GENERAL BODY MEETING MINUTES

West End Neighborhood Development Inc. 

Tuesday, April 1st, 2025, 7:00 PM 

Online Meeting

2025 Officers:

Marquise “Tony” McNeal, President – president@atlantawestend.com
John Mitchell, 1st Vice President – firstvp@atlantawestend.com
Kimberly Carlisle, 2nd Vice President – secondvp@atlantawestend.com
Troy Farina, Treasurer – treasurer@atlantawestend.com
Dave Mardis, Secretary – secretary@atlantawestend.com
Melba T. Furlow, Recording Secretary recordingsecretary@atlantawestend.com
Kim Scott, Past President – kimscottmanagement@gmail.com
Terry Ross, Parliamentarian – t-ross01@hotmail.com

 

CALL TO ORDER  (7:02 PM)

  • Welcome
  • Motion to adopt April Agenda by Kimberly Carlisle and seconded by Caleb Racicot, with call for discussion.
    Favor: 25   Oppose: 0    Abstain: 2
  • Motion to approve March 2025 General Body Meeting Minutes by Troy Farina and seconded by Carlton Walker, with call for discussion.
    Favor: 19   Oppose: 0    Abstain: 4

CITY REPRESENTATIVES & ELECTED OFFICIALS – PART I  (7:05 PM)

  • Mayor’s Office of Policy and Housing – Carolyn Kovar. The APS School Board has requested that another meeting be scheduled. APS and AUD will be on site to receive feedback and answer questions. Also, there may possibly be a motion at the next WEND meeting on whether and how the neighborhood would like to proceed at the Peeples Street site. If such a vote were to occur, it would be informed by what is discussed at the public meeting. The meeting will be April 16th from 7-8:30 at H.J. Russell West End Academy. Ms. Kovar shared this current draft version of the executive summary which would be presented at the APS Board meeting.

PRESIDENT’S REPORT – Tony McNeal  (7:10 PM)  

  • A new secretary needs to be appointed, as the current secretary, Mallerie Shirley, is resigning. The WEND President nominates Dave Mardis and submits him for a confirmation vote by the General Body.
    Vote results:      Favor: 34   Oppose: 1   Abstain: 2

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION – Troy Farina  (7:15 PM)     

  • WEND began March with an account balance of $11,554.86 and ended the month with a balance of $14,895.98. This was largely due to a donation from the City of Atlanta in the amount of $3,750.
  • There was an act of fraud committed against the CashApp debit card that WEND uses to make purchases for events, etc. The WEND Treasurer is working with CashApp to reverse those charges and expects that the refund will come in April.
  • Multiple WEND events are upcoming, the proceeds and expenses from which will be reflected in our next financial update.
  • We are $8,000 shy of our goal of $30,000 in corporate sponsorships. If you know of any potential sponsors, please let us know so that we can reach out!

COMMITTEE REPORTS, PT I  (7:18 PM)

  • Zoning – Larry Frazer
    • Peeples St. Project. 6.05 acre site currently zoned SPI-21, (low-density, single family). As it is zoned today it would support 35 single-family homes. The property is owned by APS, who would like to develop it into a mixed-income housing development and seek rezoning. They propose a 50yr ground lease attached to the property. The conversation around the development of this property began in October 2024. After a series of community engagement meetings with the AUD+APS consortium, the most recent proposal is that there would be 67 total units on the property, 11 of which would be ownership-based. Of those 11 ownership units, six would be 2br, and five would be 3br. The last public meeting was originally going to be on Feb 25th, but there will now be another meeting on April 16th, so please come out. 
    • The Committee Chair has granted a request by the “We The Peeples” group to express their position on development of the Peeples Street Elementary site. They gave a statement in support of ownership and affordability but against rental.
    • WEND Members discussed their reactions to the “We the Peeples” group’s presentation.
  • Preservation and Urban Design – Caleb Racicot
    • The Preservation committee has insisted since Day 1 that the Peeples Street Development will need to adhere to all requirements of the Historic District.
    • The committee has been busy, and has reviewed the following:
      • 523 Holderness
      • 904 Beecher – Rear Addition
      • 387 Atwood – Property owner has been trying to do some work with back
      • 1341 Latham St. Applicant having issues with drawings.
      • 1168 Lucile – Final plan allows for restoration of the home, removing the 2nd door on the front, which was not historic to the home. Building an ADU in the rear that will be more in keeping with the home.
    • Committee will be reviewing 1140 Oglethorpe in May. Of note, the property used to be a corner store back in the 1920s. 
    • There is an ongoing issue in the neighborhood of a lot of illegal work, so if someone is thinking of doing a driveway, parking pad, etc, it’s very important to get approval beforehand. When you pave a part of your yard, you’re causing a flooding issue in your neighbors’ yards, and end up costing you more in remediation expenses.
    • Next meeting is in May and the committee is welcoming new members.

