South River City Citizens (SRCC): minutes for meeting of general membership, May 6, 2013

South River City Citizens (SRCC): minutes for meeting of general membership, May 6, 2013 return to SRCC home page

MEETING OF THE GENERAL MEMBERSHIP OF SRCC
MONDAY, MAY 6, 2013
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. When making a motion or seconding a motion, please state your full name to be included in the minutes.
Presenter throughout: Marc Davis, President, unless otherwise noted.
Please be sure to say your full name when presenting or seconding a motion.
2. 7:20 Membership & voting announcements. New membership fee structure effective immediately. If you pay multiple years in advance, you will 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

3. 7:25 Approve minutes from April 1, 2013, last regular monthly meeting
MOTION: Jean Mather / Michael Mayo - to approve the minutes from April, 1st = PASSED
4. 7:28 Treasurer's Report, April 2013:
APRIL 2013 Gross Income
$350.00 Membership dues
Expenses
$1,077.07 GUMC annual meeting room rental, 3 PTA donations, annual meeting potluck supplies
Net Operating Income -$727.07
Interest Earned $0.98
Net Income -$726.09
Account Balances
Checking $11,266.53
Savings $5.00
Austin Community Foundation $42,124.47 (-$2,347.64 payment requests submitted for UDG design and construction work, Willow Springs landscaping supplies (soil)
Account reconciliation, Profit & Loss and Balance reports available upon request from treasurer@srccatx.org Presenter: Nancy Byrd, Treasurer
Account reconciliation, Profit & Loss, and Balance reports available upon request from treasurer
MOTION: Michael Mayo / Wolf Sittler - to approve the financial report = PASSED
5. 7:35 Committee Chairs' reports--
1) Parks, Schools, Environment: Travis Heights Elementary School is having a fundraiser for the fine arts department. It is taking place Wednesday at Guero's Oak Garden with live music from 6-8:30 with a $5 cover for adults plus they will also accept donations or you can make a donation directly to the school. THES is the first in district charter school in Austin which allows much more flexibility when determining how to engage the students. It was proposed that THES attend our meetings to provide updates directly to the membership. 2) Planning & Zoning;
3) Transportation & Public Safety; see item 8 below
4) Norwood: The city lawyers should have their final review this week of the document that solidifies the agreement for the Norwood House. A part-time project manager is now on board.
5) Historic District: see Item 10 below
8) Financial: There are about $40,000 that will be left in the ACF fund once all financial obligations have been met. There is a new process in place for submitting your ideas for capital improvement projects within the SRCC boundaries to spend this money on. Submissions will be accepted starting now and wrapping up at the end of June. The city has funds available for sidewalk improvements, agreed upon during the neighborhood plan process, and which we would like to tap into.
9) Representatives to ANC Austin Neighborhoods Council;
10) Communication: next printed newsletter planned for early June

NEW BUSINESS
6. 7:45 Short Term Rental (STR) Ordinance Amendment coming to City Council
Presenters - Danette Chimenti, member; Juanita Solis, member
The City of Austin maintains a city website about short-term rentals providing information about the process and regulation of Short-Term rental properties. A while back the city implemented new rules for Short Term Rentals but some changes are in the works. A maximum of 3% of a census tract is the total number of Commercial Short Term Rentals (CSTR) allowed in that tract. Travis Heights has maxed out its census tract but east of I-35 has one license left available. There is an unlimited number of owner-occupied Short Term Rentals allowed per census tract. New restrictions are being placed on CSTRs that now apply to multi-family complexes and a $2000/day fine for unlicensed operation. A new classification, class 1A, allows you to rent a room in an owner-occupied STR. Notifications now are sent out to all properties within 100 feet that identify the property as a CSTR. There will be a publicly available map showing the location of all CSTRs. The city is encouraging anyone having issues with a CSTR to call code compliance. If a property is sold, the CSTR license does not transfer. There is now a waiting list for those wishing to get a license in a tract that is maxed out. Juanita Solis was recently featured in an article in The Statesman about issues she is having with a CSTR next door. She has found code compliance to be ineffective when dealing with this particular CSTR and notified us that unless an officer shows up at the scene then no report will be written and there is no record of a problem. Danette recommended that we request a case number which insures there will be a record of the complaint and will initiate the case creation process.
MOTION: Juanita Solis / Jean Mather - to draft a FAQ that cover issues and information related to STRs to be added to the SRCC website = WITHDRAWN (in order to roll this effort into the Quality of Life Committee - see below)
7. 8:00 Formation of the Quality of Life Committee
Presenter - Robert Reeves, member and Chair
After the most recent issues with police and traffic during the Lone Star Round-up, several neighbors volunteered to come together and form a "Quality of Life" committee. After an initial organizational meeting, three general areas were identified as affecting the quality of life for SRCC residents:
Special Events - traffic blockage, crowding, etc.
Noise - initially focused on outdoor music venues but broadened to cover all kinds of noise
Personal Behavior - Trash, public intoxication/urination, property damage
Over the next couple months the committee would like to capture a list of specific issues in these categories, stack rank them, and attempt to make progress in remedying them in some way. During the meeting, it became apparent that issues with STRs could be lumped into this committee (generally under Noise).
MOTION: Claudette Lowe / Juanita Solis - to form an official "Quality of Life" Ad-Hoc Committee to identify and address issues affecting the neighborhood = PASSED
8. 8:10 Traffic calming on St. Edward's Drive
Presenters - Jerry Levenson, David Todd, members
It has been noted there is an excessive amount of speeding on St Edward's Dr, particularly at the bend in the road by the Blunn Creek Preserve entrance where there were recently a couple of dangerous wrecks. There was a suggestion to gather information on the process to share with others looking to address this same issue. Residents on St Edward's Dr have printed out the proper forms and will be submitting the application for traffic calming as per the city’s established process. Garret Nick, having already gone through the process for Carnarvon Lane, has offered to help.
9. 8:20 SRCC Yard Signs - recommendation for improvement
Presenter: Elloa Matthews, Area Coordinator for Area 5
Postponed until next month
10: 8:30 Update on Historic District
Presenter - Julia Morgan, member
Travis Heights was founded in 1913 and residents are celebrating this with yard signs and working for a local historic district designation. A small committee is being formed to work with an architect to draft design standards and will meet a couple times a month. The Hyde Park neighborhood received the historic designation and produced a fourteen page set of design standards that can be used as a template. The historic district would include Travis Heights and Fairview Park.

GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

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