The Buckhead Council of Neighborhoods
Board Meeting
May 14, 2009
Peachtree Presbyterian Church
6:40 – 8:40 PM
Meeting Minutes
Meeting Attendees:
Name Neighborhood/Organization Email Address
1 Frank Bennett Paces
fobennett@yahoo.com2 Gordon Certain North Buckhead
gcertain@comcast.net3 Kristy Gillmann Peachtree Hills
phca_kristy@hotmail.com4 Daryl Graham North Buckhead
info@darylbernardgraham.com5 Jay Jameson Peachtree Hills
jjjameson@gproperties.com6 Phillips Jones Tuxedo Park
gpjatl@aol.com7 Kim Kahwach Buckhead Forest
kajensen@bellsouth.net8 Barbara Kennedy Collier Hills
Bar2010@aol.com9 Jim King Chastain Park
jimking@mindspring.com10 Stephen McCarthy Kingswood
sdm@buchananstreet.com11 Jennifer Moyers Whitewater Creek
jennifermoyers@beacham.com12 Craig Perry West Paces Northside
Craig.Perry@aol.com13 Elizabeth Pritchard Peachtree Battle Alliance
elizpritchard@bellsouth.net14 Mercy Sandberg-Wright Tuxedo Park
mercywright@msn.com15 John Schaffner Buckhead Reporter
johnschaffner@reporternewspapers.net16 Bob Schneider Garden Hills Civic
bschneider@gardenhills.net17 Jim Wright Ardmore Park
wrightjr@mindspring.com18 Henry Wyche (by phone) Grant Estates/South Tuxedo Park
hwyche@valleycap.comRepresentation by Neighborhood:
Neighborhood Name(s)
1 Ardmore Park Jim Wright
2 Buckhead Forest Kim Kahwach
3 Chastain Park Jim King
4 Collier Hills Barbara Kennedy
5 Garden Hills Bob Schneider
6 Grant Estates/South Tuxedo Park Henry Wyche (by phone)
7 Kingswood Stephen McCarthy
8 North Buckhead Gordon Certain, Daryl Graham
9 Paces Frank Bennett
10 Peachtree Battle Alliance Elizabeth Pritchard
11 Peachtree Hills Kristy Gillmann, Jay Jameson
12 Tuxedo Park Phillips Jones, Mercy Sandberg-Wright
13 West Paces Northside Craig Perry
14 Whitewater Creek Jennifer Moyers
I. Welcome
Jim King called the meeting to order at around 6:40 PM. A quorum was achieved by speaker phone at one key
point in the meeting.
BCN Board Meeting Minutes – May 14, 2009
Minutes & Bylaws available on BCN’s interim web page
www.buckheadcouncil.org Page 2 of 4
II. Secretary’s Report
Minutes for the April board meetings were not approved by the Board because of a lack of quorum.
III. Treasurer’s Report
The treasurer made no report. [The BCN has $2,000 in
the bank and $300 in checks in hand (Paces West needs
to remake their check to “BCN”).]
The map at the right shows the continued expansion of
BCN membership (light red).
IV. Speakers
Note on Presentation Reports: For simplicity in reporting, the material reported
below is usually reported from the point of view of the speakers. These reports
reflect the opinions of the individual presenters and may not necessarily be the
position of BCN or its member associations.
a. Kristy Gilmann, President, Peachtree Hills Civic Association, Proposed Water Meter Petition
At the beginning of the meeting there was standoff between a Channel 11 reporter/camera team and Peachtree
Pres security. The 11Alive team intended to report the BCN deliberations on the problems resident have had with
the Department of Watershed Management. These problems include unreturned deposits and malfunctioning
water meters, some of which are equipped with mismatched components and issue incorrect readings. The
cameras were not permitted to enter the building because their presence had not been approved in advance by
church officials, as required by church policies. Nevertheless, the 11Alive news at 11 prominently reported the
actions of the BCN board although without pictures. (Related article and video at
http://www.11alive.com/rss/rss_story.aspx?storyid=130127. A cellphone video taken of the 11Alive report after
this meeting is on our web site at .)