CITY REPRESENTATIVES & ELECTED OFFICIALS, PT II  (7:49 PM)

  • District 4 – Demicha Luster. Director of Community Engagement for Councilmember Jason Dozier’s Office. 404-290-2174 DLuster@atlantaga.gov
    • A mailer was sent in March to registered voters containing various district updates. Please visit http://www.district4atl.com for more updates and to sign up for the newsletter..
    • Youth Job Fair – There will be a Youth Job Fair on May 3rd at APS Student Success Center. One of the best ways to keep kids on the right path is to offer them alternatives – especially alternatives that PAY – so please if you know of any potential employers, please connect them with DeMicha.
    • West End Park Improvements – Councilmember Dozier has made $100,000 available for improvements to West End Park. Ms. Luster is working with community partners like the Atlanta Botanical Garden to source native plants for use.

GUEST PRESENTATION  (7:56 PM)

  • Lee+White – Dominique F.
    • There will be a “404 Day Kick Back” Celebration on the Great Lawn at Lee+White from 5p-9p, with live DJ sets by the  Good Feelings Company. 
    • On Saturday, April 5, 100 Black Men of Atlanta will be hosting a 5K in partnership with the Grady Clinic.
    • On Sunday, April 6th there will be a vendor market.
    • The Lee+White Easter Extravaganza will be on Saturday, 4/19.
    • Stay tuned for an announcement for complementary Parent & Me Yoga and Parent & Me Pilates classes that will be happening each month.
    • Lee + White is WEND’s presenting partner.

COMMITTEE REPORTS, PT II  (8:00 PM)

  • Public Relations & Marketing – Dave Mardis
    • The updated www.atlantawestend.com website is up. Please check it out. If you would like to contribute to updating the site’s content on West End History, please reach out.
    • West End Egg Hunt will be on Saturday, April 12th at 10AM. Please click here to RSVP so that we can have a general head count. Also, if you’re willing to volunteer, please sign up here
    • West End Spring Yard Sale will be on Saturday April 26th. Please click here if you’re interested in having your home on our map of participating households.
  • Friends of Parks Groups – Kristen Koehneman
    • New benches and picnic tables have been installed in West End Park.
    • Howell Park has just had some approvals with the City of Atlanta to help mitigate some water issues. If anyone would like to join the Friends of Howell Park group, please reach out.
    • More landscaping habitats, benches, and trash cans are on the way for Rose Circle Park.
  • Education – Krista Verdelotti
    • Spring Break for APS is April 7th-11th. Camps are open. Camp Best Friends is an Atlanta Department of Parks & Rec program for Atlanta’s children. APS students get a big discount.
    • Atlanta Public School Board Districts 2,4,6,& 8 are open and up for re-election in November.
  • Membership Concerns and Community Relations – Brooks Payne
    • If you are willing to help get word out about the meetings, there are meeting announcement yard signs available.
    • Please join us for Food Hall Fridays the last Friday of each month at 6pm.
  • Transportation – John Mitchell
    • Transportation meets on the second Thursday of the month each month and hopes you’ll come out and share your voice.
    • The sidewalk improvements on Atwood are the kinds of things that the committee discusses.
    • Looking for a co-chair of the committee.

WRAP-UP & ANNOUNCEMENTS (8:09 PM)

  • NPU-T meets next Wednesday at 7pm – please attend if you can.
    For meeting info, visit https://www.nputatlanta.com/meetings
  • The Mall West End Celebration will be this Saturday, April 27th. There will be live music, an exhibit, and special programming. 
  • NPU University Civic Responsibility for Young Leaders will take place from June 9th-13th. This 35 hour program for high school students explores the importance of engaging in political, economic, and social conversations and empowers them to become agents of change in their local communities. Includes 35 Hours of community service credit & $525 Stipend. Deadline to apply is April 14th.

ADJOURN  (8:13 PM)

Draft Minutes Completed on 4/2/25 by DM