotiate a reduction to the speed limit on West Wesley Road to 30 miles per hour. You can find more information on this later in this article.

Accomplishments include: �� Removal of the reversible lane on Northside Drive from Arden Road to Springlake Drive �� Reduction of the speed limit on West Wesley to 30 mph �� Secured funding for traffic improvements at intersection of Peachtree Battle Avenue and Peachtree Road (see below) and completed the city required public comment period on the intersection improvements �� Received city approval of conceptual plans for improving the intersection of Sagamore/Woodward Way/ Northside; held neighborhood roundtable in October for further input and comment on the plans

There continues to be work underway with DOT and other surrounding neighborhoods to move forward the construction of sidewalks on Northside Drive from Arden to I-75. The Committee is also focused on other key elements of the Traffic Calming Plan including the intersection of Peachtree Battle and Northside Drive.

Peachtree Battle / Peachtree Intersection

The original concept plan for this intersection improvement was developed by the neighborhood with the help of consultants Glatting Jackson in 2004. In the five years that have passed, hundreds of hours of efforts have led to a city-approved project with secured funding for implementation. Public meetings held in the neighborhood in October and November at E. Rivers School and Bobby Jones clubhouse were the last steps to get the project on the “books”. A global traffic engineering firm, Arcadis, has been retained to create the final project plan and the Traffic Committee will be working closely with them to ensure the project remains true to our original design, which improves safety, green space and remains true to the character of our neighborhood. Surveying of the area will begin this year with implementation tentatively scheduled for Summer 2010.

West Wesley Speed Limit Reduction

A key element of the Traffic Calming Plan is to slow traffic, especially on our high volume roads. After receiving overwhelming support from the residents on West Wesley, the Committee successfully negotiated a reduction of the speed limit to 30 mph. The measure has been passed by the City Council and signs should be changing over the next few weeks. The DOT must approve the use of radar for enforcement – which is one of the reasons for the change. With the 35 mph speed limit, speeders could not be stopped unless traveling in excess of 48 mph so there was effectively no enforcement. Now at the lower speed limit, radar enforcement can begin early next year once we get DOT approval.

In an exciting development, we were able to extend this change to the entire street of West Wesley, from Peachtree Street all the way to Nancy Creek. We are pleased we could help out these other neighborhoods, including our neighbors in the Brandon School area and in Peachtree Heights where there are no established civic associations