SRCC GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING MINUTES (www.srccatx.org)
Tuesday, September 20, 2022, 7:00 PM
Zoom Meeting
SRCC: See the future. Shape the future.
MINUTES
To vote, become a member. You can join or renew online at www.srccatx.org. Not sure if you are current? Email membership@srccatx.org and we’ll let you know. We welcome members and non-members to join our meetings. Please register 24 hours in advance so we can confirm your membership status.
1. 7:00 General Membership Meeting Welcome
Meeting procedures, Zoom tools, etiquette, welcome newcomers. Verification of quorum. Reminder: state your name when presenting or seconding a motion. Please see acronyms below.
Presenter throughout unless otherwise noted: Wendy Todd, SRCC President (5 min)
The chair called the meeting to order at 7:05pm
2. 7:05 Membership Report
Please send us information, stories, and photos for social media!
Membership fees, single: 1/2/3 year: $20/$35/$50; family: $35/$65/$95
To vote or make motions, membership must be current: membership@srccatx.org
Presenter: Mary Janecek-Friedman, SRCC Membership Secretary (5 min)
SRCC currently has 209 active members. Area Coordinators are needed for areas 1, 2, and 7.
3. 7:10 Treasurer’s Report
All reports available upon request to the Treasurer: treasurer@srccatx.org
Presenter: Will Andrews, SRCC Treasurer (5 min)
The report was presented, updated through Aug 31st. Income includes memberships and interest. Expenses are less than income, most recently for new yard signs and the previous newsletter.
4. 7:15 Reports from Standing Committee Chairs
1) Planning and Zoning; 2) Historic Preservation; 3) Finance; 4) Mobility (Parking Transportation Management District, Project Connect, and I-35 updates); 5) Public Safety; 6) Parks and Environment; 7) Schools; 8) Communications (10 min)
- Planning and Zoning. See later item.
- Historic Preservation. Continuing to protest selective demolitions in the neighborhood. If there is a demo coming up near you and you would like help, reach out to the SRCC Historic Preservation committee. Also, the committee could use some help, so contact them to get involved (paula.kothmann@gmail.com).
- Finance. Nothing to report.
- Mobility. See later items. Cap Metro projet costs have gone up, and are reconfiguring Project Connect to try and get closer to the budget.
- Public Safety. Looking for more volunteers for Neighborhood Watch patrolling – contact Tom Groce (tgroce71@gmail.com).
- Parks and Environment. Have been talking about park trail improvements and replacing some playground equipment. The process has been difficult to communicate with PARD. There is a Love We Live program that is for cleanups. Typically is the second Saturday of the month. Anyone interested in volunteering should contact Wendy, David Todd (dtodd@wt.org), or Jeff Kessell. The 20th Birthday of the Little Stacy Kaboom playscape will take place in October of this year. Considering having a morning park cleanup followed by the celebration.
- Schools. See later item.
- Communications. Signs for meetings have been delivered, but could use more people to put up signs in areas 2, 7, and 8. If you would like to put out a sign contact Betty (communications@srccatx.org) The newsletter is coming along with articles and photos. The goal is for the newsletter to be printed and available on the 10th of October to begin distribution.
5. 7:25 Reports from Area Coordinators and Representatives
9) Norwood; 10) GSRC NPCT; 11) EROC NPCT; 12) ANC; 13) SCC; 14) South Central Waterfront; 15) St. Edward’s; 16) S. Central Affordable CDC; 17) Land Development Code Ad Hoc committee (10 min)
12) ANC. There was a presentation about a new convention center, possibilities of wildfires within the city limits and how to prepare and prevent them. Voted on a resolution to increase participation in local government by increasing transparency for the public into Council actions (https://www.srccatx.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/ANC-Gov-Improv-DRAFT-Resolution-1.pdf).
13)SCC. The Zilker NA sent a Resolution to ANC to ask the City to limit PUDs to only areas that are 5 acres in size. Currently PUD designations are being given to projects that don’t meet the basic requirements of the PUD ordinance, for both size and community benefit. Here is the link to the Resolution: https://www.srccatx.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/ANC-PUD-resolution-Sept12-2022-1.pdf
14) South Central Waterfront. At the SCW Advisory Board meeting last night there was a presentation based on the regulating plan, and there were no surprises and little new information. They will not share the regulating plan until June. Discussed the Statesman Property, but nothing new; Second Reading is scheduled for Council on Sept 29 but may be delayed until October 13. Won’t know what the developer has agreed to until between the second and third readings.
