VBENA MEETING
The Neighborhood Association meeting of 2024 will be held on Tuesday, January 17th, 2024 in the fellowship hall of The River Church at Valley Brook at 7:30 PM
All residents of Valley Brook Estates are welcome to join, regardless of if you rent or own. Come with ideas, questions, or concerns.
NEIGHBORHOOD SIGNAGE:
After many years of fundraising and discussion about how to fund and
manufacture large, high-quality neighborhood signs at the entrances to our
neighborhood (see image above), we finally have a budget and access to a CNC
machine 🥳.
In addition to improving aesthetics and defining the borders of our neighborhood,
high-quality visible signs are known to increase property values and promote
safety. At our Fall VBENA meeting, we discussed:
Authorizing spending $1500 (...approx 3⁄4 of VBENA’s total funds)
Signs to be made of high-density urethane foamboard
mimic the style and design of the Lindmoor Woods signs
placement of the signs at five entrances
We will finalize and authorize these decisions at this Tuesday’s meeting. Once
the signs are manufactured, we will still need help with building sign posts and
painting, so please let us know if you are handy with a circular saw!
If you have thoughts or opinions on these signs, please join us for the discussion at Tuesday’s VBENA meeting at the church or email us at vbena1954@gmail.com.
VBENA MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL:
It’s a new year and now is a great time to re-up your VBENA household membership of only $24! For $2/month, your membership and support allows us to fund things like the Neighborhood Signs and sponsor events like the annual Spring Fling and seasonal Outdoor Movie Nights at the church. Your support goes a long way in helping our ‘hood!
Easily renew your $24 membership at VBENA.ORG or swing by Tuesday’s meeting with cash/check. All members current with their dues are automatically entered into our Spring Fling raffle for Corner Cup swag, neighborhood themed tea towels, and other prizes! (Note: your presence is not required at the Spring Fling to win raffle prizes.)
CRIME REPORT: According to the Crimetrac website of the DeKalb County
Police Dept, there were five reported crimes in our neighborhood between Oct 11, 2023
and Jan 11, 2024: three burglaries, one theft, and one assault. You can always go to
crimemapping.com/map/ga/dekalbcounty to see the map of our neighborhood and
surrounding area. If you witness a crime or see suspicious activity, please call 911.
Then call your neighborhood watch coordinator, Bill Davis, at 404-296-4788.
COLD WEATHER ADVISORY:
As temperatures drop this winter, the American Red Cross offers ten steps people can take to stay safe during the
cold weather.
Layer up! Wear layers of lightweight clothing to stay warm. Gloves and a hat will help prevent losing your body heat.
Don’t forget your furry friends. Bring pets indoors. If they can’t come inside, make sure they have enough shelter to keep them warm and that they can get to unfrozen water.
Remember the three feet rule. If you are using a space heater, place it on a level, hard surface and keep anything flammable at least three feet away – things such as paper, clothing, bedding, curtains or rugs.
Require supervision – Turn off space heaters and make sure fireplace embers are out before leaving the room or going to bed.
Don’t catch fire! If you are using a fireplace, use a glass or metal fire screen large enough to catch sparks and rolling logs.
Protect your pipes. Run water, even at a trickle, to help prevent your pipes from freezing. Open the kitchen and bathroom cabinet doors to allow warmer air to circulate around the plumbing. Be sure to move any harmful cleaners and household chemicals out of the reach of children. Keep the garage doors closed if there are water lines in the garage.
Better safe than sorry. Keep the thermostat at the same temperature day and night. Your heating bill may be a little higher, but you could avoid a more costly repair job if your pipes freeze and burst.
The kitchen is for cooking. Never use a stove or oven to heat your home.
Use generators outside. Never operate a generator inside the home, including in the basement or garage.
Knowledge is power. Don’t hook a generator up to the home’s wiring. The safest thing to do is to connect the equipment you want to power directly to the outlets on the generator.
The Corner Cup, our neighborhood coffee shop at the corner of McLendon Drive and Lawrenceville Hwy have generously given us a coupon for a free cup of delicious, piping hot, drip coffee! Please enjoy a good drink and support local shops!
And, as always, connect with us on social media for updates:
Contact us OR easily pay your $24 Annual Household Dues at VBENA.ORG, your donation to our neighborhood really helps!
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