The board made refinements to the draft petition that Kristy had prepared. Henry Wyche participated by
speakerphone to achieve a quorum. With Henry’s vote, the board in attendance unanimously endorsed the
proposed petition. The petition, as approved by BCN, is attached (Attachment 1). This petition is to also be
approved on-line by Buckhead residents who believe they have experienced inaccurate DWM meter
readings/billings. They will be able to use Peachtree Hills’ web site to record their contact information and
complaints against DWM (as outlined at the top of page 1 of Attachment 1) and to approve the petition.
Kristy was designated BCN’s official representative to the Atlanta Department of Watershed Management.
b. Gordon Certain, President, North Buckhead Civic Association, How Fulton County Property
Tax Values are Set
Gordon gave a Powerpoint-style video presentation of his research on how Fulton County property tax property
appraisals are calculated. Building and land values appear to be set by predetermined formulas, equations, and
tables. A key element of this system is the notion of “neighborhood codes” which are 4 to 6 digit numbers which
are assigned to geographical areas that generally do not correspond to recognized neighborhoods such as North
Buckhead or Paces. The principal faults of this system are that abrupt (as opposed to progressive) valuation
changes are experienced at neighborhood boundaries. Other deficiencies are doubts about the statistical validity
of the system and the lack of consideration of the building’s age. It does not appear that selling prices or
construction costs of individual properties have any bearing on the valuations set. It appears that some
BCN Board Meeting Minutes – May 14, 2009
Minutes & Bylaws available on BCN’s interim web page
www.buckheadcouncil.org Page 3 of 4
“neighborhood codes” result in significant under-valuation or over-valuation of groups of properties. Appeals in
some areas (those already under-values) may not achieve the hoped-for results.
• Gordon’s presentation is on the BCN interim web site at
www.nbca.org/BCN/taxV. Community Concerns
Elections
There was a discussion about how BCN might be involved in candidate interviews or forums.
Jim suggested that once candidates are qualified in early September that BCN could pursue
having them participate with BCN individually or as a group.
Survey of Neighborhood “Best Practices”
Craig C. Perry, President of West Paces Northside suggested that neighborhoods have different
strengths and that it might be useful to identify what different neighborhoods do to achieve high
levels of neighborhood membership and participation. Craig will prepare a survey to be circulated
to BCN member associations during the upcoming month.
VI. Committee Reports
a. Public Safety: There were reports of high frequencies of burglaries in Buckhead
neighborhoods.
b. Transportation: No report
c. Education: No report
d. Parks: No report.
VII. Updates and Announcements
VIII. Next Meeting : June 12 or June 19, 2009
(Note: June 25 was finally determined to be the next meeting date.)
IX. Adjourn
The meeting adjourned at around 8:40 PM.
Prepared by Gordon Certain
BCN Secretary
June 24, 2009
BCN Board Meeting Minutes – May 14, 2009
Minutes & Bylaws available on BCN’s interim web page
www.buckheadcouncil.org Page 4 of 4
BCN Organizational Status as of 05/14/09
Represented?
Neighborhood Member?
2008
Oct Nov Dec
2009
Jan Feb Mar Apr May
1 Arden
2 Ardmore Park Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
3 Brookwood Yes
4 Brookwood Hills
5 Buckhead Forest Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
6 Castlewood Yes
7 Chastain Park Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
8 Collier Hills Yes
9 Collier Hills North
10 Garden Hills Yes Yes Yes Yes
11
Grant Estates/South Tuxedo
Park Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
12 Historic Brookhaven Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
13 Kingswood Yes Yes Yes
14 Lindridge Martin Manor Yes Yes Yes
15 Margaret Mitchell Yes Yes
16 Memorial Park Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
17 Mount Paran Parkway
18 Mt. Paran-Northside Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
19 North Buckhead Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
20 P’tree Battle Alliance Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
21 Paces Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
22 Paces West Yes Yes Yes
23 Peachtree Heights East Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
24 Peachtree Heights West Yes
25 Peachtree Hills Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
26 Peachtree Park Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
27 Pine Hills Yes
28 Pleasant Hill
29 Randall Mill
30 Ridgedale Park Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
31 Springlake
32 Tuxedo Park Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
33 Wesley Battle Yes Yes Yes
34 West Paces Northside Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
35 Whitewater Creek Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
36 Wildwood Yes
Count 23 17 13 18 14 20 17 12 14
Attachment 1 to 05-14-2009 BCN Minutes - Page 1 of 2
15 May 2009
Questions to Kristy Gillmann. Email: PHCA_Kristy@hotmail.com; fax: 404-816-0592; mail: The Buckhead
Council of Neighborhoods | P.O. Box 11934 | Atlanta | GA | 30355
Fields to be captured in the eForm to support the BCN Petition to the Department of Watershed
Management (DWM). Respondents will be instructed to complete the form and by doing so, are
submitting their name in support of the petition.