6. 7:35 Approve Minutes
August 2022 monthly general meeting minutes (available at www.srccatx.org)
Presenter: Dan Fredine, SRCC Secretary (5 min)
Upcoming Meeting dates: EC Oct 4; GM Oct 18; GM Nov 15; EC Dec 6
Mark Thompson/Ruth Casares moved to approve the minutes. No corrections or updates were made. The minutes were approved as posted.
NEW BUSINESS
7. 7:40 Austin School District Updates
Discuss the Austin ISD bond that will be on the ballot in November. The package includes district-wide work to improve security and increase efficiency (environment/economic). The bond proposal also includes modernization projects at 25 campuses.
- At Travis Heights Elementary, the bond proposal includes $3,000,000 to improve security and address needs for HVAC, plumbing, roofing and other systems.
- At Lively Middle School, the bond proposal includes $3,179,000 for major repairs, safety improvements, a school mental health center, changes to the kitchen and serving area, and spaces for outdoor learning and play.
- At Travis High School, just south of Oltorf, the bond proposal includes a full modernization at $251 million, which would replace the entire campus building on the existing site.
Presenters: Lynn Boswell, Austin ISD Trustee; Gretchen Otto, SRCC Schools Committee Chair (15 min)
There are 4 different trustees that represent the SRCC area. AISD spent $12M last year in repair costs just to fix broken things and to keep the schools working – part of the proposed bond is to actually improve the systems instead of just fixing things that are broken. It is the biggest bond in state history; it is broken into 3 separate bonds: modernize or partly modernize 25 schools and buses, technology improvements, and athletics (some athletic facilities serve purposes beyond athletics). Will be adding security enhancements to keep buildings safer. Improvements should result in lower utility costs.
If the bond is passed:
Travis HS would be fully modernized. The plan is to build a new building while the existing building is still being used, then demo the old building.
THES would receive security improvements, fix breaks, add a mental health center, technology improvements, and add a community pantry.
Lively MS would receive improvements to the kitchen, air conditioning, electrical improvements, security improvements (unclear where the front doors are), and add a mental health center.
AISD has the lowest property tax rate among all Central TX districts. There is also a vote to reduce the operation and maintenance taxes, so that even if the bond passes, the overall rate will decrease. Bond funds are not subject to recapture; they will stay in AISD. If this gets passed in Nov some of the less disruptive projects will start at that time, and the bigger (and more disruptive) projects will happen over the summer.
Feel free to contact Lynn with any questions – lynn.boswell@austinisd.org
There was a question about AISD taking parkland, and that PARD has to perform the maintenance. We want to make sure that there is a stronger relationship between AISD and PARD. Lynn stated that she would bring up this topic on a subcommittee.
There was a question about the scale of improvements at Travis High versus those at Lively MS. There was a group as part of this bond process that prioritized and recommended the major improvements. It is understood that all schools need significant improvements, and there just isn’t enough money to address them all in this bond.
8. 7:55 City Council Candidate Forums
Updates regarding Bouldin and Hyde Park candidate forums.
Presenter: Wendy Todd, SRCC President (5 min)
Last night was the Hyde Park District 9 forum that SRCC co-hosted; it was moderated and civil.
Future forums and election information <https://www.austintexas.gov/CandidateForums>
District 9 Forums
League of Women Voters, Thurs Oct 6th, 6:00pm, Conley Guerrero Senior Center (or on ATXN)
Bouldin and SRCC, Tues, Oct 11, 6:30pm, Texas School for the Deaf
League of Women Voters, Thurs, Oct 20th, 6pm at Austin City Hall (or on ATXN)
Distric 3 Forums
Greater Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Thurs, Oct 13th, 5:30pm, Jones Auditorium, St. Edward’s University
9. 8:00 Parking Transportation Management District
PTMD Proposal Update/ Q&A with Joseph Al-hajeri, Program Manager with Austin Transportation Department
Presenters: Joseph Al-hajeri, Program Manager at Austin Transportation Department; Mark Thompson, SRCC Mobility Chair (15 min)
Mr Al-hajeri shared some background about parking on South Congress. There were a few significant parking improvements and projects for South Congress since 1998. There was a parking survey in 2010, and a Council Resolution in 2011, followed by renewed interest in a parking district in 2015/2016. The South Congress Parking Study occurred in 2018/2019. On several of these initiatives there was a lack of consensus between residents and businesses.
