BHNA - February 22, 2005 General Meeting Minutes

Barton Hills Neighborhood Association General Meeting Minutes February 22, 2005
Introductory Remarks	President Don Long called the meeting to order at 7:07 p.m. Long welcomed and thanked members for their attendance. He introduced the Executive Committee members in attendance: Diana Stangl, Recording Secretary; Eddie Torres, ANC Representative; Howie Richey, Corresponding Secretary; Scott Smith, Treasurer. There were several candidates for City Council present and Long asked each one to introduce themselves briefly. Jennifer Kim is running for Place 3. Margot Clarke is running for Place 3. Gregg Knaupe is also running for Place 3. Lee Leffingwell is running for Place 1. Long then introduced Molly McGuire Sipe, Volunteer Coordinator, Program Support Services for Caritas of Austin. Ms. Sipes spoke briefly about the Food Drive for the Caritas of Austin Food Pantry. She explained that Caritas is trying to help more people with fewer resources and needs ongoing donations of non-perishable food items for its food pantry. Items can be dropped off at Caritas, which is located at 7 th and Neches, by first calling 479-4610, ext. 130.
Minutes	Long asked for a motion to approve the minutes for the General Meeting on October 12, 2004. The motion was made and seconded and the minutes were approved.
Treasurer's Report	Long asked Scott Smith to present the Treasurer’s report. Smith reminded everyone to send in their dues and to also complete the membership survey that was in the newsletter. He reported that there is some money in the account that is pledged to the Jones Memorial and some for the Sunken Gardens restoration. He is going to research to find out exactly how to get that money to where it needs to go.
Austin Police Department Community Liaison	Long introduced Officer Dawn Leonard, the BHNA Community Liaison. She informed everyone of the Commander’s Forum on March 9 at 7:00 p.m. This is an open forum and provides citizens an opportunity to address some of the “higher ups” in the Austin Police Department. She then briefly discussed the Neighborhood Watch program that is being reorganized under the direction of John Luther. She encouraged everyone to get involved with the program. Finally, she announced that she was leaving the Community Liaison position and moving to the Mounted Patrol Unit. There was much dismay expressed by the members at this news. Officer Leonard assured everyone that she would fully brief her replacement. She then fielded questions from the members.
Clean Water Program Update	A representative from the City’s Austin Clean Water Program (acwp) presented information about the program. He said that the EPA has told Austin to repair and replace its aging sewer lines by December 2007 or face $27,500 in penalties per incident per day. There are about 40 projects that must be completed. The two projects that will most affect us at this time are 1) Robert E. Lee/Rabb Rd. and 2) Town Lake Park Lift Station. The Town Lake Lift Station will replace the lift station at Barton Springs. This project will be complete by the summer of 2006. To find out more about construction projects you can go to http://www.cityofaustin.org/ca. You can also call the ACWP hotline at 684-3204 for information.
Zilker Botanical Gardens (user fees proposal)	Craig Nazor from the Austin Botanical Garden Committee (ABGC) presented information about the ABGC’s proposal to transfer the operation of Zilker Botanical Gardens (ZBG) from the City of Austin to a new non-profit foundation. The ABGC believes that ZBG is inadequately funded and the situation will only get worse. The ABGC proposal calls for the lease of ZBG to a nonprofit foundation which would then be able to assess and retain fees for attendance, memberships, parking, weddings, and photography. More information on the proposal and the views of the ABGC can be found in the article in the February 5, 2005 newsletter. Yates Barreda questioned Mr. Nazor about whether money was really going to be diverted from ZBG. She indicated that she thought there were other ways to increase funding for ZBG through dedicated funds instead of turning it over to a non-profit foundation. There were more questions about what oversight would be provided by the City and the timetable envisioned. It was decided that more information would be presented at the April meeting. Long will try to line up a speaker from the Austin Area Garden Committee to present its viewpoint, which is against the proposal by the ABGC.
Neighborhood Planning Series of Speakers: Special Guest, Bill Bunch, Executive Director, Save our Springs - Regional Water Quality Issues	Bill Bunch presented an informative session about the Save Our Springs Alliance viewpoint about CAMPO’s proposed long range plans for $1.5 billion in highway expansions on the Barton Creek Waterway. SOS would like to buy out the developments being proposed. This would cost a fraction of the cost of the highways and would create a buffer zone to protect the waterways and aquifers. He encouraged people to participate in the CAMPO public discussions that are currently taking place. Bunch also asked for assistance in fighting developments on the other side of the creek. The developer of the Terrace project has three other sites that are also grandfathered and is planning to begin construction soon. Bunch would like to have someone from BHNA be a liaison with SOS to maintain contact. Bunch distributed SOS newsletters and pamphlets.
Neighborhood Planning Update - November House Meetings	Brief recaps of the house meetings held last November were presented. The report will be put on the BHNA website. The City process has been pushed back again and is now scheduled to start in August. We will have further discussion of this at the April meeting. Long said that he would like the BHNA to come up with a tangible project to raise funds for and to hold a fundraiser/community event at the beginning of the summer. This will also be discussed further in April.
Sidewalk Mural Report	Howie Richey reported that the Sidewalk Mural Committee went on a field trip recently to view various sidewalk murals. They will continue to explore the idea and report on it at the next meeting.
Bicycle Lanes Proposal	Scott Johnson presented the report from the Parking Lane Committee. After the last general meeting the Parking Lane Committee went back to the owners on Robert E. Lee with more surveys to determine their interest in having a parking ban in the bike lane. The responses received were all in favor. The Committee would also like to extend the ban on parking on the west side of Barton Hills Drive so that it goes all the way from Robert E. Lee to the northern terminus of Hollow Creek Drive. This would not affect any apartment or residential parking. It would prevent people from parking along the empty field that has become a soccer practice field. After discussion, the following motion was made and seconded: "BHNA recommends that the City ban parking on the west side of Robert E. Lee Road from Barton Hills Drive to Rabb Road. BHNA also recommends that the current parking ban on the west side of Barton Hills Dr. that starts at Robert E. Lee Road be extended to the northern terminus of Hollow Creek Drive." After further discussion, the motion passed with just 2 nays.
Electric Lawnmower Project	Scott Johnson reported that he has donated a Black & Decker battery operated lawnmower to the BHNA. Gary Poole has been keeping it at his house. Johnson would like other neighbors to sign up with Poole to use the mower. The requirements for using the mower are to help with the battery replacement cost (every two to three years) and the blade replacement cost (every year). Residents must also turn in their gas operated mowers if they have one. Several people indicated interest in participating.
ANC Reports	Eddie Torres reported that there will be an Austin Neighborhoods Council meeting on Feb. 23.
Committee Reports	Greenbelt Guardian - Glee Ingram shared the beautiful award made from a part of the Treaty Oak that the BHNA received from the City. There is a Greenbelt Guardian Work day scheduled for Saturday, February 26 at Gus Fruh. She said that BHNA has been asked to consider extending its adoption 1 mile so that we go all the way to Loop 360. The Barton Terrace neighborhood is interested in adopting the stretch from Loop 360 to Spy Glass. That would then leave only 2 miles of greenbelt that is not adopted. Neighborhood Watch - John Luther reported briefly on the plans to revive the Neighborhood Watch program. He indicated that if we get the program up again before September the City will waive the fees it normally charges. He distributed forms for people to complete if they are willing to participate.
Next Meetings	The next Executive Committee meeting is scheduled for March 8. The next General Meeting is scheduled for April 12.
Adjourn	The meeting adjourned at 9:15 pm. Respectfully submitted, Diana Stangl Recording Secretary

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