1. Last Name
2. First Name
3. Apt # (if any)
4. House Number
5. Street Name
6. Zip Code
7. Telephone
8. Email
9. Water Dept Acct #(Main)
10. Water Dept Acct # (Irrigation, if
applicable)
11. Neighborhood (Select from drop
down)
12. City Council Rep (Select from drop
down)
a. Howard Shook
b. Clair Muller
13. Are you participating in the law suit
filed on 9th April (Webb v City of
Atlanta)? (Matthew C. Klase is the
plaintiff’s attorney) (Y/N)
14. Dispute Type (Select from drop down)
a. Incorrect Billing
b. Unreturned Deposit
c. Other
15. Estimated Amount associated with
#13 above
16. Comments (OPEN SPACE)
17. By completing this form, do you agree
that your name will be used in support
of a petition by the BCN to the Atlanta
Dept of Watershed Management
seeking assistance for a resolution?
(Y/N)
(NOTE: By completing the form
http://www.peachtreehills.org/eform_list.asp by May 30,
2009, I willingly and knowingly attach my name and support to BCN’s petition to the DWM.)
BUCKHEAD COUNCIL OF NEIGHBORHOODS PETITION:
RESOLVE COMPLAINTS TO DEPARTMENT OF
WATERSHED MANAGEMENT NOW!
SUMMARY OF THE PROBLEM:
A large majority of Buckhead residents with incorrect billings and unreturned deposits are
not getting timely resolution to calls, emails, or letters of complaint to the City of Atlanta
Department of Watershed Management (DWM). In many cases, residents’ communications
are either unacknowledged by the DWM or the resident is being told that no workable
solution is possible. For a large number of residents, attempts at appropriate resolution
have been ongoing for up to 8+ months with no end in sight. Many Buckhead residents
have experienced pressure tactics from the City to pay bills regardless of their accuracy—or
run the risk of a disconnection of water services. In some cases, disconnection has
occurred even after payment of incorrect bills.
With DWM officials publically recognizing that there have been issues with billing processes,
meter equipment, and estimated meter readings, the treatment of our residents is appalling.
Furthermore, with the recent completion of the KPMG performance review of DWM, it is
apparent that the DWM is experiencing extensive problems with billing procedures and
resolution practices that are inconsistent across residents’ complaints.
Attachment 1 to 05-14-2009 BCN Minutes - Page 2 of 2
15 May 2009
Questions to Kristy Gillmann. Email: PHCA_Kristy@hotmail.com; fax: 404-816-0592; mail: The Buckhead
Council of Neighborhoods | P.O. Box 11934 | Atlanta | GA | 30355
BY SIGNING THIS PETITION ON BEHALF OF YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD, YOU
SUPPORT:
• Requesting DWM to assign a departmental representative to spearhead resolution of
the complaints from the residents included in this petition; with such representative to
be named within 30 days of receipt of this petition;
• Requesting that the DWM representative report monthly on previous month’s
activities and resolved/closed cases to Kristy Gillmann, BCN representative;
• Asking for DWM to issue written confirmation to each account holder in the petition
that the DWM recognizes the account is in official “dispute” status and verifies that
the resident is not at risk of having his/her water services disconnected during the
dispute period. Written confirmation should to be mailed to residents within 45 days
of receipt of this petition;
• Commitment by DWM that the representative assigned will work diligently to resolve
billing/deposit disputes of BCN residents within 90 days of receipt of this petition;
• Asking our elected city council representatives to join in this petition and facilitate
resolution with the DWM
• Encouraging letters of support for this petition from fellow neighbors, civic and
business leaders.
The Buckhead Council of Neighborhoods hereby goes on record that a solution to each
resident’s complaint with the DWM MUST be reached within 90 days. Please join with us in
signing this petition as soon as possible.
This petition is respectfully submitted by members of the The Buckhead Council of
Neighborhoods (BCN) and supporters of the Buckhead Community. I want to publicly go on
record that the City of Atlanta Department of Watershed Management must address
residents’ complaints now.