The top option is a Parking Transportation Management District (PTMD), which is a framework for collaboration on parking between the City and the local community. It is a defined geographic area that requires a higher level of management than typically provided. The PTMD dedicates 51% of the parking revenue to the district (less City expenses). This could be used for mobility projects such as sidewalks, bike lanes, etc.
The South Congress Parking advisory committee is currently reviewing boundaries, locations for paid parking, employee parking, residential parking, use of scooters, etc.. Once all this is worked out, they will present and ask SRCC and Bouldin NAs for a letter of support before working its way through the City groups and through Council. The current east boundary is East Side Dr, but they are considering going as far as IH-35 (this boundary affects where the funds can be used).
There was a question about what type of parking meter system will be installed within the neighborhood. Will start off with paid parking in certain areas, and then adjust the areas to address problems. Just because a street is within the limits of the PTMD does not mean that it will be metered.
There was a question from someone whose house may be inside the boundary of the PTMD. What would be the ramifications? Want to protect the quality of life of the residents, especially when dealing with overflow from the busy areas. Considering hybrid zones where there would be paid parking at some times, residents would have free permits. Will commit to at least 6 officers within the district to enforce the requirements.
It was suggested that there be a separate outreach meeting to get into more details about the proposed PTMD, separate from the SRCC meetings.
10. 8:15 Alpine Neighborhood Plan Amendment Application for Townhomes
Presentation seeking SRCC support for amendment application to convert warehouse lots to townhomes (from office to mixed use).
Presenter: David Hartman, Developer (10 min)
This is a proposed zoning change and related FLUM change that the NPCT will be reviewing.
The owner’s representatives met onsite yesterday with several SRCC folks to review the site. It is 2 acres at 406 and 428 Alpine. Currently zoned GO CO NP – the FLUM has designated it as office. There is some nearby industrial. It is close to St. Ed’s and a proposed Project Connect station. The zoning change they are proposing is to add MU, mixed use, to the existing zoning in order to allow residential as well as office uses on the property. About a third of the site has an older VFW building, the remainder is undeveloped. The undeveloped eastern edge of the property abuts Blunn Creek. The CO, conditional use, aspect of the zoning is for a minimum setback of 50 feet from the centerline of the creek. That CO will remain. During the meeting onsite, SRCC made it clear that we are interested in creek protections that go above and beyond City code requirements, like other nearby developments have provided.
There is a concern over the protection of the Blunn Creek (which is very near the property) and the protection of the neighboring properties.
There was a question about the number of potential residents and the size of the proposed property. Townhome concept is about 34 townhomes of 3-story (garage on the bottom), 2000 sf. These will not be high end luxury townhomes – more middle of road and similar to those nearby.
There was a question about plans to encourage walking and biking, as opposed to vehicle infrastructure. They will be within walking and biking distance to the Project Connect stations and to St. Ed’s University. It’s still early in the planning process.
Will any of the units fall under affordability. There is not a requirement to add affordability when just adding mixed use (it is required for VMU). This is not a tax credit or bond developer, so these will likely be market rate.
The City of Austin’s Housing and Planning Department is hosting a community meeting to discuss the proposed Neighborhood Plan Amendment. It is Thursday, September 29 from 6:00pm – 7:30pm. The website is www.speakupaustin.org/npa; look for case NPA-2022-0022.01 and follow the links.
11. 8:25 GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
To participate in the NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH program, please contact Tom Groce, SRCC Public Safety Chair at: tgroce71@gmail.com
If you have questions about using the Neighborhood ListServ: https://groups.io/g/SouthRiverAustin
The meeting was adjourned at 8:55pm.
The next SRCC Executive Committee meeting is October 4, 2022.
The next General Membership meeting is October 18, 2022.
Frequently used acronyms:
ACF: Austin Community Fund
ANC: Austin Neighborhood Council
BoA: Board of Adjustment
CDC: Community Development Corporation
EROC: East Riverside/Oltorf Combined Contact Team
FLUM: Future Land Use Map
GSRC NPCT: Greater South River City Neighborhood Planning Contact Team
NCCD: Neighborhood Conservation Combining District
NHPA: National Historic Preservation Act
NPCT: Neighborhood Planning Contact Team
PC: Planning Commission
PUD: Planned Unit Development
SCC: South Central Coalition of neighborhood associations
SF: Single Family zoning category
ZAP: Zoning and Platting
Agenda Prepared by Noah Balch, vicepresident@srccatx.org Agenda subject to change. Please check www.srccatx.org for the most recent version.
ZOOM LINK:
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwpfu2sqTIrHt0rWmzM_AD_V799SDGEbhu8
