SRCC GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING MINUTES (www.srccatx.org)
Tuesday, June 21, 2022, 7:00 PM
Zoom Meeting
MINUTES
To be sure you get a vote, become a member. You can join or renew online www.srccatx.org. Not sure if you are current? Email membership@srccatx.org and we’ll let you know.
1. 7:00 General Membership Meeting Welcome
Meeting procedures, Zoom tools, etiquette, welcome newcomers. Verification of quorum. Reminder: state your name when presenting or seconding a motion. Please see acronyms below.
Presenter throughout unless otherwise noted: Wendy Todd, SRCC President (5 min)
The chair called the meeting to order at 7:04 pm
2. 7:05 Membership Report and Voting
Pay multiple years in advance and get a discount.
Single membership: 1-yr $20; 2-yr $35; 3-yr $50 or Family membership: 1-yr $35; 2-yr $65; 3-yr $95
NOTE: In order to vote or make motions, pay dues one month in advance, except when a former member’s dues have lapsed no more than 2 years, they may renew at least 2 days before the online meeting to regain eligibility to vote. Contact membership@srccatx.org to renew (5 min)
3. 7:10 Treasurer’s Report
All reports available upon request to the Treasurer: treasurer@srccatx.org
Presenter: Will Andrews, SRCC Treasurer (5 min)
Sam Martin presented the report. Year to date we have positive net income, with income from dues and interest, with expenses for PO box, ANC dues, newsletter, and QuickBooks fees. With another edition of the newsletter coming out, we will likely have a negative balance for the year, but the existing SRCC general fund balance should cover the expenses.
4. 7:15 Reports from Standing Committee Chairs
1) Planning and Zoning; 2) Historic Preservation; 3) Finance; 4) Mobility; 5) Public Safety; 6) Parks and Environment; 7) Schools; 8) Communications (10 min)
- Planning and Zoning – see later items
- Historic Preservation – nothing to report. Preservation Austin released a walking tour of South Congress.
- Finance – the Finance Committee met last week. There had been alerts about Google trying to move SRCC’s Free G Suite Legacy account to the costly Google Workspace. We were able to retain our G Suite Legacy Free Edition. The committee had asked about the cost of the upcoming newsletter and voted to recommend to the EC to allow up to 8 pages of full-color for the 50th anniversary newsletter. Gayle Goff is doing the financial review for the year, and will have a report in the next month or so.
- Mobility – tomorrow there is a meeting on light rail stations via Zoom – https://capmetro-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_CHCk0cEHQ6iN0dZ9CeiwTA. On Thursday there will be a meeting for the NEPA process (intended for environmental protections, but includes protection for historical places), meeting on Teams – should let Mark know if there are other historic designated sites that should be brought up.
- Public Safety – there was an issue at Little Stacy Park this past week. There was someone camping in the park who had a knife; the police were called and the people were removed. There is also another woman who has not been disruptive, but is homeless and spends her days in the park.
- Parks – there is a July 2nd cleanup event at Blunn Creek Nature Preserve at 8:30 in the morning. Starting this weekend there will be a shuttle from One Texas Center (11am to 7pm) to Zilker Park, to allow people to park at One Texas Center for free, for access to Zilker (see https://www.austintexas.gov/news/weekend-shuttle-zilker-park-one-texas-center-parking-garage). Big Stacy Pool is celebrating 85 years, Friday, July 8th at 10am. Music by Jason Molin, SRCC will have a membership booth at the event.
- Schools – nothing to report.
- Communications – we will be able to continue with the G Suite Legacy Free Edition, which provides SRCC emails and SRCC Google Drive. The next newsletter will celebrate the history of SRCC, including some historical info about the SRCC area, and some of the accomplishments of the neighborhood association and neighbors. Deadline for articles is Sept 7; would like articles to be around 300 words. Would also like people to suggest article topics. Send newsletter info to Ruth at rucasar@swbell.net. There is a link on the SRCC website to the Austin History Center that includes an archive of historical information about the SRCC neighborhood association (http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/aushc/00320/ahc-00320.html).
5. 7:25 Reports from Area Coordinators and Representatives
9) Norwood; 10) GSRC NPCT; 11) EROC NPCT; 12) ANC; 13) SCC; 14) South Central Waterfront; 15) St. Edward’s; 16) S. Central Affordable CDC; 17) Land Development Code Ad Hoc committee (10 min)
- Norwood – nothing to report.
- GSRC NPCT – nothing to report.
- EROC NPCT – nothing to report.
- ANC – currently trying to put together a forum for District 9 and District 3 candidates (SRCC is in both districts), as well as District 5 candidates.
- SCC – nothing to report.
- South Central Waterfront – meeting yesterday was canceled.
- St Edward’s – nothing to report.
- S. Central Affordable CDC – nothing to report.
- Land Development Code Ad Hoc Committee – nothing to report.
6. 7:35 Approve Minutes
May 2022 monthly general meeting (available at www.srccatx.org)
Presenter: Dan Fredine, SRCC Secretary (5 min)
Motion (Dan Fredine/Mark Thompson): to approve May General Membership minutes. There were no objections or comments, and the minutes were approved as posted.
Upcoming Meeting dates in 2022: EC Aug 2; GM Aug 16; EC Sept 6; GM Sept 20; EC Oct 4; GM Oct 18; GM Nov 15; EC Dec 6
NEW BUSINESS
7. 7:40 Planning and Zoning Updates
Status of: (i) 200 Academy, (ii) South Central Waterfront, (iii) 1100 Manlove; and (iv) short-term rentals.
