SRCC GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING
Monday, October 3, 2016 7:15 PM
LIFE IN THE CITY UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
(formerly Grace UMC)
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: Gretchen Otto, SRCC President, unless otherwise noted.
2. 7:25 Membership and voting. 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. 7:27 Approve minutes from September 5, 2016 monthly general meetings (available at www.srccatx.org).
MOTION: Claudette Lowe / David Swann – to approve the September 5th, 2016, meeting minutes = PASSED 22 for, 0 opposed, 1 abstain
4. 7:30 Treasurer’s Report – see attachment to agenda distributed at the meeting; all reports are available upon
request to the Treasurer. Presenter: Nancy Byrd, Treasurer
Major expenditures include signage in Sherwood Oaks opposing the new St Edwards operations facility.
5. 7:35 Committee Chairs reports
1) Parks, Schools, Environment; 2) Planning & Zoning; 3) Transportation & Public Safety; 4) Norwood; 5) Historic District; 6) Finance; 7) ANC*; 8) Communications; 9) CodeNEXT
1 – School – There will be a Fall Festival on October 28th to benefit Travis Heights Elementary. Please donate gently used stuffed animals and toys.
A Life In The City member mentioned a pet festival on October 23rd, Sunday, 1-4pm at the church itself. The festivities will be in the park space next door and there will be food vendors.
1 – Parks – David Todd – The SRCC and Austin Parks Foundation worked together to install eight recycled plastic posts in Blunn Creek Preserve to help avoid people getting lost. AISD is officially selling off the 9 acres at the headwaters of Blunn Creek at the end of Warehouse Row. They will consider all proposals.
OLD BUSINESS
6. 7:40 Update on baskets being pulled together for Bluebonnet Studios
Presenter: Rosalyn Clifton, SRCC Member, rosalynclifton@gmail.com
Rosalyn was unable to attend but sent an update. She volunteered to be a “basket wrangler†with the goal of putting together packages of home essentials to be given to new residents. Over $500 has been raised but they are still working to collect more so please contact her if you’d like to participate. The Bluebonnet development will have 107 studio apartments, each needing a basket.
7. 7:45 Update on Sherwood Oaks/St. Ed’s University operations building/truck traffic issue
Presenter: Elloa Matthews, SRCC Area 5 Co-Coordinator, ellomail@austin.rr.com
There is a “say no to st eds†Facebook page and the neighborhood has collected a list of 25 questions to be submitted to Pio Renteria’s office and the SEU administration. So far SEU has promised to provide parking for construction workers, have visiting team buses park on campus, stop student athletes from urinating in public during practice; none of which have been upheld so far. There is no promise from SEU to limit the amount of 18 wheeler traffic in the future and no mechanism for controlling it.
8. 7:55 Update on request for four-way stop signage at E. Live Oak and Alta Vista
Presenter: Gretchen Otto on behalf of Pat Conegliano, pconegliano@yahoo.com
This effort is in an information gathering stage. Visibility at this intersection is very poor and dangerous considering the amount of child activity both from THES and Big Stacy Pool.
NEW BUSINESS
9. 8:00 APD district reps: who are they and what do they do? The SRCC area overlaps with two different “regions†and both our district reps are new!
Presenter: Andre Black, Region 3 Henry Sector 1 rep; Shawn Rougeou, Region 4 David Sector 1 and 2 rep
Sean Rougeau has been in law enforcement for over twenty years and comes from a drug department so he is new to the District Rep position. He has experienced a large number of speeding complaints as well as homeless camps. Andre Black has been a District Rep in this area for 4 months, coming from East Austin and was with Travis County Sheriffs for 8 years. He covers everything East of Congress and also gets lots of speeding calls. Moped theft and burglary of vehicles rank highest on the frequent crime list. Their contact information will also be added to the website. Black – 512-974-6875, Rougeau – 512-974-5490. Officer Rougeau covers the SRCC south of Oltorf and Officer Black north of Oltorf.
10. 8:10 Presentation about city council scorecard/vote tracker created by ANC
Presenter: James Bilodeau, SRCC rep to ANC, ancrep@srccatx.org
ANC City Council Endorsements – http://ancweb.org/1889-2/
ANC City Council Survey Responses – http://ancweb.org/download/resolutions/ANC-City-Council-Candidate-Questionnaire-2016-Compiled-Responses.pdf
ANC City Council Scorecard – http://ancweb.org/anc-city-council-scorecard/
11. 8:20 Update from our new Communications Chair/changes to website
Presenter: Tina Buck, SRCC Communications Chair, communications@srccatx.org
Tina volunteered to be the new Communications Chair and has been working to update the website with as much information as possible. Please let her know of any information that you would like to see included.
12. 8:25 Presentation from City of Austin Water Utility on “Water Forward†program. See more information at http://austintexas.gov/waterforward
Presenter: Teresa Lutes, Austin Water Division Manager, Teresa.Lutes@austintexas.gov | Marisa Flores Gonzalez, Water Forward Project Manager
The “Water Forward†plan is the next step in water planning designed to address 100 years of water demand. With input from a multitude of sources they are putting together potential options to be evaluated against the plan’s objectives. It was asked what the total population is that the highland lakes can sustain but no direct answer was given. Using a tool called “WHAM†they are examining models to better predict those demands. Is land acquisition a tool available to the effort? Austin Water does purchase and manage impactful tracts. Call 311 to report water waste. http://austintexas.gov/waterforward
13. 8:40 Houses being moved and heritage trees being cut
Presenter: Various SRCC members including Devkirn Khalsa, Will Harrison, Annie Weiding, Michele Webre
A house being moved from the neighborhood got stuck on Live Oak and wedged between power poles and trees. Neighbors woke at 11pm as the house movers were cutting limbs off of heritage trees as they were trying to get the house off the property and down the street. A second house being moved is the one that got stuck on Live Oak. Police were there to escort the movers and did not seem to know whether or not the destruction of private property was to be stopped. It was suggested to bring this issue to the Environmental Commission. Kathie Tovo was present and suggested to ask Council to take up the issue. District 9 has the most demolitions in the city. Apparently anything hanging lower than 14’ into the street can be cut unless it removes more than 25% of the tree. The creation of an ad-hoc committee to address the issue and bring a resolution to the City was the direction agreed upon.
8:55 GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED! We need volunteers for several open positions: Vice President, neighborhood watch program organizer, Special Events Chair to organize the July 4 picnic and annual potluck, and a Newsletter Editor.
NEWSLETTER! It’s time to begin pulling together our fall newsletter! If you would like to contribute an article, please contact Gretchen ASAP.
Austin Monitor discount: SRCC16 for 20% off subscription
Account reconciliation, Profit & Loss and Balance reports available upon request from treasurer@srccatx.org or financecommittee@srccatx.org
*Frequently used acronyms: ACF: Austin Community Fund; ANC: Austin Neighborhood Council; SF: Single Family zoning category; FLUM: Future Land Use Map; GSRC NPCT: Greater South River City Neighborhood Planning Contact Team, NCCD: Neighborhood Conservation Combining District
