SRCC General Membership Meeting Minutes 08/04/2014

SRCC GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING
Monday, August 4, 2014 7:15 PM
GRACE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
205 E. MONROE, AUSTIN, TEXAS

AGENDA
To be sure you get a vote, become a member. You can join or renew online www.srccatx.org. Not sure if you are current? Email membership@srccatx.org and we’ll let you know.

CALL TO ORDER/APPROVAL OF MINUTES
1. 7:15 Meeting procedures, etiquette, welcome newcomers. Verification of quorum. Reminder: state your name when presenting or seconding a motion. If an acronym is stated during the meeting and you don’t know what it means, please feel free to raise your hand and ask.
Presenter throughout: Eric Rangel, President, unless otherwise noted.

2. 7:20 Membership and voting announcements. Pay multiple years in advance and get a discount.
Single membership: 1-yr $20; 2-yr $35; 3-yr $50 / Family membership: 1-yr $35; 2-yr $65; 3-yr $95
NOTE: In order to vote, dues must be paid a month in advance, with the exception that if a former member’s dues have lapsed no more than 2 years, they may renew at the meeting and be eligible to vote.

3. 7:22 Approve minutes from June 2, 2014, last regular monthly meeting (available at www.srccatx.org).

MOTION: Carol Martin / Norma Henderson – to approve the minutes from the June meeting = PASSED

4. 7:25 Treasurer’s Report – see attachment to agenda distributed at the meeting; will also be available on website: www.SRCCatx.org

MOTION: Jean Mather / Sarah Campbell – to approve the Treasurer’s Report = PASSED

5. 7:30 Committee Chairs reports
1) Parks, Schools, Environment; 2) Planning & Zoning – items below; 3) Transportation & Public Safety – item below + update on Annie/Woodland re-striping; 4) Norwood; 5) Historic District; 8) Finance; status of projects funded by SRCC – item below; 9)ANC Austin Nbhd Council; 10) Communication; 11) Quality of Life

Transportation – Annie / Woodland repaving and restriping will take place in the next few weeks.  The project covers from Congress to Parker and works to create a more pedestrian friendly route. Following the resurfacing they will implement a restriping plan similar to that which was brought to the June 25th public open house. There were a few meetings to address issues of the residents most affected and compromises were made based on that feedback. They worked individually with different residents and neighbors to accommodate improved solutions in certain locations along Annie and Woodland and changes will be reflected in the final design.  As part of a continuing City effort they are required to add bike lanes and sidewalks when restriping.  The primary project changes which we have worked to provide include:

  • Adding parking along East Annie Street between East Side Drive and Newning on the south side of the street for the eastern portion of the block.
  • Installing a wide shared bicycle and pedestrian path on Woodland Avenue between Chelsea and Kenwood.
  • Improving sight distance at the intersection of Royal Crest and Woodland by pulling parking back on each side of the intersection.

Sidewalk installation is expected to begin in 2015.  We are encouraged to provide feedback at all phases of the project. Aleksiina Chapman, Bicycle Network Design, City of Austin Transportation Department (512) 974-7834 and John Eastman, with the sidewalk program

OLD BUSINESS
6. 7:35 Update on 517 E. Oltorf – Apostolic Assembly of the Faith in Christ Jesus, Inc.’s request (C14-2013-0081) to upzone to GR (with conditional overlay) to increase their impervious cover limit and allow for additional construction.
Presenter: Elloa Mathews, SRCC Area 5 Coordinator, and Marty Christman, SRCC Parks, Schools, and Environment Committee Co-Chair
Presenters were not on hand.

NEW BUSINESS
7. 7:45 Report from zoning committee on the following properties: 410 E. Annie, 1106 Algarita, proposed Terrace Hotel at 110 Academy Drive/1101 Music Lane, 1106 Woodland (demo permit), 206 E. Live Oak (relocation permit).
Presenters: Jean Mather, Chair of SRCC Planning & Zoning committee; Kent Anschutz, SRCC P&Z comm. member
1106 Algarita – The property is bordered by an alley and next to a cliff, creating a unique situation where they are unable to utilize the space and requested a 2’ setback variance in order to build a deck to flatten the area.  Austin Energy withdrew their opposition.

MOTION: Ken Anchutz / Jean Mather – to not oppose the request for variance = PASSED

410 E. Annie – The property owner was not present. The owner is requesting a variance because his second story garage apartment (built without a permit) is 620sqft so it is over the 550sqft limit. The committee decided not to take a position until further notice.
1106 Woodland – This property consists of two large lots. No signage was posted or letters sent to residents by the City.
206 E Live Oak – No signage was posted or letters sent to residents by the City. This property is near the old Treehouse Grill. The owner is looking to relocate the structure and the Historic Landmark Commission is meeting on August 25th. The home has a new location already sorted out. Neighbors are concerned about parking in this area as higher density developments begin the fill in the area.
209 E Live Oak – This property is right next to the county building and has two small units in the back. The owner is wanting SF-5 zoning and accepted a postponement.

