minutes of SRCC meeting of general memgership October 5, 2009 return to SRCC home page

SRCC general membership meeting notes - 12/7/09


Monday, December 7, 2009; 7:00 PM
GRACE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
205 E. MONROE, AUSTIN, TEXAS

MEETING NOTES


1. approve minutes from nov 2nd, 2009, general membership meeting
MOTION: to approve the minutes = PASSED

2. presentation on city of austin proposed water quality ponds at the headwaters of blunn creek near east alpine rd and update on aisd proposed facility in same general area: presenter - marty christman, co-chair of parks, environment and schools standing committee

after much negotiating, we have gotten aisd staff and the city's watershed dept. staff to collaborate on their development projects in this area. aisd will still go through with the plan to expand their facility but that expansion is only on a small portion of the property and will trigger water quality standards that will require a water quality pond to be built in addition to the two ponds proposed by the city. the construction of these ponds will not affect the spring located on the property (the headwaters of blunn creek) and will be bioretention ponds similar to the rainwater gardens recently installed in blunn creek greenbelt just south of Annie/Woodland. one of the ponds is slightly over an acre while the other is just under. a big thanks to marty and david for working on this, the impact of the ponds will be felt down the entire length of blunn creek.

MOTION: jean mather / gayle goff - to write a letter to the department asking them to vacate the right of way on alpine rd but otherwise the plan looks great
= PASSED

3. discuss application to the city of austin for an outdoor music venue at the whip in store at 1950 south I-35 (southbound service road): presenter - dipak topiwala, owner and general manager

the whip in is proposing an acoustic outdoor music stage with outdoor seating on the mariposa side of the property facing south towards the gas station/convenience store across mariposa. the owners are currently negotiating with the travis green condos for appropriate times and decibel levels for the activity but all indications are they will come to an agreement soon and the project will move forward. the parking is still ample.

MOTION: sarah campbell / ? - to support the permit pending approval by travis green = PASSED

4. discuss request by victor hidalgo of weare78704.com for city permission to hold a saturday artisan street market on that part of circle behind amy's ice cream and zen, and on the street between zen and southside tattoo: presenter - victor hidalgo

victor proposes holding an artisan market every saturday from 11-6 on those streets, the streets would need to be closed to all traffic during that time. he currently holds the market across the street but is looking to move to reduce costs.

MOTION: danette / ? - to oppose the closure = PASSED

5. discuss the city of austin's major sewer project to serve downtown and other parts of austin: presenter - jean mather, chair of zoning and planning standing committee

the city is looking to upgrade/increase services to parts of the city by installing a 10x10 foot sewer line at the cost of $35 million to be paid for by a 38cent/month customer fee increase. the pipeline begins around lamar at ladybird lake and tunnels 50ft underground along riverside drive before crossing back under the lake at I-35 and heading east past the dam. construction is scheduled to start in january and will close some lanes on riverside for up to 3 months.

No action was proposed or voted upon.

6. discuss/vote on street closures on feb 1st 2010 for boy scouts parade and march 6th 2010 to honor texas independence day: presenter - sarah campbell, president srcc

both of these events will start at the congress bridge and head north so the impact is minimal

MOTION: ? / danette - to approve the closures = PASSED

7. discuss/provide input on parking issues caused by businesses along south congress: presenters - steve grassfield, transportation mgr city of austin and andy moore, mayor pro tem martinez's office

some ideas to be implemented are back in parking spaces along congress which have been tested in other parts of the city with success, increase the parking by adding spaces the entire length of congress avenue to oltorf where possible, partnerships with developers like the proposed hotel at the baptist church parking lot to add more levels of underground parking, metered parking, neighborhood parking permits... all of these are on the table plus whatever you can suggest but ultimately a combination of many ideas will be implemented. we need to form a committee and present ideas to the city, they want our input.

Sarah Campbell will send an email requesting participation on this new committee, and will then get back to andy moore.

8. update on norwood house: presenter - wolf sittler, chair of norwood posse

asbestos removal needs to happen, work to begin on the roof in january, they are still in need of funds but laura morrison is looking into having the city waive the fees for building permits

9. grayco update:
the final reading for the grayco pud is december 17th, 2009

10. Consider supporting proposed Heritage Tree ordinance with provisions, per Hyde Park neighborhood association's resolution passed 11/02/09.

the city is looking to adopt a heritage tree ordinance to protect and maintain the many large and significant trees in austin. hyde park's resolution strengthens the proposed ordinance before the city.

MOTION: to support Hyde Park's resolution with one addition: that all PUDs be required to provide tree surveys as part of PUD applications, and to send SRCC's action to planning commission and council = PASSED

Garret Nick

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