Newsletter 1

After a few false-starts and what feels like a never-ending stream of surveys, we are finally excited to share some concrete progress on the Hillcrest Wendy Camera Project.

This is our first official newsletter to the community. Welcome!

The Camera Project Working Group

Since sending out a proposed strategy and cost of participating to the broader community in mid October 2022, a number of things have happened:

1. A Working Group was formed to move all aspects of this project forward.

2. A comprehensive project plan has been put together and monitored for progress.

3. A Non-Profit Company (NPC) was incorporated to ensure continuity, independence and proper oversight.

4. A bank account has been opened in the name of the Hillcrest Wendy Street Group NPC.

5. The first three Directors of the NPC have been appointed.

6. A detailed and thorough Memorandum of Incorporation has been drafted for public comment.

7. This website was built and filled with information so that it is the primary way to communicate with our community.

To communicate with the NPC or the Working Group, please use the following email address: wendyhillcrest@outlook.com

Camera Installation

Two cameras have already been installed and are live for viewing on the Hikvison app. The installation of the remaining seven cameras is in progress, but the Working Group felt strongly that we needed to start receiving the committed contributions from the community before incurring further expenses.

We have posted the location of the first 11 cameras on its own page here. However, for security purposes, we will take down the exact map on 1 December 2022.

Household Contributions

The recommended upfront contribution to get the project going in our latest survey was R1,970 and the recommended monthly contribution was R65. (We will obviously accept higher amounts :))

35 sign-ups were received in replies to that survey. Households committed R67,550 in upfront contributions and a further R3,296 in ongoing monthly contributions. This is a major milestone in and of itself.

Now that we have formally established the legal entity and bank account, it is time to gather those contributions.

Regarding monthly contributions:

1. Please start making them as soon as possible.

2. Ideally the start month is November 2022.

3. From December 2022 onwards, please make these contributions before the 15th of the month.

Regarding the upfront contribution:

1. We understand this might be a big chunk of money.

2. Therefore it is ok to pay this off over two or three months.

3. Please be very clear in your EFT reference what your payment relates to.

CALL TO ACTION #1: PLEASE MAKE YOUR UPFRONT CONTRIBUTIONS AND SET UP YOUR RECURRING MONTHLY CONTRIBUTIONS AS PER THE DETAILS ON OUR BANKING PAGE. DON'T FORGET TO USE YOUR HOUSE NUMBER AND STREET NAME AS REFERENCE.

Memorandum of Incorporation

We have used the professional services of Ismail Laher, a member of our community, in drafting a comprehensive MOI. It is imperative that this document be robust in its protections of member contributions while also being agile enough to actually operate on a day-to-day basis. We feel that we've struck a good balance in the document created, but invite comment from the broader community.

CALL TO ACTION #2: PLEASE SUBMIT ANY COMMENTS TO ISMAIL LAHER VIA EMAIL AT ismail@laherbrown.com ON OR BEFORE 30 NOVEMBER 2022.

On this page on our site, you'll find a three page summary of the MOI as well as a link at the bottom of the page to download the entire document.

We look forward to your comments and will publish the final MOI once it is completed.

For any other questions you may have, please refer to our FAQ page, here.