Presenter: Sarah Campbell, SRCC Planning and Zoning Chair (10 min)
(i) 200 Academy. The Neighborhood (GRSC NPCT) wanted a venue size of no more than 2,500 sf. The Developer wanted 17,000 sf. A compromise was made to be 10,000 sf.
(ii) The South Central Waterfront is a district of the Waterfront Overlay Zone that extends from South First Street to Joe’s Crab Shack (now Cidercade), from Riverside to the lake. The City sponsored a planning effort for this area that culminated in the Council-approved South Central Waterfront Vision Framework Plan in 2016. SRCC was one of many stakeholders who participated in the plan effort. The 2016 Vision Plan incorporated green infrastructure, trails, parkland, and affordable housing. In 2019, the proposed redevelopment of the Statesman was as an amended PUD with 6 buildings, ranging in height from 215′-525′. The Statesman PUD amendment was approved by Council on first reading and scheduled for 2nd and 3rd readings, but the publication of the ordinance of the PUD had not been posted for review for the statutory 14 days prior to the 2nd and 3rd hearing scheduled for June 16. CM Tovo requested a hearing postponement until July 28. Anyone with comments or concerns with the posted ordinance, please contact SRCC President or the Planning and Zoning Chair. The developer has not met the plan or all of the conditions placed by the Planning Commission on the proposal. This case will come back to City Council on July 28th.
Applicant’s project website: <https://305southcongress.com>
PUD Ordinance <https://www.austintexas.gov/edims/document.cfm?id=385973>
(iii) 1100 Manlove. This went through Council last week and the Restrictive Covenant is in place. SRCC is holding the Restrictive Covenant, and the neighbors are responsible for noting violations.
(iv) not discussed
8. 7:50 Communications Update
Signs, posters, social media engagement for upcoming events.
Presenters: Mary Janecek-Friedman, SRCC Communications Chair,
and Ken Burnett, SRCC co-Vice President (10 min)
During the meeting it was asked for people to enter into the chat words that they associate with the SRCC Neighborhood Association; this will be used for incorporating into the SRCC branding moving forward. Looking to increase our audience and boost membership and participation, by increasing social media presence in preparation for the SRCC 50th anniversary. Useful ideas for social media – share some SRCC history, real time posts of SRCC advocacy (individuals taking actions), show that it’s a vibrant community (Travis Heights Art Trail, Big Stacy, annual potluck/elections, and people are active in the community), share info about issues that are brought up by our committees with sufficient information to explain some of the more complex issues and the nuance of our positions.
Mary and Ken are going to have a table at the Big Stacy anniversary party. There will be SRCC business cards with a QR code that goes to the membership page of the website.
9. 8:00 Building the SRCC Brand
Quick discussion about SRCC’s logo, branding, and marketing efforts.
Presenter: Noah Balch, SRCC Vice President (5 min)
Discussion about new SRCC signs. They have the new logo that was created by a member in 2015 as part of a contest. We would like to incorporate that logo into the SRCC branding. We can take photos when out in the community, email them to Ken at covicepresident@srccatx.org, and he will tag and post them to social media. When sending items to post, include “SRCC Social Media Content Bank” in the email title.
There was some discussion about possibly trademarking the logo. Expect it to be a one-time fee about $250 – $350 to register as a class; need to file Declaration of Use paperwork every 5-10 years. Might want to consider this if we are able to get a pro bono attorney.
There was a question about including advertisements in the newsletter, for small businesses, local restaurants, and realtors. This has been discussed in the past. There is a fair amount of effort related to managing advertisement (in the past it was only realtors in the neighborhood and businesses on South Congress); there have also been businesses that had wanted to advertise but we felt that some of them were inappropriate.
10. 8:05 GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
There is an adult product store (Hustler Hollywood) that is going to be opening on South Congress near Alpine, near where Expose used to be. The Dawson neighborhood is concerned about this, and anyone else who is concerned should contact them.
Where the Firestone Tire is on S Congress (near Riverside) there is an application for a >300’ building that would be designated as a PUD within the South Central Waterfront area.
Meeting was adjourned at 8:08 pm
July 8, 2022 Celebrate Big Stacy Pool’s 85th Anniversary (and by the way, tell a friend, the City is hiring lifeguards!)
To participate in the NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH program, please contact Tom Groce, SRCC Public Safety Chair at tgroce71@gmail.com
If you have questions about using the Neighborhood ListServ: https://groups.io/g/SouthRiverAustin
The next SRCC Executive Committee meeting is August 2, 2022.
The next General Membership meeting is August 16, 2022.
Frequently used acronyms:
ACF: Austin Community Fund
ANC: Austin Neighborhood Council (https://www.atxanc.org/)
BoA: Board of Adjustment
CDC: Community Development Corporation
EROC: East Riverside/Oltorf Combined Contact Team
FLUM: Future Land Use Map
GSRC NPCT: Greater South River City Neighborhood Planning Contact Team
NCCD: Neighborhood Conservation Combining District
NHPA: National Historic Preservation Act
NPCT: Neighborhood Planning Contact Team
PC: Planning Commission
PUD: Planned Unit Development
SCC: South Central Coalition of neighborhood associations
SF: Single Family zoning category
ZAP: Zoning and Platting
Agenda Prepared by Noah Balch, vicepresident@srccatx.org Agenda subject to change. Please check www.srccatx.org for most updated version.
ZOOM LINK:
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAlcuyqqT4jGNaR0Ftc2i4GAikApgZzZ5oN
