South River City Citizens (SRCC): minutes for meeting of general membership, November 4, 2013 return to SRCC home page



MEETING OF THE GENERAL MEMBERSHIP OF SRCC
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 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. State your full name when presenting or seconding a motion.
Presenter throughout: Marc Davis, President, unless otherwise noted.
2. 7:20 Membership & voting announcements. 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. 7:22 Approve minutes from October 7, 2013, last regular monthly meeting
MOTION: Eric Rangel / Wolf Sitler--to approve the October 7 meeting minutes = PASSED
4. 7:25 Treasurer's report
Account reconciliation, Profit & Loss, and Balance
reports available upon request from treasurer
Presenter: Nancy Byrd, Treasurer
5. 7:30 Committee Chairs' reports--
1) Parks, Schools, Environment;
2) Planning & Zoning (item below);
3) Transportation & Public Safety;
4) Norwood--A structural engineer is currently working on the project and some asbestos materials have been identified for removal
5) Historic District (item below);
8) Financial--At the last executive committee meeting a quarterly report was shared and copies were handed out this evening;
9) Reps to ANC (Austin Neighborhoods Council);
10) Communication;
11) Quality of Life--Robert Reeves has joined the board of another organization and is looking for a replacement to head this committee.

OLD BUSINESS
6. 7:40 Update on Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission (ICRC) process.
Maps are being revised. Websites can help track: also, see schedule of hearings: http://www.austinredistricting.org/maps/ http://www.austinredistricting.org/meetings/ Presenter: Carol Martin, Vice President
At our last meeting we passed a resolution opposing the preliminary map that had the SRCC split into at least two districts. Many alternatives have been suggested by groups all over the city and the ICRC has gone back to work to tweak the districts. The links above provide up to date information about this process and how you can participate.
7. 7:50 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: Marc Davis, President
This church is on the corner of Oltorf and Sherwood and applied for an up-zoning to GR (General Retail) because it wished to construct a community meeting room but it was already beyond its impervious cover limit for the base SF-2 zoning. GR zoning would allow it to construct the new building while remaining in compliance with GR impervious cover limitations. In our last meeting, we voted against supporting the upzoning since that would enable the property to be developed into a multitude of incompatible commercial businesses in the event that the church sold the property, but we did support a variance for the impervious cover if it included some rainwater controls. The church decided to not pursue the variance that we supported and elected to continue with its request for upzoning but asked for a postponement of its Planning Commission hearing. It will be back up at Planning Commission on November 12 and SRCC will need residents to support our case against the upzoning at that meeting.

NEW BUSINESS
8. 8:00 pm Presentation on Austin Afffordable Housing bonds.
Presenter: Frances Ferguson
Affordable housing bonds were passed in 2006 that created/repaired 3,400 low income homes and Frances would like to encourage us to all get out and vote in favor of the new bonds.
MOTION: Sarah Campbell / Kurt Cadena-Mitchell--to send out an email to encourage SRCC members to vote, explain the affordable housing bond and endorse it = PASSED
9. 8:05 Update on new development & tree issues at 1204 & 1208 Woodland Ave.
Presenter: Sarah Campbell, member; William Hodge, project representative
A larger property along Woodland avenue was subdivided into seven lots long ago. All been developed with the exception of 1204 and 1208 which are just at the top of the Woodland Ave hill. One of the former owners of these properties had, without permits, cut down several protected trees and drew outrage from the City and neighboring residents. Because of this violation, additional requirements were placed on the property by the City to make sure that the remaining trees were protected. The new owners are looking to develop the lots that previously had duplexes on them by rebuilding two dwellings on each lot without further tree damage. They have been working closely with Michael Embesi, the City Arborist, to make sure the new properties honor and protect the remaining trees. The developers presented their approach to the membership and have been working closely with neighbor Sarah Campbell to make sure their design is appropriate for the lot.
10. 8:15 Consideration of variance for 1201 Woodland Avenue to allow less than 50' street frontage for a new lot.
This item was postponed for a future meeting.
Presenter: Sarah Campbell
11. 8:25 Executive Committee report: projects to be funded by remaining funds in ACF account. General Membership to vote on acceptance of EC recommendation.
Presenter: Carol Martin, SRCC VP
This process has been in the works 9 months and a list of approved projects was presented to be voted on as a package deal. The plan is to use the remaining Austin Community Foundation money to fund these projects. Project Managers for each project will be asked to make regular status reports at SRCC meetings. SRCC will make payments to the vendors based on invoices submitted and reviewed for completion of work.
Heritage Oaks Soil Improvement $5,000
Project Manager--Helen Fleming: Improve the degraded soil conditions in the Heritage Oaks Park. Benefits include ecology of pond, less erosion to riparian area, improve root zones of trees. Project includes soil testing, amend soil with minerals. Work would be provided by Microbial Earth (owned by SRCC member Karen Ascot & Patrick Van Haren) who will provide 24% discount
Heritage Oaks Watering equipment $1,520
Project Manager--Helen Fleming: Volunteers who are maintaining HOP request funding for heavy-duty water hoses; oscillating sprinklers, using current irrigation system. Will enable watering of trees that are not watered by City
Heritage Oaks Bench $2,400
Project Manager: Helen Fleming--Installation of a city-approved park bench. PARD 'Adopt-a-Bench' program
Nature Preserve Groundcover $2,000
Project Manager: David Todd--Planting of native groundcover in areas recently cleared of invasive plants. Groundcover plants to include grasses, sedges and reintroduce native biodiversity and control erosion, reduce runoff, decrease bank-cutting and lower water polution along Blunn Creek
Nature Preserve Signage $3,416
Project Manager: David Todd--Funding for 8 signposts trail markers for Blunn Creek Nature Preserve to help orient visitors. Visitors would explore & appreciate the park while feeling safe and confortable at same time. Signage would point visitors to overlook sites, creek crossings, and neighborhood streets
Nature Preserve Water Diversion $3,000
Project Manager: Marty Christman--Storm water runoff harvesting project at Blunn Creek Nature Preserve. Retrofit the curb & gutter drainage system on St. Edward's Drive so that runoff is diverted to vegetated areas in Preserve
Norwood House Porch Construction $9,660
Project Manager: Wolf Sitler--Reconstruction of the porch with columns and pergola on sw side of house. This is one of the most notable architectural features and will be visible to passing traffic. Would show results of neighborhood investment and encourage ongoing involvement. House will be available for SRCC meetings and certain other community-wide events free of charge; (to private events for a fee)
MOTION: Carol Martin / Sam Martin--to fund the proposed set of projects using the ACF funds = PASSED
12. 8:45 Historic District update and announcement of Open House on 11/10/13.
Presenter: Michele Webre, member; Casey Gallagher
A draft of the proposed historic district design standards is in the final review stage and will be presented at the open house. When the signature collection process begins they will be looking for more volunteers to canvass the area. The design standards will be flexible and not restrict owners from expanding the exterior or updating the interior of their home. HistoricTravisHeights.org has more information.

GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
At the recent Travis Heights Art Trail over $1,000 was raised for the Travis Heights Elementary arts program!
Garret Nick will represent SRCC for the South Central planning effort. There will be two meetings addressing developments along Lady Bird Lake; the first is November 12 for the property at 300 E Riverside and a walking tour on November 23rd along Lady Bird Lake near The Statesman property.--study site bounded by South First, East Bouldin Creek and Riverside Drive (i.e. Hyatt, Hooters, Statesman). The advisory group is hosted by a COA planner Alan Holt and is led by the three members of the Waterfront Planning Advisory Board. There will also be members from UT, Downtown Austin Alliance, Bat Conservation International, etc.










 

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