South River City Citizens (SRCC): minutes for meeting of general
membership: May 5, 2014
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MEETING OF THE GENERAL MEMBERSHIP OF SRCC
MONDAY, MAY 5, 2014
7:15 PM
GRACE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
205 East Monroe; Austin, Texas
MINUTES
CALL TO ORDER/APPROVAL OF MINUTES
1. 7:15 Meeting procedures, etiquette, welcome newcomers.
Reminder: state your name when presenting or seconding a motion.
Presenter throughout: Eric Rangel, President, unless otherwise noted.
2. 7:20 Membership & 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, he or she may renew at the meeting and be
eligible to vote.
3. 7:22 Approve minutes
from April 7, 2014, last regular monthly meeting
MOTION: Marc Davis / Carol Martin -- to approve the minutes from last month's
general membership meeting = PASSED
4. 7:25 Treasurer's report (see attachment to agenda distributed at meeting
MOTION: MOTION: Wolf Sitler / Michael May - to approve the minutes = PASSED
5. 7:30 Committee Chairs' reports--
1) Parks, Schools, Environment;
2) Planning & Zoning--item below;
3) Transportation & Public Safety:
4) Norwood--Last Monday the house was wrapped in plastic so they can remove
the asbestos and lead before starting the full restoration.
5) Historic District;
8) Finance--status of projects funded by SRCC: Finance--They are working to administer
the money doled out from the grant process. Blunn Creek Preserve has been the most active as far as using the
funds. The Heritage Oaks Park has been working toward its goal of installing seating
improvements and is now looking for help from a Landscape
Architect / Designer who can work on the finishing touches.
9) Reps to ANC (Austin Neighborhoods Council);
10) Communication;
11) Quality of Life
OLD BUSINESS
6. 7:40 District 9 Neighborhood Leaders meetings--request for volunteers to
attend meetings where various neighborhoods that fall within the same council
district can discuss their issues, explore common interests. SRCC needs to
attend both District 9 and District 3 meetings. atxd9@googlegroups.com
Presenter: Eric Rangel, SRCC President
The next meeting is May 17 but the location has not been decided. Please
participate if you'd like to have an impact on the future of your district.
ANC (Austin Neighborhoods Council) and Leadership Austin are the ones
coordinating this effort prior to the elections so that we have a more unified
voice. Visit http://leadershipaustin.org/about/ - to learn more about this
organization.
7. 7:55 Update on 517 E. Oltorf--Apostolic Assembly of the Faith in
Christ Jesus, Inc., request (C14-2013-0081) to upzone to GR (with conditional
overlay) to increase its impervious cover limit and allow for additional construction.
Presenter: Jean Mather, SRCC Chair of Planning & Zoning committee
The day of the City Council meeting the church withdrew from the meeting due to
changing the proposal to GR (general retail). Thanks to Laura Morrison for
notifying our representatives so we wouldn't be waiting there for no reason.
The church has retained an architect for the requested 1,000 sq/ft building.
It is open to meeting two of the three proposed conditions. The third
condition deals with impervious cover and the church hopes to at least redirect some of the
water toward the proposed new runoff control features. We are waiting for the church
to declare what it would like to do next. If you get another notice from the
City, the best thing to do is fill out the form and express your opinion
directly to the City through that process.
MOTION: Danette Chimenti / Wolf Sitler--to oppose SRCC paying for water
quality controls = PASSED
NEW BUSINESS
8. 8:05 Project Connect updates. Presentation and Q&A.
Presenter: Jeff Kessel, Transportation committee co-chair, Cheyenne Krause,
Public Information Specialist, City of Austin Transportation Department (O) 512.974.7907 | (C) 512.431.4363
Cheyenne.Krause@austintexas.gov
Cheyenne came out to share information with us about the current state of
Project Connect, the regional transportation plan. The first planned rail
travels from north of campus, through downtown, across the water using a new
bridge and eastward along Riverside out to Grove. Funding for this would be
accomplished through a bond vote in November. The City is using
www.SpeakUpAustin.org to gather input. Project Connect studies advise that the
transit option would be urban rail for capacity, reliability and efficiency. If
you have specific questions about this project, please contact Cheyenne directly
at Cheyenne.Krause@austintexas.gov.
9. 8:30 Discussion with APD about the crime/litter/noise/issues along Congress
Ave.
Presenter: Dane Gouviea
There was a recent incident involving a resident being assaulted by a late-night
patron who was urinating on private property. Officer Barboza came out to talk
with us about the incident and what could be done. If you find yourself in an
uncomfortable situation, please call 911 instead of confronting the situation
directly. You can take a photo or video but do not put yourself in danger. By
calling in the issue it is recorded and can be used in the future as evidence of
the rate of crime. The offender can be described and potentially charged with
another offense when found. The main thing to learn is to call and report
incidents so they are on record for future reference.
10. 8:45 New Meeting Place for Executive Meeting, at Opal Divine's small room for
free on the Maay 19.
Presenter: Eric J. Rangel and /or Garret Nick
The next Executive Committee will be held at Opal Divine’s at Penn Field this
May 19 from 5:15 to 8:15. The EC meetings are open to everyone, especially anyone
volunteering for a role within the SRCC. The purpose of Executive meetings are 1) to act on issues
in a timely measure and bring to general membership; 2) opportunity for Area Coordinators
and committee chairs to update one another on status of their projects; 3) identify key issues that
SRCC needs to address and potential resources to get involved. NOTE: the new location was suggested in
hopes of increasing attendance and will be evaluated before making a long-term change.
UPDATE: This meeting has been postponed to June 16 due to a scheduling conflict.
11. 8:55 Update on the South Central Waterfront District plan design
Presenter: Garret Nick and Sherri Ancipink
We have been meeting for months through a series of walk-abouts and talk-abouts
to learn more about the South Central Waterfront District as we move toward
redevelopment of a 97-acre section of land in the heart of South Austin. Nearly
100 citizens and professionals attended a multi-day design intensive to help
wrap up the study to be presented to City Council as a recommendation for what
changes could be made to further this concept. Major landowners have been
present and heavily involved in the negotiations.
12. Manuel Jimenez is a Constable and wanted to let us know they are still
running security patrols through the area Monday-Friday 8-5. If you'd like to
ask him any questions or send comments, please call 854-9488.
GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
13. Eric Rangel announced his official intention to run for City Council
District 3 and assurance that it will not interfere with his duties as President.
14. Some members expressed their intention to fill the currently vacant Vice
President role so we will gather that information to be voted on next month.
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