8. 8:00 Request for support/ideas regarding demolition and new construction at 509 Lockhart.
Presenter: Michele Webre, Bluebonnet Hills Historic District Chair
A developer is looking to build a couple two story homes with upstairs decks and the neighbors are looking for help to negotiate a more amenable design versus having decks overlooking their private space. It was suggested that they work with the Zoning committee to see what options they have.

9. 8:05 SRCC Finance Committee:
– Executive Committee approved SRCC sponsorship of the Travis Heights Art Trail–Sponsorship level of $250 gives us a business card-sized mention. We have done this in the past.
– Recommendation that $2,100 of the Area 8 Traffic Calming funds be reallocated for planting native grasses in the Blunn Creek Nature Preserve.
Presenter: Sam Martin, Chair of SRCC Finance Committee
– Last year we donated $250 to the Travis Heights Art Trail and this year we did not plan in time to make a decision at a general meeting so an Executive Committee vote was made to support again this year in exchange for an ad promoting the SRCC.
– A large apartment complex built on South Congress resulted in money with which to build traffic calming in Area 8. Extra money is being reallocated to work being done in Blunn Creek as well as for headwater cleanup.

MOTION: Sam Martin / Sarah Campbell – to reallocate $2,100 from the traffic calming money to be used in another project in Blunn Creek = PASSED

10. 8:10 Update on Good Shepherd Church’s request for a Conditional Use Permit to operate the property at 1700 Woodland Avenue as a Day Care Center.
Presenter: Sounthaly “Tune” Outhavong, SRCC Area 7 Coordinator
This is on the East side of I-35 and the church shared their plans with the Executive Committee earlier this year. In April we received a notice about the renovation plans along with the arrival of some temporary buildings and the removal of a field of bluebonnets a few months later. In place of the field will be water quality controls. The church agreed to limit the maximum number of students to 150. The first year of the school will accommodate students from another location while repairs are being made and then hope to remove the portable buildings once those students return to the other location. A Boy Scout will be planting screening shrubs for the portable buildings as part of a project sooner than the City will require it. There are many ideas for dealing with the traffic and parking as well as a plan for a community garden and they will allow access to the playground when not in use for the school/daycare.

11. 8:15 Sign Review Board/Board of Adjustment heard a variance request to increase the allowable size for a sign from 35 s.f. to 329 s.f. for the District at SOCO apartment complex at 501 E. Oltorf. Board voted against but they are appealing. P&Z comm previously voted to not object but we need to put it to a general vote.
Presenter: Rick Krivoniak, property owner of adjacent duplexes, krivon@aol.com
The apartment complex called District at SOCO is looking to increase the size of their sign from 35sqft to 329sqft. The owner of a couple duplexes directly behind the complex is frustrated with the lack of response from the complex concerning a range of issues.

MOTION: Sarah Campbell / Garret Nick – to oppose the variance for sign size at the District at SoCo = PASSED

12. 8:20 Proposal to write a letter of support to the city for funding for the next stage of planning for the south central waterfront plan. There is a request for $200,000 to hire consultants to produce detailed documents to guide us into the next phase.
Presenter: Garret Nick, SRCC Secretary and waterfront plan liaison

MOTION: Garret Nick / Sarah Campbell – to write a letter of support for funding the next phase of this effort = PASSED

13. 8:25 Mobility 35 Project Update from TxDot and HNTB Engineering. Topics to include: 1. Brief update on Woodland; 2. Discussion of what is proposed from Riverside to Ben White; 3. Discussion of access to/from downtown from the south.
Presenters: Steve Miller, VP HNTB and Project Manager, sjmiller@hntb.com; Stacey Benningfield, Program Manager, Texas Department of Transportation, stacey.benningfield@txdot.gov
200,000 cars a day cross Riverside at I-35 with no major improvements in 40 years. There are 22 active projects along this 65 mile corridor with 9 under construction. It was a long presentation. September 9-11th there will be open houses if you’d like to learn more or visit www.projectconnect.com

14. 8:55 President Eric J. Rangel’s resignation of the presidency; nominations and vote for replacement.
Presenters: Eric J. Rangel; Carol Martin
Eric wants to avoid any conflict of interest with him being the SRCC President and running for City Council District 3. Much thanks to Eric Rangel for taking on this role and being a model citizen. Carol Martin has identified a new volunteer who has been active in the neighborhood and would like to nominate Sounthaly “Tune” Outhavong. Tune has been in the area for three years and active in city affairs.

MOTION: Carol Martin / Toni House – to approve the nomination of Tune for SRCC President = PASSED

GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
– Call for volunteers, check the website – https://www.srccatx.org/officers/
Sheryl Cole was on hand to greet and share information with us about her plan to run for Mayor. She spoke of her experience as a mother and community leader and her desire to “pay it forward.”
Kathie Tovo and Chris Riley were both present at the meeting to answer questions about the upcoming City Council race.

Agenda Prepared by Gretchen Otto, vicepresident@srccatx.org
Account reconciliation, Profit & Loss and Balance reports available upon request from treasurer@srccatx.org

*Frequently used acronyms: ACF – Austin Community Fund; ANC: Austin Neighborhood Council; SF – Single Family zoning category; FLUM – Future Land Use Map

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