 SRCC General Membership Meeting Minutes – 12/5/2011
CALL TO ORDER/APPROVAL OF MINUTES
1. 7:15 Room arrangement, meeting procedures, etiquette, welcome newcomers.
Presenter throughout: Marc Davis, Vice President, unless otherwise noted.
2. 7:20 Membership & voting announcements.
Presenter: Carol Martin, Membership Chair
3. 7:25 Approve minutes from November 8, 2011, last regular monthly meeting (available at www.srccatx.org).
MOTION: Mary Lovell/Jean Mather – to pass the minutes = PASSED
4. 7:30 Treasurers Report
Presenter: Â Les Case, Treasurer
The PayPal online payment option we added to the srccATX.org website is working well with many members opting to use it. We will be closing our Bank of America account in favor of a local credit union that has yet to be determined.
OLD BUSINESS
5. 7:35 South Congress Advisory Group – latest update on parking issues including RPP requests for 100 half block of E Gibson, 200 block of E Monroe, and 200 block of E. Milton
Presenters: Sarah Campbell and  Mary Lovell, members and Diane Gouveia, D’Anne Eustace, residents.
A. Residents are requesting RPP on the 100 block of Gibson St for the times/days of Monday-Friday from 5pm-12am and Saturday-Sunday from 1pm-12am. There are 21 spots available and the request is for 8 of them to be shared by the 5 residences included in the RPP request.
MOTION: Joe Day/Dennis Cudd- to support the request = PASSED
B. Residents are requesting RPP on the 200 block of East Monroe St (only in front of the residences) for the times/days of Monday-Saturday from 10am-10pm and Sunday from 1pm-10pm. There are 21 spots available and the request is for 5 of them to be shared by the residents included in the RPP request.
MOTION: Joe Day/Jean Mather – to support the request = PASSED
C. Residents are requesting RPP on the 200 block of East Milton St (many of which were built without driveways) on both sides of the street, for the times/days of Monday-Friday from 5pm-10pm and Saturday-Sunday from 1pm-10pm. There are 19 spots available and the request is for approximately 10 of them to be shared by the residents included in the RPP request.
MOTION: Gayle Goff/Joe Day – to support the request = PASSED
D. An update was provided on the progress of the South Congress Advisory Group which has been tasked with finding solutions to the parking issue.
MOTION: Sarah Campbell/Garret Nick – to create a transportation work force or committee with regard to neighborhood vs. merchant parking issues = Â FAILED
MOTION: Gayle Goff/Jean Mather – to oppose employee parking zones on residential streets = PASSED
MOTION: Sarah Campbell/Gayle Goff – to support re-evaluation of allowance of 24/7 RPP = FAILED
6. 7:55 Short Term Rental (STR) Presentation and discussion.
Presenter: Nikelle Meade, Partner Brown McCarroll, L.L.P., lobbyist for HomeAway.com and Joel Rasmussen, 10 year SRCC resident and STR owner.
Ms. Meade, representing the Austin-based, international vacation rental business, HomeAway.com, came to speak to clear up misconceptions and answer questions about STRs. A couple of the points presented were that STRs account for less than 1% of the housing stock in Austin with only 35 STRs out of the 1,000 residences in Travis Heights being listed on their website. The average HomeAway client owns 1.5 homes. A report was presented to the membership but we do not have a link to the document as of yet. Joel Rasmussen, an SRCC resident and STR owner, was also there to speak on behalf of STRs and informed the membership of AustinRentalAlliance.com, a non-profit group of STR owners who are working to find solutions for making STRs work in Austin. Both of these groups went of the record as supporting regulations for STRs but not an outright ban.
NEW BUSINESS
7. 8:15 Various Amendments to the Land Development Code
Presenter: Â Jean Mather, Chair of Zoning & Planning Committee
POSTPONED
8. 8:25 Discuss requesting that the I-35 Corridor Development Team to consider closing the Woodland Exit
Presenter: Â Sarah Campbell, President
The city is asking for input on possible solutions for easing congestion on I-35 and other related changes. Some residents have expressed interest for years in closing the Woodland exit ramp from I-35.
MOTION: Sarah Campbell/Theresa Griffin – write a letter to the COA asking them to consider closing the Woodland exit and erecting sound barriers along the west side of I-35 = PASSED
9. 8:35 Update on Live Oak parking issues
Presenter: Â Marc Davis, Vice President
A change of policy at the Travis Park apartments which no longer allows non-residents to park within the complex has resulted in overflow parking along Live Oak. No solution has been presented as of yet.
PRESENTATIONS
10. 8:40 Restoration of  wood sash windows
Presenter: Wesley Morgan, resident and restoration contractor
SRCC resident and restoration contractor, Wesley Morgan, did a short presentation on how it is possible to restore and maintain wood sash windows prominent in many of the older and historic homes. He explained that it is cheaper to repair these older windows than replace them and that a properly maintained wood sash window will last 100 years versus the 15 year working life of cheaper vinyl frame windows commonly used to replace them.
GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
11. 9:00 ANC Membership renewal and request for co-representative
Presenter: Â Wolf Sittler, Member
Wolf was not present for this but we did have Charles Price volunteer to be the co-representative at the ANC along with Wolf. A big thanks to Charles for offering!
